Scrapping flatbed trailers

Did one over the summer and just deleted my photos yesterday. I may have posted some on here, can't remember.

The organization getting rid of this was hoping that I could pay them for this, but I told them up front that there wasn't enough in it at the current prices. Good thing I did, because in the end, I didn't make much and spent a lot of time on it.



Before starting this job, I didn't own torches and had never used them. In Massachusetts, we are required to get a "Hot Works" permit from the FD to use any welding or Oxy-fueled cutting device, unless it is in a shop permitted for that. That cost me $25, plus a couple of weeks to get the permit due to the Fire Chief being away. In the mean time, I rented a cutoff saw for a day ($100 plus fuel and blades) and started working. Spent about $150 on my torches set up. Rented tanks for a month(only filled initially) for about $45. Sold some of it 1 hour away as prepared and unprepared plate and structural, sold some locally as #1 prepared (this was over 5', but they don't have a P&S category, so the manager worked with me). From the axles back, minus the C channels that run along the edge of the trailer, I had a friend that has a flatbed for cars, tow this to the local yard, Got unprepared, minus 400 pounds for 8 tires, for this. Paid him about $60 for the tow. In the end, I'd say I probably broke even and came out of it with a set or torches. If you've never used torches before, it is an art and will take you a while to get the hang of. Out of all the cuts I made, I think I only had one really good one and that was because I was able to use something as a guide to hold the torch steady.

Originally Posted by mthomasdev

Did one over the summer and just deleted my photos yesterday. I may have posted some on here, can't remember.

The organization getting rid of this was hoping that I could pay them for this, but I told them up front that there wasn't enough in it at the current prices. Good thing I did, because in the end, I didn't make much and spent a lot of time on it.

Before starting this job, I didn't own torches and had never used them. In Massachusetts, we are required to get a "Hot Works" permit from the FD to use any welding or Oxy-fueled cutting device, unless it is in a shop permitted for that. That cost me $25, plus a couple of weeks to get the permit due to the Fire Chief being away. In the mean time, I rented a cutoff saw for a day ($100 plus fuel and blades) and started working. Spent about $150 on my torches set up. Rented tanks for a month(only filled initially) for about $45. Sold some of it 1 hour away as prepared and unprepared plate and structural, sold some locally as #1 prepared (this was over 5', but they don't have a P&S category, so the manager worked with me). From the axles back, minus the C channels that run along the edge of the trailer, I had a friend that has a flatbed for cars, tow this to the local yard, Got unprepared, minus 400 pounds for 8 tires, for this. Paid him about $60 for the tow. In the end, I'd say I probably broke even and came out of it with a set or torches. If you've never used torches before, it is an art and will take you a while to get the hang of. Out of all the cuts I made, I think I only had one really good one and that was because I was able to use something as a guide to hold the torch steady.

Yeah I did a few of em at the Yard I worked at. If you get good with a torch you can do one in a day or two. But they require a lot of labor. which is why you see so many of them stockpiled at most of the yards that take them. Mthomasdev What pressures did you have your regulators set at, and what gas were you using? junk yard torch cutting is easy once you get the setup right. you're taking it all to be either shred up or melted down anyway so the best advice I can give there is Propane is cheaper than Acetylene, and once you start cutting you should be more worried about getting a complete cut than a straight line when cutting scrap. Also If you don't own your own cylinders yet you can run a torch off of a gas grill tank of propane if you have the right fittings.

Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

Yeah I did a few of em at the Yard I worked at. If you get good with a torch you can do one in a day or two. But they require a lot of labor. which is why you see so many of them stockpiled at most of the yards that take them. Mthomasdev What pressures did you have your regulators set at, and what gas were you using? junk yard torch cutting is easy once you get the setup right. you're taking it all to be either shred up or melted down anyway so the best advice I can give there is Propane is cheaper than Acetylene, and once you start cutting you should be more worried about getting a complete cut than a straight line when cutting scrap. Also If you don't own your own cylinders yet you can run a torch off of a gas grill tank of propane if you have the right fittings.

If I remember right, I was running 40 to 45 / 10 with a 0 tip. It was acetylene. I wasn't worried about straight cuts. It just seemed to work better when I had a guide. Probably just got lucky on that one and had everything dialed in perfectly.