Farming with Free Stuff, Act IV

Our friends and blog readers know that we're hardcore freegans here at Painted Hand Farm, so when someone at a southcentral PASA committee meeting announced they had an older Ford diesel flatbed free for the taking, I had to ask about it. Turns out that it has a 6.9L engine and runs. Sure, there are some quirks--sticky glow plug actuator, fuel gauge doesn't work and it has been cobbled back together after hitting a pole, but all-in-all it will get put to good use.
Ralph is already making plans to fix all the little things and then install a dump kit for the bed. It's already hinged so it just needs the cylinder and the lift kit. Also in the image, you'll notice another set of portable shelters. The multi-colored siding came from a neighbor's bone pile after he completed some roof & shed work. The short pieces worked perfect for us. He already put it to use when he picked up a free work counter with cabinets from a pizza shop that went out of business. It was 9'x4'x3' and will be perfect for the creamery.
I see a lot of farmers driving around in their $50K pick up trucks and you know what...either their spouse works full time off the farm or they're in debt up to their eyeballs. The last thing I want is a $400+ monthly vehicle payment plus the cost of insurance that goes along with it. Anyone who says they can't afford to farm, I say "hogwash"! There's plenty of opportunity and free stuff out there as long as you aren't hung up on pretty & perfect.