Farrar Recycling - School Bus job site

Since I have to take images of the bus as its being cut up for scrap for the owner I figured I would make a thread on the project in case anyone else might be interested in seeing the bus before its a pile of scrap metal. This bus is the only project we have right now since we cant get any other jobs due to steel prices still at $50 / ton up here.

The bus is a 1954 Chevrolet 6500 43 passenger Carpenter bus body (body #21 out of Illinois) with straight 6 and 4 speed transmission. The bus is 200ft from the road down a hill. But were also removing the all the metal on the property as part of the deal. So far over 4 tons has been removed from two job sites in the same town with 1.5 tons alone from this site. The bus is over 4 tons on its own. We have already removed over 200 lbs of ewaste with more still coming, we usually ship our ewaste out every few weeks.

The images may not all be the best I will get better images when I go down there again later this week. The one with the bus being cleaned up was hard to take since I was standing on the trailer hitch and trying to keep the image straight when the bus is tilting, and the hitch is broken off on one side (my cousin tried to pull it out with his ramp truck a few years ago but quit) I got the bus after no one else could get it out. My cousin had 15 of these buses at one time when KP Enterprises was crushing there a few years ago. Usually we all are crushed out every few months but most of us denied them this time when they called. I wish we get more buses like this all the time still but now all we get are newer style buses to buy. This bus cost me just over $200 total with copper, and brass back in November.


The scrap pile pictured is only one of 4 piles of scrap. 90% is from this job site. The rest is from other job sites in the area.

Drivers Side of Bus from when I first got it in November.



Passenger side of bus once rails were removed. All windows were there when this was taken. Several are missing now.



Front of bus showing engine. No fenders or hood where ever there. No radiator either it would have been the copper / brass one. Bus was from Alaska and driven here in the 1980`s and has sat since. Last winter I was told the snow was past the windows on her.



After windshield removal (fell out) same thing for the drivers side windows. Crow bar works pretty good on old buses.



First rear roof panels removed. I will get better images of all the inside panels that are gone later this week.



My employee removing the heater. Bus was just cleaned out of all furniture and walls when this was taken. Now just needs to be cleaned a little. I can say I had a hard time finding anyone to work. No one around here will work and they say its to far to travel at 30 miles from Calais (along the canada border) when all of us up here do that trip several times a week, we all live out in the woods in the middle of nowhere closes gas station is 16 miles alone each way. Raven in the picture is only 18 and is the only one I could get to help and we still need more help on it. For anyone wondering the roof if 5ft 9in should be 6ft 1in but its starting to collapse.



Scrap Metal Pile of 1 of 4. This pile hold 80% of the metal removed. Theres also a #1 iron pile, 1 cast iron pile, and another light iron pile. Freezer, treadmill, another washer (over 250 lbs alone), and some other misc light iron isnt pictured since it was behind me waiting for final prep.



I will get more images later this week once it stops raining. The bus needs to be cleaned up some inside. This job site is still short handed even with two of us on hand moving the metal and preparing the bus to be cut up. Each inside panel has to be removed to get to the wiring and insulation to comply with requirements set on the bus for proper disposal and so most can go to the dump at no cost (they even take CRT's, wood, etc... at no cost to all 5 area town residents). The old PA system is sitting there with circuit boards since it didnt make it inside yet. All metal has to stay so far back for storm water run off requirements. The firewood scraps are from my firewood business I run in the fall and winter.

I have to bring a generator onsite so we have at least some power onsite and get oxygen delivered so the frame can be cut up. The garage in the picture is at our lot in Topsfield. Town dosent care state says we only need to have a area to drain vehicles dosent matter condition. I've seen worst at some junk yards around here.

I have more images of the inside as well showing how it looked before we started. I just cant find them when i want them.

I found the rest but I will get better images since I didnt have the best light at the time in the bus. I will update this thread as the progress goes on.

Here's some additional inside images, as well as the emblem and a image showing far the bus is sinking over 32 years. I made a mistake above this bus was built in North Dakota, I was thinking of the 1952 Chevy I had a few years ago. I will update the thread as the walls and roof are cut away, and the frame is prepped for removal.

Carpenter Emblem



Front Passenger Side Tire



Inside Panels Removed from Drivers Side inner wall



Where heater was - I have the steering wheel it was already off when we started and was found in the trash pile behind the bus.



Where the sink was and cabinets into the sledge hammer found them. - The pipe is sitting right on top of the rear tires. Wood is leaving soon.



