Broken ridding lawnmower worth at a scrap yard?? (I'm not scrapper aficionado)

Hi everyone. First of all i am not a scrapper nor do i know how to dismantle things.

I have looked though a bunch of posts and dont think i saw thread that answered my questions. If it has already been posted and i missed then please direct me to that post.



I have an old broken green (its not a john deer) ridding lawnmower sitting behind our shed. The hood for it is missing. I have forgotten why its not running. It has been sitting there for about 6-7 years. i want to get rid of it.

I have seen trucks packed with stuff waiting to be unloaded at our local scrap yard when i drive by and was wondering if they take them.

If they do take them what would i be offered for it?? is it worth it to take it to them??
If scrap yards dont take lawnmowers where do i take it instead to?? the local land fill??

I also don't live by a big city so parting out or selling as is broken on craigslist isn't an option for me.


Thanks a bunch of you can help me out with any info.

is there a local lawnmower shop to you? maybe they could use it for parts for a cash return?

call the scrap yard and ask them as well, you might get your hopes up then find out your yard don't take them

Tell us where you are.....another member may be close by who can help you !!

I haven't run across a yard yet that doesn't take riding mowers but call first to make sure,if they do make sure all the fluids are out of it first. Nine cents a pound is better than it sitting in the yard or landfill! Good luck!

Double check with your yard about taking it; if they will and you don't want to screw with it then just load it up and haul it in, in one piece and they should pay you mixed price(around .03-.09 a lb) the tractor should weigh between 300-600 lbs depending on the deck and motor.

I would run an add in craigs list before scrapping it, I can get between $75 - $100 for a non working riding mower. If you don't have any bites after a week or 2 then take it to your scrap yard, make sure the gas and battery is taken out (take the battery with you because they may buy that also.) Most scrap yards will take a complete mower. My yard is paying $.10 a pound for them.

Even if somebody offers you $30 - $50 for it, you will still save the cost of fuel and your time taking it to your yard.

When I scrap engines here they make me drain the antifreeze and oil. They won't take em with oil or anti freeze. Ask your yard about it before you haul it to them.

I made 92 dollars today I had a riding lawn mower, a grill, a washing machine, a small oven and some other light metal! I took it to a yard that crushes cars and they took it tires and all!

that's great DC...did you take the motor and wiring out of the washing machine ?

of course Dee! I take washing machines almost completely apart! I found out that over the range microwaves have lots of copper in them also!

sorry DC, didn't mean to insult you, just checking to make sure you've done your homework !!

I have a question about any kind of mower engine. I tried taking a push mower engine completely apart once but only got down as far as the metal rods(?) inside and could get em out. Is there a way to get every piece of metal out of engine blocks or are there always going to be one or two pieces permanently housed inside? I ended up getting the mixed price since I could get it all the way apart.

I believe everything should be-able to come apart, worst case take a sledge hammer to it to get them out. But if it takes to much time, just turn it in with the pieces in it.

The cast blocks have a steel sleeve inside that some discussed on here about using a bandsaw to split the block in half.

Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

A little imagination and a C-Clamp will take them Valves out

I'll have to take a closer look at them. For the time being I break them down as far as I can go, then toss 'em into a bin.