Even with low steel prices you need to grab it when you see it!

My friend was smoking a turkey, a brisket and some other stuff and said to come by, I go over and told him lets go and get some beers to go with the bbq for lunch. Going to get the beer I cut down an alley and there is a dryer, a wire rack and a wicker wrapped chair. My buddy says lets grab it. I say lets wait till we get the beer and have lunch and then get the steel and go the scrap yard as it is only 5 miles from his house. I had a hot water tank in my truck that I wanted to remove the copper and brass which I did after lunch. We head down the alley and a truck was loading up the steel.... Well that BBQ and beers cost me $20... LOL

I turned in 60# of brass because I got tired of waiting for the price to rise and I needed to make room for more.

One question hobo...why are you eating turkey this close to Thanksgiving?

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Originally Posted by pjost

One question hobo...why are you eating turkey this close to Thanksgiving?

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It was on the smoker... Brass went down $.10 to $1.60 here. Think I am going to get rid of most of my stuff as we need Christmas money and if I wait till closer it could be much less...

I never stop gathering. Run out of room? I bribe a buddy with a six pack for cheap storage. LOL. It helps he's my partner when I need help on jobs.

An smoked turkey is good all year round. ;)

I'm coming to party with Hobo an his buddy. Beer, BBQ, lots of sunny weather...ha! Just no water...

Sirscrapalot - missing saguaro cactus, scorpions and all the other fun desert stuff.

lol this is why i have this tuck your head through throw over poncho thing in my truck that of course i found for free lol when ever i see something i pick it up and this way i do not have to mess up any nice clothes i have on cause i have learned that if i can not expand to get more room right now i must pile high and hope not to die lol

Everyone is lamenting low steel prices, but I still remember the days of .005 around here. Yes, that's a half a cent per pound. When it went up to 1 cent per pound, I thought I was raking it in! Soon after that, I was finding cars for my uncle to haul to the shredder and getting $50 each for them. Even better money.

Oh, and I wish I had all the copper back that I sold at 35 cents.

I do subscribe to your get it when you see it plan. I also have the sell it when I have it plan. I think it all averages out pretty well.

When I come home from my full time job, sometimes there is random steel in my driveway. I decided to lay low for a month but stuff is still coming in! Got home last night to find a cast iron sink on the side of my driveway. Thinking I might stash that with my cast iron tub pile --to be refinished pile.

Instead of going directly back for some chairs in the second load I checked other areas and picked up a huge flatscreen. This beauty is loaded with copper and aluminum. I never got around to getting the dollar's worth of shred.

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Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer

Everyone is lamenting low steel prices, but I still remember the days of .005 around here. Yes, that's a half a cent per pound. When it went up to 1 cent per pound, I thought I was raking it in! Soon after that, I was finding cars for my uncle to haul to the shredder and getting $50 each for them. Even better money.

Oh, and I wish I had all the copper back that I sold at 35 cents.

I do subscribe to your get it when you see it plan. I also have the sell it when I have it plan. I think it all averages out pretty well.

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Bet gas wasn't above 1$ a gal back than either. I know when you were my age bread was a nickel too��!!! But what your leaving out is overhead was low and I'm betting you didn't have to pay much if any for them cars you sold for 50$, so really by comparison of cost to profit ratio, you made a killing.

Currently with my overhead and low prices I have effectively stopped buying scrap. Unless it's free and close by I won't mess with it, period. and as for cars, 250 maximum and within 35 miles or not buying. Screw these idiots who think they're beloved pos is worth 1000 and it lacks any sort of value except for shred weight. Generally, screw these worthless prices and screw all the "500$ cash for your pos car guys." Screw the owners who outright misrepresent the condition of the car or lie bout parts being "stolen" when the parts in question are clearly in plain view on the front porch.

Ok I'm done ranting, for now.

Yes, gas was cheaper and overhead was low. To tell the truth, I never bought any of the cars, just got them out of people's way. I feel ya on the people who think everything they have is gold plated and I've been there on the "stolen parts" racket too.

My main point is that I've been through the highs and lows. I've had 0 overhead with only gas money to pay and have had trucks and equipment all with insurance. fuel stickers and loans. I'm now somewhere in between. I think you're doing the right thing narrowing your range and reducing prices. You have to do what it takes to stay within the limits when the market is down.

Back to Hobo. Take all you can when you can, it may not be there when you get back. Keep costs down and work to maximize profits.

In my case scrap will be there when I come back 9/10 times. passed a free working dryer on a main route everyday for a week before picking it up >shrugs<
no worries here just a big pile o' steel with nowhere to go, The only challenge left is how big I can make it before spring.

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Originally Posted by NHscrapman

In my case scrap will be there when I come back 9/10 times. passed a free working dryer on a main route everyday for a week before picking it up >shrugs<
no worries here just a big pile o' steel with nowhere to go, The only challenge left is how big I can make it before spring.

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Hey, bring that working dryer to me...I just moved into a new apartment and I need one! :P