I will update the images as I get more. The bus should be done soon since were just waiting on a generator and trying to get one more person there to help with the panels to bring them up the 200 ft hill. There use to be a wood stove sitting in the bus as well which I have there as well as 5 other ones removed from this site with one more to come back. There is a house about 100 ft from this side of the bus but it cant be seen in the summer. The property owner lives in the trailer if its seen in any images on the other side of the bus. The bus owner moved out to Cali when she couldnt find work here in Maine.

You're making good progress! Carpenter's were known for roofs falling....

I'd personally save the emblem. You never know what a collector wants....

Yeah thats the only thing im saving. I cant find one on ebay anywhere.

I'm not surprised- Carpenter wasn't a big player back then. They grew, but they went to a different logo (A knight carrying a child) before that happened. The way I see it- old badges are easy to store, won't cost you anything in scrap, and can be worth a lot if you can find the right person. If nothing else, it's a cool way to look at history.

Thats the way im looking at it. Ill throw it on ebay for a few days and if dosent sell ill just hang it on the wall in the shop. Never know someone may come in and want to buy it while there looking for parts. Dosent cost anything to hang on the wall.

You could say that. Right now the drive shafts holding the floor up off the frame, I found that earlier when my foot went through the floor where the aisle was next to the cloths piled up. Even the body mounts are broken off the floor. Usually we both wear a hard hat in it just in case any panels let go on the roof.

Here's one of the images of inside before any work started. This picture was taken last November when I first got the contract for it.



Everything is still being sorted through. The couch is on the passenger side being used to catch the broken glass as its falls from the windows for now.

Heres what it looked like with the heater still in place in November.




If anyone wants to see the video I took of the inside it can be found on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nationalautocore

Yeah the bed rails were just thrown in there for now since I didnt have time to sort the metal yet due to being on two environmental clean ups and trying to get another one off the town. The tires alot of people might be surprised to find out there is no cracks, dry rotting, etc... on the two front ones. The back tires were never checked yet since there half buried in the mud. The front rims fit both the chevy 4500-6500 series as well as the Ford 500 models from 1954-1960. I might try to save the rims since the worst thing that can happen while there listed for sale with the tires is #1 iron prices drop again but if we can get a little more then scrap value for them then well sell them outright, but if we cant then ill cut the tire off and turn them in for prepared #1 iron since the town says nothing can stay over 4 weeks to comply with the junkyard permit. The back rims might fit more years since there 8 lug each.

The lights on top were trying to save in case someones restoring a older bus and needs the old style red tear drops with the glass lens like these are. Im not sure what else is still in her. I saved the old glass insulators that were on the floor and counter first as well as the old iron that was sitting in one of the drawers (drawer was sitting under the bus when the pictures were taken). I have to see what else is around it. The blue thing laying sideways in one of the images in the back is a old 3 section dry ice chest that was in the bus at one point that still needs to be removed back here since I have a use for that in the garage here to hold tools for now.

The cabinets in this case didnt come out in piece they ended up in 50 different pieces from since the screws were all stripped out but the hardware did make it. I have the doors sitting in the trailer still, I never thought of checking the hardware prior but they put them in the bus in the late 70's since she was pulled out of service in 1976.

I have to agree on the bus. It was used for 20 years for storage but I don't know how it made it this long. The old owner use to throw everything out in the yard he didn't use anymore including stuff his brother gave him, and everything else. Were still searching through stuff that's piled up.

This bus most people who looked at thought it would be a quick job but there's no such thing as quick job if you want it done right and in compliance with EPA laws and regulations that we have now. I would rather take my time then to rush and make a mistake, etc... My cousin tried it the quick way he found out quick how hard it is, broke the wheel lift and winch cable on the ramp truck (just took that truck off the road last year) and broke the hitch off the bus at the same time.

I like these older buses since I can use them for storage here at the yard since there built better then most new buses ive dealt with and can last twice as long as newer blue bird, Thomas, etc... But I mostly took this job since it was something different. 9 years doing this and still learning something new everyday at this site, but that's what keeps it interested living in the middle of nowhere with the closes town being 16 miles one way and the closes city 100 miles its hard to find anything to do.

Heres a picture of the copper / brass heater core I just removed from the heater. Its total weight is 13lbs 7ozs like it is. I used the shipping scale instead of the floor scale on this. All fins and tubes are copper with brass ends. Ignore the mess in the background I cant leave it in the garage or it will take a walk for itself. The box under it is full of ewaste waiting to leave.

Originally Posted by farrarrecycling

The cabinets in this case didnt come out in piece they ended up in 50 different pieces from since the screws were all stripped out but the hardware did make it. I have the doors sitting in the trailer still, I never thought of checking the hardware prior but they put them in the bus in the late 70's since she was pulled out of service in 1976.

