My name is Eric, i'm from south central Indiana, I buy junk cars to scrap and whatever else I come across. I don't spend time looking for small items curbside to pickup, but if I come across things I grab them and put them in a pile at home, to bring in garage and work on rainy days or when I don't have anything else to do I will go out and strip them down...
Here's my fleet of toys/tools I use:
Custom built 1977/1992 Dodge crew cab long bed 1 ton diesel 4x4
1998 Dodge Durango lifted 4" with 33" tires
20' gooseneck with 4' dovetail, steel deck, winch, toolbox with dual 875 CCA batteries (for winch), loaded with chains, boomers, straps, wrecker hooks, snatch block, 4 ton come-a-long, ratchet straps, bungee cords, wood blocks, bottle jack, fluids for truck, some hand tools, etc. I also equipped the trailer with a quick mount for my manual tire changer which I usually leave in bed of truck (no good place to mount changer in garage, usually plenty of deck room to use on trailer, works well). Also keep 11 gallon air tank in truck for cars I pickup with flat tires, they don't clear the trailer deck well and get stuck.
12' single axle trailer, wood deck with 1' high expanded steel sides and ramp gate
Car tow dolly, with magnetic tow lights for car. Just got this one and will be adding a hand crank winch to it soon.
I use the truck and big trailer to pickup cars/trucks/other large loads of scrap. The tow dolly I just bought because there's sooo many cars I can't get truck and trailer close enough to winch them on, either due to the size of the rig or the conditions (snow/ice/soft ground/etc) so for those jobs I will use the Durango with the dolly to get right to the cars and tote 'em home that way. Then i will winch the car onto the big trailer, where I strip the car to be hauled to scrap. I take batteries, catalytic converters, aluminum wheels, good tires, and any other easy to grab or worthwhile core or non ferrous items. The trailer deck is great because it's a raised platform, steel deck means no damage to my blacktop driveway, they unload the cars with loaders or grapples or magnet cranes, so it can be dropped on the trailer with no wheels and no problem there. Also if fluids spill on trailer deck its less of an issue to me than on my driveway. Less mess less fuss and time saved. This system works real well.
The 12' trailer I use for medium size loads of mixed metal (ferrous) and large loads of non ferrous.
I have a 2 car garage relatively well stocked with the tools an average mechanic would have. I do all my own vehicle repairs and modifications, built the Dodge crew cab myself, so pretty much anything I could need I have, except a torch set would be great to have sometimes!
I currently am employed part time with a lawn/landscape/snow removal company so I generally have a lot of free time this time of year. I recently got into hauling scrap cars, so I'm not sure how it'll work out this spring. If I get busy enough with it I might not work for the lawn company. That would be great, but not sure if its practical. This is great income and so far I've been able to stay busy doing it, but if the bottom falls out of scrap market or cars get harder to find, i'll be stuck, and I have a family to support.
Anyone in my neck of the woods need a hand with a larger project or what-not, feel free to private message me.
Thanks,
Eric
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