Do most of you guys bother with the little stuff? And also.. aluminum cans?

I have a few questions for the scrappers on this forum.

First off let me admit that I scrap on the side basically to keep from being bored at work. I have a LOT of downtime at work, so I fill a lot of it by tearing apart small stuff and collecting aluminum cans. Like I said it mostly small stuff my work throws out. Like for example... they recently threw out a power washer wand/gun.... inside it was a nice thick,heavy two inch tube of brass (but that was it). Another time they changed all the old electrical power outlets in the building. I snagged them all & spent time cracking them open for all the brass bits inside ... came out to about a large handful of brass. I also collect aluminum cans on the property after an event... otherwise they would eventually end up in the landfill.

So would you mess with stuff like that? The way I see it (and justify it for myself)... is that I am killing the boredom of my job and getting paid to scrap ...plus I get the money from cashing in the scrap itself.

I dont actively go out to search for and collect appliances & other scrap metal outside of my workplace. IF I see something abandoned on the street....like a microwave... i WILL stop to grab it, but If its an aluminum can... I dont bother getting it.

another question... for those of you out there who do not live in states where you can get the deposit back on aluminum cans by turning them in. Do you bother with aluminum cans? I live in such a state & the price of aluminum cans is dismal, but I still collect them from my work & any that I buy/drink.

The copper brass and aluminum is the gravy ! As Per pop cans, that's up to you, I only pick them up when I find a large amount, at least a pound.

I just took in over 25 lbs of cans, ran them over in the driveway with the car, only took 5 min to smash.
All the stuff you mentioned can be kept in buckets or smaller totes till it builds up to make it worthwhile. Would you stop walking (and pick up) a quarter on the ground, of course you would, this is the same thing.

I save cans at home, but seldom pick them up elsewhere. In fact, the first time i believe I've ever done that was about a week ago, after dropping by a local oxbow lake to have a look, there were cans laying around after an all night fishing party, it filled up a plastic grocery bag

I won't stop my truck specifically for a can, but will always take one if I do stop for something else (ie grocery store, larger piece of scrap, etc).

Some don't bother with small stuff, but some do. Figure it is no different than picking up a penny while walking in a parking lot...You just got to wait to collect on that penny, though.

Just today walking out of Home Depot, picked up about a foot of insulated wire and a paper clip. It's free and didn't take me but half a second to bend over and pick it up, so why not?

I save cans. Bring em' home if im walking the dogs or if i see one in the parking lots. I drink alot of mtn dew and alot of beer gets consumed at my house. I bring in over 100 - 150 lbs of cans when i bring them in. A whole pick up bed full. The other scrappers are like holy crap when i bring them in.

im like alot of the rest, ill pick them up walking to my truck in a parking lot, i also throw them out in my yard from the cars i scrap and pick them up later, the main thing is your enjoying what your doing and killing some dead time at work and your job allows it, getting paid to scrap sounds good to me :)

Yes sir I do! I will stop and pick up a can in my truck if nobody is behind me though the scrapper geek in me just started making myself do that lol. Otherwise, it pains me too much to pass it up, like, pains physically! ROF!! I take extra bags with me to pick up cans while walking dogs and once, on garbage night the dogs lost out because I didn't have enough hands to hold a leash as well as scrap bags and a flashlight. Man did they ever give me dirty looks!!

I'd rather pick up small stuff than damage my back with heavy stuff. Dumping steel to make room for aluminum is an option I haven't yet done. I'm not likely to haul anything bigger than a laundry machine, unless I buy a bigger truck and install a bed winch.

So far I've been doing this as more of a side activity when I have time for it. If I eventually take a more businesslike approach with scouting all of the local streets and collecting on every trash night I may not care anymore about small stuff.

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Originally Posted by newattitude

Yes sir I do! I will stop and pick up a can in my truck if nobody is behind me though the scrapper geek in me just started making myself do that lol. Otherwise, it pains me too much to pass it up, like, pains physically! ROF!! I take extra bags with me to pick up cans while walking dogs and once, on garbage night the dogs lost out because I didn't have enough hands to hold a leash as well as scrap bags and a flashlight. Man did they ever give me dirty looks!!

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I see so many cans on my way to & from work that it would be a serious pain to stop & pick them up. I once DID stop to pick up a coin I saw shining in the light of a streetlight while I was about to pull out of a parking lot. It was a fricken penny (thought it was at least a dime). I am in the metal detecting hobby & have a strange penchant for coins.

Hey Dirtymoney,

What do you detect for? I started detecting for civil war relics in the early 90's, and have recently gotten into detecting for gold nuggets...

Chris

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Originally Posted by CFoote

Hey Dirtymoney,

What do you detect for? I started detecting for civil war relics in the early 90's, and have recently gotten into detecting for gold nuggets...

