Buying automotive scrap - Page 2

I do separate the materials as I load them onto the truck, roughly in the reverse order that I know I'm going to unload them at the yard with weights taken in between. All of the sheetmetal/shred goes to the back of the truck, heavy melt next, automotive castings after that, then all of the nonferrous stuff and aluminum breakage separately.

I'm probably pushing my half ton 2011 Ram a little too hard doing this, being that I'm putting roughly 1500 pounds in it at a time for a bigger load. The max payload on it is supposed to be about 1,570lbs; I know I get pretty close and sometimes a little bit over. I'm not riding on the stops with the springs fully compressed, but she sags a tad bit in the back when the brake rotors go on. Mind you, this is a crew cab, so I'm doing this with a 5'7" box!

I have concluded that I am wasting my time with this other shop and I'm going to cut bait unless he calls me. 60/40 is more than fair considering the wear and tear on 52-year-old me and a 9 year old pickup truck. I'm happy to do the work, it keeps me moving, and I like to work hard (complete opposite from when I was a kid, lol) but I'm not going to negotiate against myself.

As far as doing this for a secondary income is concerned, well, it isn't that. At best, most days curb shopping is a minimum wage gig, and more often not once you really consider the cost of fuel. Like some others have said, I do enjoy it, but it doesn't make a lot of financial sense so I limit it to one or two days a week at most, and some weeks not at all. I'd happily buy two loads of scrap a week if I could figure it out.

To the other software dev who wrote in, sometimes I wonder if I'm nuts for messing with scrap metal and should be doing side dev work instead. Hard to do with a day job though.

Thanks for all the responses, guys, happy scrapping!

Hi everyone...

I need some help

I'm actually curious if there are any special companies that purchase automative scraps/ junk cars for metal recycling? Maybe you have something in mind? I only hear about one in Atlanta, it is called Fulton Metals Recycling. https://fultonmetalsrecycling.com/commercial-services/ Have anyone heard something about this company? Would be grateful to receive any feedback or recommendation.


Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by ana777

[FONT="]I'm actually curious if there are any special companies that purchase automative scraps/ junk cars for metal recycling? Maybe you have something in mind? I only hear about one in Atlanta, it is called Fulton Metals Recycling. https://fultonmetalsrecycling.com/commercial-services/ Have anyone heard something about this company? Would be grateful to receive any feedback or recommendation.[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
Thanks in advance.

I mean no disrespect, but you have heard of automotive salvage yards, right? The local self-serve junkyard here will pay some fluctuating value per ton for any old piece of crap car you have the title for. Either you drag it across their scale yourself, or you let them come pick it up for a $50 reduction in the payout. The big problem, of course, is having the title. For some reason, people who own junk cars tend to lose the title.

There are businesses which specialize in rebuilding automotive parts cores, like starters, alternators, transmissions, engines, etc. Most of the time they get their "raw material" from their customers by charging a core charge on the parts. Some of them used to come shopping at the automotive salvage yard I worked at as a kid. The owner of the place I worked for would throw starters, alternators, etc., into barrels and save them up for when these people were coming around. They'd pick through and grab what they wanted and write him a check. The problem is that they don't always necessarily buy everything, and maybe sometimes nothing.

Most of the stuff I deal with in automotive parts is pure junk. Broken parts, shredded sheet metal, etc. Perhaps 15% of it might be rebuildable, but you have to identify it, and that can be very tricky. It doesn't fit well with my business model, so I just don't bother with it. My local scrap yard is doing the part where he throws all of the starters, alternators, catalytic converters, etc., into a barrel, and I assume the core buyers are going to him. I sell the electrical parts as "copper bearing motors".

Originally Posted by ana777

[FONT="]I'm actually curious if there are any special companies that purchase automative scraps/ junk cars for metal recycling? Maybe you have something in mind? I only hear about one in Atlanta, it is called Fulton Metals Recycling. https://fultonmetalsrecycling.com/commercial-services/ Have anyone heard something about this company? Would be grateful to receive any feedback or recommendation.[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thanks in advance.[/FONT]

Here i did the hard work for you.......
https://fultonmetalsrecycling.com/testimonials/

But i take it you actually work there..... And or affiliated with them