all motor and field wire will be varnished and is #2. the bigger stuff and solid pieces is maybe #1, you might need to get with the yard you'll take it and ask them where they draw their lines. The burned wire might be a prob since most yards won't take big bunches of it, but you can probly mix it with other wire/copper that isn't burned and be ok, maybe hose it off a bit(there's some threads that speak of using other things to clean it up a bit) If wire is larger than a #2 pencil lead it's usually #1