Magnet Sweeper Idea

I went on a walk with the girlfriend the other night in a residential neighborhood and with my keen eye for scrap metal I noticed nails, screws, car parts, pins, and shards of steel in the gutter and street edges. I'm sure the amount I noticed wasn't more than normal but it is certainly there.



The little ol' light bulb came on and I wanted to benefit from it in some way. I thought about making my own magnet that I just drug along to pick up the scrap ferrous pieces but I stumbled across what roofers and warehouses commonly use to pick up steel. Magnetic sweepers of all sizes are made that just roll along.



Maybe I am slow to this activity and many of you already do it or maybe I am dumber than a box of rocks to think that it would be beneficial at all to walk the streets with a 4 foot device rolling next to me. I know that it's not going to make a person rich or even make a noticeable amount but if one were to make $2-4 on a one mile walk then why not do it? Some questions I had though were these; would it take too long to make enough money to justify paying for one? Is there another device out there that would be more beneficial? Does anyone else do this that cares to share?

You know they make magnets that you can wheel around to clean driveways and such at industrial places and scrap yards right. I know i used one when i was maybe eight I am pretty sure it had a handle that you just flipped a switch on magnet on magnet off and was four feet wide. I remember my dad got a flat the day after I swept and I got b#tched at about not doing it right.

Is it beneficial? Sure! When I walk my neighborhood, I never pass a penny and certainly nothing silver! I also can't stop myself from picking up washers... I don't know what it is about washers, but I MUST HAVE THEM ALL!! I also pick up nails, bolts and screws. I find wheel weights and all manner of odds and ends. Besides, every nail and screw I pick up is one less that will end up in my tire or the tire of my neighbor.

I found an old boom bass speaker on the side the road, and grabbed it for the magnet. It's over 5 inches diameter, and attached the part that held it to the speaker to a piece of 1 1/4" wooden closet rod, the right length to comfortable hold just above the ground. It's a strong magnet, and works well to sweep an area for light metal objects. It also picks up lots of metal dust too tho, but i guess any magnet would.

Jack the scrappers idea, a magnet on a stick works good. I made one my self.

Originally Posted by wayne

Wrap a plastic bag round the magnet first.

I've also thought of using a flat piece of tin with a handle of sorts, like a flat metal dustpan thing, only thin and small, that could easily be popped off to release the picked up stuff, but I haven't tried that as yet

Originally Posted by cobre collector

I know that it's not going to make a person rich or even make a noticeable amount but if one were to make $2-4 on a one mile walk then why not do it?

When you say $2 - $4 each time you have to realize ferrous prices are roughly .10 a lb, so you would be talking about 20 - 40 lbs of weight. In addition to your magnet sweeper (I have one of the bigger ones from Harbor Freight), you have to figure out how you are going to carry that much extra weight. When I go walking I usually wear trousers with cargo pockets, and put my scrap in those pockets, but even they will not carry that much weight. And even if they did, I would really need an industrial strength belt to keep them from going down to my ankles!!