If I worked at a scrapyard.. I'd go INSANE!

:facepalm: tell me about it , two weeks ago I saw two guys around their 20's dump metal and about 100lbs or so of aluminum sheets from a taken apart shed. And even some water pumps about 7 of them . they did not know those sell separate . Prob could have gotten twice of what he got for the steel for the aluminum and electric motors , man oh man, all I could do was just watch as the workers took all the good stuff from the scrap pile

try following people like this to the gas station. a lot of the crappy scrappies go straight to a gas station for fuel or smokes. maybe you can make a deal to buy stuff from them

Matt few times I have done that but then when I get to the scrap yard theres no telling what crappy scrappie might come in to throw goodies like that , heck ive seen them throw a whole half car without wire being cut , once I took out a 10lbs brass radiator off an old truck

One time I was in line at the scales and on the weigh out side I see a woman standing on the scale. She drove a chevy astro van to the yard to scrap. I know because she had a friend there to pick her up.

On the light side, there's a local scrapper who I witnessed in the scrap yard. He'd brought a load in and then his old pickup wouldn't start. He left it there and I was told later that he just sold it on the spot and bought another one from them to continue hauling. They said he's done that before. That's called Getting The Most from a Vehicle. I've seen quite a number of vehicles driven in and sold for scrap / complete. If they're resellable, the yard parks them out back and advertises them on their posterboard AS IS. There's a 2002 GMC 2500HD 4X4 right now for under $2000. Engine and tranny are good...it needs a wheel bearing and a drive shaft, windshield, tailgate and front grill....oh yes, and a good cleanup. I'm sure a guy would have $3500 or more in to it to get it running. They took the gastank out but didn't get it sold so it's detached.

I meant to talk to them off the property about buying stuff from them in the future

It's crazy what you see at the yard. Just today there were solid brass candle holders laying in the shred pile.

Several times at my local yard, I've seen the workers at the lower side/shred pile unloading a truck or trailer and tell the owner to leave things on the truck. When asked why, they said, take these items to the upper yard and weigh them separately for more money. They will even tell them the difference between a window a/c or brass radiators and steel. Most people say thank you and take their items and weight ticket to the scale. Some others say just dump it off anyway, it's not that much.

Originally Posted by BurlyGuys

I once went to the landfill and an 800 Got Junk truck pulled up next to me. They dumped an entire full load of metal, including copper fittings, romex wire, and other goodies. Dumped several hundred dollars worth of metal and paid the dump fees to do it.

Don't they advertise that they recycle as much of their material as possible too?

Originally Posted by scrapping4ever

Don't they advertise that they recycle as much of their material as possible too?

"It’s not just junk to us! We do our best to donate and recycle as much as we can. Since 1989, we’ve saved over 1.5 billion pounds of junk from the landfill, and counting."

Full-Service Junk Removal Company 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

You got lucky bluemeate. Taking anything from the piles at the yards around here its considered theft. There are no questions asked whatsoever. The police get called right away and you get banned from the yard for life plus receive a theft of property charge. I've seen it happen several times while i have been at the yards. Once it is dropped on the pile it is their property and they prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

you guys would have a heart attack looking at the shred pile in this area ,.....scrap and what it's worth, peaple are totaly oblivios in this area ,.....knowlegde is power and in alot of cases ,the power goes to the knowlegdable scrap yard owner

i often see untouched fridges ,air conditioners ,computers ,and totally fixable cars .....i once got chewed out for telling a guy he had a cat he was ready to throw in shred ........my scrapyard is honest ,but not stupid ,......if you ask them they'll tell you what your stuff is worth and are honest ,....but if you don't ask ,they don't tell .........guess buyer beware extends to seller beware in the scrap industry

on a positive note ,i've dealt with yards that will deliberatly lie to you if you don't know ,my yard will at least be honest if you ask ......and they do pull out alot of stuff for further seperation or reselling as repurposed ,

......you guys would cry if you seen some of the cars they get in ,here in pa. we have strict inspection laws and eyesore laws ,....peaple can't afford to keep cars or get them legal so they wind up scrapping them alot just to get rid of them ......i saved a 2003 police edition crown vic the other day,....ran good but needed emissions and inspection ,a few phone calls and my friend bought it to fix it and drive it