Show of hands, how many old guys still doing manual labor here ?

[GH85Carrera]

I still dig holes in the yard when my Master Gardener wife has a new tree to plant. And I still mow and edge my yard. It takes me about two hours to do it. I can afford to pay to have it done, but I prefer to get that exercise and I am a cheap SOB. That is beer money!

[Dantilla]

Glad I no longer need to frame houses. A friend who builds nice homes occasionally asks if I want to help frame a roof. Working with trusses and/or rafters is like playing on monkey bars- Pure fun.

Climbing around like a kid while accomplishing something useful- Doesn't get much better than that.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Will be 75 in November. I'm still able to do a few things, but no longer able to go hard all day. Also, neuropathy in feet have shot my balance...no longer get on the roof, thing like that. Have to rest a day after a day of going hard. Like I told the neighbor I'm giving some firewood trees to, "I'd planned on thinning these when I planted them 40 years ago. What I didn't plan on was diabetes and a bum ticker..."

Enjoy good health while you have it!

(edit) We all deteriorate at different rates, but I find it sad that my buddies & I often find our talks involve the latest medical happenings. Nobody beats father time..nobody.

Well said. There is no competition here.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by vash

i still love splitting wood the hard way. something very satisfying about hitting the end of a log accurately with an AXE.

i find STACKING the wood the complete opposite. what a life-suck. i hate that part.

my dad told me before he died, to "do at least one thing constructive every single day" for some strange reason (in my mind), most of the task should be manual labor in nature. i dont think balancing my checkbook counts.

I have even felled a tree by axe. Was a great time. I like to keep active but it gets tougher as fewer towns have softball leagues. Still do Muay Thai every Friday with the daughter though. She is getting better and I am getting older and is is starting to hurt more.

I worked with dad doing commercial flooring until I found out I had a knack for these computer thingies. He started at 16 and retired at 65 doing it though. Still did the odd job or two until he had both hips replaced a couple years ago.

[KFC911]

I've learned to take it easy with an axe, sledge hammers, etc. Though I don't mind the physical aspect....I feel it in my hands and wrists later...plus...it's inefficient as hell .

Gimme 2 hours with a good hydraulic wood splitter, and I'll split a months worth of axe/maul/sledge/wedge labor....easy .

Last summer...had a large red oak (4') uprooted....rather than haul my splitter to the tree, I split the logs into qtrs for transport to my splitter...enjoyed it...hard work!
Paid for it for several days though . And that's the way my dad & I did it for years....no mas.

[john walker's workshop]

70. Still fixing 911s all week.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Will be 75 in November. I'm still able to do a few things, but no longer able to go hard all day. Also, neuropathy in feet have shot my balance...no longer get on the roof, thing like that. Have to rest a day after a day of going hard. Like I told the neighbor I'm giving some firewood trees to, "I'd planned on thinning these when I planted them 40 years ago. What I didn't plan on was diabetes and a bum ticker..."

Enjoy good health while you have it!

(edit) We all deteriorate at different rates, but I find it sad that my buddies & I often find our talks involve the latest medical happenings. Nobody beats father time..nobody.

Well at least you have an excuse for having neuropathy, you are an old Geezer. More importantly your neuropathy is not between the ears like a a lot of the BOyz on this Board.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I turn 50 next month, fell over dead last year but back to normal and really enjoy hard manual labour

I've quit my cushy office job to spent the summer outside doing everything needed to build a house.

I'll dig the foundations, level the concrete slab, build the walls from stone and concrete block, cut and fit floor joists, fit steel beams, even got a couple 1000lb oak beams to fit, roof trusses and tile the roof.

[Seahawk]

Not for a living but I do own a farm.

I had a great run avoiding as much manual labor as possible when my children were still on the farm. I put them both under the yoke when they were 6/7 and used them like Clydesdale's until they graduated college and fled

Those days are over. Almost: My son just finished his first year of law school and starts his summer internship in two weeks: He is mine.

I approach manual labor differently these days. I had two small tractors and a larger one to refresh last weekend (fluids, new mower blades, repairs, paint, etc.): More burpees than you can imagine. Ten years ago (same tractors) I was done in a day.

Not no mo'. I was sweating like The Real Housewife's of Beverly Hill's taking the SAT's for a day and a half.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

I turn 50 next month, fell over dead last year but back to normal and really enjoy hard manual labour

I've quit my cushy office job to spent the summer outside doing everything needed to build a house.

