when to break down and how far.

Thai question comes up often on the forum, and many different opinions and thoughts have been offered. Im my humble opinion, the question depends on several factors.

1. who you are and where you are in your scrap business. do you have a seemingly unending supply of scrap or are you constantly scrounging.



2 do you have the knowledge and the tools?

3 do you have the space?

4 do you like to keep busy or do you want fishin and hunting time or more time with the family?

These questions can go on and on . You can get the knowledge here. You can get the tools but, the rest of those questions and many other factors can only be answered by you. Are you a survival scrapper? Are you trying to grow into a scrap yard etc. One other thing, every time I break down something to the inth degree, I learn something new. Just some thoughts.

sounds about right, olddude.

I was taking apart a fan yesterday and there was a sticker inside that said "Assembled in Mexico". I kind of chuckled when I thought "Yea but it is being disassembled in the good old USA!

Lol rusty i say the same exact thing. And im glad i have no life, no wife/girlfriend, and no hobbies besides computers. So for me My day consists of hmmmm what needs to be broken down or answering 100 phone calls with scrap related blah blah. Only time i get stressed out are when something besides scrapping needs to get done. And i wouldn't have it any other way.

again it depends on your situation. there were days when I scrapped bits of wire from smashin the moley donuts for less then $5 or $10 dollars a day because with out doing that there would be no $5 or $10. "if your not moving forward, you are falling backwards" "The world never stands still so neither do we".

Yeah, not everyone falls into the same neat category. I'm not in a position to think about being paid per hour. I get paid by weight. I sometimes only make $10.00 by taking in my loose light iron to the yard just to get rid of it while waiting for my copper or aluminum to build up. I look at this way: That's ten bucks I didn't have when I woke up this morning.

It can also depend on how hungry you are. I once worked 14 hours laying concrete for a sidewalk for $10. But I had no food, no money, no job and a kid and pregnant wife. This was before food stamps etc. This was really the time of "you don't work, you don't eat".

Originally Posted by Mick

But I had no food, no money, no job and a kid and pregnant wife. This was before food stamps etc. This was really the time of "you don't work, you don't eat".

Now days you get food, smokes, cell phone, computer, internet and some spending money for a tattoo.

Sorry Mick, just an observation. Delete if you think it's going to stir the pot.

Originally Posted by Russell

Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen). It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone, or group, who has picked among several mutually
exclusive choices.

[1] The opportunity cost is also the "cost" (as a lost benefit) of the forgone products after making a choice. Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics, and has been described as expressing"the
basic relationship between scarcity and choice".

[2] The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in
ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently.

[3]
Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs.

First what was your major in college? Second I've spend too much time continplating these very questions. Lastly thanks for stating them so clearly, Mike.