Possible Gold Mine??

I have a deer lease thats about 75 miles from the closest scrap yard. However on this land there are piles of drill stem, fence pipe, a 30 ft camper, and even the base of an old railcar. I'm not sure if there is enough to make the trips to and from worth it or if I could even do anything with the railcar.What do you guys think?

Not to rain on your parade but doesn't "lease" mean that you are paying to hunt and camp on the property, not that you can take anything off the property?
Unless of course you have the owner's permission.

Originally Posted by Re-cycler

Not to rain on your parade but doesn't "lease" mean that you are paying to hunt and camp on the property, not that you can take anything off the property?
Unless of course you have the owner's permission.

I have permission to haul everything off. The owner has been asking us to haul it all off for him for five or so years now. Until I found this site I never thought it would be worth our time. So yes i do still have my ethics in tact and am not stealing.

Ask if u could charge a disposal fee...free lease for a bit...depending on the quantity, it could be worth it for ya

Originally Posted by Salival426

I have permission to haul everything off. The owner has been asking us to haul it all off for him for five or so years now. Until I found this site I never thought it would be worth our time. So yes i do still have my ethics in tact and am not stealing.

No insult intended,
It would definitely be worth doing even if it were just break even, I wouldn't ask to paid to haul free metal when doing it as a courtesy will strengthen your relationship with the land owner by cleaning up the property.

Only problem with drill stem pipe is that some of it could be radio active (hot) and will be rejected by the scrap yard. Sometimes a yard will "help" you locate the general location of the source, but then you have to go somewhere else and take what you think the problem is off. Then have it checked again. If there is bunches of pipe you might convience a yard to come out and check it with their giger counter. If it is clean the weight will add up real quick.

This always gets argued over, but: if you are already going there to hunt, why are you worried about the cost to get stuff to the yard? You were planning on going there anyway. Maybe you take a different vehicle, but it's still a trip you'd have to make. Scrap in the back and a deer on the fender....yee-haw!

Have a yard drop a rolloff

As far as the base of the old railcar goes, you would definitely need to talk to the railroad. If it happens to be what is left of one that was sold previously to be used for storage, they may give you a letter stating that it is ok for the scrap yard to take it.

Originally Posted by TheMetalScrapper

Only problem with drill stem pipe is that some of it could be radio active (hot) and will be rejected by the scrap yard. Sometimes a yard will "help" you locate the general location of the source, but then you have to go somewhere else and take what you think the problem is off. Then have it checked again. If there is bunches of pipe you might convience a yard to come out and check it with their giger counter. If it is clean the weight will add up real quick.

I would have never thought of this! I will definitely see what I can do about that but I am pretty sure this stuff is clean.

Originally Posted by wayne1956

As far as the base of the old railcar goes, you would definitely need to talk to the railroad. If it happens to be what is left of one that was sold previously to be used for storage, they may give you a letter stating that it is ok for the scrap yard to take it.

I am pretty sure it was used for a bridge across the creek. the creek erroded out the ground around it and its now one with the creek bed. There are no markings on it for the railroad it's from and there aren't any tracks near this place. I'm considering taking a cutting torch to it or fabbing some sort of tounge and axles once it's out of the creek.

Originally Posted by Oldbarnz

This always gets argued over, but: if you are already going there to hunt, why are you worried about the cost to get stuff to the yard? You were planning on going there anyway. Maybe you take a different vehicle, but it's still a trip you'd have to make. Scrap in the back and a deer on the fender....yee-haw!

Because possibly the scrap yard is the exact opposite direction of where he's heading to the lease from.

Originally Posted by taterjuice

Why exactly would Oil field pipe be radioactive ?

Some ground is mildly radioactive, especially the deeper you drill.

Radiation is do to decomposition of natural things on earth that eventually ends up moving downward and getting covered. Radon gas is also a issue in some homes although many think folks make mountain out of a mole hill about it.

Originally Posted by taterjuice

Why exactly would Oil field pipe be radioactive ?

The radiation comes from the ground they are drilling in. I don't know why it just does. I bought a detecter after getting several pieces of "hot" pipe. Real pain to unload in the heat after busting butt to get it loaded and to the yard. Rust can also be hot. I do not mean surface rust, but rather the kind that has went so far that it flakes. On note if anyone is going to get one do not be fooled by those yellow surplus bomb ones...they do no detect the right type of radiation. I bought a Ludlum and it workes perfect. Many people tell me "there is nothing hot here" only to be suprised when I show them hot pipe laying around. Just passing on something I learned.