What time should you go scrapping?

I have had hit or misses it seems on the correct time to go scrapping. I've heard the day/night before bulk pickup is the prime time, but when I go out there it seems I am just paying for my gas that I throw in my truck, nothing ever really substanstial to satisfy my needs. Off topic, I go to the yard and people have truck loads stacked high above the cabs of their trucks and they tell me its an everyday thing and that they are making 200+ dollars. So it seems that the prime time to go scrapping is the morning before bulk pickup is scheduled in your area. So I am just wondering If this is infact true and that I need to start scrapping early in the morning so that I to can be at the yard with a large load by the end of the day. Thank you.

First rule - Don't believe everything you hear. Not that anybody in this industry would lie, but a few MIGHT exaggerate a little.

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Originally Posted by Mick

First rule - Don't believe everything you hear. Not that anybody in this industry would lie, but a few MIGHT exaggerate a little.

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Aint that the truth!

Well the metal in the truck does not lie nor exaggerate. So how do they achieve this? I have the maps of all the cities I scrap in, just not par on the time it seems...Help me!

Well, I don't actively "cruise for gold" right now, but I am well aware of the days that garbage goes out in certain neighborhoods and my eyes are always peeled. If time is on my side, I will take the meandering route through a neighborhood, so i have a pretty good knowledge of my area and when the good stuff pops up.

The answer for me is.........It's completely random. If you are the only garbage grabber in the area, all you have to do is stay ahead of the truck on the morning of pick up. This is usually not the case as we are seeing more and more scrappers out there.

Here is my garbage theory. Hang on, I am going to get a shot of Cabo Wabo to sip on as I type this.

Ahhhh. that is better.

In my life as a garbage creator, I have always put out my garbage somewhere between "after work" the evening before and in the morning before the garbage guys get there. Occasionally I go outside of those parameters such as: Getting it out a day or so earlier, or missing garbage day. However, those time frames happen very seldom so I would say that 95% of the time, my garbage goes out during that roughly 15 hour time period. ( based on a 5 o'clock end to an average work day and an average garbage pick up time of 8 a.m.)

This^ is the first variable to the equation. If you were to make a graph showing this time frame from start to finish and when garbage goes out, there will be peeks and valleys. The graph would grow gradually starting at 5 the night before and would peak in my opinion somewhere between 10 and 11 then troughing to almost nothing until around 5 or 6 a.m. and peak again somewhere around the final pickup time.

The other variable in the quest for the perfect time to "cruise for gold"( we need to come up with a more catchy phrase for this than garbage picking. If you are feeling clever let's hear it.), is the other "cruisers" that are in that area competing with you to get said "gold". If there is one other guy that is scrapping, you need to know when he is driving. There are several in my area and for me it is a crap shoot of being there somewhere between home owner A, puts out his garbage and scrapper B stops by to check it out. The greater time passing between A and B results in a greater chance of you scoring as you will also see home owner C, D, E, and etc. also put their garbage and other unwanteds on the curb for pick up. What we can extrapolate from this is the fact that the number of scrappers in your area will greatly affect your success and ultimately your dollar return on any given run based on your decision on what time you decide to drive around.

Based on the above information, we now have some parameters to start working with. Results will very from town to town, region to region, and will also change from season to season based on weather depending on where you live. ( In Florida these stats will vary only slightly, but will change vastly in Fargo between summer and fall.) (Economics and unemployment will also affect the number of other scrappers that you will need to compete with.)

OK, we have set up the parameters and the variables, but being that there are so many variables from city to city and state to state, we need to get some solid scientific evidence.

The evening before has always yielded me some decent stuff no matter what the time, however in my personal experience, some of my best stuff has been picked up in the early morning hours. In my area, apparently more scrappers run on the evening before and there are good number of home owners that do not put out their trash until the morning of. This leads me to lean toward an early morning run in my neighborhood, but I can get some stuff by driving around in the evening.

There are two things that can be done in any given neighborhood to determine the best time for scrapping. One is to spend a couple of weeks constantly driving out an area and seeing when the stars align for the best pick up time in your area is. The second option is watching your fellow local scrappers and learning when they run.

Let's say that your garbage pick up is on Saturday morning. Friday at 5, put your garbage on the curb along with, maybe,.... the back panel from a washer that you stripped. ( you will need to have several of these "bait" items to get you through this experiment. You will need to be vigilant in checking every 5 minutes or so to see when it has been picked up. You can't set outside or have your garage door open or the common scrapper may be hesitant to stop and pick up that small piece of bait that you set out. When it has dissappeared, you will need to set out a new item for the next scrapper. From this experiment, you will learn the times that your neighborhood srappers are running and you can then add all of the above variables into your personal experiences and find the absolute best time for you to drive around and find some good scrap.

Just some random thoughts on garbage picking. ( we really need a catchier phrase for that).

Take it for what it's worth.

No animals were intentionally hurt during the scribing of the above theoretical ramble.

No plants were hurt during the above theoretical rambling. ( The agave had already given it's life to make my bottle of Cabo wabo.)

Ascrapper, The above was written for both amusement and real honest to goodness thought behind when to go looking for scrap. It really does lie somewhere between a crap shoot and having some knowledge of both the home owners and the scrappers in your area. I hope it helps and encourages you to stick it out and figure out the best time for you.

And thanks for asking this question. If you get a chance, please go to the intro area and tell us a bit about yourself. Welcome aboard!

Was not expecting that. Pretty amazing stuff, seems like you have it down to a science. I will definitely be trying out those experiments, along with the other stuff you noted, and I will also be going to the intro area. Thanks for the warm welcome.

My experience - I started out cruising for gold..found a bit, but I had to quickly figure out something else due to fuel costs. The trips were becoming cost prohibitive, so instead of cruising the neighborhoods (by the way, I have nothing against it, but it's just not a method that I can be profitable with), I started posting ads on Craigslist, among other places, and the phone calls started off slow, then within a month just absolutely blew up. Mostly appliances, but now I'm taking in 3 full loads (on a 16' trailer) of appliances per week.

It's a lot of work, but it's sooooo addictive and fun, even when it's 100 degrees out (I hate hot weather, but I keep my mind focused on the $$$). So I guess the point is that I only go out when I know exactly where I'm going, instead of guzzling gas without a sure bet.

Again, everyone has their method, and ultimately it will be up to you to figure out what works. That's why this forum is awesome - lots of different methods/strategies here! Good luck.

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Originally Posted by AScrapper

Was not expecting that. Pretty amazing stuff, seems like you have it down to a science. I will definitely be trying out those experiments, along with the other stuff you noted, and I will also be going to the intro area. Thanks for the warm welcome.

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One last word on that. I was not storing steel and going after the good stuff. I had no means of stockpiling steel at the time and was setting it out. I may have poste before, but I set some steel out and it was less than a half hour before a nice non english speaking lady came by to grab it. I went out to help her and she had a computer tower in the back of the truck that she gave me.

Karma and other things may paly here as well.

I tell my friends and family that I am going (or have been) "shopping".

Haha....Nice work parrothead!

Alley shopping or curb shopping.

I'm with BigRyan, I like to go out when I know exactly where I'm going. Then any randomly found items are bonuses. I've been known to drive alleys to get to somewhere I was already headed.