has any one ever tried to use a wood chipper to shred alu cans, I have about 2 loads but could make it one if the chipper will work
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has any one ever tried to use a wood chipper to shred alu cans, I have about 2 loads but could make it one if the chipper will work
Olddude, You might want to try what we do here, we dump the cans out on the ground and use our lawn tractor and lawn roller and roll them out flat. There's less to cut your fingers or whatever like there would be with chipping them.
yea, i think that the chipper would make a mess of them, try the lawn tractor or i just stomp them, Wheredo you get so many cans if you dont mind me asking?
I just smash them one by one as I empty them. Not sure what I would do with a big bunch from someone else, but I have done the "dump 'em all in the driveway" thing and ran over them with my truck. this method requires a big scoop shovel for clean up.
I smash 'em by foot, then pick them up with this:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/unge...ching-tool.jpg
If I had the money and knowledge, I'd like to build a pneumatic crusher.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgrDgFz-RA
That lawn roller smashes them flatter than a fritter, and saves a lot of wear and tear on the foot and ankle, I'm not as young as I used to be,
I had 2 old log splitters that I sold awhile back. I should have kept one and built a box/hopper, then a plate on the ram to crush 'em.
I did a google search for pneumatic can crushers. there's one company selling them for $275. Problem with the design for this model is you have to open and close the door for each can. I also saw another video where you can stack multiple vertically, which seemed a litttle bit more user friendly. But the videos on utube show a fairly basic design. Seems its nothing more than a piston connected to a compressor. My issue is I don't have access to air so I'm old school with the foot.
As far as the lawn rollers are concerned, are you talking about a manually pushed roller? I checked home depot they sell them for $99. I'm tempted because the majority of what I get are cans from the forest preserves where a lot of people barbeque.
Mine is an old one that is full of water or sand?? and is pulled with an 18hp lawn tractor. We just dump them in the driveway.
I jack up the back of my 500cc polaris fourwheeler about 1 inch off the ground and start spining the rear tires. I have someones else start shovling the cans under the tires.
a can is a can in my opinion! I had someone give me 52 lbs of cans I never crushed one of them! I made .55 a lb for them!
problem here is , we re talking 2 pick up loads one load crushed and one lode not crushed, im trying to figgure a way to maximize the fuel for a 120 mile round trip.
I don't crush them if they are... nasty. I have a one-at-a-time manual crusher. It's pretty sturdy, all metal and mounted on the garage wall. I place the uncrushed in a bucket up high to grab from and place in. The crushed ones auto-drop and fall into big plastic garbage can. I've been wanting to build a feeder... but I've haven't been getting too many cans at once.
If I find any when out and about, they get the step-on treatment and tossed in the back of the van. When I show up at the yard, most times half my cans are crushed and half aren't. All get tossed in. All weigh the same.
It is a matter of space. If I can haul $50 of uncrushed cans and use $12 in gas, I would rather wait and take in $150 of uncrushed cans with the same gas.Quote:
Originally Posted by DCMinor
When I get some parts and free time, I think I'll build one of these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njmvg...eature=related
The second one is much safer. Liked them both though.
They make tables for the can sorting business, kind of a large funnel top with a hole in the center, I'd get one of those with that bad boy underneath it, that way you just dump a bag of cans into the funnel, and it auto loads the crusher. I've seen the funnel top tables at one redemption center, the others just have big stainless tables with a hole cut in the middle of it, and a tube welded to the bottom. Either way keeps your fingers from the large crushing wheels.Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper
This is the one that i would build if i had the supplies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpEpv...eature=related
I know this is an "oldish" thread; however, I have a question about this tool. I'm 6'2" tall, is this thing longer enough where I can walk straight up and still pick up a can? What about if I'm riding a bike?
Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper
I found these website comparisons:
Grabber comparisons
Different sizes
Anyone use these?
THose grabbers are only about 3 feet long.
Dig 4 inches deep into ground in like a 3x3 area throw all your cans in the 3x3 area and drive over em a few times
HI,try putting a bag between 2 sheets of scrap plywood,just a thought! Oops and then run over with truck!
