Grass fire scraping- A tumbleweeds view

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Originally Posted by CTSSolutions

Very cool, but humbling stuff. Fire is no joke. I'm glad to see phase one is complete. I hope phase two goes smoothly.

Is there a certain dollar amount you need to see per ton to haul in/request rolloffs? Im sitting steady at $100/short ton here. Pretty pathetic, but I know some parts of the country are at $50/ton. I would probaboy hang up the towel for a while at that point.

Nice gooseneck!

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The closest farm to the scrap yard is 40 miles away one way. The furthest is 75 miles. I will start hauling the unsightly metal when unprepared reaches $ 130 a ton. Three advantages allow me to take this perspective: First I have unlimited storage space as my clients allow me to store metal on their property until the prices improve plus I have my ranch as a backup. Second is a large shed filled with non ferrous that needs to be prepared. Since I do not have the fear of theft, I can take my time. Third, my business focuses on farm restoration which includes projects like this one. I have enough work to stay busy through the fall.

The trailer is an old stock trailer that was cut down, reinforced, and pressed metal is used for the floor to make it lighter. The prototype of this trailer ended in a disaster when it fell apart in the middle of the highway loaded with six tons of iron. This story was posted on the forum to help others avoid the mistakes I made.

I realize this strategy of scrapping is not for everyone. I believe a person looks at their assets, subtracts their liabilities, and uses the total to develop their business plan. For me diversity plus unlimited storage space minus distance to the yard equals sit it out.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

I realize this strategy of scrapping is not for everyone. I believe a person looks at their assets, subtracts their liabilities, and uses the total to develop their business plan. For me diversity plus unlimited storage space minus distance to the yard equals sit it out.

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I have enjoyed your posts and your threads and I have learned from them. The quote above is the one I would tell the newer members who ask questions, similar to, "should I break this down", "can I make money if I....." to read and consider in their own situation.

I also envy you in many and thank you for your generous sharing of your experiences. Mike

I don't know what P76 gets for his steel, especially the prepared #1 stuff, but I know one of his yards he deals with is owned by the same compnay that takes steel here so I'd think prices wouldn't be that much different.

As for "tin" (shred) in the 2 1/2 years that I've taken in my occasional very small loads, $110 a ton was the highest I've been paid. I got paid half of that 10 days ago but that was up 40% than the week previous. Knowing where P76 generally lives, his closet yard is about 50 miles...

I had heard the thing about tree roots burning for weeks or months underground but never really believed it... Till I saw it with my own eyes.

I went to an area to do some pics with a model that had been burnt out about 10 days before. We went into this area of desolation and black and grey and we shooting away. I thought I could smell smoke but thought it must have been my imagination becasue there was nothing there left to burn. After A while it became acrid enough to start to burn my nostrils and looking around, I saw a stream of smoke from the stump behind me. I started kicking around with my boot and a section of the ground gave way. I was looking into a Tunnel that obviously went a long way off at an angle and as I was looking I could see the glow at the end getting brighter and more intense, obviously from the fresh oxygen getting to it.

It was quite errie really but certainly proved what I had doubted.

Patriot - The work you do fascinates me and your post do the same! I'm sure that it is very tiring work, but restoring the land and a ranch/farm back to a working and purposeful place must be rewarding all by itself. The piles of metal can wait!

Cow manure (patties, dung or chips) has been used as a fuel for a long time and still used in some parts of the world. Before there was any cows on the prairie, there was the buffalo and their chips. This was also fuel for the early settlers. I'm sure you don't need a "know it all" from Southern Cal. to tell you all about "chips". So as the Lakota indians would say "nik-nik" (bull$hit).

One thing you could do with the burnt out trees, turn them into planters for ferns and succulents, stuff peat moss in the ends and add planter mulch will last for years! Better to find the positives then to dwell on the negatives!

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The trailer is an old stock trailer that was cut down, reinforced, and pressed metal is used for the floor to make it lighter. The prototype of this trailer ended in a disaster when it fell apart in the middle of the highway loaded with six tons of iron. This story was posted on the forum to help others avoid the mistakes I made.

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;) P-76 goes thru stock trailers like I go thru sox,,,

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...ps33c868f0.jpg

His partners were not happy about the situation.

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4afacc77.jpg

Thanks Mech. And to think that was a self made challenge. That was great advertising as people thought that I was a motivated Greenhorn with little common sense. I think they felt sorry for me. To be honest, I did not have anything else planned that week than to unload that trailer by hand. What a life.

Patriot,

I took a second look at that load in the folded trailer and thought...."jeez, lotta dirt in there!! Patriot is pushin' the envelope just like the rest of us!"

But then I trashed that negative thought and realized that it was mostly frozen grass stuck to the metal.

So my faith in a great guy was restored. ;)

Jon.

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Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Patriot,

I took a second look at that load in the folded trailer and thought...."jeez, lotta dirt in there!! Patriot is pushin' the envelope just like the rest of us!"

But then I trashed that negative thought and realized that it was mostly frozen grass stuck to the metal.

So my faith in a great guy was restored. ;)

Jon.

