office filing cabinets...

I have a little bit of light steel in the garage and wanted to add some to it for a van load to the place just 3 miles away. I saw a free office sized filing cabinet free on cl this weekend and contacted them on last Saturday. A gal responded and gave the dimensions which I know would fit into my mini van and tried calling the number she gave thinking someone might be in the office (a good sized reality place) but no further contact on Sat. Someone called me back today and with having a mid-afternoon dental appt just a mile and half from the reality place, I said I'd come and get the cabinet. In the e-mail on Sat. the gal said "it really isn't that heavy when its empty".

Well, the thing was heavy enough for me when I got there. The office cutie had a 2-wheel cart for me to take it up a back way from the lower-than-parking-lot backside but she had to help me lift it in front so I could get it on the pivot point and then I kept it low enough walking backwards up the sidewalk until we got to the back of my van. A little wrestling by me and it plopped into the back of my van with a responding thud. It will probably be the single heaviest piece I've taken out to the yard because I break most things down enough to fit into my van.

The point to my post is do any of you remove the fake wood laminate top to these things? I try to have as clean of loads as possible and I'd take that top off if I figured out an easy way and if the yard really cared about it coming off (I'll call them tomorrow). Probably most people dump as is, especially when I hear about people scrapping big copiers for their steel content without taking any plastic off. But, I suppose its up to the individual yard managers/owners and how much non-steel junk that their buyers are wiling to except.

Just curious about other people's experiences...

If it's laminate glued to metal then you should be fine. But if the laminate is glued to wood you should take the wood off. But all yards are different. Mine would take it as "clean sheet iron" if the laminate is glued to metal and just "sheet iron"(shred) if it was wood.

The yard you are using pays me unprepared price, because of the wood and the size. Sometimes they will pay prepared price if it is included with a large load of prepared and the wood is off. In your situation it is assumed they will pay unprepared for it. A customer off the street might be lucky to get tin price for it with the top on. Hope this helps.

I really haven't had time to look at it much. I will do so tomorrow after work. Plan to take in early Thurs morn.

Unfortunately, P76, most of the steel I come across and/or can handle is "tin" price. I'd be happy with that this week, as long as it hasn't dropped again. Last Friday they quoted me $75 a ton or 3.75 cents a pound. It is what it is...

If that is board price then it is the same. If that is a business price it must have gone down today.

When you say "business price", do you mean a better rate than someone just showing up at their door? I'm sure they know you by name, and deservedly so because you bring in major tonnage. The counter girls may know me by my handsome face but that's as far as it goes. And that's fine with me because my steel scrapping is mostly just some occasional pocket money.

Clint Eastwood has a line from his Dirty Harry character about me and steel recycling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrFV5r8cs0

I remember years ago I sold some filing cabinets on behalf of somebody & I was quite amazed at what they sold for.
Is there a market for them & value?

I have one at home to put some project stuff into, the draws can hold a lot of weight & still slide out ok, and it's lockable

FYI: Filing cabinets are an easy CL sale at $20 per drawer.

The yards I use typically don't even look. I do try to make a reasonable amount of effort to make sure I have a clean load but not sure they even notice because the quantity I give them is never more than a light duty pickup truck full at a time.

I don't recall ever getting file cabinets with wood on them but, I might take it off depending on how much time it would take and how thick/heavy the wood was. If it was just laminate fake wood - meh maybe peel it off. Thick real wood, I would make a reasonable amount of effort to remove it.

Yeah, I thought about selling it but this had been "free" for about a week or more without any takers so maybe the market for this one in my area isn't that hot. Good idea for something probably a little smaller and more applicable for home use or smaller business use. I just sort of want it out of my van about now. The oldest kid has never been to a scrap yard so he'll help me out and see some new stuff up close.

P.S. I called the yard today and they said they wanted the wood top off of it. Looked tonight after work and it doesn't seem too hard. Mr. hammer and crowbar will talk to the filing cabinet in the am.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DakotaRog

Mr. hammer and crowbar

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AKA universal scrap adjustment tools #1 and #2.

To finish off the story, the old big filing cabinet got delivered to the steel yard ok this morning minus its wooden top (easy pop off with crowbar and hammer). But I ended up picking up an old sheet metal roofing nail & washer in one of my front tires. I ended up -$3.00 for the day when it comes to scrapping. Maybe a sign for my little side gig to stay away from van loads of light steel. So it goes...