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Scrapping and adapting

| A Day in the Life of a Scrapper
  1. #1
    CopperHeadAKA started this thread.
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    Scrapping and adapting

    I'm a knowledgeable Street Scrapper ( recycling ) I'v been selling scrap long enough to of experience monetary High's and Low's
    But the most recent price's have been disheartening .
    Is it nation wide ? You Tell Me
    My final disappointing adapting
    mix Steel is at .07 per pound That I consider OK considering
    what I've seen as Hight and Low's
    BUT let's get to the Bread and Butter of a Street scrapper that works out of a Van , Pick up or less
    Electric motors .10 cents
    Copper bearing .10 cents
    Dirty AL .08 cents
    AL is down But that's OK
    Busting out vacuums to the tune of 100 pounds to make $3 more then just Mix Shred NOT WORTH IT
    now I just cut off the bulk of plastic so as not to be excessive plastic to metal and sell as mix
    copper bearing I might or might not bother
    Dirty Al - HA HA HA there is your answer on that
    So the bad is obvious to a street scrapper
    The good is , it's LIBERATING pack truck with out worry
    Clean AL - Copper & Brass are the last hold out's
    So i'm still in the game BUT I feel some thing fake going on here
    after all I see the yard still has organized Gay lords of
    Electric motors
    Copper bearing
    Dirty Al
    Well it was a great run !!
    http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/members/copper-head.html
    Copper Head and CopperHeadAKA (same person)
    I am back to my skill set from the 80's Painting & all that follows it
    I removed myself from the trash company I worked for as of 2 years ago
    I find scrap non the less

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  3. #2
    NHscrapman's Avatar
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    Mixed $.05/lb
    Dirty metals about the same as you
    My biggest money maker is wayyy down #2 insulated is now $.25/lb I get $.30 due to volume but it doesn't make it much better when it was $.80/lb not long ago.
    Ehh well guess we're averaging out those good years

    There ain't nothing wrong with an honest days work. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.- Old Man

  4. #3
    CopperHeadAKA started this thread.
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    Well as a secondary source of income it's still fine , but as it once was nope
    Not sure it's coming back . This looks like a restructure of pricing .
    For sure I wont wish on a massive war for us to earn .
    Still I think I will save my Vac motors for a wile and see what they deliver in a few years
    worth a shot .
    Last edited by CopperHeadAKA; 10-10-2018 at 06:25 AM.

  5. #4
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    Sounds a lot like the wild fur market. There are still a few bright spots, such as heavy northern prairie coyotes. but much of the rest is at "restructured prices".

    After dinking around for 4-5 years with various micro gigs bundled as a "second job", I'll be looking for a steady 10-20 hours a week pay check after Christmas. My garage will end up being cleaner which will make the wife happier and I'll pick and choose only the juiciest little side gigs to do that return the best coin in the least time. Its been a long time a coming, but it has arrived.

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  7. #5
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    Prices down here are changing as well. Shred has bounced between .05/lb and .055 a lb, which is not horrible but it has forced me to start taking things apart to make up the difference. Short steel is still doing well at .0825/lb. Aluminum is down to .30/lb and breakage floats around .06/lb which is not worth separating. Motors are around .08/lb. Prices are dropping and it's a little scary to see where the market will be 6 months out. The new regulations and tariffs have severely affected "dirty' metals and low value stuff like motors, copper bearing, and copper wire. My yards now require plug ends and any trash cut out of wire whereas three months ago it was okay to leave them on. Very frustrating but there is less competition. Still making okay money in the long run and still turning a profit which is all I care about.
    Made in China, Recycled in the Republic of Texas!

    "When the mind fails, brute force prevails" - CTSSolutions

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    The dollar seems to be getting stronger. A stronger dollar exerts downward pressure on prices.

    Maybe it all evens out ?

    You don't get as many dollars at the scrapyard .... but the ones you do get buy more ?

    It seems like the price of crude oil is the wildcard. If that goes up then energy prices go up. Higher energy costs ( like gasoline) seem to push scrap metal prices up.

