Newbie question - Tin roofing sheets in with shred?

Hi everybody, first I want to thank all the regular contributors for all the info on the forums that has given me a good scrapping education so far since I registered last week, and more pointers that I expected to find.



So as a newbie, here's a basic question. At what point (weight) does tin (I have almost 100 lbs of roofing sheets and access to more) become better to separate out of my shred pile to sell as its own category? Is this ever done in smaller amounts? I have tried to contact my 2 yards (only ones for 40 miles) about it, one is impossible to get on the phone and doesn't answer email, and the other isn't very newbie-friendly but sometimes has better prices. I'm just trying to win them over showing that although I may not be a very experienced scrapper, I can at least be an educated one.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to meeting all in the posts. Now that the rain has stopped here in Middle Georgia, the wife is settling the baby down and reading her nook leaving the keyboard free for me to learn more on SMF. -Drew

It all depends on your paticular yard.The best thing to do is call and ask.However if the roofing tin is in reusable condition you should be able to sell it on craigslist for way more than scrap value

Amen! Fordsix, especially if it's older, heavier stuff, and well placed nail holes should be no real problem for anyone wanting the quality metal from the good old days, above the overpriced tin "paper" they sell today. From a few sheets to a whole stack, you should be able to get much more than "tin" price from any knowledgeable handyman/woman

vintage building material sites would likely be interested also, to add to their inventory. Some retro construction projects use it for like decorative purposes. A Bass Pro Shop I worked on used it for almost the entire archery department ( walls, ceiling, archery firing range and all)

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Wish I had enough for you olddude, some of it is rough cut at tapered angles, wonder what's up with that since I've never seen any tin roofs around here like that except cuts made for chimneys.

Bear, another CL ad might be worth it. It is real rusty though but a nice red color. I remember a restaurant back in North Carolina that used it like a drop ceiling they were like farmhouse retro. We called it "Cracker Barrel with button-down shirts" lol Nice to know there's there's still a market for stuff beyond the yards. -Drew

Originally Posted by DrewinGA

Hi everybody, first I want to thank all the regular contributors for all the info on the forums that has given me a good scrapping education so far since I registered last week, and more pointers that I expected to find.

So as a newbie, here's a basic question. At what point (weight) does tin (I have almost 100 lbs of roofing sheets and access to more) become better to separate out of my shred pile to sell as its own category? Is this ever done in smaller amounts? I have tried to contact my 2 yards (only ones for 40 miles) about it, one is impossible to get on the phone and doesn't answer email, and the other isn't very newbie-friendly but sometimes has better prices. I'm just trying to win them over showing that although I may not be a very experienced scrapper, I can at least be an educated one.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to meeting all in the posts. Now that the rain has stopped here in Middle Georgia, the wife is settling the baby down and reading her nook leaving the keyboard free for me to learn more on SMF. -Drew

I'm not sure I understand your questions. Do you think there is two different categories one called tin, the other called shred?

No, I know they usually get mixed in together. I was just curious if there were ever instances where someone would have enough weight in the tin alone for it to effect pricing (I've heard of cases where scrappers have gotten separate pricing for tin vs. other ferrous) and so it seems to depend on which yards its taken to, since it sounds like a rare exception. Thanks for setting a newbie straight.

Most yards have pricing tiers depending on the amount you bring in and how often. At the yard I deal with, if you bring in over 10k pounds a week you move up to the next level.

the angle cut means they came off a building with a hipp roof. probably a house.

I guess if the yard you sell to has a better price for clean tin and you have a straight load of it, than it would be worth it. If you just have a couple hundred pounds and your trailer or truck is not full than it likely wouldn't be worth the extra trip to the yard for just the clean tin or the time to reweigh if the yard would let you throw off the clean tin and then the rest of your shred. It would depend on how much extra they would pay for the clean tin which is something you would have to calculate out.

The shredder yard I sell to has a price for clean tin which is maybe five dollars more than the price for carbodies and regular shred. I have never hauled a straight load of clean tin though. For most yards and individuals scrapping it is not worth the effort or the space it would take up in their yard to try and segregate out the clean tin from the rest to make a straight load of clean tin which for me would be 20 tons. If I get in a big load of clean tin I usually compact it in the shear and then cut the tin into small bundles which I can then sell for #2 steel. My price difference between #2 and shred is around $30.00/ton so this makes more sense for me and doesn't create another pile. But the majority of the tin (shred) that comes in just gets thrown onto one pile, baled in the shear and then loaded onto trucks and sold for shred along with the carbodies.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks key, when I heard about other guys (not on SMF) separating just a few hundred pounds of clean tin out when they had shred right along with it, it didn't seen worth the effort to me. Besides, if I get enough, I'll try builders/remodelers first anyway like Bear said.

Thanks again, Drew

don't just give up either, wish i had kept a couple old trannys i had last week, but i wasn't finding any place to talk to about em. Today I took an old route into town to check something out, and passed right by a transmission repair shop