On a scouting run yesterday, I found an oddly shaped piece of metal.
Big pieces of 'U' channel with 3 inch galvanized pipe between them...sort of 'H' shaped with another piece of U channel stick out at an odd angle.
I went down to try to disassemble it, I had my collection of wrenches and WD 40 in my backpack, and I was going to ride my bike back to the scrap, dissemble it and then bring the truck back to pick it up.
Got there and started to work on it, and realized that it WASN'T coming apart- not without a saw or a torch.
I did notice that one awkwardly protruding arm of the piece had welds on it, and when I looked closer I could see a couple plates of steel welded onto the arm for a repair. The welds looked like I could break them if I have a bigger hammer.
I don't have a sledge hammer - it's next on my list to buy- but I thought I could scrounge one up at a pawnshop or maybe rent one.
I was close to some auto repair shops , so i rode over and asked the first place if I might be able to rent a sledge for an hour.The guy didn't seem to interested and kinda blew me off, so I was riding back home trying to think of places to get a sledge hammer.
I rode past a local auto shop that been there forever, and is staffed by locals, so I pulled in and asked them if they might rent me a sledge hammer for an hour so I could break up some metal.
We dug around and managed to find a 10pound sledge.
I offered him a deposit of the $15 I had on me and he accepted.
I wrapped the head of the sledge hammer up in my hoodie and put it in my backpack.,and away I went- with 2 1/2 feet of handle sticking up out of the back pack.
Back at the site of my scrapping project, I put on my gloves and started to swing the sledge. The first couple of hits were a little off the mark, but I could see it coming apart. I broke off one of the welded plates, and then moved to the other side. 5 or 6 big swings and the other plate popped off.
Now I dropped the piece so that it put it's weight on the remaining weld and I could see it start to give. 3 or 4 big whacks with the sledge finally broke it free!
Now I have two pieces that I can easily fit into the back of the truck.
Rode home and got the truck, went back and loaded up and drove to the recycling yard and cashed out my prize. A little over 300 pounds. Not huge, but not bad for a morning's adventure.
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