Trash to Treasure

My cousin Melvin was a self-employed contractor for most of his life and had several buildings stuffed with leftover building supplies and all kinds of things he and his wife collected during the more than fifty years they lived at that place. He died last winter and his widow had a public auction this spring.

It wasn't the kind of thing I was interested in so I didn't go along and Leroy didn't buy much either. But he did bring home one thing we were both pleased with. Somewhere along the way Melvin had obtained an old wooden pump our mutual Burkholder grandpa had stored in his barn for years. No one knows where Grandpa got it.

Leroy spent a lot of time cleaning and painting the metal parts on the pump. Then he put a coat of Woodlife on it to preserve the wood. He put a piece of PVC pipe around the lower end to protect the part that is underground. Then he laid a circle of red sandstones around the base to simulate a well. Setting up against the front wall of the house places it under the protection of the roof.

Next he dug out the pump trough he bought at his dad's sale a few years ago and fashioned legs for it from some old strap hinges. They made fancy legs with a cute curl on the bottom. He plans to get the trough powder coated so it will not rust but here it is as it looks today. (click to enlarge)

I just wish I could ask Grandpa where the old wooden pump came from. Is it something he brought home from one of his carpenter jobs or did it once stand on the well at their home? I remember a metal pump outside the kitchen but this wooden one might have been there when they bought the place about 1914. After being in storage for many years, this old pump now has a new lease on life and a prominent position where it can be admired.