Jeremy from Michigan

Hello, all! My name is Jeremy. I'm from Michigan and I just turned 18. After a frend crashed my car, I have been rebuilding a new one with my old engine. My dad gave me his truck to use until I was done so I thought scrapping metal might be good for money on the side. I have been scrapping for almost a year now. I started by just saving up old car parts off of my car project, then I started getting metal from friends and family. Eventually, I started driving residential areas to pick up trashed scrap metal. More lately, I have been able to find connections through friends, family, and Craigslist to get big jobs. A friend of my dad's let me scrap almost anything that I wanted from a Wendy's that had burnt down and was being demolished. On Craigslist, I was in touch with someone who wanted me to remove about 2-3 tons worth of old steel desks and steel cubicle frames.

Looking back on my past year of scrapping, I have made a lot of mistakes. In my first month, I passed up multiple fridges because I didn't know scrap yards took them with all of them foam. I've been selling computers as low grade breakage (18 cents/lb) up until about a week ago when I first found this forum and realized they are worth A LOT more. I threw a lot of motors in the shred pile before I know they were worth more (also in the first month). You get the point. Everyone starts somewhere and makes mistakes. I consider myself an experienced scrapper at this point, but there will always be more to learn.

Anyways, I am happy to be a part of this community and I look forward to meeting new people and learning new things.


P.S: My name - CanIScrapIt is derived from my catch phrase; I always ask people "Can I scrap it?" even if it is a really expensive item or a nonmetallic item just as a joke.

Thank you. Haha yeah, there will always be BS mixed in with good information...just like there is always going to be BS electrical tape over a TV degaussing cable, or a steal dryer around a stainless drum. :P

But on a serious note, I have spent several hours reading up and it baffles me as to how much I hadn't yet learned on my own; I am usually a fast learner and pick things up very easily. I plan to spend a lot more time reading, as well.

I live in the Detroit Metro area. So actually, you aren't all that far from me. I mean, it's a little bit of a road trip but definitely not as much as it could be.

Doing a cleanup of a Wendy's sounds almost like heaven. What all did you scrap out of there? Having worked at a Wendy's I am aware of the miles of stainless used in there.

About 5 years ago two local McDonald's were torn down and rebuilt. Best I could tell nothing was scrapped.

Oh yeah. Welcome aboard.

Thank you!

It WAS heaven. Well, unfortunately, a lot of the stainless was taken by the guy who hooked me up with this deal as he wanted to refurbish/re-sell it. The copper and brass was mostly removed by another friend of his. As for me? I got random odds and ends: chili heater, potato oven, and entire ceiling grid w/light fixtures, cable, AU door frames, some copper, stainless, computer terminals, AU/CU radiators from an air conditioner unit that fell through the ceiling, as well as a HUGE condenser, and a huge AU drive-thru sign, etc. I ended up with maybe $600 in 2 days, about 20 hours of work. Mostly steel, but a decent amount of stainless and other items. Long story short, I was supposed to go back one more time this past weekend to try to tear apart some massive AC units, and get a few huge stainless counters that my buddy didn't want after all, but after going through all of the trouble to get the keys, I showed up to find that it had been demoed early. :/ Oh well, you win some and lose some.

Take a lookie: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...rant-in-taylor

It's a shame when things like that happen, where a building is torn down with nothing scraped...not just because people like you or me lose out on money, but also because most, if not all, of it will not end up being recycled.


Thank you for posting!

Like I was saying, I don't know if anything was scrapped. I stopped across the street on a lunch break and watched for awhile. As they demolished it, debris was loaded into dump trucks. No care seemed to be given as to separating stuff. I suppose it could have been done later, but I really doubt it.

On a side note, how cool would it have been if I could have scored some playground equipment?

Niece and nephew would have loved the hamburglar jail, among other things.

However, I have no doubt that due to liability concerns, McDonald's would much rather it all be tossed into a landfill.

Originally Posted by CanIScrapIt

Thank you!

Long story short, I was supposed to go back one more time this past weekend to try to tear apart some massive AC units, and get a few huge stainless counters that my buddy didn't want after all, but after going through all of the trouble to get the keys, I showed up to find that it had been demoed early. :/ Oh well, you win some and lose some.

That's a bummer. On top of the AC units, the walk in cooler and freezer would have a good size compressor, coils etc. Walk in itself is aluminum I believe.

The wiring alone coming into one of these buildings I imagine would be a nice days pay.

I lost out on a bunch of copper and stainless awhile back. Contents of a former restaurant went up for auction. Auction house specified that any equipment built into the building was not for sale. I went back later to find a remodeling crew working on it and asked if I could have the remaining equipment.

"Oh, we tore it all out and hauled it to the dump". Heart coulda stopped about then. Was at least $2,000 in scrap left.

I really wish I had a way of reaching these people before they do stupid things like this!

Dang, that would have been awesome.

Yeah, I hate liabilities. D:<

IdahoScrapper-

Sorry, didn't see that post. Dang! That's terrible! What morons. And yeah, I was looking forward to those AC units, and I was debating the walk-in, was it worth the 3 month old rotten, discussing smelling meat stacked in there covered with maggots and flies? Yeah, probably. Haha


Mechanic688-
Never been there before but I have been looking for a new place. Thank you! You are a life saver. That is actually just as close as my current yard. My current yard sucks, terrible pay, they always try to screw you, and the buy everything in only like...one type of grade. I will give them a try. I have 2 large stainless counters from a few different Wendy's in the area that got new pop machines. I will look into this place.

Thank you!

AMKris Kringle-
Yeah, I was wondering about that and I had looked a google earth and found nothing. I am glad someone confirmed it for me. Thank you.


AMGeorgeB-
Haha well thank you. I agree.

Nice. Store clean-outs are a very very good opportunity and I enjoyed my experience very much. I hope to find more very soon.

Are the counters still in good condition? I sell a bit of restaurant equipment on the side and make far more than scrap for it.

IdahoScrapper-
Good thought, but they aren't in that great of shape. Also, I have nowhere to store them. :/

But I'll keep that in mind for when I own my first place.


Mechanic688-
OHH okay so that's where the yard is. I will take a look. Thank you!

I still seem to be having trouble locating that.