Folks Of Interest Jack's Auto Ranch? Watertown , Wis.

Does anyone know what the status of Jack's Auto Ranch is in Wisconsin?
There was a thread on it back aways, haven't heard any follow-up.

also, how about Watkins Salvage east of New Glarus?

thanks for any info.

 

I've been to the Lasalle yard, it's only open on weekends on certain dates.
not too big but fun to walk thru, pretty well picked over

 

There is an old thread on Jack's. Not sure how to post a link to it. Do a search.

 

I tried calling jacks about a month ago no answer and messaged them on fakebook no response back, kinda bummed out there’s still a lot of treasures in there.

 

I know the old thread was up, but nothin new on there, just thot maybe someone close by had new info.

 

It was my understanding that it closed a while back. And they were going to be crushing it out to settle up the estate. I have not been there in close to 20 years, but talking to others anything of any value was pretty much picked clean and the guys who originally ran it had died off. Thats what I have heard from numerous sources anyhow. And I thought Watkins had crushed out years ago for the same reason. I gave up searching junk yards years ago. If you actually found something you could use they thought, it was gold plated. I just buy solid complete projects now. the time and effort to bring back a basket case just doesn't trip my trigger anymore at 68. Larry

 

A boner,..thanks for the vid,..been up there many times in the past, but never with all that mud/water.

 

I've heard nothing new either, although I'm curious. I would definitely spend another day or two there picking over the bones of what's left if the opportunity arose. I was there probably 5 years ago and had no problem finding a pile of worthwhile goodies to spend my money on then.

 

Google earth image is from 2021 and i went to the courthouse and looked at their ariel image which is from last summer (2023). they are basicly identical except no employee or customer cars parked out front by the main building on the courthouse file image.

i know that Jack got away with lots of things and when he died they made them clean up the yard and get almost everything behind the fence area and unstack some of those cars. there is quite a few holes in the yard that wasn't there before.

i was under the impression that everything was settled now. Christ got the yard and John got the other property that was the old pheasant farm. they had it fixed up for wedding parties and different events. John also got the property across the street to that was a small garage type property. i beleive he got x amount too but not sure on that but might explain the extra missing vehicles in the yard.

anyways with that said i was driving pass to get to Watertown today and i was on the road next to it so i went down the dead end street and turned around at the junkyard entrance. it is closed, looked the same as the courthouse ariel image and there is a no trespassing sign right out by the road entrance. if jack or harley was still around i would have poked around but with them both gone and not knowing the kids really which are basicly my age i just did a uturn without getting out of the vehicle.

i was always under the impression the yard would stay open but who knows now? Christ is 61 if i remember correctly, he was a few years older than me and i will be 59 in 3 months.

 

Around here , without cleanup , ( EPA style remove contaminated soil cleanup $$$$$$ ) the government won't let you sell the property , insurance companies won't allow the public to roam yards anymore , the government wants everything behind fences . Another business that's being choked !

 

@fuzzface That's more info than I've heard from anyone else. I really hope the yard does open again, even if it's only for a limited time. I know most of the cars are very rusty and a lot of parts have already been picked but there's still a ton of bits and pieces worth saving in there. Estates can be really tough, I hope it's true that everything is settled now and maybe they can re-open at some point.

 

Thanks guys for the added info,...I'd go up there again if it ever opened up again.
If it does , I'd hope it'd be posted on the HAMB for everyone.
thanks again.

 

I talked with some guy at iola about jacks and he seemed to know something. He told me the guy working there since jack passed for the family got pissed off about something and quit. I think he was a Friend of jack. I can not confirm this.

 

Doug was the right hand man at Jacks for many years. After Jack's passing, he kept the place going until tiring of the squabbles between the boys. If it should re open, it will take some real energy and a small team. It won't be the old Jacks we knew but there is still a ton of inventory out there. let's hope some of it finds good new homes.

