thing i found on trash day/putting papers in mail boxes

first i found a computer battery back up in a garbage can today yay a lead battery=). you know whats funny i put a paper with this written on it in there mailbox and they didnt even txt or call me i wonder why that is? here is what i wrote on it: i am a scrapper my name is michael call or txt me my (num here) i dont take steel or iron things i take are as follows:
aluminumans,window screens,storm doors
car radiators:copper,brass,aluminum
lead:wheel weights,pipes,batteries car,lawn mower,boat,computer backups
copperipes,bowls,pans,gutters,roofing
stainless steel:sink,bowls,pans
misc:air conditioners,dehumidifyers.electric motors,ceiling fans,microwaves,transformers,extension cords,sweeper cords,anything with a cord i dont take big appliances like washers,dryers,stoves,fridges,freezers

so did i miss anything on here to write down that is good for scrapping? i put papers in peoples mailboxes so far nobody has called/txted yet am i doing something wrong? thanks for your help

i put papers in peoples mailboxes so far nobody has called/txted yet am i doing something wrong? Don't open up peoples mailboxes!

Starting a service message with stuff you don't do is not great advertising. Most of what people have is going to be lite iron or junk appliances. I think most forum people can agree that they got more stuff because they chose to take the crap in the first place. I can't imagine getting that note and thinking, "Oh great! I can do the cherry picking for him!" Especially since most "normal" people can't identify one metal from another.

Also, federal offense.

Is there a reason you dont take steel? If i got that note id be thinking, you think your too good to haul the cheap stuff, you don't really deserve my better stuff. I'll give it to someone who actually doesnt mind doing the crappy loads as well. And also some more advice, i stopped to pick one flimsy curtain rod out of someones trash, they saw me and gave me a stove. I went to go get a small fridge from some one and they ended up giving me a whole truck load of heavy insulated wire. I went to get a stove from someone and got $70 in copper pipe. You take the crap long enough eventually you get the gold.

Originally Posted by logansryche

I was just thinking about that after I posted and would be the safer approach.

wow yeah i did not know that so i take it i have to go to someones door and put it in there? lol funny i thought i was doing good cause people you know can be funny and mean when people approach them or go up to there door. i like being ghostly and unseen lol i kinda have a fear of people lol. you never know how they are going to act. mind you i dont have any probs talking to people.

Originally Posted by greytruck

Not many people are fond of scrappers / people digging threw there garbage can. I know im not when i catch other scrappers looking in my garbage.

Ya know like when you have a plastic dishwasher tub out front and they think the steel and wires are in the garbage can. they look at it during the day and come back at night looking and digging in the garbage can. Ohh that guy pisses me off. end of rant.....

no i didnt really dig it was on top and plus thats a lead battery and it would contaminate the environment and thats bad. i dont normally do that anyway the garbage can thing that was my first time.

Originally Posted by jimicrk

It is a federal offense to put anything in or on someones mailbox.

Now what you can do is put a flyer in an envelope with a stamp on it, take it to the post office and let them deliver it.

I just called my post office to confirm and she said that it was a federal offense.

yeah i wish i had known that b4 i had stuck one in everyones mailbox on the street i live on=( and one was a police officer i hope i dont get a hanging.

I have seen guys around here that have made carts to pull behind a bike to haul in scrap. Move up from a sack or backpack to a bike and cart. Then after you have saved enough cash a car or a truck. Then a trailer and if you are good a semi truck!

Originally Posted by Patriot76

A flyer is going in the trash and as pointed out it is illegal to use a mail box. The thing that has worked for me is magnetic business cards placed on the door, mailbox, wherever. Even if farmers are not interested, the magnet is used to hold pictures on the refrigerator and every time they open the fridge they see my business card. I have no idea how many jobs I have gotten because of this strategy with references in and talk at the coffee shop.

Buying magnetic sheets, using scissors and your own computer to design them makes it inexpressive advertising. I do not like sharing this type of strategy outside the paid forum, but I owe you an apology for my previous post.

thanks for the info i will do that=)

Originally Posted by mike1

yeah i dont have the storage and plus i dont go to the yard that much only when i get lots of stuff. its more like i cant considering that i have to carry everything i get from people or cart a dolly to pick up big stuff like ac's lol dont have a car lol but i can call people to take me places so that works lol. thanks for the info=)

If your struggling to carry the bigger loads by hand a good wheelbarrow (not the cheap wood and composite but all steel) would help out tremendously. I got 2 kobolt wheel barrows when i was in high school when me and my friends would dig cars out of the woods. Ive carried everything from appliances to the back half of a car with one. We had to do it that way because the closet i could park my truck to some sites was about a mile or two. Its slow moving compared to some of these guys with their skid loaders but its a good workout and when i was in high school I didnt have money burning holes in my wallet either. Scrap was also like $9/hundred at the smaller yards as well so it added up real quick.
Also if you use the wheel barrow method splitting mauls can take apart just about anything real quick if you dont mind making a small mess and can be carried on the handles of a wheel barrow. Just the other day i took an entire car body and part of the frame apart with nothing but a splitting maul and a pair of gloves. Then put it on a s-10 that i made into a trailer.

Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

If your struggling to carry the bigger loads by hand a good wheelbarrow (not the cheap wood and composite but all steel) would help out tremendously. I got 2 kobolt wheel barrows when i was in high school when me and my friends would dig cars out of the woods. Ive carried everything from appliances to the back half of a car with one. We had to do it that way because the closet i could park my truck to some sites was about a mile or two. Its slow moving compared to some of these guys with their skid loaders but its a good workout and when i was in high school I didnt have money burning holes in my wallet either. Scrap was also like $9/hundred at the smaller yards as well so it added up real quick.
Also if you use the wheel barrow method splitting mauls can take apart just about anything real quick if you dont mind making a small mess and can be carried on the handles of a wheel barrow. Just the other day i took an entire car body and part of the frame apart with nothing but a splitting maul and a pair of gloves. Then put it on a s-10 that i made into a trailer.

wow thats interesting wait so a splitting maul can cut metal? i thought you could only cut wood cause its basically a axe right from the looks of it.

Originally Posted by mike1

wow thats interesting wait so a splitting maul can cut metal? i thought you could only cut wood cause its basically a axe right from the looks of it.

Your not really "cutting" the metal per say, more like breaking it. Splitting mauls are kinda dull and way heavier than a cutting axe so if you got a semi soft surface and a hard enough impact you can drive the maul straight through sheet metal(like car bodies) pick it back up and keep doing that untill the sheet your working on is now two pieces. But with washers and stuff to break the motors out of things what your really trying to do is first expose the motor by breaking the shells apart. A few whacks in the right spots will pretty much break the screws holding the shells on. Next your trying to break what ever is holding the motor on. Sometimes its stuck in a cast or plastic transmission. These are the easiest to get out. Some are bolted on and you can hit the bottom of the bolts hard enough to destroy the threads holding them on or break the cast holding the bolt in place. If your trying to clean a radiator from a car i used to waste my time trying to pry it apart. Now i just whack it with a hatchet or maul and cut the ends off. Works with aluminum and brass. Probably copper/aluminum too but i got a sawzall for those. Splitting mauls and hatchets do make a mess of things though so i wouldn't recommend that method at your rich neighbor who cares too much about his lawns place but it is my prefered method right now. Way cheaper than a constant supply of blades, and no digging through multiple tool boxes messing with bolts and whatnot. Just a $30 device thats garunteed for life at the home depot. And possibly lowes. I know lowes shovels and hatchets are.