Scrapping at a Farm

Hello All,
My grandfather has recently offered to allow me to keep the proceeds if I remove all his scrap from his yard for him. The problem is... I don't know where to begin. There is a lot of unused and bent/broken metal that has accumulated over the years, such as: cattle fences and gates, cattle pens and shelters, grain silos, broken down equipment, front-end loader buckets, barrels, siding, etc. These are just a few of the things I can think of off the top of my head. I have other family members and neighbours that will likely let me take their stuff too. Does anyone have experience with farms? What should I look for? I don't know where to devote my time, because there is stuff everywhere in the yard.

I'd like to have your problem. Depends on what you've got to haul stuff with. Start by getting idea of what you've got. Make a list. If you've got a pick up, you might start with small iron stuff (sticks to a magnet). Next separate out the aluminum and copper (don't haul it in till you've got an idea of how to process the stuff). Do you have any experience with scrap metal? What equipment do you have? An alternative might be just selling the stuff as is to a scrap metal dealer. Or call a scrap yard to see if they're interested in coming there and see what they'll give you for it.

We'll I have access to power tools, a f350 for hauling and a 20 foot trailer, and a front end loader tractor (for cattle bales) for loading. We have a 16 foot cattle trailer as well. I have absolutely zero experience with scrap metal, so this place might be loaded with goodies but I haven't the faintest idea what to do about it. The farm yard is 100km from the nearest scrap yard, and my grandpa would prefer to see me do the work myself in order to earn the money.

Hello faust and welcome to SMF!

What kind of equipment do you have to remove items? By this I mean, trucks and trailers and ways to cut the bigger equipment ''in the field'' so to speak? do you have a large trailer with a winch to load larger items onto? do you have a loader available to load these items onto your truck and trailer? How does your yard take these items? they may want them cut into smaller pieces.

If it were me and it was my first time scrapping, I'd weigh my options - is this a job you can do yourself? Can you haul these items to the yard yourself? Maybe it would be easier to see if a yard would be willing to drop a container onto the property if you can't. You may take a hit in price but you would still be making money and cleaning up the yard. do you have access to a larger trailer if not? Lots of things to consider for this kind of job!!

there are a lot of threads here that have described these types of jobs. Use the search feature to find some of them to get an idea.

Is this your very first time scrapping?

There are many family members and neighbours that'd be willing to give me access as we'll, so I want to make this my summer job.

Lol Mick, we were both replying at the same time!

Faust, if I had to haul scrap 60 miles, I'd either see if the yard would drop a container(s) for you or I'd made **** sure each load taken and delivered would even profit you.

Thank you both for such great responses!
If they drop a container, how do I ensure they are paying me fairly? And I was planning on holding off on loads until I could make a full trailer trip in. His problem was initially getting anyone to even think of coming for his old bent silos, and no scrapyard would come because of the distance... but our trailer (used for hauling round bales) is capable of towing 15k lbs. Surely I could make a well loaded trailer profitable?

Hi Faust and welcome to the forum. I'm drooling over your opportunity on grandpa's farm. That's exactly what I do and I love it. I don't know what equipment you have if any but you sure need some if you want to continue on in that type of business. As a semi-retired farmer myself, I had some equipment to start with.

Typically, I travel to a site with my pickup stocked with a generator, acetylene torch, hand tools, air compressor, chains and come-alongs (cable binders) and pulling a bumper hitch 20ft trailer and a 60 HP skidsteer. I then analyze the product (not junk ....LOL) to be taken and start by putting some smaller tin, barrels etc. on the bottom with the intent to add heavier stuff on top to hold it down. Cattle panels or gates are good for the bottom of the load OR the top as they are good for holding the load down also. Stock tanks can be filled with smaller items and put on the bottom of loads. Very important is to keep the load LEVEL as you're loading and you 'll get a lot more on that way. The skidsteer is a must as I use it to tear machinery out of windbreaks, bend or smash panels that are unruly and I've used it to rip the roofs off small grainbins and then knock them over and fold them like a tarp. If you have a tractor and loader available, that will work to a degree but will be slower.

The DOT locally frowns on the yellow straps to tie down loads as they explained to me that the jiggle of the load will cut them. I use chains exclusively and after you're loaded and drive a mile or two, stop and retighten the binders. Two or three on a 20ft load is always enough.

Seperate any copper or brass as that makes a good bonus in the end. Personally I don't spend much time with aluminum as it's always dirty (mixed with ferrous scrap) and takes too much time to process. Vehicles are a favorite as my yards take them "as is" altho I remove the cat converters, batteries and sometimes the radiators if they're copper. I stack a light vehicle on top of a heavy one.

Beware Faust.....the game is addictive. You'll LOVE IT !!! Let us know how it goes and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. There are others on this forum much wiser than myself so you're in good hands. Mr. Patriot is busy dismantling a power plant in Omaha, but he's had maybe more experience at this than I have.



This load had two stocktanks filled with residue from a burned out trailer house, the complete frame from the trailerhouse, a wagon gear, a 30 ft hay rake and part of a grain bin on top. Weighed 3.5 ton. Sold at $130 per ton.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/

I would research first on how to identify each type of metal and then look for buyers. After that cut/preparing the metals according to the buyers requirements. The only way to learn is by doing the work. Remember to take safety precautions for yourself and others that may wander into your area of work.

Yes, you can make it profitable. Hold off taking anything except stuff the is 100% iron (magnetic). Read old threads on here about how to sort and process different things. The more you break things into groups (#1 and #2 iron, aluminum, stainless steel, copper etc), the more you'll make. You'll probably wind up taking the machinery in as is, unless you sell it as used (type of machine). Just don't get in a hurry.

