Scrap yard find of the week.

[Iplayfarmer]

Never pass on ANY scrap metal thats free =) The local scrap yard here which is about an hour from me pays $225 a ton for iron.. 210 for tin, 200 for any appliances.. Prices fluctuate and are usually high in the summer. I have no issues at all with storing tons of junk out of sight and waiting for prices to jump.

a 10k trailer and the back of your truck full of junk that can't be used/rebuilt could be a quick $1200 in your pocket. My biggest scrap check was from copper radiators and brass, 1700 bux out the door..

If I could only find this stuff every day!

I was in line at the scrap yard behind a guy with a pickup truck load of radiator cores. He got a premium on his load because he was over 1,000 pounds and the metal was prepared. I think the check he got was almost $2K. After that, my $125 for copper and aluminum was hard to get as excited about.

 

[D7E]

Rescued this from the shredder last year just because the clutch was stuck...with a good bucket and pallet tines ....for $300

 

[ak9]

I 've always enjoyed turning "junK" into things that are " New" again .. re -purpose ect . It seems that our culture has become so materialisticly wasteful.
I've recently seen at the scrap yards; 10' tapco brake w/stand , 2.5 ton floor jack, 2 ton car ramps, 5 hp craftsman air comp. w/30 gal tank ,rolls of chain link fence, electric ground rods (copper) that were obviosly (sp) yanked out of the ground by the same truck they were in @ the yard:confused2:
Most of the yards @ here don't resale to the public which is probably a good thing for me as I would be salvaging more than local codes allow:laughing:

ak9

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Rescued this from the shredder last year just because the clutch was stuck...with a good bucket and pallet tines ....for $300

Goodness!! One tire is worth that much. Great find.

 

[hddnis]

I've got a few junk yards around that sell stuff for scrap price and figure they are making the cost of hauling it in. Several of them have old mill equipment and logging machines. One has old construction machines. Really good sources for heavy pieces of plate, bar, cylinders, pumps, roller chain, etc. Kinda fun to go in and get a running detriot diesel for scrap iron price. Down side is you have to have a torch, angle grinder, heavy duty pullers, big impact wrench and a small crane of your own. You have to take a full service truck to pull stuff apart. I always drop off parts that I had to pull but don't want at the shop, they like that, often putting them on ebay and selling the parts I pulled, this helps me keep getting the good deals.




Mr. HE

 

[pete59]

Hi I had to respond to your find as I work at Grove Gear. I happened to take today off as I was finishing up a homemade garden tractor that I revived with one of our 50/1 reducers to use as a primary transmission. I bought it(the tractor) for my boys 12 years ago for 30 dollars as that's what I had in my billfold on that day!The guy I bought it from was a retired tool room machinist from Case as we are in Wisconsin. The rearend is GM from the 40's as is the 3 speed trans.,I use it everyday sometimes pulling 1/2 ton of corn around in a 4'x6' trailer. Those speed reducers are tough and they at Grove Gear have always kept us ex -farmboys working, even when manufacturing was down.Congratulations on it and it will hold up!

 

[PILOON]

Near me is a steel fab shop that tosses cuttings into a dumpster.
Whenever I go there to purchase steel or hardware I always park directly next to dumpster and 'recycle' as much as I can, all sorts of cut offs in all kinds of gauge stock and even shorts of DOM tubing (great for bushings).
I always ask the foreman if OK to dumpster dive a bit.
Those bits, odds and ends, are great for gussets braces etc.

 

[PILOON]

Years back I worked for Stanley (steel strapping div) and while touring the facility I discovered a huge pile of measuring tapes.
While rejected mostly for print blurring or smeared paint they were still better than my used tapes.
I recall winding them around my hand and tying or taping them into a tight coil.
My luggage was darn close to overweight on the flight home!

 

[GrizzyDan]

I was in line at the scrap yard behind a guy with a pickup truck load of radiator cores. He got a premium on his load because he was over 1,000 pounds and the metal was prepared. I think the check he got was almost $2K. After that, my $125 for copper and aluminum was hard to get as excited about.

Yeah Aluminum just doesn't seem to pay out that well.. When I was working construction, and even before that when I did trash hauls and handyman work for people I used to take metal to the dump, they of course recycled it, and didn't charge a fee.. I kick myself every time I think about how much I could have made had I stored all that.. Of course now the dump charges a fee, and they get paid sending it off to the recyclers..

We all need to befriend those who work in the home air conditioning and heating field.. One of the local shops takes their used radiators, copper tubing, motors, etc to the dump.. I can't imagine how many more out there do the same thing.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Pete its good to hear from you. I have a freind that is a master fabricator. He grew up in logging. From skidding pulp with a horse as a kid and later tractors and skidders. He mechaniced and worked with just junk. He can take scrap and build almost anything and in a skinny minute. He often rebuilt trailers and equipment for the previous owner of this yard. He has a shop filled with gears pulleys and gearboxes and anything hydraulic. When he jut had his small shop he moslty worked off a service truck. He built many other projects in the scrapyard.

You gotta post pics of the tractor now lol.