I like the idea of running things over. Just hold out on crushing your cans until you have a load of iron to take in. I never come across enough cans at a time to need to resort to any method but my foot. Never even used to crush cans at all until I started scrapping and I just don't have room enough in my garage for 20 some bags of cans anymore. Got me some bins set up. Totes, trash cans, buckets, and those plastic tubs from inside washers are useful. Sorry. Gettin sidetracked.
we tried most of the above. problem is most cant understand just how many cans we were dealing with, we finally jut gave up about half way through and hooked up the inclosed trailer, baged the cans up whole, dont remember the lbs but we had $359 worth at .71
Thats alot of beer... olddude knows how to party.
Let's see...a beer pyramid at 8 levels high is about...120 cans. One full pyramid fills 2 bags uncrushed. The last time I took them in like that I had 22 bags @.60/lb. and got roughly $25 so...I forgot where I was going with that but anywho. Olddude...wow. That's over 500lbs of cans. Now I remember what I was trying to get at. Figuring out how many cans that is. My conclusion...alot. Sorry...beer kills my math skills.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris Kringle
So, what do all you can "harvesters" use to "pick" cans? Do you bend all the way down and pick with your bare hands? If a can is in a paper bag, do you pick up the bag, too?
I've got a concrete driveway, so I'm not going to be digging out a hole or channel to run over them. Also, the really tall AL cans are 24oz. size ---- the small wall mounted crushers appear to only accept up to 20oz. size can. Houston, do we need a bigger mouse trap???
I saw this idea on another forum. Don't know if I can find it again so I'll try explaining it.
I doubt this would work for cars, due to clearance.
Take 2 2x6 or 2x8 boards. Figure out the width of one of your tires, then cut a board to that width. This will be your "end cap".
Stand your boards upright, then nail your end cap on. At this point it will look like a trough of sorts.
Don't recall how the other end was, but you wouldn't want it nailed, because you need to be able to drive your tire between the boards. Maybe a 2x4 nailed on the bottom, and then drive over it.
Fill the trough with cans and start driving back and forth.
The poster of this idea didn't like the amount of cans he had to scoop up. I say lay a tarp down and then the trough.
Sounds like it would work, but I have never tried it. If anyone does, let us know how it turns out.
How about a piece of plywood that is the length and width of your vehicle's wheel base plus the width of 2 2x4's on the sides and one on the front. Build the sides and front up according to however high you want with the 2x4's. Place another piece of plywood on top that will fit inside this partial box only longer towards the back to allow it to bend to make a ramp for you to drive up on. Place the cans under the top piece and drive over. Not quiet a good idea for doing a bunch at once but if you do aquire alot more than just your own drinking then you could throw them out under the top board and just pull forward a bit before you leave and when you get home drive back up on it then back up to allow more cans to be tossed under. When it gets to overflowing the side boards then it's time to pick em up.
Don't know about the rest but I use an old homemade walking stick and drove a fairly large nail in it, then ground off the head(of the nail) to a point. Just wear some lightweight gloves while picking. Just spear the can, also works on snakes and other vermin(2 and 4 legged) you might come across in your walk.Quote:
So, what do all you can "harvesters" use to "pick" cans?
So, you "spear" them? OUCH!!! Doesn't that hurt the cans??? Do they die a painful death? :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
No more painful than Olddude's can shredder he was thinking about,
I used to fill up 3 gaylords of cans (which was the most I could fit on my truck with the tailgate down and find a reasonably private place (cul-de-sacs with no houses where new subdivisions are being built are great) and dump them out and just drive my truck in circles over them. It works great and is fairly quick. A snow shovel puts them back in the gaylord.
Usually even if anyone shows up they tend not to care too much.
Mick's gonna have your a$$ come day break janny!
im thinking a roller crusher like this,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9x4n...0FC865FFE440FA
or the tire method with a basket hopper on top. the video here is made from a treadmill, which isnt difficult to get for free on craigslist.
the only benefit to this design over the tires is that the opening/crushing surface would be wider than the tire design. that would save on jamming.
please tell us what you come up with olddude. im interested in what works best to maximize your can load.
Didn't take that long this time.Quote:
Originally Posted by KZBell
oh, that's why I was so confused !!