A positive thing about high steel prices

[40Kchicks]

Way back when, my chicken farm was a egg layer operation. Later it was converted to raising broilers. All the cages and feed equipment were just thrown out in the field and broiler equipment was installed in the barns. The next owner cleaned up the place by stacking all the metal junk in a pile. Then he added to the pile by doing some more updates to the barns. Then when I bought the place I completely tore everything out of the barns and replaced all the electrical and equipment with new stuff. Again the metal pile grew. Now I have a metal mountain out in the back 40.

Last year I finally got caught up with chicken updates enough to start thinking about the acreage. I tried to get the local recyclers interested in it but the best I could do was to get them to drop off a box which I would have to load at a cost of $75 a picked up box. It was going to take lots of boxes and work so I put it off.

This last week some recyclers came by and offered me $10 a ton and they will come with a loader and I don’t have to do anything except cash the check. They figure it will be about 30 to 40 tons of scrap. So my procrastination has paid off this time. As soon at the ground dries up it out of here.

Hopefully the high price of steel will be temporary but if you have scrap laying around, making your place not look so nice it may be the right time to clean it up and get paid to do it or have someone come out like I am.

Sorry about not having a picture. I’ll try to get one in the next couple of days.

Eric

 

[MikePA]

Thanks for sharing the other side of the story. Too often people concentrate on the people who have to pay to the exclusion of those who are being paid.

 

[_RaT_]

Hey, I have a similar story, well, not nearly as much and I'm hauling off the scrap. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JerryG]

Eric,
That is real funny. I had a lot of feed lines, hoppers and assorted junk when I bought my farm and I had the same problem almost. I even told my local salvage guy that if he would bring a truck or box that I would load it and give it to them. They weren't interested. It's pretty bad when you offer to do all the work and give it to them and they still won't take it. With the prices the way they are, they might now.

 

[Inspector507]

I have about 300 lbs of stainless out back........wonder what kinda price I'd get for it now?

 

[40Kchicks]

The other day my brother’s boss got a call from the local scrap dealer. My brother works at a custom fab and pipe fitting shop. The dealer told the boss thieves were getting into his yard to steal the stainless because prices were so high. So they went out to check on their stainless scrap bins and sure enough half the pile was gone. So now they are putting the scrap bins in at night.

The funny thing about this story is that the day the owner got this news I needed a small piece of 3/8 plate. I have permission to take any scrap that I need since the owner and I are friends and help each other out from time to time. So here the managers were having a meeting discussing thieves stealing scrap when innocent me pull up and start rummaging through the bins. I think they were about ready to send out the dogs when the owner recognized my truck. I just waved to everyone watching me as I left the shop with my little piece of plate not knowing that they, for awhile, were getting ready to call the cops. The next time I saw my friend the owner we had a good laugh about me taking scrap on the same day they had found out about the scrap thieves.

It seems to me that they were getting about .36 cents per pound for stainless and .03 cents for small cuts of steal but I am passing on information that I’m not certain about.

Eric

 

[YanmarFever]

Last I heard scrap steel was 90.00 a ton /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I had a scraper eyeballing my pile of rototillers that I have out back,and thats what he said.
Ernie

 

[Hambone]

$90 is what they are paying here. Aluminum cans are $.45 if over 100 pounds.

 

[BubbaJr]

Here's an alternate idea. Check out how much the local scrap dealer is paying for what you have, come up with a guess of how many pounds you have, and how many truck (trailer) loads there are. Find your local Boy Scout (or Girl Scout - Boys and Girls Club, Church Youth Group) leader and ask them if they would be interested in the scrap for hauling it away. If you can give them some kind of estimate of how much they might get for the scrap, you will probably have better luck in getting them to do it. That way you may get some brownie points in the community, get rid of the mess, and teach some kids to work for what they get.

Just remember "no good deed goes unpunished", so make sure you have enough liability insurance and maybe even a waiver of responsibility from the kids parents. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[YanmarFever]

Bubba
you are right there
I saw a local church having a soda can drive this weekend
in our town.
Ernie