I’m visiting a rural part of the southern US, and I have noticed that about 2/3 of the houses outside the town have yards full of cars and tractors in various states of disrepair, as well as tons of other miscellaneous stuff. Why is that? Is it kind of a culture of self-reliance and a supply of spare parts? Some other reason?
hoarders probably, we have a hoarder family members with inside house filled to the brim with junk. its just slightly better than the hoarders on the A and e show.
it might be worth something some day.
Like those beanie babies.
Can’t speak for the rural people of the US, but when you’re working on a bunch of projects, while the life keeps getting in your way, causing delays, stuff tends to… pile up. For example, I have a car in my living room at this very moment.
Did it seem like a good idea at the time? Sure. 24x7 access regardless of the current weather means more time to work on it.
Did I work on it? Nope.
Was there a wasp nest embedded inside, releasing a steady flow of young wasps inside the house? Absolutely!
That’s awesome. How wide is that and how wide are your doors? I couldn’t image other then maybe French doors
Yes, you can see the french doors in the background. The car itself is a little more than 1 meter wide, with rear-view mirrors sticking out even further. I got something like 5cm to spare on either side.
Is that a reliant robin? Badass.
Wasp nest was definitely worth it, agreed.
Nope, it’s a CityEL. Originally made in Denmark in 1987. The manufacturer went bankrupt several times. Each time someone else took over up until 2018. The design has never canged much. There has been something like 3 iterations of the top cover and 3 different motors throughout the years. Mine was made in 1995 and utilizes a motor originally intended for a forklift.
When I’m done with it, it will hopefully get a proper registration and will be able to recharge either by connecting directly to the DC output of a solar panel, as well as the standard grid outlet, and a type 2 charging station.
For anyone who’s interested in joining this low power EV cult, check out these videos by @bleeptrack
That’s wild and awesome, TIL, thanks!
Just because they look rusty and old doesn’t mean they’re junk, but even if they are, there will be no urgency to dispose of them. Most people who aren’t minimalists don’t dispose of things except for aesthetic reasons, unless they’re out of room. Many rural people have a relatively narrow scope for aesthetics that doesn’t include what you might call the front yard, and being rural, it’s really hard to run out of room. Therefore, there is no urgency to dispose of stuff that has become “junk”, and when you do, you will probably do it all at once, as a project, once you start feeling like you’re running out of room, which takes quite awhile, so you’re very likely to see the development of the junk pile in its intermediate stages.
The south, and rural areas, in general tend to be poorer. This often comes with a mindset of “don’t throw that out, we might need it/be able to use it someday”. That’s potential future money saved by keeping that crap on the lawn.
Inside of houses are no better just look at Malcom in the middle home. Stuff everywhere.
“I know what I got”
…southern US…
I’d say that fundamentally it’s because it’s culturally accepted in those areas.
“Everyone does it” is a frighteningly strong impetus to do something.
Because the back yard is already full.
Just enough money to buy fixxer uppers but not enough energy or money to get them properly fixed, it’s kind of like the sam vimes boot theory of economics or some such, my brother really didn’t expect to have the cheap trucks he bought to fix within a year but then he has no motivation after work to fix work on them and too much pride or not enough money to go to a shop
One or more of the following reasons.
- Cost to dispose of it is greater than zero.
- They or someone they know might need it later.
- They plan on doing something with it, but can’t afford to right now.
- They don’t have a garage or shed to store it in, or they do but those are also full.
- Their backyard has an above ground pool, so no room there.
- They are hoping that someone driving by sees something and makes them an offer.
- They are too overwhelmed working 3 jobs to spend the time and effort to get it cleaned up.
Cost to dispose of it is greater than zero.
I was looking for a comment mentioning this. If it’s a rural area, the local waste management facility might take a trek to get to. If you have to make multiple trips, or rent/hire a vehicle to get rid of something (like having to tow an old car), the time and cost can add up.
So if it’s not accepted with a typical trash pick-up, it’s still gotta be somewhere, even if you don’t want it anymore. Keeping it on your own property is at least more ethical than dumping it in the woods somewhere (though you’ll find plenty of that in some areas, too.)
Rural dweller here. This is correct.
- Mental illness
Don’t forget drugs!
Leaded fuel
- It’s still in use, but perhaps seasonally or infrequently.
- It’s gonna get fixed just as soon as I have time.
- It’s got parts for the other one I have.
- Might be useful someday. It’s got parts, and the hardware store is 20 miles away.
- Scrap metal value.
- The dump is 20 miles away, gonna get a load built up and do a dump run with Jimmy, just as soon as his trailer gets fixed.
- The dump doesn’t take that thing.
- Redneck decor.
- The dump is closed
They don’t pay for trash removal.
Many of these folks also watch prices of scrap metal. If it gets high enough, you’ll see lots of that disappear and turn into money in their pocket. Prices for scrap, especially steel is extremely low right now compared to a few years ago. Many of them are waiting on the price to recover to cash in.
Because it’s easier to move it from the driveway to the front yard instead of the back yard.
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In the south it’s also more common to either not have a garage at all or have a carport instead of an enclosed garage. It’s just easier to leave your car or vehicle (tractor) out anyway. Combine that with, I need to sell this or work on it at some point, you park it in your yard and will get around to it someday. Or maybe your cousin might need it one day so you’ll keep it. It’s a bit of an ingrained impoverished idea that you “might need it someday” attitude.
I’m also staying with family that are regularly using tractors pushing 60? 70? Years. I’m not even sure how old they are, but it takes a bunch of parts and pieces to keep these things running. Luckily here though the scraps are either off in a barn or not directly in between the house and the street.
That 1970 Farmall can be fixed at home, rather than the 50,000+ John Deere that has DRM/No Right to Repair
