OT Scrap metals

I think I want to haul some off, but need to know what exactly needs to be grouped specififcally for recycling.

I might have as much as 1100lb mixed

For example: My steel pile has both steel parts and materials scrap, along with cast iron parts such as old water pumps and manifolds. Can I toss in the a few pieces of sheet steel? Shock absorbers? Or will that hurt the description when I go to recycle.

Is cast iron worth so much more that a couple hundred pounds is worthy of taking it in seperated in a barrel?

I've got an Aluminum pile including a motorcycle engine, and a few wheels. Is it ok to leave on a couple of motorcycle tires?

Is there any industy standard type descriptions for scrap metals, so I don't go in there getting a bad deal or being an idiot?

If they "pick" my load with a magnet it might make seperating it in the pick up a bit more difficult.

Scrap dealers are individual businesses who set their own policies and usually aren't too helpful about telling you exactly what those policies are. If there is any such thing as an industry standard it is this: any single load of scrap will be priced at the value of its least valuable component. For example, if you had a load of clean, unpainted mild steel scrap from a manufacturing process, it would be be worth top dollar. If you threw in a few pieces of painted steel, say a few drawers from a metal filing cabinet, the scrap dealer would offer you the value of painted steel for the whole load, possibly only a third of the value of the clean steel. Appliances or any metal with non-metal components attached is much worse. Sheathed copper wire is worth only a fraction of the value of bare copper, etc.

I have garages full of painted steel which was left beside dumpsters at an apartment complex where I recently worked (their garages, not mine.) I offered it to the welding program of the local community because they sell their scrap regularly. They turned it down. The local (Olympia) scrap dealer won't pay for it at all, and the larger dealer in Tacoma, 25 miles away, pays so little for painted steel that it isn't worth the driving and handling involved to deal with it. That isn't to say that painted steel isn't worth a good price somewhere where there's more competition for it. But not here.

Best of luck, Stan

As to sorting Tires are usually a issue of some sort, some outfits will take them but discount. Cut your shocks open and drain the oil. Sort out the easy cast and stuff with a little steel in (like bolts and studs). Sort the aluminum with steel out and the dense stuff because it will have hi zinc. I should say the semi precious metals (aluminum and Copper) are still a bit of a mystery to me.

Hope this helps

jt

What really torqued me was last year when I replaced the radiator on my car that had one of the plastic tanks rupture. The parts store didn't want the core so instead of throwing it away I took it to a radiator shop and tried to give it to them. They told me to throw it in the dumpster at home becuase it would cost them more than it was worth to fix and sell. I thought that this was a little odd, but I took it home and trashed it. It's pretty bad when as expensive as replacement parts are getting that you can't even give something away to be repaired and sold for profit.

Sometimes I can't quite figure them out though. Hauled 80 rod of woven wire fence last week and got graded Unprepared. Always before it would have graded tin&wire. Difference of $100 to $110 a ton but it was clearly T&W.

As to repairing your radiator. They are right. Alot of those are robotically made so the price is cheap for a replacement. Also having a used one around to sell would seem like a good idea until you think about how many you would have after a while.

jt

I've been slowly cleaning out a farm that is loaded with scrap of all different kinds, and it seems like the the local scrap yards have completely different standards of what they will take and how much they'll pay for it.