First Pallet Pictures - Page 2

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Next time just build pallet on truck and drop off at terminal........cheaper and less hassle

Yea I think I will at least do that next time. It wasn't super expensive for freight shipping, much cheaper than I thought, so figured they can just pick it up here since it wasnt super expensive. But driving to the terminal would have been less hassle at this point.... although it is about an hour away, but not too far.

Originally Posted by kss

This is certainly a valid strategy..... never thought of this, but this could actually work out pretty well.

The main thing is to think it through and reduce the coefficient of friction somehow. You have to look around and see what you have on hand to work with. If not pipe ... maybe a couple of 2x4's ? That would reduce the friction enough that you could probably tug it out with a car & a piece of rope w/o damaging the concrete.

Could you let us know how it all tallies up after the payout minus expenses ?

I'm really curious to know.

Originally Posted by matador

It's only an hour to your terminal? Here, I either pay more for the local terminal or go on a 3 hour drive to Billings

Seriously, it does save you money in the long run. If you're going to do a lot of this stuff, I recommend picking up a cheap little utility trailer for the purpose. I have one that can actually haul 4 pallets, but I've never loaded her that full. But, it's so handy to build your pallet as you go, but the trailer gives you the ability to move it out of the way when you're doing other stuff. I don't know where you live, and I'm too lazy to check the outside of your box , but I'd look for a farm auction if you're going to do this a lot. They'll often have little trailers that bring next to nothing

Well its an hours to THIS terminal, that this company uses, there could be ones closer! Im not sure. The destination of the pallet is only 6hrs away so I could just drive there! I could fit 2 pallets in my truck bed with the gate down, which, so far, is 2 times more than I would need so far! but if it picks up I def will get a trailer. The corona is really putting a damper on my materials acquiring though ... but no big deal, I still have my day job which is a lot more than a ton of people can say right now! So im lucky

Originally Posted by hills

The main thing is to think it through and reduce the coefficient of friction somehow. You have to look around and see what you have on hand to work with. If not pipe ... maybe a couple of 2x4's ? That would reduce the friction enough that you could probably tug it out with a car & a piece of rope w/o damaging the concrete.

Could you let us know how it all tallies up after the payout minus expenses ?

I'm really curious to know.

Yea I will do a tally post afterwards that includes price paid for all the stuff, time to sort/disassemble, total payment, total profits, all the nity gritty. However, due to the corona it seems my payout will be about 20-30% less than it would have been a few days ago. Oh well, thats scrapping, prices fluctuate.

I was just a bit concerned when you mentioned that you were buying items to process. It would be pretty easy to take a beating on that one.

Win, lose, or break even ... it's all a learning experience.



I'm wondering what the world will look like once we get past this whole Corona thing and the dust settles. T. was concerned that the government is blindly throwing money at it. I have to disagree on that point BUT they are creating a lot of money and pumping it into the economy right now.

One could look at it this way. A crisis erupted. They borrowed a ton of money and then directed it into the banking system to keep everything on an even keel. That's a good short term emergency fix !

The one thing you don't want at a time like this is a shortage of money. That could collapse the global banking system and make this whole thing far worse.

The problem is that there will be a price to pay after this is all over. All that borrowed money will have to be paid back somehow. Payback is a bit*h. It will slow the economy to a crawl and devalue the dollar.

We might have a situation where prices are high and money is hard to come by.

Originally Posted by hills

I was just a bit concerned when you mentioned that you were buying items to process. It would be pretty easy to take a beating on that one.

Win, lose, or break even ... it's all a learning experience.

I think I will still come out ahead. A little less ahead since scrap prices of who I am sending to just went down about 20-30%, BUT thats to be expected with all the rona going around.....

Should still come out ahead, I think I should be getting around a 10x return on my money, give or take. but it may be hard to calculate given that some of the stuff I buy get split up and sent to various buyers, various scrap yards, etc. But I should certainly still come out ahead money wise.... now if what I come out ahead, divided by how many hours I spent buying, seperating, packing, mailing, etc, comes out to be worth it, will be a different question LOL. either way should all be good.

Originally Posted by hills

I'm wondering what the world will look like once we get past this whole Corona thing and the dust settles. T. was concerned that the government is blindly throwing money at it. I have to disagree on that point BUT they are creating a lot of money and pumping it into the economy right now.

If the gov doesnt send out money, there will be rioting and looting in the streets. People are running out of money, and soon, and wont be able to buy food or feed their familes.... and cant even go out and find work to make money, since everything is shut down. Thatll put people into some very desperate places, which is not good for peoples saftey.

Originally Posted by matador

For the MTSV side of things, I think this will be a giant bump in the road, really. I'm still processing stuff from you guys, though I am working to switch over to my second test bench in the basement at home, in case the city of Cody goes on lockdown, or puts the "mobile field hospital" in the closed motel that's literally 50 feet from my Cody office. If they're putting a sick ward right next to my testing center, yeah.... I ain't going to the office then. I've noticed a drop in the resale side of things, but I think we're going to be able to continue serving through this crisis. I REALLY don't want to drop prices over this, so I'm doing everything possible to keep them up. But, you never know what will happen. I just hope we don't get caught in a full lockdown. That would really throw a monkey wrench into processing

I am thinking that once it all blows over, people will be anxious to get out and spend money, and socialize, etc..... after being quarientiend and cooped up, people will be dying to get out (and spent money, which is also what the gov and businesses want and will do everything to make happen).... So I am optimistic that everything will pick up, after this is under control.... just no one is sure how long until that is.