 

I heard the very same story (Maybe it was me you talked to at Iola?) Basically that Doug was running the place after Jack died but he and the family/inheritors didn't get along well or had disagreements and he quit.

 

I was there this weekend. Jack's son, Chris, owns the yard outright now, and he will sell stuff. Me and a group of friends went there on Saturday and we all found plenty to buy. Chris seems like a super nice guy and I think we all felt pretty good about our purchases, I felt the prices were very fair.

I do have his contact info, and if someone is really serious about going there and actually buying stuff, I'll share that info with you, just send me a message. But I really don't want to give his number out to just anyone. He's not there regular hours, and I'd prefer not to send people out there who only want to look around (waste time) without buying anything, or call on the phone and bug the guy about if he has some certain piece (which I doubt he would know in a lot of cases). But if you're going to actually go there, be polite, and actually buy stuff, let me know and I'll give you his contact info.

This is what I got. Some pieces for my '41 Cadillac convertible and some for the '50 Dodge I just bought, some fun stuff to hang on the wall and some other misc. bits.

 

Here's a few fun pics from the yard. These old 40's Cadillac hearses were all pretty rough, but really cool to see. Every large vehicle seems to be packed with an assortment of parts.



There's quite a few hearses in the yard. Also this old step van, probably the most photographed vehicle in the yard. Still there, I'm tempted to ask what he'd want for a side of it, and then go cut it off.


Some random junk

 

The Dodge I got parts off of for my '50. The Caddy that my exhaust came off of was in the set above.


I love the fence made of doors!




But even cooler is this section of fence, made of wheels. It's 4 or 5 feet tall (was very hard to get a picture of it due to the overgrowth) and the wheels are all stacked edge to edge and welded together. The amount of time and effort it must have taken to make this is staggering. It's almost folk-art.

 

A couple other crap pics I took. It's hard to get a picture of anything in the yard, although now is probably the best time to go, or early in spring.




If you're looking for good sheetmetal, you'll probably be disappointed, and I didn't see a single vehicle in the yard I'd call "buildable". Also very little musclecar era stuff. But the little bits and pieces it takes to rebuild these cars, whether it's trim or mechanical bits or whatever, there's TONS of good stuff left, in my opinion. Lots of 40's and 50's and early 60's era.

 

thanks for this info, good to know Jack's is back in business.
I've been in there many times and always found somethin to buy....prices were always reasonable.

 

What @Squablow said.

Six maybe seven Kaisers, five Hudsons, including one Wasp(!), two Opel Rekords(!!!), one Thames van, a Willys Aero, and plenty more mainstream American vehicles.

It was a treat for me to be able to walk through today, as I haven't been there in over a decade, but it was nirvana if you like vintage stuff and aren't afraid to push through some dogwoods and thorns. The overgrowth isn't terrible, but it's not ideal for taking pics.

 

Looks like Squablow spilled the lug nuts!
Yes, Quasi open, I dropped about 200 bucks that day

 

10? or 12 years ago I had the chance to rvist jacks while I was in the area for work.

The photos above are exactly how I recall it.. I know I picked MOST of the 49 thru 51 woodie parts that I knew Id be able to get home, but I bet there are still more.. I know there was a 33 or 34 cowl near the office that was trying to find a way to buy!

cool spot for sure.

 

You got better pics than I did. Did you find anything to buy?

The frame for that is still there, but the cowl is gone.

 

glad to see it back open for people. I stopped back in june and never reported because this thread dropped down but what i saw on that tuesday was it was still closed and looked like the one building was being cleaned out and i saw the recycling company i use had a big dumpster in there. there also was a big excavator there and a semi trailer you haul car bodies on parked in there so i thought it was going to be all over until i saw Squablow post that he was there since me and it was open.

I should get out there i see inthepink posted pictures of a packard i could use a few things from and when Jack was alive he told me he had a mate to my packard hearse out there someplace. I use to talk to him every friday when he was picking up the food for his gang but i never got back out there.

 

thanks for the pics & info,...always loved going thru the yard.