Can metals be scrapped without being separated?

Hey, ya'll

I work for a state agency doing highway maintenance. We've got a pile of miscellaneous scrap metal of all kinds piled high. I'm talkin' this is a huge pile of scrap!!!

Well, it's being sold online from what I understand. I've heard a few stories from guys that have worked here for a while that have seen scrappers buy the pile and come get it to take to sale. It's only done every five or six years or so. Apparently it's quite profitable.



Needless to say, I want in on it!

Question is....

Do I HAVE to separate everything out according to type to take to a scrap yard, or can I just load it in a 10 yard dump truck and take it to 'em? Basically, move the entire pile from our yard to the scrap metal yard. I figure that I'd get a lot less money if I did it that way, but the state is only gonna' give the winning bidder a certain amount of time to have the pile removed. I'm not sure what that time is, but I figure it'd take a newbie (me) quite a while to get the hang of separating the pile out into different types.....and there is A LOT to go through.

Thanks!

I work for a state agency doing highway maintenance.

The first question I'd ask is whether, as an employee, you're even allowed to bid on it. Lots of agencies prohibit their own employees from buying their surplus goods, whatever they are.

As for the rest of the question, just as a rule of thumb, the yards will buy almost anything, but the better sorted it is, the better your return will be, and keep in mind that you're likely to be bidding against people who know the game, and are equipped to optimize their returns by knowing what to sort from what else...

I see that Mick beat me to the reply button, but we're essentially on the same page.

If it does turn out that I can't bid, maybe I can get my dad to help me out. Loophole!

I cut and pasted this directly out of the online auction site that the PA Turnpike Commission uses: Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Employees and their immediate household members are prohibited from purchasing any items in this auction. It is in red, and the font is larger. I think they must be serious.

Things may be different at your location, but be careful not to lose your job for the sake of a quick buck.

I figure a cutting torch, a loader, and a dump truck or two is what it's gonna' take to get this thing goin'. And the state has all of this stuff! Maybe they'll let me borrow it. That'd help my bottom line tremendously. Hahaha

Keep in mind that this isn't 40 years ago. Back in the day, you could probably get away with having the highway department pave your driveway. Today, in a heartbeat, somebody will videotape you improperly using the taxpayer's equipment, and you'll be on the 6 o'clock news.

Also, there are quite a few aluminum signs in the pile that,

IF it turns out that you can make this work out for you, be sure to get some sort of paperwork that documents the legitimate origin of those signs, and that you paid for them. Where I go, they won't even accept highway signs, because the presumption is that they've been stolen.

there is a valid reasion gov employees are not allowed to participate, it causes colusion. I have an in law who is an $48 per hr electrician in a well known western state . weekends are $1000 per day. His "mad money" comes from the $20,000+ in pilfered copper scrap he sells every year. He of course sees nothing wrong with this, and views him self as a good solid christian man, and union member, and they wounder why their 50 billion + in the hole.

olddude,
I still see a lot of electricians throw copper scrap in the dumpster or just leave it wherever it falls. Are you sure that your inlaw doesn't have permission to keep scrap....just wondering. Hate for a good man to be dissed if he's not really doing anything wrong. My nephew is an electrician in a well known southern state(hourly pay MUCH less) and they take their scrap back to the yard and the owner takes it in once a year and throws a big party and gives them all a share of the money.

he has admited to me he is not supposed to remove recyclable material, his exact quote was "but if I don't take it some Mexican junk guy will any way"

I was kiddin' about usin' the state's equipment. Hence, the "Hahaha". But they really do already have everything I'd need and it really would help out my bottom line. lol I haven't researched it yet, but I'd imagine a loader, truck, and torch would easily be $1,000.

By the way, you're exactly right about "back in the day". Half the guys I work with have been with the highway department for literally longer than I've been alive and they've seen some crazy things. lol

Also, I know that the state gives some sort of receipt and special permission to be able to have state property. It's gettin' crazy down here. Most scrap places here take your picture, scan your driver's license, and take your license plate number of the vehicle you're driving. Lots of meth. addicts stealing stuff and scrappin' for dope money. People love meth. down here!!

Thanks for the laugh at the "Mexican junk guy" bit! lol!!

I buy government auctions from time to time. They usually state in the auction that it's the buyers responsibility to load item(s), but every time they have loaded it for me.

If they're willing to load it, then all you need is a torch and dump truck or a dump trailer.

IdahoScrapper,

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they'd helped out. Especially if it were me gettin' it. However, I know the guys I work with well enough to know that they'd expect a big cut. lol



Kris Kringle,

Apparently that is exactly what the guys did last time the scrap pile was sold (which was about six years ago for our county). Couple guys rented a U-Haul, spent a day or so separating things, and a day or two loading. One of the guys I work with said they talked to one of the guys and he said that their first trip of aluminum scrap paid their total investment. All the other loads of aluminum and metal were sheer profit.

I'm really gonna' try for this! It'd be weird through to take vacation time off work but still be at work. Haha


Thanks

If you have sufficient time to break it all down on site, do it. If not, but you have space at home to dump it and break it down there, do that. If you have neither, use your time line wisely, and pick out some of the cherries before going hog wild hauling it in random bulk.

c4f5,

I thought about that exact thing last night lying in bed trying to go to sleep. I actually do have somewhere I can put it all and carefully sort it out to get the biggest return. It would likely mean having to rent a truck and loader two times, but it could very well be worth it. We have a few rental places here in town. The state occasionally rents from RSC. I got on RSC's website yesterday evenin', and I saw a good lookin' loader but they don't have prices. lol On one page of their website, I think the home page, it shows a bunch of options for trucks. 5 yard, 10 yard, 14 yard, I believe. Well, on their online catalog it only showed 5-6 yard trucks. Again, with no prices.

That may be what I do is just load and truck everything as quick as a I can to my place and then take my time sortin' it all out. I live almost exactly 5 miles from where I work and it's interstate and state highways to get there, so it'd be pretty quick trips.

I'm curious as to what type of metal our brush hog mower blades are and what type of metal our guard rail is. I've personally thrown a couple hundred mowin' blades in the pile since I've worked for the state and there's no tellin' how many more are in there. And they're not lightweight! Also, just since I've been here, we've put a few hundred feet of guard rail into the pile and there was plenty in there before I got there. That stuff is very heavy! I'm just curious about those two things 'cause I know there is a bunch of it alone. I know the rail is galvanized, if that's any indication of its type.

We recently threw a 55 gallon metal drum in there full to the brim with galvanized nuts and bolts and washers from old guard rail systems, etc. It took three of us to tilt it back to get the loader bucket under it. That full barrel alone weighs no tellin' how much!!

We generate quite a bit of metal scrap with our day to day jobs and we're all the time pickin' up metal objects off the highways and those get thrown into the pile. It's the biggest pile of miscellaneous metal ya'll've ever seen!

I just looked through all my pictures thinkin' that I may have gotten it in the background, but I don't seem to have. I'll have to grab a picture of it Monday and show ya'll. It may be wise for me to get ya'll's advice on how much to bid! I am just a newb.!

Thanks