Also, I think I would rather have a full gov/police enforced lock-down for 2-3 weeks so this can all be over.... so that this is over and done with quick. Otherwise, this will drag out for many months in limbo as it spreads slowly....

Originally Posted by kss

If the gov doesnt send out money, there will be rioting and looting in the streets. People are running out of money, and soon, and wont be able to buy food or feed their familes.... and cant even go out and find work to make money, since everything is shut down. Thatll put people into some very desperate places, which is not good for peoples saftey.

A part of what i'm seeing is that ordinary folks are paying with credit cards now. (They usually use debit cards and only spend money they have in the bank.) Traditionally, this time of year, you would rarely see a credit card used. They're more for the upscale folks.

This leads me to think that a clam digger with a platinum card is getting into his emergency stash. A pretty smart move by " The Fed " to dump a bunch of money into the banking system BEFORE a money shortage happens. Now the credit card companies have plenty of money to lend to those in need. The banking industry is also talking about deferred loan payments & interest only payments to help those affected by this event.

We've reduced hours of operation & started laying off our older workers who are most at risk. It's strictly voluntary to take a layoff at this point. The state set up a special section of our unemployment system just to render aid to those whose jobs were affected by the Corona thing. If you are high risk and don't want to be on the job just go home and collect a check for the next six months.Same thing if the company you worked for closed and you were involuntarily put out of a job. You're covered.

So far ... tons of timely support from the state & federal governments. That should help calm any potential civil unrest.

Originally Posted by hills

A part of what i'm seeing is that ordinary folks are paying with credit cards now. (They usually use debit cards and only spend money they have in the bank.) Traditionally, this time of year, you would rarely see a credit card used. They're more for the upscale folks.

That is an interesting observation. I always use a credit card and pay it back before any interest hits..... gets me free cashback plus credit cards offer better fraud liability. Credit card puts a layer between you and fraud. If your card gets stolen or the numbers swipped (like at a gas station pump) and someone runs up $1000 on there before you notice, if its a debit card, your money is gone (at least temporarily). So it could be weeks before your banks fraud department puts that money back.... with credit card they credit your account back right away, and youre fine and you are not ever out any money, even temporarily. Ive had each of my creditcard numbers stolen, multiple times, so I NEVER use debit, just to prevent a situation like I said from happening.... but.... regaurdless.... and interesting observation

It was a weird day today. My first day back after three days off. Things changed a lot and i was totally off my game.

We usually run a 60 / 40 ratio of cards & cash. Some days more cash. Some days more cards.

It was 90 % cash today. I've never seen that before. They would buy exact amounts so that i wouldn't hand them change back. Are they afraid of our point of sale system & getting germs on their cards ?

Somebody stole the hand sanitizer dispenser from the Port-a-potty .

POS system was offline when i got into work. Our RVM's ( reverse vending machines ) were remotely reprogrammed so that they are totally touchless now.

I hope things settle down tomorrow. It's gonna take a little while to get used to this new way of doing things.

Pallet got picked up today (10 mins ago)! looking forward to it getting where its going, and it getting all tallied up!

With nonessential businesses being closed all over the US its going to be a challenge so before shipping make sure you call the person your shipping to is open or the freight will be returned to you and made to pay those charges.

Originally Posted by hills

It's not a problem. Use a shovel or a pry bar to lift up one side of it. Slide a steel pipe underneath. Same on the other side.

Now you have a pallet on rollers.


2" schedule 80 plastic pipe works even better. I put a few pieces under a 480 lb generator and was amazed at how easily it moved. A ten year old girl could move it.

Credits to the generator guy that told me about that one

Thanks for that plastic pipe idea, years ago i found that wooden posts work better than Steel tubing on concrete, they absorb the high points of the concrete chip surface, spread the load out better & bigger diameter rolls better.
But i hadnt thought of using plastic pipe. Water mains offcuts would work very well.

I have shifted a lot of machinery, lathes etc over the years. But that would have saved a lot of that time. ( & a capstan lathe slipping off the 2 inch dia steel bar stock we used once. )
A very early memory was watching Dad shift a small building ( large room/shed ) on rollers, by himself.

Originally Posted by gorven

With nonessential businesses being closed all over the US its going to be a challenge so before shipping make sure you call the person your shipping to is open or the freight will be returned to you and made to pay those charges.

As far as I know, isnt shipping/mailing/logistics/etc all considered "essential" and will remain opened? Regaurdless the person I am shipping to is the one who set up the freight so hopefully it is all ok!

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

Thanks for that plastic pipe idea, years ago i found that wooden posts work better than Steel tubing on concrete, they absorb the high points of the concrete chip surface, spread the load out better & bigger diameter rolls better.
But i hadnt thought of using plastic pipe. Water mains offcuts would work very well.

I have shifted a lot of machinery, lathes etc over the years. But that would have saved a lot of that time. ( & a capstan lathe slipping off the 2 inch dia steel bar stock we used once. )
A very early memory was watching Dad shift a small building ( large room/shed ) on rollers, by himself.

It's amazing what can be done with a few rollers and a bit of ingenuity. There was a 10 x 12 concrete slab on the property when i bought it. The former owners had intended to build a shop there but then couldn't get a permit to build because it was too close to the neighbor's property line. I had some empty oxygen tanks on hand and used those as rollers to move the slab to a better location. It all worked out.

Originally Posted by kss

As far as I know, isnt shipping/mailing/logistics/etc all considered "essential" and will remain opened? Regaurdless the person I am shipping to is the one who set up the freight so hopefully it is all ok!

Maybe contact your buyer ?

The one i'm thinking about may / may not be under a stay at home order.