  10. #7
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    Shred is still at 100 a ton and copper has gone down quite a bit. All of the other metals are pretty bad. I took a load of circuit boards in today and was very pleased. Prices are down a little from last year but not much.

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  12. #8
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    As a part-timer I was doing good till I took off the dash to replace my heater core on my truck, but then I knew this is going to be a near week long after work project, that and my career comes first and there have been some fires I needed to put out and projects to complete after hours.

    I have adapted cause I was a newbie when prices for shred were 145/ton and did almost all ferrous weight scrapping, as much crap as I could fit in the truck then dump it regardless of the aluminum, wires, copper and brass i had on board - I cringe now thinking of it. Prices went down then I started paying far more attention to non-ferrous and better ways of collecting scrap metal quicker and closer to use less fuel. My last non-ferrous cash in was for ~70$ with only ~110lbs of material. Not setting any records or anything but it's very good for me as a part timer with a mid-sized truck.

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    We have been threw this before guys......Remember 2014 - 2015??? What our neighbors to the north say, "Way she goes". just hoard the good stuff unless you really need the money. Still getting 145 for shred, so there is still alot of competition around here. Still remembering the 270/ton shred days
    Last edited by greytruck; 10-10-2018 at 12:54 PM. Reason: YEWWWWW

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  15. #10
    CopperHeadAKA started this thread.
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    $ 270 a ton is like remembering youth
    Last edited by CopperHeadAKA; 10-12-2018 at 08:14 AM.

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  17. #11
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    If you have a break press and some basic tools, could always make tool boxes and such out of sheet steel.

    Sooner-or-later folks will have to get more creative with their scrap to make the $ . I personally think prices will go down if China stops buying so much scrap.

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    Quote Originally Posted by greytruck View Post
    just hoard the good stuff unless you really need the money.
    Or if you don't have room to store it/want a back yard for use.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SKWrapper View Post
    Or if you don't have room to store it/want a back yard for use.
    Or in my case the county sends a code enforcement officer out to tell you that open storage of "junk" is against the county code.

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  21. #14
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    Cleared out some low price items today to make more room for the hoard in the garage. Check out these prices

    Dirty Al rads .13/lb
    Al breakage .08/lb
    Stainless brk .10/lb
    Xmas lites .10/lb
    Battery wht .18/lb (small batterys out of barbie cars / elec lawnmowers, ect.)
    Ext cords .30/lb
    Clean Al extr .40/lb

    Brought in the clean extrusions because the one yard just started buying it at .40/lb instead of clean alum at .30/lb. Wanted to give it a try and see if they took painted ext as clean. Yes they did.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DakotaRog View Post
    Sounds a lot like the wild fur market. There are still a few bright spots, such as heavy northern prairie coyotes. but much of the rest is at "restructured prices".

    After dinking around for 4-5 years with various micro gigs bundled as a "second job", I'll be looking for a steady 10-20 hours a week pay check after Christmas. My garage will end up being cleaner which will make the wife happier and I'll pick and choose only the juiciest little side gigs to do that return the best coin in the least time. Its been a long time a coming, but it has arrived.
    Sounds like retirement. That is when I got into the game. Retired and loving the scrapping so lower prices will not slow me down.
    Give back more to this world than we take.

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  25. #16
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    Would have taken 1160+lbs of scrap/shred to have made what I did with 84lbs of material. Yeah the prices are lower than before but focusing on more valuable metals has helped me as a part-timer (lately very part time).

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    What is with the ATM fee...
    Better than the dump!

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    Quote Originally Posted by hobo finds View Post
    What is with the ATM fee...
    You can choose a check with no fee no matter the amount, or for every $50 they charge $1 if you use the ATM. 0-50$ ATM = 0$ fee. I can accept $1 for the convenience of cash - far less expensive here than actually using a bank ATM from somewhere besides your own bank chain.

  28. #19
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    After seeing those prices, I'll stop whining for a while...

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