29 ton aluminum sailing vessel - able to scrap?

Hello,

Obviously this is my first time here and posting, so please bear with me and feel free to laugh at my ignorance.

I have a 29 ton aluminum hull sailing vessel that's 65ft long. The hull is solid aluminum about 3/8" thick, and the keel is full of lead. I have no idea if it's logistically possible to scrap this vessel, and searching around online has only shown me that people scrap 15 - 20ft aluminum fishing boats, etc.

I understand I'd have to clear out all the wood/interior/other random parts, but let's assume I can get her down to just the solid aluminum hull (painted). What the heck do I do next?? Am I best to try and cut her into pieces myself then just haul all that to a scrap yard? Or should I contract the yard to come cut her up?

Do scrap yards have the capacity to take around 40,000 - 50,000 lbs of aluminum and lead in one fell swoop?

Should I go through the trouble of sandblasting the antifouling paint off and stripping down to bare aluminum hull?

What kind of prices can I get here? I've seen anywhere from $0.30 - $0.55 per pound for aluminum, through searching this forum and elsewhere.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Try to sell as is if not more than likely to get top dollar u will have to cut up into somewhat manageable pieces

patriot is our expert on eating an elephant one bite at a time. he also a really cool guy.

chat with him a little bit and maybe he will offer some advice

The biggest thing is being able to get it onto dry land to dismantle/scrap it.

I have actually cut up a 30 foot solid steel pontoon boat but it was dry docked in a yard....the lead in the bottom was a nice bonus

You will have two factors...one I have to tell you is dont use a torch on aluminum. Do some reading and you will find out why that's a really bad idea. Two is, estimate your costs. You will need a crane and a company to get it on dry land to a place you can demanufacture it. I'd get an estimate from that first and then estimate your tonnage for waste so you can get an idea of what a roll off or two will cost you. These things are charge items.

Alternative is to strip it of everything thats waste and then shop it to a yard willing to pay for it, eliminating your labor I bet you will find yourself happy to take 10 or 12 cents a lb then move on to the next project.

The question is? Do you have heavy machinery to break it down and move it in large pieces? The larger the pieces you can haul, the less work on your part.

The one question that I can answer without knowing your background, experience, or tools is yes even the scrap yards in the rural parts of the country can handle that amount of aluminum and lead.

The easiest strategy is to just broker the deal. I have had scrap yards send the equipment and man power to a project for the metal. All I did was broker the deal and gave them access. Easy money with very little work. I would contact several yards to get the best price. Each yard will contact their buyers before giving you a price. They will probably pay you for aluminum breakage, but you will not have to remove wood, paint, or other items.

If you have the time and energy to under take this project, as mentioned before a torch would be worthless. A plasma cutter would be beneficial. I have used metal blades in a circular saw to cut aluminum. Bees wax saves on the blades. I use it on my sawzall blades and I think it doubles their live expectancy. I have no idea about how to deal with the lead. I hope someone else with more experience in this area will chime in and enlighten us.

As far as getting the boat on land to work on it, I would not go to the expense of renting or hiring heavy equipment. I would use logs, pickup, and winches to drag it up to dry land. Start the first logs in the water and continue placing logs every six feet. This would allow the boat to float and roll ashore. If the shore line is sand, it will be harder and you will have to reduce the weight before this strategy would work. If the Egyptians were able to build the pyramids, you should be able to get the boat out of the water. Good luck and let us know how this works out.

If boat is on the hard in a location where breaking it down is not an issue, and you have the time & interest, I would start by quantifying what you have to determine actual scrap value vs. a viable hull for resale if still in good condition. I would guess a boat that size has a keel weight of 8000# or more, and actual lift weight minus interior may differ greatly from displacement tonnage so do an estimate of ft2 of aluminum x weight/ft2 of hull thickness. Some aluminum will have attachments (dirty Al/Al breakage), some will be clean (likely old sheet) - estimate each and get prices/lb. to get an estimated value. Separating the keel and extracting the lead would be my first move, then cutting the hull into as few pieces as possible to allow transport with a bare minimum gut job on the interior. I've done a bunch of boats, a few of which were aluminum up to 25' (riveted not welded) and would be glad to give you pointers if needed.
Or just invite me down to do it - FL looks a lot more fun than WI does right now!

https://youtu.be/rEkAyYCCp1w Sell it as is to a scrap yard as dirty aluminum $.15 - $.20 lb Boat weighs 50,000 lbs so $7500 - $10K Not a bad deal!

Wow, thanks very much for all the input already!

So a few things to clarify - getting her onto the hard isn't really a problem, have contacted several good shipyards which can do it for us and get her on chocks/stands. Once we do strip the interior, I'm guessing it's probably best to lay the boat on it's side before starting to cut into it? She has a 9ft keel, with a giant bulb of lead on the bottom. I definitely don't have the tools to cut it all up myself....short of buying ten thousand sawsall blades, so I appreciate the input acknowledging that I can contract it out to a scrap yard.

Once we get the boat to Florida, I'll get in touch with some yards and see if they're willing to give us a quote and possibly send somebody down to take a look. I know a couple of you guys mentioned having done jobs with 25(ish) ft boats before....is there any way of finding someone in Florida who'd have similar experience. Or should I just start making phone calls?

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/disma...-breaking.html

What I would usually do in this situation is definitely contract a yard. You won't get absolute top dollar, but, you wont have to factor in things such as tools, and trips to and from the scrap yard. Essentially, you're flipping the boat. You bought it for XXXX.XX and the way your pitching it, it sounds like you'll get much more than XXXX.XX for it from a yard. Maximum payment for minimal time. You have to find the equilibrium and I suspect it's in contracting it out.

Most Scrapyard's have a hydraulic 'nibbler' (Shears?) that goes on the end of the cranes boom.
They use it to nibble up steel tanks and cut longer Iron into manageable bits.
They take a 2 foot+ long by 6 inch wide nibble at a time.
So most yards can nibble it down to a size where they can then put it in a car crusher to squeeze it into a near solid block.
So if you can cut it up into a large truck deck sized peices and get it to the yard, they can finish it off, after paying you for it.
You will probably get good money for the Lead too. One chunk and no battery acid to worry about.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/pr...6=w350-h350-nc

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...LedpLk1p1RtfdA

maybe im just talking nonsense but what about contacting the big mills/smelters?
since its a large quantity of aluminium, maybe the big guys will be interested in it & hopefully offer a better price than a scrap yard?

The amount of aluminum in the boat is not enough to interest a "big mill" and smelters are not going to buy scrap.

Your best place to get top dollar would probably be directly to a secondary processor.

on a sawsall, you will want a very coarse blase like a wood with nails or even a wood blade, and use a cutting lube. the aluminum melts easily and jams fine tooth blades.

with this large of a project it is probably worth acquiring a plasma cutter and a few lessons. keep in mind you may need an air compressor to go with the plasma cutter

hey wetmetal, I am a scrapper in florida I own a scrap yard and may have some ideas for you, because I am familiar with how a lot of yards work around here. (heck, depending where it is, I might want to buy it lol) ill send you a private message to see where you're located and give you my number, don't hesitate to call for any questions. I have, and know guys, with semis, and I know good crane companies etc. so check your inbox when you get a chance :)