Clean up America! - $crap metal

[calmloki]

Replaced a stove yesterday and took the old one to the scrap metal yard. Also took a couple punk E-machines power supplies, a little dead fan motor, and a junk garbage disposal. Also a pile of bent-up aluminum blinds and aluminum awning and a car battery.

Results: "baler tin" (stove) 240# @$.085/# = $20.40
"elect. motors" 24# @$.16/# = $3.84
"irony aluminum" 26# @$.18/# = $4.68
car battery =$5.00
$33.92

Beats paying money to go to the dump. Beats my poverty-stricken youth picking beans or strawberries. Gives a bit of incentive to keep the $crap from piling up around the old homestead. Playing the commodities market!

 

[ls99]

Neat. A good way to clean up and "clean up" with some beer money. I' think I'll do the same. Nearest scrap collector is about 30 miles. Have to round up enough to pay for the trip and have some left for beer. Have a bunch of short bits of copper plumbing leftovers.

See lots of Craiglist ads for people willing to "clean out" garages pick up scrap etc.. Looks like it is worth their while.

 

[Nords]

Hawaii's had a rash of copper thefts-- gutters & downspouts are one thing, but some entrepreneurial criminals have been stripping the copper wiring out of highway street lights. Of course the police stings have also busted a couple of copper recyclers.

So now the state-legislated paperwork to divest oneself of copper is far more trouble than the metal is worth.

I would've been happy to sell our '94 Ford Taurus to Hawaii Metal Recycling, but this time the hazmat prep fees (draining fluids and punching holes in the gas tank) made it a losing proposition. It was much easier to donate it to charity or sell it for parts.

Anyone want 20 pounds of #8-guage copper ground wire? It's free if you just pay the shipping & handling!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Around here they'll steal your air conditioning unit if it isnt bolted down.

Sometimes they're a little disappointed when they get it home and find out its full of aluminum instead of copper.

Foreclosure home up the street had its side fence blow over last january and it seems the bank doesnt want to put a new one back up. Both air conditioning units are right there in plain sight from the street. Its been a few months now and I'm shocked they're still there. Thieves must be slacking...

 

[Goonie]

There's a guy here in town that drives around on garbage day and picks up the all the junk metal stuff that people throw out that's not in recycle bins. He'll drive past my house 2 or 3 times each Wednesday with fresh loads of scrap in his pickup truck...stoves, washers, dryers, shelves, car parts, bed springs, water heaters, whatever. One of the [-]scrap yards[/-] recycling centers is only about a half mile from here, and they pay some decent prices to boot.

 

[tryan]

talked to a couple scrap dealers ... one does the trash day rounds with his flat bed truck. Says he'll pull 2-3 hundred a day in scrap. The other only does cars ... $100/ton after stripping the CAT (another $150 there) and the wiring.

But the physical side of the work is taking a toll on these guys ; they look 20 years older than they are and the car guy is using his GF valium for his back problems.

 

[Khan]

Hawaii's had a rash of copper thefts-- gutters & downspouts are one thing, but some entrepreneurial criminals have been stripping the copper wiring out of highway street lights. Of course the police stings have also busted a couple of copper recyclers.

It's bad in Dayton area:
copper from wiring and plumbing in vacant houses, some that were in the process of being fixed up
downspouts and gutters from public buildings.
They just arrested a guy who was stealing catalytic converters from parked trucks.
At least one idiot fried himself trying to cut a transformer off a utility pole.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

(28 July 2007, Czech Republic) A pack of thieves attempted to steal scrap metal from an abandoned factory in Kladno. Unfortunately for them, they selected the steel girders that supported the factory roof. When the roof supports were dismantled, the roof fell, fatally crushing two thieves and injuring three others.

(21 June 2007, Philippines) Three entrepreneurs planned to profit from stolen scrap metal. They entered a former US military complex and approached the prize: an abandoned water tank. Bedazzled by the potential upside, the three threw logic to the wind, and began to cut the metal legs out from under the tank. Guess where it fell? Straight onto the thieves. Their flattened bodies have not yet been identified.

(31 July 1997) Two teens were disassembling an electric tower with wrenches when it toppled to the ground. They apparently wanted to sell its aluminum supports for scrap, but they failed to realize the essential role the aptly named "support" plays in a 160-foot tower. One of the men was crushed by the collapse of the ten-thousand-pound tower, while the other dug himself out from under, a sadder but wiser man. Reference: Associated Press

 

[NW-Bound]

We just put out our broken 28-yr old washer, to be picked up by the city per their semi-annual rubbish collection schedule. Within the same day, some guys picked it up (not the city). I guessed correctly that they were selling it for scrap, but could not guess the value of it.

About aluminum, it has gone up in price, the same as copper.

In Colorado a few months ago, some thieves chopped off light poles for aluminum scrap. People passing by thought they were city workers. They were not caught. In California, a town had its bronze statue (town founder?) cut off at the legs, then sawed in half. Scrap yard owner called police. The town was trying to weld the statue back together.

Who would have thought this would be happening in this country?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

There have always been plenty of people who would rather steal than work. Its only a matter of what the theft target is.

My dad loves to tell stories about pulling his little red wagon around the neighborhood as a kid during the depression, collecting scrap metal and other salable items to make money.

 

[NW-Bound]

My dad loves to tell stories about pulling his little red wagon around the neighborhood as a kid during the depression, collecting scrap metal and other salable items to make money.

In 3rd word countries, poor people have been scratching a living doing that, while in the US, we have been throwing away so much. I always thought our habits were wasteful, but then it's a matter of economics. If it does not pay to recycle, why do it?

