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UER Forum > Archived Canada: Ontario > Beer, horses and snowmobiles (Viewed 319 times)
mikegoogle 


Location: West end of the GTA
Gender: Male




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Beer, horses and snowmobiles
< on 8/10/2009 6:00 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 

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Note: I am reluctant to divulge the location of this site so I have not included any pictures of the exterior.

Over the past 20 years I drove past this property many times. It has a turn-of-the-century home on a large corner lot, and a large barn as well as many out buildings. As time went by, and I suppose as the owners aged, the property slipped further and further into a state of disrepair. Eventually it seemed the farm yard was turned into a rental property. There were always 3-4 cars and pickups in the driveway and often when driving by on the weekends there would be 10-12 vehicles. The house did get some fixing up – new paint, they fixed the veranda, etc.

Then one day there was nothing. No cars – just a rope across the driveway. Eventually the rope became a gate and then the windows on all the buildings were boarded up.

I decided today, as I drove past, to drop in and see what I could see. The house was still boarded up tight with cut-to-fit plywood sheets on all of the ground level doors and windows as well as most of the 2nd floor.
The garage was empty - just a poorly insulated ceiling falling down into the area a car would have been. An adjacent workshop was filled with the things people should (but never) take to the dump. Included amongst the mess however was a John Deere Cyclone 440 snowmobile (circa mid 70’s) and it was surprisingly intact. Also, two cast-iron fireplace heaters with an unusual bi-fold door feature.

Moving on to the large barn, we made entry into the ground level through a door secured with a rope tied in a series of half-hitches. Pull the rope, and it opened like a zipper - a weird way to lock a door. Anyhow upon making entry, we found a small Toro lawn tractor. So small in fact, it was rather comical.
A large amount of “vintage” electronic equipment was lying about. It was scatted amongst specialized crates for it, but it all seemed to be related to a singular device. It took me awhile to figure it out, but I realized it is a totalisator system. A totalisator system is a used at race tracks (typically horses for the era of the equipment) and is used to collect bets, and work the calculations for Win, Place, and Show and display the results. It prints the ticket for the customer from which they can collect their winnings if they are lucky. Such a strange item to find in the basement of an old barn – There were many unused spools of tote-paper about as well as the alphanumeric stamps used to print the betting information.

There were at least 6 large empty spools for wire. 52-pair cable made by the Northen Electric (which became Nothern Telecom in 1976) This wire would have been used to wire up the wickets to the control system as well as to the display system.

Moving upstairs in the barn, I came across another unusual sight. First off, not just one 25-year-old snowmobile, but SIX. All appear to be in working condition – some covered by tarps, others by dust. Nonetheless, they look like you could just add gas and drive them out the door. They even have keys. There was also an older garden tractor and it’s associated snow mobile attachment.
The horse paddocks were half filled with personal items such as coffee tables, kitchen chairs, bed frames and records featuring such recording greats an Engelbert Humperdinck. There was even a small child-sized Yamaha dirt bike.

The whole lot of items seems to have been essentially abandoned sometime in the 1980s. There isn’t much in the barn that dates after that. There are even some items from much earlier, like a hand-cranked cream separator from the early 20th century and the teeth from a thrashing machine – a piece of farming equipment which was made obsolete in the 1930’s by the combine.

The barn, while at first glance appears structurally sound from the outside, is only a rain-storm or two from collapse. The foundation walls have completely buckled away, and the floor on the 2nd level is reminiscent of the local skate park due to uneven settling.

I am amazed by the wildly chaotic assortment of items I see whilst exploring.

I zipped the door back up, and went home.

Mike



bandi 

Lippy Mechanic Bastard


Location: Trent Hills, ON
Gender: Male


A liminal mind is all I've ever known.

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Re: Beer, horses and snowmobiles
<Reply # 1 on 8/10/2009 2:18 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Nice find... digging the vintage sleds, especially the '80 Moto Ski GPS (Ski Doo Blizzard clone)



hi i like cars
cr400 


Location: Los Angeles, CA
Gender: Male




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Re: Beer, horses and snowmobiles
<Reply # 2 on 8/10/2009 3:51 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
A JT1 Yamaha mini, I want it!!! Sweet set thanks.

You can see a million miles tonite, but you can't get very far.

Honorary member of UER lifetime acheivement award winning, 2Xplorations and Guide Services, Texas.
leafloving4x4gal 


Location: Durham Region
Gender: Female


Someday is NOT a day of the week !

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Re: Beer, horses and snowmobiles
<Reply # 3 on 8/10/2009 4:34 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Nice set !! I love old barns and the treasures that are usually within.

"if you are not selfish enough to make yourself happy, you have nothing of value to offer the world."
colinski 


Location: Virginia
Gender: Male


head like a hole

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Re: Beer, horses and snowmobiles
<Reply # 4 on 8/10/2009 6:07 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Veerry interesting. So much bird poop.

You should find the owner and make a cash offer on all the stuff in the barn.

one day your life will flash before your eyes. make sure it's worth watching.
team haymaker 


Location: Burlington, Ontario
Gender: Male




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Re: Beer, horses and snowmobiles
<Reply # 5 on 9/5/2009 4:57 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
thats definitly a great find. if you ever find the owner be sure to ask him or her about the blue and red sled, i have an exact same one thats sitting in our yard. everything there looks like it was in great shape and even with covers on some sleds. i would state the location either in fear of someone grabbing a sled or two

at second glance there appears to be a Kawasaki invader under that blanket too. thats awsome.
[last edit 9/5/2009 4:59 AM by team haymaker - edited 1 times]

UER Forum > Archived Canada: Ontario > Beer, horses and snowmobiles (Viewed 319 times)



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