I need some thoughts on picking up restaurant grade scrap

I received a call the other day about picking up scrap from an industrial complex/wholesaler. This business sells sauces and spices to restaurants and supermarkets and other food establishments. This warehouse was BIG. There is a space in the building where they put the "scrap" over the years. Some of the stuff in the space was not marked to go. Everything tagged "junk" goes. I got a look at the space but couldn't gauge how much is actually marked junk. I did see a few large machines tagged to go. Pallet sized machines. Probably many machines.

The problem is loading. They have a forklift they can move the machines with. They have a 4' high loading dock. They have a ramp that can go down to 3'. I have an 18" high trailer. So my trailer is out of the question. Dump trailers are 22" to the deck. Dump trailers will not work. My truck is 3' high. That will work, but will result in many trips. I plan on possibly saving and storing any decent machines. (at least until I research the market for resale (is there a market for broken restaurant quality mixing machines?)) Saving them means a further drive between each pickup. An hour between pickups for saving or a half hour between pickups for scrapping (depending on traffic). Resale means more money, scrapping means no picking parts, but quicker turnover.

The guy I met who showed me the scrap suggested I rent a uhaul truck and load them all at once. He offered no money to clean out the scrap. (ya, one of those guys who think scrap metal is worth gold metal.)

If I rent a uhaul (their decks are 2' 11" high, so would probably work for the dock) a quick trip to the scrapyard means a lower uhaul bill ($100 or so?). But the guy said something about doing it on a Saturday and scrapyard closes at 12 o'clock at one yard and zero o'clock at another (as in not open on Saturday).

If i save the stuff the uhaul bill will probably be more like $175-$200. Plus gas. Plus I really do not know how much weight in scrap there is. Or if it is non-magnet stainless or "chinese" stainless.

Another issue is I doubt I have enough room to store all the stuff inside. Some would have to sit in a parking lot for a few weeks. ( I have lots of other work going on beside scrapping.) I will have to deal with the landlord of the building if I let the things sit outside for too long.

I don't know if any of the machines work. I know I can sell parts on eBay but I make good money doing other work, hard work. (I just finished a demo job today and start another one in 11 days. If the price is right.) And work in between. So my time is valuable right now.

So I need suggestions on...

Do I use my truck and do several pick ups a day for several days?

Do i use my truck and do quicker pick ups, less days, straight to the scrap yard and back for quick money?

Do I use my truck for less pick ups over several days, store, research, and pick parts for more money later?

Do I rent a uhaul and load all at once and go to the scrap yard and drop for some quick money? With a bill to pay?

Do I rent a uhaul and load all at once and save and store it for more money? With a bigger bill to pay?

Is there a different way to haul the scrap I have not mentioned?

Or do I not pick up the scrap at all and walk away?



I have a forklift to unload anything I save.


There is a potential for maybe thousands of dollars in resale, over time. Potential is the unknown. Time is unknown. Or I could be wasting my time.



Thanks for reading:)

Last U-Truck I rented ended up costing over $250 a day after all the charges they tacked on.

Do you do enough scrap business to justify spending $8,000 - $12,000 on a used box truck and another $2,000 - $4,000 on a used lift gate ?

id take my skidsteer with pallet forks and pull it off their dock and load on my dump trailer. Bottom line, rent a skid steer for a day. Also, I took a stainless table to scrap once after pulling it apart, and the guy at scale said next time bring it to him intact and he'd pay better than scrap and he'd send it to Mexico. thats my .02

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Originally Posted by RLS0812

Last U-Truck I rented ended up costing over $250 a day after all the charges they tacked on.

Do you do enough scrap business to justify spending $8,000 - $12,000 on a used box truck and another $2,000 - $4,000 on a used lift gate ?

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But you also pay more than anyone else in the country for shipping ;)

I do think your suggestion of using this opportunity to buy a new truck is a good one. Eight years ago I was moving about 300 miles from one state to another. I looked into all of my options ... moving company, Pod, etc. I decide in the end it was cheapest to buy a 14' step van for the job. Worked great for the move and I then used that truck for the next two years. When I sold it i actually made a few hundred dollars more than what I had paid for it. Win, win, WIN.

