Does this boost or shake your confidence in the mechanic?

When someone is working on your car, tractor or something else in the world of mechanical things, does it boost your confidence or shake your confidence if they’ve got a spare parts bucket?  I have always saved random bolts, nuts, screws and fasteners of all kinds.  You never know when you are going to need a lock-washer and while it takes a minute to dig one up, my collection has saved me hundreds of times.

Most people see the leftover screws as something you were supposed to use when assembling something but I’ve been saving this junk for years and probably always will.  Over the long weekend, I was putting the mower deck back on my John Deere lawn tractor after moving it recently.  If you’ve ever moved a tractor like that, you know they tend to get hung up and high-centered when the mower deck is trying to get up or down the ramp of a pickup truck.  This time I took the mower deck off.  That made the load/unload easier.

It seemed like a good idea at the time but when I went to put it back, I had all of the parts but I was short one cotter pin.  While my spare parts jar has …almost everything I need, I thought I might strike out with this one.  I don’t remember keeping a cotter pin from a previous project but I was thrilled to see one pop up when I dumped out my jar.  My wife and friends often tease me about the number of things I keep but it worked and my tractor is ready for mowing season.  A trip to the hardware store would have taken an hour when you add up the roundtrip and a few minutes to find one to fit.

So, if the mechanic you go to has a parts bucket on his workbench, don’t think he’s leaving stuff out of project to add to his collection.  But now and then, we tend to stop when we’re about to toss something in the trash or the recycling bin and instead, it goes to the ever-expanding spare parts jar.  Do you have a collection of spare parts, bolts and more?  Share the picture.  By the way, I almost always give first-time home owners a simple tool kit as a housewarming gift.  I’ve had some appreciate it and some laugh out loud thinking it’s silly but ALL have ended up using them again and again.  Keep that in mind.  And, maybe throw in an empty jar.