Stopped for one piece of scrap, found a second piece to grab

A couple weeks ago I spotted a vacuum sticking out of a dumpster at an abandoned business. Even though it's not worth much, I figured it was an easy score, so I stopped to grab the cord. I only take the cords cause I don't want to mess with the silly little motor(unless it's an old Kirby). I grab my side cutters and cut the cord. I pulled the vacuum to the side to see what else was there. Well paint me green and call me Gumby, there was a plastic garbage bag with a wad of 12/2 romex wire. Huh, guess I will take that too. Woooo. I figure after stripping it, I will get at least 10lbs of good ole bare bright. Sweet.

A couple days ago, I noticed an aluminum grill sitting by the dumpster at an apartment complex. I drove by it a few times and finally decided to stop. I dumped the charcoals and junk out of the grill in the dumpster so I don't get my place messy. There were two 27" tvs as well, but I didn't take them cause I don't have a good place to junk them. Of course, I did cut the cords. Then, I spotted a Dell CRT monitor under a pile of old leaves. Well, I will take that for sure. Throw it in the truck and on I go. I can get rid of the monitor at Goodwill so I always grab them.

It's always fun to find bonus items when you aren't expecting it.

Nice action M!! I gotta get my place organized so the wifey isn't as grumpy about it. The new motto is to keep it in the car and get it scraped out that night while she's vegging or alseep. What she doesn't see, she doesn't know about...;)

Everything goes out to the shop right away although, I sell my appliances out of my garage. The first couple appliances I sold, people got weirded out when I would walk them back to the shop to check out a dryer. I make repairs and cleanup the appliances in the shop and move them to the garage to list on CL. I have been taking apart hard drives lately. I have a 4 gallon bucket sitting in the kitchen full of parts. No complaints. The bucket is off to the side and sits next to her pile of crafting totes. I don't complain much about that so we are both good. Over the weekend I was given a pretty good washer/dryer set and I found another dryer worthy of reselling. I just sold the set to a neighbor 2 houses down who is moving and wants to take her nice set with her. She will buy my set to sell with her house. That worked out great? No pictures, no CL ads. I just have to replace the heating element in the dryer and it's a done deal. The other dryer works great and has one heck of a squeaky drum wheel. Nothing a little oil can't fix. That will go on CL soon. Good Times.

DakotaRog - Are you aware of the spring cleanup in SF? Project Nice and Keep. They are happening Mid April. Some good things can be found at the curb. Check the city of sf website for the location maps. Depending on what is happening that week, I may drive around and see what people are throwing out. Last year I scored about 80 feet of 4" drain tile. I used it for our backyard RC race track.

I just got a Kirby and was debating whether I should craigslist it. Why do you single of Kirby vacs in your post?

Kirbys are top o the line(I think). They have a good size motor in them and most of the body is cast aluminum. I think Kirbys and Kirby accessories do well on CL and/or ebay. I had one that was probably 30 years old. I should have searched online to see if it had any value but, I just scrapped it.

In my mind, Kirby vacuums are the best of the best. The one I have is much heavier duty than anything else I've come across. From what I can tell, mine was made in the 1950s. There are definitely enthusiasts.

The motors are larger, but as a whole, the vacuums are resealable. They are the Cadillac of vacuums.

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Originally Posted by silverockdzl

I only take the cords cause I don't want to mess with the silly little motor(unless it's an old Kirby).

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Most decent scrap yards pay .15 # for a motor Wile I know some yards are lower then usual for copper motors
I feel you should reconsider . Generally any 12 amp Vac motor is 4 pounds so by me thats .60 total
The days of .24 per pound motors are gone till further notice .
Make a point to collect those motors the weight adds fast .

Most times I just bust the plastic vacs till motor is released but as spring to summer approaches ( plastic is not brittle ) Ill start to dissemble with screwdriver

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silverockdzl

Kirbys are top o the line(I think). They have a good size motor in them and most of the body is cast aluminum. I think Kirbys and Kirby accessories do well on CL and/or ebay. I had one that was probably 30 years old. I should have searched online to see if it had any value but, I just scrapped it.

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I've always figured the case was Cast AL & have been paid as AL .
Still my last endeavorer they held tight to it being magnesium and paid dirty price.
Some times they get picky depending who runs the scale. So I'll let em have the bone once in a wile .
Still that particular scale man is very experienced so it might be magnesium.
What I have learned I will not argue any more over .75 cents

I failed to mention another legitimate reason why I don't mess with vacuums. I don't want to bring any nasty stuff home especially bed bugs. No offense to any of you full timers. I am into scrapping to earn a little extra cash on the side along with my full time job. I have four children and I don't get a lot of blow money out of my paycheck to spend on toys and such. Scrapping has given me a little extra spending money for the fun stuff. I can't justify dragging an entire vacuum back to my residence to end up getting some nasty stuff. I brought home a couple vacuums when I first started and just the stench alone turned me off.