Scrapping several trailers on one property. Need Advice! (With Pics)

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Originally Posted by Instaed

I tried with one in my DeWalt and it didn't go very well. I could try putting it on the electric 9amp black and decker skilsaw I have and see if I have better luck.

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You need torque to keep the blade moving. I believe mine is around 15 amps and haven't found anything it won't cut. I used it recently to cut an overhead crane off a flat bed.

Appears that is a battery powered saw. I imagine it will run down/stall pretty quick when used on steel.

Looks like good progress.

A thought I had. Do these have tires? If so, what if you cut up all but one, and piled everything onto one trailer and get a truck to tow it to the scrap yard?

Here's a tip to save blades when cutting thick metal with the Sawzall-- Don't use full speed, it will overheat the blade and burn it, basically softens the teeth until the melt down into a smooth blade which is useless, needs to have sharp teeth. Go slower on the tool speed. Also what i find to help is to cut with one portion of the blade, then pull the tool back and let a different part of the blade do the cutting for a moment, then switch back, this keeps the heat spread out a little to cut back on the first problem I mentioned. I've been using Sawzall's for years to cut all kinds of metal for fabrication, couple years ago I added a Chop-Saw to my fleet, that was a great addition but nearly useless for scrapping. A grinder with a cut off wheel is a great tool to have, but the cut off wheels don't last long on thicker/heavier metal. You might pickup a cheapie grinder for $20 somewhere, name brand ones run $50+, but the cheap ones are well worth the money and generally are not too disappointing given the cost. Given the rotary action, they are handy for cutting things the sawzall just wants to push and pull if it grabs too hard. Also, we have successfully cut sheet metal siding with a blade for the Skil Saw that is a metal blade with slots cut from the outside of the circle toward the center, odd looking blade but works great for metal siding, if you needed to cut through the thin sheets of siding that works great, blade last a long time. The blade you have on your Skil saw is an abrasive style blade like a Chop Saw, I can't see it working too well on a Skil Saw but it might not be too bad for thin sheet.

Good luck

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Originally Posted by Bigblue12v

Here's a tip to save blades when cutting thick metal with the Sawzall-- Don't use full speed, it will overheat the blade and burn it, basically softens the teeth until the melt down into a smooth blade which is useless, needs to have sharp teeth. Go slower on the tool speed. Also what i find to help is to cut with one portion of the blade, then pull the tool back and let a different part of the blade do the cutting for a moment, then switch back, this keeps the heat spread out a little to cut back on the first problem I mentioned. I've been using Sawzall's for years to cut all kinds of metal for fabrication, couple years ago I added a Chop-Saw to my fleet, that was a great addition but nearly useless for scrapping. A grinder with a cut off wheel is a great tool to have, but the cut off wheels don't last long on thicker/heavier metal. You might pickup a cheapie grinder for $20 somewhere, name brand ones run $50+, but the cheap ones are well worth the money and generally are not too disappointing given the cost. Given the rotary action, they are handy for cutting things the sawzall just wants to push and pull if it grabs too hard. Also, we have successfully cut sheet metal siding with a blade for the Skil Saw that is a metal blade with slots cut from the outside of the circle toward the center, odd looking blade but works great for metal siding, if you needed to cut through the thin sheets of siding that works great, blade last a long time. The blade you have on your Skil saw is an abrasive style blade like a Chop Saw, I can't see it working too well on a Skil Saw but it might not be too bad for thin sheet.

Good luck

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Bigblue12v, you should reproduce this on the section "TRICKS OF THE TRADE".

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Originally Posted by haulin1976

Make sure you are sorting all the different types of metals and selling them to your scrap yard separately.

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I am basically making 3 piles: Steel, aluminum (I clean) and a little bit of copper and brass.

I put the steel beams together with the axles, water heaters and stoves. I get .12c per lb. Should I be separating it further?

What is the typical price for automotive batteries?

