Tips on getting in with a mechanic for scrap parts

Does anyone have any tips on how I can get in with mechanics for some scrap?

Pjost has the best advice. Beer is a great bargaining chip. However, if they don't drink, get paid for their scrap, or already "have a guy they've used for years", I posted a while ago about a good way to get in to shops without taking business from their usual pick up guy. Go for the ewaste. My brother works at a dealership that has had a metal guy since they opened. But he only takes metal. The dealership has thrown out everything else until now. I get radios, sensors, clocks, etc. free of charge. Metal guy still gets his metal, dealership produces less waste, I get free scrap, everyone wins. It may not be big money for me as it's a box of stuff every month or so. But it's more than I would have had otherwise, and if you can work this deal at a bunch of places, it will all add up for you. Plus, if you provide better service than the metal guy, they may make the switch to you for everything. You just never know. But at the very least, it gets your foot in the door. Which is never a bad thing.

Beer. Beer always opens doors an helps set the tone for all future business. These are mechanics...the average man, blue collar, apple pie and football! Ok....so maybe some mechanics don't fit that stereotype...but still, it sounded good.

Seriously..beverages. Adult or not. Or...Pizza. Everyone loves Pizza. Buy that shop some pizza, an watch the lead weights from wheels be thrown at you! In a good way...unless the pizza sucked then you deserve it.

It's the same as networking with yards, computer store owners, customers, etc. I find pizza(lunch) or beer(beverages, adult or not) are always a good way to break the ice, or further along a business relationship. Bring me free beer an watch how quick we become friends. lol.

Oh an don't go in an start asking for all the good stuff either. Take it all. All the metal. Parts, broken metal, etc etc. Don't cherry pick. It all adds up especially if your just starting out. Plus it'll help you learn what the hell your doing. Heh. You'll learn the metals, what to look for, what is worth it or what isn't.

Anyhow as one of our members once said..

If you never ask the answer will always be no.

YMMV.

Good luck.

Sirscrapalot - I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep. - George Best

A business that produces a waste metal stream may not be pleased with the price they receive from the scrap guy but the service provided with a bin and regular pick ups generally over rules changing the status quo.

Also the business maybe locked into a contract.

I started out as many of you have by scrounging daily loads, in the early days we could pick from the dumps and I had a milk run from the Chilliwhack dump over to Sardis then East to Boston Bar, the head West down towards Aggisis from here take highway 7 to Deroche then Hatzic Lake from there crossing over the railway bridge that served both rail and traffic at Mission to the scrap yard in Surrey with an often over weight load.

Sometimes bored with this run would head into the woods looking for abandoned logging equipment and cable, the forestry always welcomed the removal of scrap left behind by long defunct gypo logging companies.

Another good source of scrap was the Hop Farms we were surrounded by them all owned by the Hass group Home - Barth-Haas Group one year they had used aluminium sheet on all their buildings to discover changes in temperature would expand and contract the metal making the nail holes larger then with a strong wind he sheets would come free of the buildings. The aluminium sheet was replaces with corrugated iron. I had to rent a 3 ton from Budget to accommodate the long sheets.

Then there were the remote logging camps located on the shores of Harrison lake that all had bone yards, eventually the scrap was mostly cleaned up or I found myself with competition I decided to get into scrap cars which was the best move I ever made.

With a long wheel base 1 ton equipped with a PTO winch you soon learn how to double deck two cars, I could also load oversize scrap which paid less but the time and money saved by not having to cut into manageable sizes paid off. Nothing worse than running out of oxygen forty miles into the woods half way through a job.

Most of my winch trucks I installed provision from gin poles which are handy for pulling engines or lifting a car or truck high enough to cut the transmission mounts and exhaust to pull as a
unit both engine and transmission.

Eventually worked my way to a crane truck of which I have owned several, a crane with a winch now to cant beat that combination.

Scrap cars and trucks are a great revenue stream you can stuff them with other shred, if the customer has old appliances kicking about or other obvious scrap I always offer to take it as well. Its funny your there picking up a scrap car and the dude thinks that is all your capable of doing so you have to bring it up in conversation what services you provide.

^^ All good advise. I'd like to add coffee and doughnuts in the morning. And emphasize the networking.. It turns hard work into easy work. Ask questions, listen, smile and nod.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Slipping a $20 bill in the pocket of the guy in charge of recycling always seems to work

lol....when all else fails, resort to cash bribes.

Sirscrapalot - Everybody has a price. - The Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase

Thank you all. I have contacted a lot of shops here in Columbus Ohio and they all save their scrap and turn it in once a month for a company cookout, and mom and pop shops all keep their stuff as well...... even the end waste

You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking

In their eyes they need to see you as an asset to them, not a stranger looking for free stuff. Be friendly and don't be afraid to let them get the better end of the deal at first. What goes around comes around. When the business sees you as an asset, you will be the first one they call..

On a different note, is there any particular reason you're focusing on mechanic shops? This is usually the first place someone new to scrapping thinks of. I know I did. As time goes by, you'll get more creative in finding places people wouldn't normally think of that have a steady supply of metal. For example, I got started scrapping when the print shop I worked at started slowing down and eventually closed. Paper was their money scrap. Along with the aluminum plates. But anything else went in the trash. Everything from banding wire, empty ink cans, broken machine parts, etc. I asked my manager and he said if it's already in the dumpster, it's mine. So you don't always have to look for places that mainly produce metal waste. Sometimes it's better to find a place that the metal is an afterthought because people pay for garbage removal and you taking it for free saves them money.

on that note, there are also several garage door companies in a metropolitan area that do not have any agreements or consistent plan for their metal waste other than trash. I frequently receive a healthy supply of old garage door motors and solid extruded aluminum railings. Even whole doors from time to time.
Use commercial kitchen equipment warehouses also generate a TON of waste stainless steel, aluminum and sometimes copper cookware. I challenge anyone to go visit their premier pre-owned commercial kitchen equipment warehouse and see the sheer volume of thins they have. Some of them have agreements, some of them don't. It is a cycle, one hauler does not necessarily stay as their man forever. People move, find new careers etc etc. There is always openings into these places.

Another common business with more than enough availability is glass window and door installers. I have found that thrift shops are underutilized by scrappers and rarely have a problem jus stopping by to ask if they need to get rid of stuff. The most common things they toss though is furniture with little metal value. There are other treasures to be found as well though.
If you are coastal, the people who do storm shutters often do not have a regular scrap guy.
Solar panel installers frequently dispose of metal support frames and lead batteries!
Aquarium shops occasionally produce dead motors and ballasts, as well as PVP pipe if you like to use for your own projects.
Pawn shops frequently toss out outdated E-Waste. They are usually open to making deals if you can be consistent.

There are an innumerable number of business sources for scrap, and I can't imagine I have made deals with even a fraction of them on top of what I have listed. Diesel mechanic shops for heavy equipment tend to go unnoticed sometimes.
Sometimes smaller independent retailers have a cluster **** of old fixtures in a back room. Asking frequently can generate something about 20% of the time.

Everything in our lives requires metal. Pool supply places generate bent and damaged aluminum tubes, ladders, chairs and occasionally motors. Just imagine everything in life you enjoy, and there is likely a business that generates scrap related to it that is waiting to be served.