Scrapping last night

I've been scrapping since Labor day weekend. Last night was the slowest night so far. Picked up a few resale items right at the end to salvage it... sump pump, old dvc/vcr combo, 5 nice metal tiki torches, small tool cabinet. not much metal out but a whole lot of plastic flower pots... Son fell asleep in the truck he was so bored.

Pretty much from around November threw early march curb co is pretty much a bust. Im south of Chicago so i know how the fall/winters go. October usually is a good month for the curb claims, but it has been slow last 3 weeks. Oh well, way she goes

That is what i was figuring. Oh well... still had fun.

Just the opposite in Florida. Picked up 120 pounds of stainless and aluminum from curbco Sunday night in just over an hour. Threw on a small window ac unit and one Compac tower to boot.

hoping so. Breaking down that stuff is fun.

Originally Posted by matador

I'm expecting E-Waste to boom at the end of the year. When people get new toys for Christmas, they always throw out the old stuff

June/July (end of fiscal year) for businesses and December!

If you're in metro Detroit head to Ann Arbor at the end of the semester for vast quantities of stuff when the students move at semester. It's less than in May but still big

Originally Posted by matador

I'm expecting E-Waste to boom at the end of the year. When people get new toys for Christmas, they always throw out the old stuff

Aww ... man ... sorry. Hate to be the Debbie Downer but i've been looking for that seasonal " bump " for a number of years now. It never seems to materialize. Just guesswork, but there seem to be a couple of reasons why.

The computers seem to need to sit idle and unused in a closet for a couple of years before people finally decide that they don't need them anymore.

The cold weather is coming and that makes everybody clench up and save everything. Their mood shifts in the spring. It's warm sunny days, gentle breezes, and living is easy. They get all energized and start spring cleaning. That's when things get busy.

About the only thing that seems to come in on a regular basis is the flat screen TV's. They're not particularly long lived. On the other hand ... they don't seem all that hard to repair / refurbish.

There might be an opportunity there ?

good idea.

That makes sense. I noticed labor day weekend was real good to. everybody clearing out stuff for winter.

Some of it depends on where you are. We have a lot of elder people that come to stay with us for up to nine months out of the year here in Maine. We call them seasonal residents or summer people.

Labor day is a big turning point for us. It signals the official end of summer. Traditionally, that was when many of our summer residents would return home. Everything slows down quite a bit after that.

The next big turning point will be the first week of November. ( That's right around the corner. ) There's usually a definite chill in the air by then. That sets off a mass exodus to points south for the remainder of our summer people. Lol ...that ... and the gun fire.

Down South, in places like Florida & the Carolinas, they call these folks " Snowbirds " because they fly South for the Winter.

It becomes the busy season for the scrappers down there because there are so many new people coming in to live with them for awhile.

Maybe there's a similar thing going on in Michigan ?

Do you get many seasonal residents where you are ?

Originally Posted by hills

Some of it depends on where you are. We have a lot of elder people that come to stay with us for up to nine months out of the year here in Maine. We call them seasonal residents or summer people.

Labor day is a big turning point for us. It signals the official end of summer. Traditionally, that was when many of our summer residents would return home. Everything slows down quite a bit after that.

The next big turning point will be the first week of November. ( That's right around the corner. ) There's usually a definite chill in the air by then. That sets off a mass exodus to points south for the remainder of our summer people. Lol ...that ... and the gun fire.

Down South, in places like Florida & the Carolinas, they call these folks " Snowbirds " because they fly South for the Winter.

It becomes the busy season for the scrappers down there because there are so many new people coming in to live with them for awhile.

Maybe there's a similar thing going on in Michigan ?

Do you get many seasonal residents where you are ?

yessir. sounds like Maine and Michigan are pretty similiar. I'm ready for that chill and gun fire to start!

Decided to take last night off. Truck was too full from hunting stuff and I didnt feel like taking it all out.....

Was sorta bummed about not going until the neighbor came over with a lawn mower and circular saw he found on way home and then i picked up a crt tv on way to work and so did a coworker that gave it to me.

Not bad for an off week....

There's sort of a learning curve with this. The basic idea is to make money with it. Some items go straight to scrap and others can be re-sold for better than scrap. The thing is that you have to be selective about what you pick up. Some things have little or no scrap value. Other things won't necessarily sell very well and you get stuck having to store them for long periods of time. Other things like toxics and hazmats ... you want to avoid picking up altogether.

Things like bubble back tv's and old CRT's fall into the last category. There are things like lead, mercury, and phosphorus inside the big picture tubes. There's quite a bit actually. A good rule of thumb to go by is that you will see to it that they are properly recycled once they get loaded on your truck. You load it, you own it, you are responsible for it. It is a good rule to go by. It's an ethical way of doing things.

The other part of this is the idea of " Turn n Burn ".

You wanna keep that stuff moving. So... you pick stuff up. That's only the first step. Right away, after that, you get busy processing it in the shop. In the case or resale ,you get it listed and sold.

Lol ... i know ... it's an awful lot like work but it's fun and interesting too.

I'm still learning too. So much of it is experimental.



I tried a microwave for the first time recently. There didn't seem to be very much for my particular situation. It's not feasible to do steel in this area. I think there was a passible circuit board. One or two motors. The transformer was aluminum wound. The main things to watch for are the capacitor and the magnetron. The capacitor could be holding a charge and zap you. The magnetron has that Beryllium ceramic in it. That ceramic piece is harmless enough as long as it's whole. It's something to avoid if it's cracked or broken. That Beryllium dust is really bad for your lungs. I think it's one of those things where you're responsible for it once it's on the truck. I'll probably take a pass on picking them up in the future.

The one or two pipe jet (well) pumps have been a bust for me as well. They're mostly of cast iron with a nice beefy motor, but the motors are aluminum wound for some reason. Maybe aluminum windings hold up better in a damp environment for some reason ? Anyway, doesn't seem to be much there except maybe a few brass or copper fittings attached to the pump itself.

Ran across an instant hot, gas fired hot water heater the other day. A fair amount of brass and the #2 copper heat exchanger weighed about 9 1/2 lbs. Nice little score on that one.

It's kinda like a box of chocolates. You never know what you'll find till you take a bite.