Estimated price for the steel I-Beam I have...?

Just finished dismantling a mobile home trailer that was on my property. It was QUITE a task. I've scrapped everything except for the i beam rails and the axles. A friend of a friend said that the axles were the "old kind" and weren't really sought after and not worth much more than scrap or possibly ONLY worth scrap. Well, I'm gonna' list the axles and the rails on craigslist to see if any local farmers could put it to good use. I figured I'd ask $20 each for the axles or $50 for all three. But I'm not sure what to price my i beams at as I've never had any dealings with i beam before. Hopefully ya'll can help me out!

I have two i beams. They are both 65' long, 10" tall, and 1/8" thick and they are HEAVY! I imagine that to buy i beam at a metal place it would cost by the foot, right? What do ya'll figure I could get? I live in southwest Oklahoma, by the way.

Thanks!


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The I beam should go for Iron price, which is a little more than shred.

if you have some way to cut those beams you might do better having 3-20(+/-) footers than one 65 ft long. Six 20 ft beams could easily be used to build a good sized light roofing system

Originally Posted by Gravitar

The I beam should go for Iron price, which is a little more than shred.

So you think I'd be better off just scrapping it? I have to admit that it crossed my mind....

Originally Posted by Bear

if you have some way to cut those beams you might do better having 3-20(+/-) footers than one 65 ft long. Six 20 ft beams could easily be used to build a good sized light roofing system

I thought about that. I was wondering how a person, if I could sell them, would haul them. Even a semi trailer is generally only 53' long. I had a feeling they would need to be cut. When dismantling the trailer house, I used some heavy duty reciprocating saw blades to cut these rails (there are two, keep in mind!) from the tongue. It cut surprisingly easily. However, I won't say that it wasn't still a lot of work to cut these suckers. It would probably take an entire evening to cut both rails down to a more manageable size. But I reckon that would be worth it if I could sell these for more than scrap value.... Wish I had a cutting torch! lol

Originally Posted by Ptscrapper

With prices being so low right now im afraid to guess.

I understand. I was a bit disappointed when I took the metal from the trailer house to the scrap yard a couple days ago. ~$340 for everything. I scrapped every possible thing that I could, except for the copper wiring (gonna' strip it first), the axles, and the i beam rails. I guess the prices are down...? :-(


Thanks thus far, ya'll

[QUOTE=ITSANSS;105386]So you think I'd be better off just scrapping it? I have to admit that it crossed my mind....

Well, you asked how much it was worth. So I gave you my answer.

what you could do is make 1 sick 3 axle trailer you have the most expensive pieces ,i would make double frame trailer it would take 10 k all day long just another option or can make 2 trailer sell one pay enough to make a nice 2 axle trailer for yourself.

If the backing plates for the brake shoes are welded on then the axles you have are only good for farm or off road use. Welded backing plates no longer D.O.T. approved for highway use.

you said the beams are 1/8" thick, but what I'm seeing looks like at least 1/4"

Based on your dimensions given and guessing the rest from the pictures. ( 10" x 3" flange?...plus if your web thickness is thicker than .125" then your weight and scrap value go up) I calculated 1560 cubic inches of metal, multiply by the density of .283 of steel. You have 441# per ibeam. Multiply that by what you would get at your yard. So, anything higher than your answer is better than taking it to a scrap yard. At 0.10 per pound, thats only 44 bucks per beam plus they probably would want you to cut it. Sell on craigslist for $100 a beam would be a steal for anyone.

i think those beams would work great to cross the gap between 2 shipping containers to make a roof system, for about 5k you could have 2 40' containers and a 15ft wide covered area between them, just a thought, perfect setup for scrapping/ workshop, ive been to a couple auctions in the last year where shipping containers are selling at or below there scrap value

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I've seen a few farmers use mobile home frames to build a bridge across a creek to drive farm equipment across back in their fields.

got a photo of one ? how much weight would they hold up ?