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That was one of my first loads and it came out of the ground frozen. Had to unload the steel by hand and the yard gave me a very quick education as a result. Never had a load like it since.

I would like to thank those of you that take the time to view my adventures. I love the work I do and post my adventures to maybe help others in a small way. There was a gentleman on the forum when I first joined that provided me with a great education because of his numerous posts from Canada. Because of the education he provided myself and many others on the forum I post my challenges. I hope one of the old timers on the forum (Mech) will provide a link to his threads. He was very knowledgeable, creative, and entertaining. I believe his name was Gustavus? I would encourage newer members to read his old threads for the wealth of information contained within.

This is something I found buried in the trees after the grass fire. It is an antique road grader pulled by a team of horses originally and then converted to be pulled by a tractor. Although I could have sold it for a great deal of money to a museum (the landlord gave it to me), instead it was donated to the local one room school house township museum maintained by the locals. Great PR and a source of local pride.

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psm98jpsrk.jpg

If you look at the base you will see red spray paint. Whenever I start a project I walk with the owner and spray paint everything they do not want. Then there is no confusion. As an added strategy, all loads delivered are photographed to eliminate any misunderstandings. Just an idea for others out there.

I have been flat on my back for the last two weeks as a result of cancer surgery. It will be four more weeks before I can lift over 10 pds. so a lot of time has been spent on the computer and forum trying to get the next angle on my business.

I have had two complete knee replacements, two major shoulder surgeries, ulner nerve surgery, and now cancer surgery. Prior to the knee replacements, five knee surgeries were conducted because of damage caused by college sports. The desire was to wait until winter for the surgery so I could enjoy the warmth of being inside. The doctors and my family insisted it be done ASAP. I am lucky because scrap prices are down, this job was completed before surgery, and I am not dependent on Obamacare yet.

This is not being communicated for pity, just the opposite. During this challenge I found a way to make it an advantage. Most of the time I am caught up in the day to day survival and do not take the time to research. Being laid up forced me to do the research, a blessing in disguise. And by the way, with all the damage to my body I have been dependent on pain killers several times. I am glad to say, those days are over. Now I have a scrapping addiction.

The manure in this feedlot had not been cleaned up for over 40 years. This was one of the projects. The manure was five foot deep in some spots and had to be leveled. 30 loads were hauled and used to fertilize fields. The rest was used to level the property and return it to the homestead days.

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psqlbw4gvq.jpg

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psh0bskeau.jpg

Wow!

If returning to homestead days means a late model Case-IH tractor and a very new looking New Idea manure spreader, I'm in!!

Just finished cutting, raking, baling, and picking up grass hay. Newest machine was the 1994 JD 348 baler. The tractors were a 1963 MF 202 (industrial version of the MF35) and a very thoroughly thrashed late '70's Belarus 820. (made in, guess where, Belarus! Primitive as heck but made so it can run in Siberia with almost no tools to maintain it.) The Belarus had to be pressed into service because the normally used machine, a 1959 MF180 blew its hydraulic pump running a rockpicker the week before the hay had to come down.

Haying without any air conditioning (no cab!) on those old tractors in the +40C (105F) heat just wasn't any fun. I guess that ain't hot to some of the southern US guys but up here it is a record high.

Geez, Patriot, you got as many repairs as my Belarus! I hope you are starting to see your way clear of a bunch of them now that you have been under the knife and maybe things can start to heal like they should.

I commend you--using your forced downtime to constructively plan ahead and ponder which way you want your business to go. It is probably therapeutic, too, figuring out what is next once you get offa your back and can start flexing your muscles again. Take care, though...it can be easy to get into a downer if you have to stay inside too long.

Jon.

Sawmilling - The equipment used on this project is property of the owner and my in laws. My main tractor is a JD 4020 from the late 60"s. This would be considered a newer machine by the smaller farmers around here, but an antique by the big time farmers. Before tackling a project the owners machinery is negotiated into the deal to save them money and headaches for me. The other negotiated item is fuel. Most of the time the fuel for my equipment is part of the deal.

None of the equipment I use on a regular basis has air conditioning, heating, or even a radio. I do not use these features on the modern machinery I borrow because of the fear of being spoiled. The closer to nature, the better I feel.

I'm glad you are in the recover(you survived the operation). It was three years ago I got a kidney transplant. Its truly an eye opening experience to go through a serious operation that keeps you down for a long recover. I certainly did not realize just how long it would take to recover from the operation. The transplant folks require a log book entry every few hours to that has to be brought in to them so they can adjust the drugs.

I took very few pain drugs but all the other meds I take to block rejection can cause lots of side effects and even affect you mentally. So for all those reasons and more I feel for you and hope you recover quicker than the doc's expect. Also look into ham radio while you are slowed down a little you may find it interesting. eham.net On the left hand side of the page inside the yellow, at the top is a section "New to Ham Radio?" start there. 73, Mike ke4ilg

MIKED

Before responding I had to go the web site and check it out. It was very interesting and something I may get involved in. I never imagined how much was involved in being a ham operator. Your kidney surgery was much more serious than mine as the concern for rejection is one element I am not dealing with. Once again it is a blessing to take the time to stop and smell the roses.