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Originally Posted by in2scrap

id take my skidsteer with pallet forks and pull it off their dock and load on my dump trailer. Bottom line, rent a skid steer for a day. Also, I took a stainless table to scrap once after pulling it apart, and the guy at scale said next time bring it to him intact and he'd pay better than scrap and he'd send it to Mexico. thats my .02

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All three suggestions provided are good options. In2scrap provided you with the lowest cost option and since you have a forklift, haul it over and unload from their dock. I have to assume their forklift can exit the building so you might be able to use it to unload from the dock. When I scrapped a potatoe plant I used two of their forklifts, one to haul to the dock and the other to load from the dock to my trailer. I would try to set up pickup over a couple of weekends. Start with the stuff you know is scrap and haul to the scrap yard. While collecting the first load gather all the information on the other items including pictures to post for sale in any manner you see fit. In addition to giving yourself a head start on selling, the items will be safe from weather and thieves.

I realize they would prefer to have it cleared in one shot but you can approach it from the fact that you usually charge for this type of service and cannot commit to one haul. If they baulk just take it and resort to plan B. Good luck and I would jump at the chance to take a job like this.

If they're backing semi trailers to that loading dock the doors are surely more that 8 feet in height, bring some chain s then have the forklift pick them up from above. Even of the forklift mast will not clear the overhead door frame the forks will protrude far enough forward so that the operator can lower equipment onto the rear of your trailer deck.

If you don:t have a winch on your trailer use a come along to skid the load forward making room for more junk.

Failing that purchase a few 2" x 12" x 10 ft planks to ramp the loads down. be sure to spike an anchor onto your deck so that the planks won't skid forward on ya.

from what u say, there seems to be a LOT of different metal mixed in there and i would look for the cheapest way just to get the stuff quickly off their premises and into my property, where i can take my time & properly sort through the ferrous & non ferrous stuff.

whats ferrous will go into one load which u take to the yard first- that way u recover your costs and then u work on stripping & sorting the good stuff, which should be all profit.

but you should know best what will work for you.

Organization and a solid plan might be key.

You might go in and palletize everything ahead of time to see what kind of volume you have.That would tell you what kind of truck you need. Class B straight job -or- an eighteen wheel box truck ?

Once it's all palletized ... it's quick to load.

They have both straight jobs and eighteen wheelers with lift gates that could back right up to the dock and then offload with a lift gate at the other end. ( You would need a pallet jack to move the pallets from inside the box truck to the lift gate.)

You can rent the bigger class A and class B trucks.

More realistic ... maybe contact a trucking company in your area and see what they would charge ?

How about an auto towing company with a large two car flatbed ? Would that be the right height to the dock ? Maybe offload with your forklift ? Got any friends or people you know that are doing that kind of work ?

Got any friends with a flatbed pulp truck that has a cherry picker ?

Just random ideas on how you could get the load from place as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Plan your work ... work your plan ?

Get er' done in 4 hours or less cause time is money ?

My forklift cannot drive on dirt (it sinks and the tires just spin), pavement only, the parking lot where the loading dock is dirt. Their forklift cannot leave the building. There are only stairs and a 4'*loading dock.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

All three suggestions provided are good options. In2scrap provided you with the lowest cost option and since you have a forklift, haul it over and unload from their dock. I have to assume their forklift can exit the building so you might be able to use it to unload from the dock. When I scrapped a potatoe plant I used two of their forklifts, one to haul to the dock and the other to load from the dock to my trailer. I would try to set up pickup over a couple of weekends. Start with the stuff you know is scrap and haul to the scrap yard. While collecting the first load gather all the information on the other items including pictures to post for sale in any manner you see fit. In addition to giving yourself a head start on selling, the items will be safe from weather and thieves.

