Scrap metal - is it worth it?

dude.

if you see old bmx bikes, keep them out of the pile to scrap. 

I want them. 

Just took a load of scrap metal to the yard today. 620lbs yielded $81. Going rate is $13/100lbs.

Nice Cobia - I want your prices.  My shred price is $12/100lbs.  So 540lbs netted me little over $60 bucks.  Did sell a fridge for $15 and dryer for $25 from back of trailer.  Made a little over $200 this weekend between scrap and flea market.

Moral of the story - look for all the ways you can make money on a unit....even on the trash.

craiglstauction

Great post on scrapping.

A couple of quick bits of info. that may be of interest.

"Had a fridge on the truck also that they wouldn't take as the freon wasn't released yet or something."

Please do not think you can make just a little bit more money by releasing the freon from that heavy ass frig, freezer, or air conditioning unit. The fine is $10,000 if you get turned in and prosecuted.

"The van seats that I got in one unit while heavy I just tossed in the trash also.  Didn't want to spend an hour cutting the foam and crap off. "

It used to be that you could still sell those items that are not completely stripped or a given class of material, ie. #1 copper, #2 copper, etc. As mentioned, ask to see what they will or will not take.

"I actually just scrapped my second car today, an 89 Lincoln - got $500 bucks."

If the buyer does not go over the car with a fine tooth comb, before he gives you the price to buy, you may want to considering removing the radiator and heater core (copper) Also, you get more money for generators, alternators, and starters then just let then go as steel or aluminum. Depending on how deep you want to go, the wiring may be worth spending a few minutes. I think you should ask the recyclers you sell to it they take catalytic converters. I think they pay quite well for them.

Good luck to all. 

Wayne

Had a fridge on the truck also that they wouldn't take as the freon wasn't released yet or something."

As Im also a hvac tech (freon) Is just a trade name from dupont like coke,nike,etc. Freon is a trade name Correct term is refrigerant ! And yes its a 200,000 fine or more for releasing refrigerant  in the air.The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international  But what you are missing ids the refrigerant is worth huge bucks and the second most trade product on the black market. R-12 and r-22 are very expensive. And refrigerant  never goes bad. Alot of folks reclaim the refrigerant  and make big bucks . Just my 2 cents

I don't have to worry about the freon.  Is part of what the scrap yard does.  They set aside all the fridges and remove the freon.  They then sell it to one of the major refridgerant companies or something.

Nice Cobia - I want your prices.  My shred price is $12/100lbs.  So 540lbs netted me little over $60 bucks.  Did sell a fridge for $15 and dryer for $25 from back of trailer.  Made a little over $200 this weekend between scrap and flea market.

Moral of the story - look for all the ways you can make money on a unit....even on the trash.

Don did a big scrap run today.  We're running $11/100 lbs.  He did get .65 per lb of (clean) aluminum and clean copper wiring (I sat and stripped a bunch this morning from a recent electrical job) was $3.40 per lb.
Every little bit helps in this economy~

Hey Rockin - do you have a setup to strip the wire or you just do it by hand? 

Razor knife and a glove~

This was #4 THHN that he pulled from a job at a church.  I used to make hand-punched copper lamp shades with a twisted rope (wire) trim, so I have tons of experience stripping copper wire. 

We don't bother with the little stuff.  That just gets turned in as is~

You do it by hand!? Respect. Way to lazy for That....


I had a hand crank stripper (no comments) but thought I'd weld a socket onto where the hand crank attached then stick my drill on it......it worked great.....for about 10' of wire. Then the whole thing siezed up on me.....   

Nice Alias - I'm like Rockin and do it by hand.  Have the new puncture marks to prove it.  Was testing out a new way to strip degause cable.  Did really well till I bobbled and dropped the knife.  BTW - hook blades work well for stripping.  Better then the straight blades I'm finding.

For Iron it's worth it if you have a place to keep it until you have enough for the trip.  I wait until I can pretty much fill the bed of my truck and get about $200 for a ton.  Taking small loads would not be worth it.

For copper it's very worth it.

Then of course there's silver and gold...

  The wife did a yard sale at a friends mothers house ( mom passed )  and we were offered the scrap metal in the basement , freezer , hot water heater , table saw , 2 A/C .
 Went to look at it as I have a couple of A/C's to scrap  , and found motors pulled from appliances and saw and All Copper and Brass pulled from heater , just a tin shell ??
  As our 18 ft car trailer has a truck on it and 12 ft. has our mining gemstone mining sluice on it with all the " stuff " from the last fair , I would have to rent a u-haul trailer as He wants it out ASAP .
  One of the yards will take A/C's  and pay you ( most want $ 25+ to leave one )  at the " White Metal " price of $ 210 a ton for the WHOLE load (  Alum. , Copper , Steel Tin ,  etc. . )
  I can't justify $ 30 plus gas and 3 or 4 hours to make $ 50 to $ 60 dollars .                                          I told him to call one of the many scrappers that answered his craig's yard sale add.
Bob

Dang - that would of been a nice scrap haul.

I now have both daughters doing the scrapping with me.  I think they really love being able to destroy stuff and working with tools.  I'm going to have to really up my work to find appliances and things to scrap.  Running out of motors and things to tear down.