My scale Vs the scrap yard scale??

I have been scraping for a long time. Just small scale not like some of you guys. I might pick up a couple tons of iron and tin scrap every couple months or so and pile it up until I run out of room or just need some cash. I don't weigh this material before I carry it in but I do weigh all my copper, brass, alum cans and other things that bring more money. I have taken scrap to pretty much every scrap yard in town at one time or another and after a few years I figured out which ones treated me the best and they were the ones that got my scrap.

I don't have to tell any of you about how hard you have to work to pick up, sort, store materials then haul them in for what you get out of it in the end. I have a certified electronic scale that will weigh up to 200 lbs that I weigh my copper, brass and other big ticket items on before it goes into 55 gal. drums and sealed once they are full. Sometimes it might take me 6 months to a year to get a full barrel of stripped romex and then I would sit on it until the price went up enough to cash in.

Over the past 5 years I have been using the same place because they always treated me fair in the past. Well it was about Christmas time and I needed some cash to get my wife some Christmas gifts and I had one barrel of stripped romex that had 255 lbs in it and it was just under 3/4 full. I ran my wire stripper for a day and a half to level off the barrel but I got in a hurry and didn't weigh that extra wire because I just figured it was holding right at 300 lbs like they usually do with the barrel topped off and tightly packed with 14 to 8 ga solid wire. I knew there was 255 lbs already in the barrel before I topped it off and that was enough for what I needed to do and the top off would be some cream on top. I don't usually sell my copper wire when it's under $3.00 but it was Christmas and I needed the cash and at $2.90 lb I figured it was close enough.

For all those years the same two guys were at the scale when I pulled up but this time there was another guy there working the scale. Normally I would roll the barrel off the tail gate and roll it over to the scale but they insisted I dump it into this large medal container that the fork truck pulled up to the back of the truck. I thought about it for a second but I was busy throwing off some insulated alum wire into another container and before I knew it they had dumped the whole barrel of wire into their steel container and put it on the scale. They have two smaller scales there and one had my insulated alu wire on it and the other had my copper. The weights flashed on the screen but it was the container weights with material total and happened so fast I and before I knew it everything was gone and the guy came over with my ticket and said please move away from the scale so these other people can weigh in. I pulled off and went to the window and the guy handed me a wad of cash and yelled next please. I was out of the building before I even counted the money and when I did I knew I had been had. They paid me for 205 lbs of #1 bright copper and when I went back in to question it all they would say is that they have certified scales and there was nothing they can do. My problem was that I didn't know the exact amount because I didn't weigh what I topped the barrel off with but I knew I had 255 lbs in there before the top off as if that would have made any difference anyway.

I never have liked to dump my stuff into those containers that they haul up for you to put stuff in. once it's in there you have nothing to go on and are at their mercy. I know there can be small differences in how stuff is weighed I always figure a +/- 10 lbs one way or the other but this was almost 100 lbs. I still ain't got over that one yet. How do you keep those guys honest or is it even possible?

Tell the scale guy to load it back onto your truck then go to another yard.

Originally Posted by mx842

I never have liked to dump my stuff into those containers that they haul up for you to put stuff in. once it's in there you have nothing to go on and are at their mercy. I know there can be small differences in how stuff is weighed I always figure a +/- 10 lbs one way or the other but this was almost 100 lbs. I still ain't got over that one yet. How do you keep those guys honest or is it even possible?

Each of those containers should display theor tare weight, if your in doubt of the accuracy ask the scale man to pr-weigh the bin.

I put my copper up in 50 lb boxes.

Let's say the tare weight is .75 lbs for the box.

The total weight will be 50.75 lbs on my scale. The outside of the box is labeled 50 lbs copper.

Anyhow ... this doesn't give them any wiggle room for cheating at the scale.

I usually use a 12x12x12 box for #2 and a 12x12x6 box for bare bright. It hardly takes up any space in the shop in case i want to sit on it for awhile till the prices go up.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Each of those containers should display theor tare weight, if your in doubt of the accuracy ask the scale man to pr-weigh the bin.

Like I said this was the first time I ever had a problem with these guys that I know of. Their weights and mine have always been within a few lbs. This time I dropped the ball a little by letting them rush me up. I had a couple hundred lbs of insulated alum wire and a barrel of # 2 copper. I had already dropped the barrel of #2 at the scales and wanted to unload the alum wire and then last the #1 bright. While I was throwing the insulated wire into their bin box a couple of guys jumped up into the truck and rolled the #1 into the metal box and dumped it. It all happened pretty quick an before I knew it the guy handed me a ticket and asked me to move out of the way. I didn't even realize what had happened until I counted my money. Of-course by then it was too late all my stuff was mixed up with theirs and all I heard was how their scales were so certified.

Originally Posted by hills

I put my copper up in 50 lb boxes.

Let's say the tare weight is .75 lbs for the box.

The total weight will be 50.75 lbs on my scale. The outside of the box is labeled 50 lbs copper.


Anyhow ... this doesn't give them any wiggle room for cheating at the scale.

I usually use a 12x12x12 box for #2 and a 12x12x6 box for bare bright. It hardly takes up any space in the shop in case i want to sit on it for awhile till the prices go up.