I realize they would prefer to have it cleared in one shot but you can approach it from the fact that you usually charge for this type of service and cannot commit to one haul. If they baulk just take it and resort to plan B. Good luck and I would jump at the chance to take a job like this.

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I thought of that... Their forking is not a real forklift. It's one of those you stand behind and ride on. A battery powered one. A motorized pallet jack.

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Originally Posted by Proton

If they're backing semi trailers to that loading dock the doors are surely more that 8 feet in height, bring some chain s then have the forklift pick them up from above. Even of the forklift mast will not clear the overhead door frame the forks will protrude far enough forward so that the operator can lower equipment onto the rear of your trailer deck.

If you don:t have a winch on your trailer use a come along to skid the load forward making room for more junk.

Failing that purchase a few 2" x 12" x 10 ft planks to ramp the loads down. be sure to spike an anchor onto your deck so that the planks won't skid forward on ya.

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Issac Newton said what goes up must come down just push the junk over the edge onto the dirt.

pull the trigger.

Don't overlook the value of professionalism. It may be worth the expense of renting a dock-height truck and moving their equipment out at one time just to make life as easy as possible for your client.

I don't have my non-ferrous price list handy at the moment, so I don't know exactly where stainless is at at the moment. But if I were in your situation-- the first thing I would look at is what size truck I can fill. A 20' straight truck is 10 pallets. If you can fill it with 10 pallets of equipment, the cost of renting one is minor compared to how you'll do on scrapping food-grade equipment. I've found that smaller, local rental companies tend to be cheaper that one of the big equipment leasers for a single day renter, but check around and see who can rent you the truck the cheapest.

I just talked to the guy. I offered to pay $100 for a delivery using their truck and driver to my shop which is something like 17 miles away. He said some of the machines are awkward and would result in several deliveries. So he sounded doubtful. Has to ask his higher up. I said I will just use my truck and do several pick ups. He said the pick up have to be between 3:30 and 4 pm during the week.

As regarding scrap - I have to assume most of these machines will be bought as light iron/shred. A majority of the weight will most likely be iron. At $100/ton for shred I have to keep expenses down to a minimum.

I won't touch the truck question, as you got a ton of good suggestions from others.

You asked about resale...if the items can be fixed, I'd say of course there is resale in some of it. Places that can't afford new would be interested, or even places that just want to save a few bucks, or in need of a backup etc. Spin it the right way an you'll make a sale. Selling is all about putting the spin on it. Make people want it, an they'll buy it a lot of times.

You'll also have motors an lots of other things out of those machines. I'd take the time to break them down for the good stuff if you have to end up taking to the yard.

Good luck an if you have any other reasturant supply places near you or further out your willing to drive to, check there also. Hotels, resturants, anywhere that serves food or needs to keep something cold(if there are frdiges, chillers, etc in the pile), etc.

Post back your results, an some pics.

You know about our love for pictures. You've been here long enough. ;) So get to snapping some for us!

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Cash Rules Everything Around me...- Wutang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.

Good point Sir S.

I know there's at least one used commercial kitchen equipment company here. They're fairly big. They must be based somewhere in the Portland, Augusta, or Bangor area.

Hobart is a big name in commercial equipment. That stuff is expensive. It's expensive to repair though too. Machine rebuilds can run in the thousands. We had one our machines done recently.

Maybe that was the situation with the place that NP is picking up at ? Maybe the equipment is obsolete and they can't get repair parts anymore ? Maybe it's cheaper to buy new than to repair ?

I know that age is a factor in the mix for some of our commercial equipment. It's getting to a point where we can't even source used parts anymore.

Just a random thought.

You know ... there's no shame in passing on a job that's too big for you.

A lot of the bigger scrap yards offer removal services and they have the equipment to do the job.

You could act as a middleman and get a finder's fee -or- a commission on the job.

It's money in the pocket with a minimum of risk. You wouldn't even have to get your hands dirty. It's all salesmanship.

I am waiting for the guy to call me back. If he does not call, no hard feelings. My time is stretched pretty thin for the next few weeks anyway.

Can't be more straightforward than this lol