I went to the junk yard this morning with my 6 year son and was told he could not go into the yard because he was under 16. I understand this is probably due to their insurance policy...but 16?? So much for trying to introduce him to the joys of the junk yard while he's young. Guess I've got to try to find another yard close by that isn't so strict. Dummer.
Just let the wife watch him ,I understand you love your son ,But a junkyard can be dangerous .ILL POINT A FEW THINGS OUT. Rusty metal ,Moldy interiors,Bees ,Wasps ,Antifreeze.Its not in my opinion a place for little kids .Im not preaching ,One yard I use to go to they run a front loader around ,One time for shits and giggles they chased me with it .At least thats what I thought.
Took my boy when he was about that age to a junkyard. Gave him the lecture about throwing rocks and breaking stuff. Next thing I see is him coming down the road dragging something. Turns out I didn't mention he couldn't kill large snakes....luckily it wasn't a rattler!
I had a guy that kept bringing his kids with him everytime he came to my old shop. I asked him not to, but he was a good repeat customer, so I didn't say much when he did. One day, we had several sheets of sheetmetal sitting on the frame jig, sure enough, the kid walked by and caught a corner. the result was about a 6" gash that needed stitches on the top of his head. I offered to pay the doctor fees, but he never accepted. Luckilly I wasn't sued. Had he not been a long time standing customer, I'm sure the results would have been different. I understand their policy.
you said you grew up in a junk yard! hahahahaha i know what you meant, but that sounded funny when i was reading it!
I see both sides of this argument. As a father, I took my daughter to the junkyard/car crushing operation multiple times. It took longer to get my parts because I was kept busy watching her and making certain that she wouldn't get hurt. Amy is now 33, has a Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tennnessee, and has a 3 year old son. Her husband and I now build homes here in East Tennessee. Nathan (the three year old grandson) loves going to the construction site. Yes, work slows down, but that's the price you pay to begin teaching a child about work (and create some fun memories for all involved). We've begun taking Nathan to car shows, swapmeets, and cruise-in's, but he's not made a trip to the junkyard (yet, but it will be soon). Here are a few photos from Nathan's early visits to the jobsite:
Yep. I saw a car from the road in a junk yard awhile back. I asked if I could go look to see if there was anything on it I needed. I was told "no". If I wanted something they would go pull it. I left.
I would love to bring my budding hotrodder 11 year old to the yard. They won't let me. That's fine. But any decent parent would be able to keep their kid out of trouble.
i wish i had a junkyard that i could still go to. there use to be one about 10 miles from me when i was 13 years old i started going there once a week or once a month. (basicly when ever i could) in hopes of finding a project car to some day call my own and my daily driver for when i first got my licence. one day when i was 15 i went there after hearing about a 64 mustang convertible that was fresh in the yard. and at the door i was told i was no longer allowed in the yard unless i had an adult with me. i was like wtf considering how many times i had been there before on my own. then a couple months later they stopped allowing people to walk in the yard and now days the yard isnt even there. everything was crushed after it burnt down and the land was sold. damn i need to find another junkyard to roam around in in hopes of finding a car worthy of calling my own
I'm sure your kids is fine but that junkyard has probably had a bad experience with careless parents. I can just see unsupervised kids getting hurt or tearing up stuff. Our local yard used to have a sign that read "This ain't the amusement park...leave your kids at home".
YA, IT BLOWS. but the little critters are way more prone to catching their little punkin head on a low-hanging part and can get hurt by stuff that us big peoplle wouldn't find a problem. in todays WORLD, AS GUYS GOTTA COVER HIS ASS. this is coming from a guy that spent every minute that wasn't supervised in a yard. times change, brother.
Too damned many people don't watch or keep track of their kids when they are out in public. I used to see whole families out in one of the local junk yards thirty years ago and I think my first born went with me a few times before he was ten. I wouldn't take any kid to that same wrecking yard today because it is hardly a safe place for an adult who knows what he is doing let alone a kid running around and getting in and on things. Around here the yards are somewhat divided on if they let you in or not. One has the "good stuff" fenced off behind a locked gate and another section that they let people pick their own parts. Two others are strictly do it your self places and 4 times out of 5 the part I want has been destroyed because some clown wanted a small part of it. I've seen dozens of tail lights smashed in that yard because someone wanted a pocket full of 1147 bulbs and was too lazy to take a few screws out. Let the kid get his first experience of being around cars out in the garage or driveway and do some simple projects that they can be fully involved in. Or let them do their own project on a bicycle or other thing. When he was 12 or 13 my son who would have turned 40 last week rebuilt many a bicycle in the shop that I built my 48 in. He was always taking a bike apart, sandblasting the frame and we would paint the frame with paint leftover from car projects. He turned out some sharp looking bikes that other kids had fits over. When he was 19 our last day together was spent in that shop working on his 70 Chev pickup together all day and is one of the most treasured days I have in my memory bank.
Damn, maybe I better quit going myself. Getting harder in our area to find a place that will let you brouse. Most want an attendent along and wear a hard hat. One even charges $2 to go into their yard. Boi Angeles sucks at times!
Unkl Ian's got it right- I lied about my age for years so I didn't have to bother my folks with "a trip to the yard", (lol, would they have even taken me had I just asked? Doubtful, highly doubtful) It's sickening when some rube informs you "It's not that kinda yard anymore, what do you need, I'll get it," (sloppily and with several stripped threads, I might add)- Pretty soon we're gonna have to just make our own yards....
Yeah thats a bunch of bullshit ive been taking my two boys with me to t5he salvage yard since they were about four years old and taught them to respect the cars in thereand not to break shit or throw rocks and such at the cars never had any problems, now they are 19 and 18 years old and they have a love for the salvage yard as much as i do ,they go walk around the yards for hours at a time thats too bad about your son, hopefully you can find a yard tthat will let come in with you, good luck!
My 14 year old was out with me two years ago in a old yard north of Ottawa.The old guy that runs it was so impressed with my son he took him over to his log skidder converted to car mover and showed my son how to start and run it. Invited my kid to come with me any time he would like.
As far as I am concerned it comes down to irresponsibe parents who do not watch there kids like they are supposed to then sue cause something happened that could have been prevented if they would have been watching there kids.
It's been like that close to 20 years now that a minor wasn't allowed in a yard around here except a couple of real small 1 man run yards. I was told because of their insurance policy 1 time. it's 18 here also. I know I enjoyed going with my dad when I was a kid. I was shocked the first time i went with the wife and daughter and got told no kids, so the wife waited in the car with her out front. I can't believe she is 33 now.
a junk yard its not a safe place for a young one, you have to take in mind that we live in a wold were people, don't take responsibilities for they own actions and looking for an opportunity to sue anybody.
Since I never had any kids of my own I took my girlfriends kids along with me to the junkyards,the one old yard really dont want kids in it but since I am a very frequent customer they let me bring kids in and I was on then to stay near the car I was taking parts off and had no problems. Before my dad died he was usually with me and kept the kids in line too.
Yea, it kinda sucks but understandable. Pick-n-pull here in tallahassee has a rule you gotta be 16 too. So i cant get my kids in to help me so i gotta drive 30 minutes out of the way to get my brother to help when i need it. But in their defense the cars are all sitting up on car rims and could fall over.
It's 18 years old and sign in and pay $2 to get in most yards around here, the $2 covers the small parts that some forget to pay for.
A lot of the reasons for this kind of policy is directly related to lawyers. Ever notice nowdays that you can be sued (sucessfully) for the smallest thing? God forbid your kid would get hurt but if he did you might end up owning the damn yard if you got the right lawyer. Frank
The Jalopy Journal