That's too bad but yeah if it's the hardware I think it is, I have similar type here in the house on my cabinets and I'm told their worth a little bit of money since their brass or steel. Brass was early, steel was later. Still a good find.

That's one thing good about buses and other commercial vehicles there parts are worth more but can be harder to sell depends on the make and model.

Right now i'm mostly stock piling my copper, radiators, car batteries, and brass everything else is going in the next truck that comes from Bangor for recycling to make room in the yard again. Aluminum sits around if we don't have over 100 lbs to bring to the scrap yard but were already over that since I have a 120 lb snowmobile engine sitting in the middle of the garage floor right now and 8 more aluminum engines waiting to leave as well that's ready to leave. On a good year we can do over 100,000 lbs of non ferrous but with scrap getting scarce in our area well be lucky if we even break 1,000,000 lbs total with vehicles, non ferrous, #1, and light iron this year.

When I first started the bus I looked on here but couldn't find a threads relating to cutting up a bus this old I may have missed it if there's one. Usually if we cant figure something out this is the first stop since almost every question we have had on something has been covered here on the forum.

I havent had a chance to update this thread and today's a good example why I hate not having insurance at this job site. Keep in mind alot of reading ahead.
Please note the following is being used with permission from my employee.


One of our employees (name hidden for privacy reasons) was working on a junk truck at the salvage yard and its a good thing I don't leave my employees alone for more then a few minutes. She was pulling parts off the engine and slipped on a milk crate I was using to reach over the fenders and I didn't know she was on it in front of the truck, I heard her hit the front of the truck and call me (I was under the dash pulling wires) and went to check on her when she called me. Well to make the story short she ended up with a hood latch in her arm and ended up in the hospital for 6 hrs waiting on surgery before we could bring her home. Took an hour to remove it and clean the wound and wrap it. We were cleared for everything since it could have happened to anyone but shes my hardest worker and being out for 5 weeks will really set this job site back. Now keep in mind this could have happened at this site as well and now im really considering insurance for it just incase since its better to have it and not need it then not to have it and need it. I dont have insurance at the junkyard but I might be getting it since it could have been alot worse, she ended up with a cut, some bruising on the muscle but no veins or nerve damage. They tried her family but no one answered so I was the only one who got the final findings. (This is being used with her permission so someone else in a case like this could possibly avoid it).


Shes fine and I was told not to let her work in any dirty environments for at least 3-4 weeks buts shes stubburn and already wants to get back to work but im following what the doctor told me. I spent the entire time with her up to when she went to the OR and for a few minutes when I brought her cell phone out to car and her corporate employee file with her medications listed, etc... Not one member of her family could be contact during that time. But even the nurses and doctors said she was lucky. Shes both an employee and a friend so her safety comes before everything else. I didn't care we shut down the yard as soon as it happened I would rather get her to a hospital then have anything else happen, I would rather lose money then put her safety last, if any metal had arrived I would have turned it away no matter what it was, just to make sure she was getting treated.


Well that's what I learned today but as a warning for anyone new or old to the industry keep the above in mind since if it can happen at my yard it can happen anywhere. This was our first accident in 9 years and I dont plan on anymore anytime soon. But either way my employees safety is our #1 concern. It cost money to make money and this case could have resulted in a law suit or even criminal charges (Our county here in Maine is a little different and can place blame on the company owner for injuries or death resulting from on the job accidents if not insured), so for everyone who thinks this job is easy and quick money keep that in mind. She is paid $12 / hr to dismantle vehicles so think about it is it really worth the risk of no insurance, she could have easily had it in her neck, or worse. Our ambulance takes 45 minutes alone to get here and in that time I kept two cold face clothes on her head to keep her from fainting, but like we said in that time you could bleed to death if its serious and the county dosent do anything about it since the contract is up and they dont have a licensed EMT who can give medications at the closes fire station so we have to wait for the rescue to come from 36 miles away. She was the only one working today so it could have easily been worse.


Let it just be a wake up call to alot of people who dont have insurance. Weather a new or established business I never thought this would happen but look it did, and you could easily lose everything if your sued. I had her sign a liability insurance waiver stating she was waiving her liability just this morning to. Here in Maine part time works don't need workers comp if under 15 hrs / week so that's not a option for anyone here but may soon be just in case.


Ok go back to what your doing. Im done for now. I will update this thread as we make progress on the bus, I just wanted to say the above and show a good example why insurance is so important.

We even made the decision to close into next Wends to update the safety policies such as removed the latches from 1990's Ford F150-F450's like the one today this could have been avoided with just 5 minutes work.