Things have changed. Will we go back to the old ways? Are we finding new mineral, ore mines, new oil fields? I have not seen any yet.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'd imagine that at some point we'll be "mining" our old landfills.

 

[Westernskies]

In AZ, we passed new laws regarding scrap metal sales- over a certain amount, the seller must be paid by check via US Mail- and provide legal identification (I seem to recall it is a valid drivers license and thumbprint?). It has helped cut down on the meth-heads lining up with manhole covers, shiny copper plumbing, rolls of copper wiring, and amputated air conditioners... but unfortunately, there are still unscrupulous scrap dealers out there that facilitate vandalism and theft by fencing stolen property for these low-lifes. These are probably the same folks that are complaining about their taxes while cutting up municipal water lines, valves, manholes covers, wiring and the aforementioned statue.

I do feel a sense of poetic justice when I hear of someone getting crushed or electrocuted trying to steal other peoples property for scrap metal. I know it's harsh, but I am pretty sure Darwin woud agree.

Too bad we can't create a similar demand for used tires...

 

[NW-Bound]

Too bad we can't create a similar demand for used tires...

I thought freeways in Phoenix are resurfaced with an aggregate containing ground-up tires. Smooth ride and much less road noise, compared to bare concrete or regular asphalt. Wonderful use of something they couldn't get rid of. Did you forget that, or have they stopped doing it?

 

[youbet]

My dad loves to tell stories about pulling his little red wagon around the neighborhood as a kid during the depression, collecting scrap metal and other salable items to make money.

Well son.........

Actually as a wee lad in the late 50's and early 60's, a buddy and I would pull a wagon from house to house on Chicago's NW side asking for old newspapers. We could get about 50# onto that wagon which yielded enough from the junk dealer for a couple of soda's and some candy on the way home...... We considered it an hour well spent!

 

[Westernskies]

I thought freeways in Phoenix are resurfaced with an aggregate containing ground-up tires. Smooth ride and much less road noise, compared to bare concrete or regular asphalt. Wonderful use of something they couldn't get rid of. Did you forget that, or have they stopped doing it?

No, they do use a few for rubberized asphalt- it is a lot quieter, but only uses a tiny percentage of what we generate. I have heard numbers in the fractions of one percent...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

All the playgrounds around here are surfaced with a ground tire solid surface material. Pretty cool. No seams in it even on huge areas, so it must be poured or spread and allowed to harden. Very spongy, seems to be about 4-5" thick, and does very well with the summer sun and winter rains.

I've been eying that colored rubber mulch as a replacement for the wood chips we're using around the house, but its still WAY too expensive. $7-8 a square foot on sale.

 

[NW-Bound]

The North Vietnamese soldiers cut tires into footwear, called Ho Chi Minh sandals.

They probably didn't even have steel-belted tires, which would make 100K mile sandals.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Weren't those 'tire sandals' popular around 25-30 years ago? I seem to remember seeing them around now that you mention it.

 

[Goonie]

Weren't those 'tire sandals' popular around 25-30 years ago? I seem to remember seeing them around now that you mention it.

I went through several pairs of those back in the 70's & 80's, as did most of my friends.....they were comfortable and usually cheap. Oh yeah, the sandals were too!

 

[NW-Bound]

About the sandals, I was of college age in the 70s. Never saw these tire sandals on sale. What else was I missing??

car battery =$5.00

Just now notice the above.

In AZ, the law requires us to pay a battery disposal fee, around $5 I think. Yet, these batteries got valuable lead in them. We got ripped off.

 

[ERD50]

In AZ, the law requires us to pay a battery disposal fee, around $5 I think. Yet, these batteries got valuable lead in them. We got ripped off.

Are you sure it is a disposal fee? I thought it was like a deposit on a bottle. You pay the fee when you buy a battery, and it gets refunded when you bring the old one back. I think that's how it works in IL. Keeps the lead out of the landfills.

Tires, we pay a disposal fee.

-ERD50

 

[haha]

Weren't those 'tire sandals' popular around 25-30 years ago? I seem to remember seeing them around now that you mention it.

They are called huraches. I used to go to Sonora a lot in the 60s and 70s, and huraches were the footgear in rural Mexico. I bought a pair down there, but they were uncomfortable compared to my Dr. Scholes. I think US hippies and people who identified with Che and Fidel and La Revolución brought them to Upper California, and I guess they spread from there.

Ha

 

[NW-Bound]

I thought it was like a deposit on a bottle. You pay the fee when you buy a battery, and it gets refunded when you bring the old one back. I think that's how it works in IL. Keeps the lead out of the landfills.

-ERD50

You are right. It could be the same way in AZ.

They are called huraches. I used to go to Sonora a lot in the 60s and 70s, and huraches were the footgear in rural Mexico. I bought a pair down there, but they were uncomfortable compared to my Dr. Scholes. I think US hippies and people who identified with Che and Fidel and La Revolución brought them to Upper California, and I guess they spread from there.

Ha

Never had a chance to try them, but I suspect my feet would prefer Dr.Scholes. Our friend Goonie liked them though, and he said in another thread that he pampered his feet. Perhaps the arch of his feet happened to match the curvature of the tires. Size 205/60?

I would still say Che and Fidel learned the trick from Ho, who was older.

 

[two4theroad]

We had a rash of bronze thefts around here last year. They were pulling up the name plaques and the bronze vases in the cemeteries! Some slick operator stole a whole set of church bells that had been removed for a remodel. They were found before they were all destroyed but barely.....Air conditioner theft was bad for awhile too. The local recyclers are operating under much greater scrutiny now and the thefts have slowed considerably.
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