.15 a pound for auto batts by me Also are you still on the first trailer?

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Originally Posted by hobo finds

are you still on the first trailer?

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Yep. Rain delay for two days now. I think I have 4 solid days left of steady work on it.

I'm only getting $.08 per lb. Wish I could get 12 cents

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Originally Posted by Mick

Bigblue12v, you should reproduce this on the section "TRICKS OF THE TRADE".

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Will do Mick. You're on PlowSite under same username correct? I'm BushHogBoy over there :)

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Originally Posted by Scrap man

I'm only getting $.08 per lb. Wish I could get 12 cents

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You really need to find a new buyer. I pay $4.00 for car & Lt truck batteries - same as 0.12 - and I go to the seller to buy them.

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Originally Posted by Bigblue12v

Will do Mick. You're on PlowSite under same username correct? I'm BushHogBoy over there :)

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Yes. I was wondering when you said "BusHogBoy" on another site. Send Ditchdigger a PM and see if you know him.

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Originally Posted by Instaed

I am basically making 3 piles: Steel, aluminum (I clean) and a little bit of copper and brass.

I put the steel beams together with the axles, water heaters and stoves. I get .12c per lb. Should I be separating it further?

What is the typical price for automotive batteries?

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My yard pays 9.5 cents for appliances and 11.5 cents for heavy steel. See if your yard pays different on appliances versus heavy steel.

If it's worth it to you separate the appliances from the axles and I-beams. Have you stripped every last thing from the appliances? Brass, copper, wiring, elements, etc.

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Originally Posted by Scrap man

I'm only getting $.08 per lb. Wish I could get 12 cents

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$0.27 per lb here per car batt

You should keep your steel seperate from your water heater & stoves.

I'll call about the price for separating the steel from the mixed metal. Every time I go down there they are too busy to field a lot of questions, but I need to find that stuff out.

I'm almost finished with the first trailer. I just have to take out the rest of the deck.

I had my neighbor come over and look at the burn pile Saturday. He's the retired fire Chief of 35 years. He informed me that everything in the pile was illegal burn.

We are pricing 40 yard debris containers at the moment.

So for everyone interested in how much can be made in scrapping a trailer, here ya go:

2 galvanized steel roofs (Most trailers would only have 0ne) $65.00
All the aluminum siding and windows/frames $160.00
The steel trailer frame itself including 2 axles $280.00
$505.00 Gross profit

Pack of El Diablo Sawsall blades $25.00
4 trips to the Scrap yard @ $21.00 fuel per trip $84.00
My total costs $105.00

Net profit per trailer $400.00

I'm not counting in my cost of things like 2 pair of Walmart work pants, wifes work jacket, 4 pair of work gloves, safety glasses, 12 amp Sawzall and a metal skillsaw blades.

Man hours to complete: 358 so far not counting my daughter. I wont do the per hour math. Maybe someone else can do it faster or has a crew. Maybe a Bobcat.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...n/DSCN6334.jpg

Is your wife's labor included with that 358 hours?

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Originally Posted by Mick

Is your wife's labor included with that 358 hours?

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Yes. Without her cleaning the aluminum while I was doing other stuff, we wouldn't have made that much on it.

I also didn't have a sawzall until most of the work was done. The snow slowed me way down and the roof was very tough.

The second one will go a lot faster, but this still will take time.

I recommend to anyone scrapping a trailer to get on the roof with a skillsaw with a carbide tipped blade and cut it into pieces the dimensions of your utility trailer (Or whatever your taking it away in) BEFORE you tear down the walls. If I had done that I would have saved many hours fighting it.

Like you said - the next one will go faster. Nothing like experience.

The steel for the trailers might be #1 steel possibly and it does pay different than light iron.

That sucks with the burn pile!

If the trailers had power to them, there should be some big, buried power cables if you want to be really efficient about it. I cut some aluminum cables before and It was probably 10-15 pounds.