Send us some pics when you get started.....we love pics.

This one had too much small stuff:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/

Yes, you can haul a thrashing machine on a 16 ft car trailer :)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/

Not all loads are easy to load..............

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D550/ry%3D400/

This one was a brute and I hauled it on a VERY windy day....not smart!!!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/

if you have some heavy loads like yunkman showed you. make sure you use some transport chains and load binders to keep it safe and secure on the trailer.
better to be safe then sorry! you don't want something coming loose and hit someone and kill or hurt someone. don't be stingy with the chains better to use too many then not enough. think safety first everyone.

Yeah, I don't get a rats arse what the dot says. I run chains and straps. My dad hauled farm equitment all over the US using mostly 2 and 4" ratchet straps, and its completely legal. Chains are ok for cars or something with little give to it, but when loading these hodge podge loads with many smaller items and tin, can't ever get a chain tight enough. Plus rachet straps are much easier to tighten on down the road. Just have to avoid sharp edges as much as possible and use a protector when you cant avoid all the sharp edges, old leather gloves work good for this.

Yunkman, they don't like rachet straps but allow you to use a freaking come-a-long to sercure a load ?

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Yeah, I don't get a rats arse what the dot says. I run chains and straps.

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Up here the flatbeds were using straps to tie down their loads of steel I beams coming from the steel plant. After a few had their load slide forward and thru the sleeper of their semi, the state DOT started automatically stopping and fining the drivers for each strap on their load. One driver put tarps over his to hide the straps and a DOT caught him and impounded the load and he went to jail cause he did not want to use chains and binders.

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Yunkman, they don't like rachet straps but allow you to use a freaking come-a-long to sercure a load ?

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Yep, they don't like those pretty yellow ratchet straps. I think they automatically stop loads when they see one just to check it out for damage. Of course I was stopped recently because the DOT couldn't see my chains and thought I wasn't secured. He apologized for the stop but did find a tail light out. I love the cable binders (come-a-longs) but always have to modify them with my torch to make them better. Never did like rolling those straps up in a ball. Whatever it takes to stay out of jail I guess..............

o:)

Didn't think come a longs were rated for securing a load, but if your dot thinks its ok it must be. I've only recently started using chains but the majority of my loads get the rachet straps, only been pulled over for hanging off the ditch side 2'. I realize some things rachet straps, just like chains, aren't good to tie down with. But my dad, who's trucked for well over 40 years has NEVER been pulled over for using rachet straps, and has gone thru both NE and IND many times. Can you imagine dragging a chain accross the frame of a 60k disc to secure it ? Don't make sense to me, I generally avoid Nebraska for non sense dot regs and I'm adding Ind as well.

They use straps to secure log loads up here. The tighteners are built into the trailers. I agree. Can't imagine throwing a chain up over a load of logs. Also to secure wood (like plywood). Chains would dig in and damage the wood. I don't think a buyer would be too happy about that.

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Originally Posted by faust

Hello All,
My grandfather has recently offered to allow me to keep the proceeds if I remove all his scrap from his yard for him. The problem is... I don't know where to begin. There is a lot of unused and bent/broken metal that has accumulated over the years, such as: cattle fences and gates, cattle pens and shelters, grain silos, broken down equipment, front-end loader buckets, barrels, siding, etc. These are just a few of the things I can think of off the top of my head. I have other family members and neighbours that will likely let me take their stuff too. Does anyone have experience with farms? What should I look for? I don't know where to devote my time, because there is stuff everywhere in the yard.

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Having done this, the best advice I can give you is to start by collecting and flattening all the magnetic metal that is <1/8". This will be classified as "Tin". This gets the bulky stuff out of your way and gains you some experience. Once you get a big load, take it to the yard and see how they classify the other stuff.
My local yard also has "prepared steel" which is > than or equal to 1/8" thick and <36" long. This category pays the highest. They also have a category called "unprepared steel" which is >than or equal to 1/8" thick and any length, farm equipment fall into this category which usually pays about $30/ton less than prepared.
To maximize profit it often makes sense to cut some of the easy "prepared" metal off the farm machinery before taking in to gain the $30/ton.

Sounds like a good summer education! Be sure to stay safe and keep us posted!

Sorry for the late response. A little busy lately. Yunkman, Taterjuice, and many others have provided excellent advice. Many ideas have been borrowed from these individuals over the last two years. Many of their ideas might be repeated and maybe a few new perspectives might be added.

Ask a few of the neighbors to visit the farm to see if they could use any of the equipment or parts. In addition to selling items for more than scrap metal value, you create contacts and future clients. Start slow with sorting metal and learning about the business. Visit the scrap yard and take a tour asking lots of questions. When you have a grasp of your inventory, visit with the manager of the scrap yard and explain your situation. Do not exaggerate you inventory, but explain that you will be expanding your business. Negotiate a starting price with the explanation that you expect more when you exceed your initial figures.

Sort off non-ferrous with the idea that you will sort this during the winter and hold it until the price hits its peak. Start hauling loads and ask the manager how you could prepare your loads for his benefit in the future. He will educate you for his benefit. This strategy will provide insight and create a relationship that will pay dividends in the future.

Good luck.

old metal wheels and plows and tractor seats. all that sort of stuff sells for yard art. I have yet to have to take something like that to the yard. They sell by me anywhere from $35 up to $75. just another thought for you.