I'll dig the foundations, level the concrete slab, build the walls from stone and concrete block, cut and fit floor joists, fit steel beams, even got a couple 1000lb oak beams to fit, roof trusses and tile the roof.

Good for you. Hit it hard and knock it out.

At 55 I opened my wee shop. More of a semi retirement hobby, beer drinking man cave, where I fix a few cars for to pay the rent. 61 now.

I flat backed it for three years before I bought my lift. That is work. Not manual labor but it officially qualifies as work.

With a lift it's "kinda" like a desk job.

[widebody911]

Me llamo Manuel Labor, y yo tengo cincuenta y uno años.

[rfuerst911sc]

I retired on 12/1/17 at 59 and turned 60 in January . I have been enclosing my pole barn by myself , studding the walls , plywood etc. all by myself . Not as fast as I was at 20 but can still get it done . I can push all day in 90 + heat if need be . Sure I have aches and pains but nothing to complain about others have it much worse . None of us beat the clock but keeping it at bay as long as possible is my goal

[Mark Henry]

56
I'm installing a new 996 engine today, 8 engines and 4 transmissions in cue. Did a IMS solution last week.
About to break ground on an addition to my shop.
Put a new steel roof on the house last year, mostly by myself.
Helping my 17 year old son get his first car on the road then were tackling his 914 project.

Not as fast as I was, but still plugging along nicely.

[Jims5543]

53, I still work outside in the Florida heat every day. While not a labor intensive job, there are moments. Like when we have to cut a couple hundred of feet through the woods with a machete. I tend to move very fast most of the young guys that have worked for me complain I need to slow down some.

My favorite is having to hop 5-6' wood fences, I can still get over them very easy and it pisses the younger guys off, especially the ones that struggle.

I have no plans on slowing down, my plan is to do this until I am 60 then scale back my work field load a lot and let the young guys do all the work while I ride a desk most of the time.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Good for you. Hit it hard and knock it out.

At 55 I opened my wee shop. More of a semi retirement hobby, beer drinking man cave, where I fix a few cars for to pay the rent. 61 now.

I flat backed it for three years before I bought my lift. That is work. Not manual labor but it officially qualifies as work.

With a lift it's "kinda" like a desk job.

Thanks, sounds like you have found a good balance

Not planning on going full time as a builder, just want to spend time doubling the size of my house and building my dream garage.

Everyone else's car project is the most important priority now it's time for one of my many projects to be the most important priority

[sand_man]

I'll be 49 in June and still wrenching on all the family cars. Just finished a clutch in our Jeep Wrangler, before moving on to the light weight flywheel and clutch in my 993 (and a few other "while in theres"). Yeah, I am much more sore and take my sweet time. I really need to get another lift! Now I'm gathering all the parts for a suspension refresh on our Jeep.

I have a corporate IT job by day and work out of the house.

EDIT: and my 21 year old son just bought a 2000 BMW 528i, so I'm sure there's more pain in my future...

[porsche tech]

71 . 30 years as a line tech and 12 as a shop foreman at a dealer. Lots of physical and lots of sweat. Retired in 2012 and still can't sit around good. I do my own yard, play LOTS of golf, service my own vehicles and ride my bike a lot (pretty flat here in the lowcountry). Been blest to not have too many aches and pains but trying to be smart and not do things I know I can't. Don't take any meds but skin is so thin I can bleed in a new york second! I am so thankful not to have to be twisting wrenches or contorting under dashboards anymore!

[billybek]

I pulled out of the trade I worked in 10 years ago. I was overhauling/troubleshooting and maintaining large equipment for over 20 years.
Started teaching at that point and now at 55 years old can't imagine going back to that routine. Wouldn't be able to physically take it.

[pete3799]

Working on 65 (64 1/2) still working full time. Dismounted and mounted two truck tires this morning, dug out a couple of culverts, cut three trees along the roadside. Just dropped them. The backhoe shoved them off the road.
Don't get around as well as i used to but i'm far from useless.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I'm 50 and work pretty hard 7 days a week. Prior to going Hershey, my last day off was Christmas. Haven't had one since Hershey. While all I do is have fun all day long, I couldn't work on my own cars...the 928 engine build has languished for months. So I have recently hired 2 assistants and I might be able to start taking time off in July.

Have had super cushy desk jobs but feel much more alive doing real physical labor, mostly in window frame sanding/polishing/anodizing but plating prep is hard physical work too. And tumbling Turbo trailing arms is a serious workout for an hour, each side.

I think hard work keeps you young as long as you respect when your body tells you to relax and recuperate.