Chris

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Mostly old coins. I have metal detected for civil war relics. I have one site that produces very little. Just bullets and a single cavalry button. For the past couple of years I have been focusing on finding gold jewelry. I would love to hunt for gold nuggets & meteorites, but there are neither in my area.

here in Maine cans are worth a nickle so I pick them up , today at the junkyard I made 40 cents and the owner thanked me for picking the trash!! I took in my first load of low grade boards and was surprised the rate had gone up to 22 cents a pound and power units to 23. they are now taking ribbon cable and spaghetti wires , so my next trip will be a bit more profitable

As you find stuff, and then learn that if you break them down you make more money. Then you are left with little stuff to store untill you find more! All metal is money!

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Originally Posted by dirtymoney

I have a few questions for the scrappers on this forum.

First off let me admit that I scrap on the side basically to keep from being bored at work. I have a LOT of downtime at work, so I fill a lot of it by tearing apart small stuff and collecting aluminum cans. Like I said it mostly small stuff my work throws out. Like for example... they recently threw out a power washer wand/gun.... inside it was a nice thick,heavy two inch tube of brass (but that was it). Another time they changed all the old electrical power outlets in the building. I snagged them all & spent time cracking them open for all the brass bits inside ... came out to about a large handful of brass. I also collect aluminum cans on the property after an event... otherwise they would eventually end up in the landfill.

So would you mess with stuff like that? The way I see it (and justify it for myself)... is that I am killing the boredom of my job and getting paid to scrap ...plus I get the money from cashing in the scrap itself.

I dont actively go out to search for and collect appliances & other scrap metal outside of my workplace. IF I see something abandoned on the street....like a microwave... i WILL stop to grab it, but If its an aluminum can... I dont bother getting it.

another question... for those of you out there who do not live in states where you can get the deposit back on aluminum cans by turning them in. Do you bother with aluminum cans? I live in such a state & the price of aluminum cans is dismal, but I still collect them from my work & any that I buy/drink.

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As for me. YES, I most definitely pick up aluminum cans. Yes I do walk the backwoods country roads looking for cans. I do this because, the metal recycling facility that I use pays $.50/lb for both Aluminum Sheet AND Cast Aluminum, but they pay $.75/lb for Aluminum Cans. As for breaking down electrical outlets for brass, I would do this if it's the only thing I have to scrap. However, I can generally find other uses for my time. I guess it just depends on the individual doing the work and how badly they need the money. I have been criticized for breaking apart TV/VCR remotes to get the little circuit board out of them, to add to my Grade C collection of boards. The way I look at it is, It ALL ADDS UP. I hope this helps to answer some of your questions. Peace.

I will say it adds up! I don't make it a priority I usually have a box that I throw it in for times when I don't have any inventory to break down I bust out the old box of small detail stuff that needs to be processed, I realized on the bigger stuff though like dirty aluminum I actually make more bringing it in dirty(mostly medical equipment).

I drive a truck so I pick up everything I see. It drives my wife nuts when we are driving and I hit the brakes and exclaim, SHREDDER! I have about 10 garbage cans and as they fill up they go. It makes sorting and storing things easier. Hell I pulled over for about 20 lbs. of cable wire the other day. I can get load a week just doing my regular routine by stopping. Last night I liberated an aluminum can from the recycle bin and my neighbor said he'd save me his.

I do all the small bits, the 25gram copper solenoids from washing machines etc etc.
I find it better to just save them ( & everything else) up & stockpile untill I can be bothered, or I NEED the ca$h.

Don't bother squashing Ali cans though, just pick it up, shake it to check theres nothing inside, squash using two fingers, so the sides of the can are touching each other, then put them into the bag.
Use the biggest bags possible, I found a roll of plastic tube, they use it for ducting air or making plastic bags or something.
By using that I can get 8 foot high X 2 foot dia bags of Ali cans, much easyer for the guy to pour the cans into the press.

When they put the cans into the machine to squash them into a block, flattened cans don't hold together & the cube falls apart.
While cans with the sides squashed in 'grip' each other & the squashed cube stays whole.

Cans can use up a lot of time if you are not aware of it.

I don't actively pick them up, but get given them in return for finding recyclable beer bottles (750mls, 'swappa crate' of 12 bottles) for the guy who gives me his cans.
He walks everywhere, visits 3 pubs a day, has a beer & a chat & moves onto the next one. He picks up the cans during his wanderings & I get a shopping bag full every now & again.
In return for his beer bottles, he gets free homebrew alcohol, the guy who brews it needs beer bottles to put the brew into...
Its a 3 person recycling program....... Everyones happy.

Cans are just pennies in the street that some people don't see. One day I took the time to find out how many cans in a pound and is worth picking them up. Check out my video in you tube. how many aluminum cans in a pound - YouTube if that doesn't work type geravega77 in search and look for it. I also have a few videos on scrapping.