I have the tare wt of my barrel written on the top of the lid. I also write in magic marker on the lid each time I add wire to the container. When it's time to take it in I add up the weights and put the total on top with the weight of wire and also the total weight of everything. I like the barrel thing because I can add wire then reseal the barrel without worrying about it becoming tarnished, been there done that. Also the barrels are so easy to store. I may have to add another stage to my processing and do something like you do with the boxes. Once a barrel is full and the price is right remove it from the barrel and put it into 50lb boxes and put it into the truck. That way if I don't like the weight It would be easier to throw 50 lb boxes back into the truck than try a get a 350lb barrel back into the truck or trailer. thanks for the idea.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

I know this may not help or make you feel any better but I try to figure out when the busy times are and avoid those if I can

I've tried that but it's a pretty hard nut to crack. I've been there all hours of the day and it seems like everybody is just like me and decides to go in at the same time.LOL

Originally Posted by alloy2

Tell the scale guy to load it back onto your truck then go to another yard.

Good luck with that around here.

Is your scale certified " legal for trade"

It is also important to know where you plan to place the scale. A scale needs a solid, level surface so information on placement location helps the installation process. If a scale is moved to a different location, the scale’s calibration should be checked so a report can be sent to the county stating that the scale is within tolerance.
If you have a legal for trade scale it is important to have the scale periodically checked for accuracy. Depending on how inaccurate a scale is, upon county inspection, the scale could be tagged and taken out of service.

In the event of this, the scale must be repaired or recalibrated within a certain period of time. Once the scale is back intolerance a report will be sent to the county and the scale can be used again. Because of situations like this, it is important to have a reliable scale company that will get your scale back in service to avoid the scale being down for a long period of time.


For more information regarding your weighing needs, contact Quality Scales Unlimited.

Originally Posted by mx842

Oh...You can get 50 lbs of bare bright in a 12x12x6 box?? How do you manage that?

It comes out of my stripping machine straight. I feed it into an 11 1/2" jig and cut to length. All the individual pieces fit tight together in that little box. Admittedly, it's a bit of extra work, but everything is well organized when you get to the scale.


Oddly enough ... that 12 x 12 x 6 box fits 50 lbs of brass as well. I ran seven boxes to the yard recently. It was a very smooth n easy process. No hassles about weight or the quality of the brass. The scale guy was happy, i was happy with a quick payout ... it was a good day for everybody.

Originally Posted by alloy2

Is your scale certified " legal for trade"

It is also important to know where you plan to place the scale. A scale needs a solid, level surface so information on placement location helps the installation process. If a scale is moved to a different location, the scale’s calibration should be checked so a report can be sent to the county stating that the scale is within tolerance.
If you have a legal for trade scale it is important to have the scale periodically checked for accuracy. Depending on how inaccurate a scale is, upon county inspection, the scale could be tagged and taken out of service.

In the event of this, the scale must be repaired or recalibrated within a certain period of time. Once the scale is back intolerance a report will be sent to the county and the scale can be used again. Because of situations like this, it is important to have a reliable scale company that will get your scale back in service to avoid the scale being down for a long period of time.


For more information regarding your weighing needs, contact Quality Scales Unlimited.

I don't use my scale to weigh items for public sale. It's a mail/freight type scale that I bought when I was doing a lot of shipping at my work. I started using it a long time ago because there were a couple places around here that were really crooks and were ripping people off left and right. Thankfully enough people complained and they shut then down. Frankly it shouldn't matter what you weigh the material on. I used regular bathroom scales for a long time and they were close enough to get a basic feeling for what you have in a box or barrel. It's easy enough to check a scale by placing a known amount of weight on the scale an seeing what it reads. That should give good enough results for what I now use it for.

Like I said as long as the weight at their scale is within a reasonable amount I don't usually fuss but 100 lbs is a little much that's 1/3rd of what was in the barrel. For years my weight and theirs were within a couple lbs one way or the other using the same setup. And yes I have checked my scale. I have 5, 5lb stainless steel bars that I use to check the scale it reads dead on 25 lbs every time I check it. I hardly ever add copper to a barrel at more than 25lbs @a time so I figure that should give me a dang good idea to what's in a barrel when it's full.

Originally Posted by mx842

I don't use my scale to weigh items for public sale.

WTF, get it straight. Your using your bathroom scale to compare weight to a scale which is regulated under the weights and measures act.

Dude ... chill out. It's not a big deal.

Lol ... take it from a guy that obsesses over the little unimportant things.

You know ... like figuring out how to stuff 50 lbs of BB into a 12x12x6 box ???

(In the grand scheme of G-d and the cosmos it's really not all that important.)

Originally Posted by alloy2

WTF, get it straight. Your using your bathroom scale to compare weight to a scale which is regulated under the weights and measures act.

''Frankly it shouldn't matter what you weigh the material on. I used regular bathroom scales for a long time and they were close enough to get a basic feeling for what you have in a box or barrel''

Wow......That was a prime example of someone taking a sentence out of context there ol buddy. LOL

Originally Posted by hills

Dude ... chill out. It's not a big deal.

Lol ... take it from a guy that obsesses over the little unimportant things.

You know ... like figuring out how to stuff 50 lbs of BB into a 12x12x6 box ???

(In the grand scheme of G-d and the cosmos it's really not all that important.)

Thanks, you are right I'm done with this one.

Originally Posted by mx842

Thanks, you are right I'm done with this one.

Next time search the archived threads there are hundreds of posts regarding scales.

https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/gsea...&sa.x=0&sa.y=0