Poor mans trailer/storage

I have seen a lot of folks say they do not mess with iron/steel as they do not have the room for it. Here is an idea to think about. If you have a hitch on your vehile to pull a trailer, look into one of those trailers made out of a pickup bed. You can process (remove all the non-ferrous materials) the scrap, then throw the iron in the trailer bed for storage. After you have it filled up, hook up and take it to the scrap yard. You can put stuff on it as you get it (and do not have to do a big job of loading it when you are ready to take it in), and can put it in the back or side yard so it is out of sight. I live in the country, and do that with a 16ft flat bed. I will process the scrap I recieve, then put the iron on the flatbed until it is filled up. Since aluminum is the second largest metal I receive, I also purchased a pickup bed trailer (cost was $50) and put the aluminum in there for storage. When it is filled up I will hook up and haul it to the scrap yard.

Sounds like an awesome idea. I dont have cash to get an actual trailer so maybe I will hit the junk yard and see what I can come up with.

post an add on craigslist for a free camper strip the walls off, scrap the aluminum and you have yourself a trailer I have a 12ft trailer made from a camper and it hauls 4000lbs with no problem.

I think I just might be wierd. Of course I have a little more room than the average guy, but I take a few old fridges i get in, take doors off, take out shelves...etc..and use the box for storage of the small scrap materials such as brass, aluminum, copper. i use the ramps from the trailer to haul it on my car trailer when i get enough. when i get sick of looking at the old green fridge layin in the dirt i haul that in and get a different one for storage. ha ha

Hey! I like that idea! Sometimes the best idea is right in front of a person and they don't see it. I was going to see about finding used seed boxes to put my scrap in, then load 'em up when full. Dad has a skid steer with fork attachment, so loading usually isn't an issue. Though I do recall trying to load a forklift battery and it couldn't do it.

But your idea is free. :D

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Originally Posted by lady scrapper

I think I just might be wierd. Of course I have a little more room than the average guy, but I take a few old fridges i get in, take doors off, take out shelves...etc..and use the box for storage of the small scrap materials such as brass, aluminum, copper. i use the ramps from the trailer to haul it on my car trailer when i get enough. when i get sick of looking at the old green fridge layin in the dirt i haul that in and get a different one for storage. ha ha

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I do the basically the same thing also, except with ferrous metals. I will put the larger iron pieces inside the fridge, and put the smaller pieces in the drum of a washer or dryer. More weight in a smaller space.

If I was told to pick between 10Lbs of copper or 1 ton of Steel with todays prices I would pick the steel everytime it dont take much steel to make a ton.

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Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

If I was told to pick between 100Lbs of copper or 1 ton of Steel with todays prices I would pick the steel everytime it dont take much steel to make a ton.

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I'm not sure I understand what you mean?

Initially, I was going to be a smartass, and comment that everybody knows a ton of rocks weighs much more than a ton of feathers, and that the same principle applies, however, the comment got me to actually questioning which material, copper or steel, is more dense. Because of the nature of the scrap a guy handles every day, one might think that the copper (little bits of plumbing pipe, little bits of stripped wire, etc), is less dense than iron (big pieces of angle iron, or an engine block, fer instance).

http://www.coolmagnetman.com/magconda.htm

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Did you notice that copper is heavier than iron? A cubic foot of iron is 491 lb. A cubic foot of copper is 559 lb.

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Bad choice, Kris Kringle...

Sure copper is heavier then iron in density But still 100 Lbs vs 2000 Lbs where I come from 16 Ounces makes a Pound it Dosn't matter what the Material.

and this theory of what weighs more a Pound of Rocks or a Pound of Feathers now that there is Funny Again where I come from a Pound is 16 Ounces. {They are Both the Same A Pound} now the Volume Is Different but the Pound dont change. Yeah you can argue that there is a difference in a Long ton Vs a Short ton But there is still only 16 Ounces in a Pound.

Just saying

Sorry on my Orginal post Put a 100 Lbs instead of 10Lbs. Basically what I ment to convey is sometimes you trip over Dollars to pick up Dimes.

Yeah, but, the copper is more dense, plus, it's worth a lot more for every 16 ounces as well. As I explained, I thought because of the nature of most copper scrap, it might seem "fluffier", (which may be the first time that adjective has ever been applied to scrap metal.):)

Here, "Plate & Structural, prepared" is paying $13.00/hundred, which equals 13 cents/lb, which equals $260/ton.

"#1 Copper" pays $3.15/lb. Thus 100 lbs. is worth $315. And, 100 lbs only weighs, well, 100 lbs, instead of a 2000, so I'm not sure of your logic... :confused:

On edit: LOL! You posted the post above while I was typing. Makes more sense now...

as I posted above with the correction of 10 Lbs if someone told you you could have either the 10Lbs of copper Or the ton of Steel what one would you take?

I would take the Steel but thats just me

I'd still take the ten pounds of copper. Much easier to handle and value is likely to increase more rapidly than iron. With a ton of iron, you've got loading, unloading, transporting and storage issues. Ten pounds of copper I could carry in the seat beside me. Now an equal value in aluminum sheet is a different story. I've gotten so I don't even want to take it. Too light and hard to handle.

Assuming I had the wherewithal to handle and haul either, (pieces of steel small enough to manhandle), the steel.

Also, assuming the #1 copper and Prepared P&S I quoted above, $31.50 in copper, or $260 in steel? I can do a lot of loading, hauling, and unloading for that $228.50 difference.

Kris Kringle's point about dollars vs dimes is well taken. Just this week, I was on a job where an old industrial building is being rehabbed. I asked the job super if any of his own guys were taking the scrap, or if it was just going to go in the dumpster. He said a couple of his guys would always grab the copper or aluminum, but they weren't interested in the "heavy stuff"--it was too much work. There was a big electrical panel, maybe three feet tall that had been removed. I spoke to his guys, and they were even sort of on the fence about taking it at all. The way I left it with them was that if it was still there the next morning, I'd take it. The next morning, it was there, but they'd stripped it out. Even so, the box itself probably weighed 20 or 25 lbs. That and I got another hundred or so lbs of clean tin, and angle and channel, which I'm going to save for my own use. So, yeah, I carried more weight, but I think I probably made out just as well in terms of dollars and cents...

Big or small, take it all. That's my motto when it comes to scrapping

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Originally Posted by Scrap man

Big or small, take it all. That's my motto when it comes to scrapping

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Amen Brother Amen

Agreed. When I stop to pick up metal, everything goes in. If there is a 3 inch piece of steel, that is collected also. I'm not picky, just thorough.