My Motherload

Since December, I've been waiting on a call to come clean out a computer shop that had shut down when the owner died. He was running it out of his house, and supposedly there was a lot of stuff there, especially older computers.
I got the O.K. to come today, when the guy's daughter was going to be there.
I got there at around 11 a.m. with my father to pick up load #1. Outside, there was about 2 pickup loads of misc electronics all in a nice pile. This included all the common stuff like TVs, VCRs and stuff, plus about 10 computers all in different stages of completion. I ask the lady what she wanted for the pile, and she said I could have it for free! According to her, she wants it gone and wants to make great deals on everything to get rid of it. So, of course I take it and start loading it.
Then I actually get inside the house. Wow. It's packed floor to ceiling with electronic and computer stuff. I went and dropped off the first half of the electronics before buying anything else and called a friend with a truck and trailer. My dad went to take care of something, so that left me and the friend to get the rest of the stuff.
We get back and load up the rest of the stuff in the first pile, then start buying stuff in the house. In the first room, I immediately buy a few stacks of stereos and VHS players for $10. Then I buy another 5 computers and a few printers for $10. She gave me a few TVs for free, plus included a few boxes of motherboards and PCI cards with a few other things I bought. I bought quite a few laptops and tons and tons of cords. I pay about $55 for the first load before leaving to drop it off.
I got back and continue buying even more stuff. I got more laptops, a garbage can worth of cords and stuff, boxes and boxes of boards, about 30 hard drives, about 50 CD drives, and even more computers. I got a few 386 and 486 computers, quite a bit of vintage stuff, and a massive server. I paid $86 for all of that and left by the time it was dark.
I unloaded all of that, which took up about half of my storage garage. I still have to go back and get the rest, which is probably 3 times as much as I got today. I barely mad a dent in the two rooms I could get into today, and there's still a third room which has so much of who-knows-what in it that I can't even get in. Supposedly, no one's been in there in 20 years. I can't wait to see what kind of computers are in there
Most of the computers I got today are all older, with hopefully lots of gold. Sorry I don't have any pics yet. I was so busy loading and unloading today that I didn't have any time to take any, but they're coming. I'll let you all know how it goes when I buy the rest of the stuff

congrats on your find looks like you will be plenty busy

Dang man that is a sweet score i hope i can get something like that someday!

I would not be able to sleep tonight. Keep us posted.

Thanks guys. I already have 2 garbage cans full of just loose cords. They probably weigh about 100 lbs each

Wow, that's an excellent find. How did you get a hold of her initially?

+1 for hoarders, lol. By the sound of the quantity wouldn't it have been easier just to make her one solid offer on everything, instead of going piece by piece?

happy for you Scrap man !! That sounds like something I've dreamed about ! But if you can type you must be awake !! Can't wait to see pics.

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Originally Posted by Backwell

Wow, that's an excellent find. How did you get a hold of her initially?

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She actually posted on the CL forums about recycling some older computers back in August. I emailed her in December to see if she had a buyer yet. She wanted to wait till spring, and she emailed me earlier this week about picking it up

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Originally Posted by Gnraxlrose88

+1 for hoarders, lol. By the sound of the quantity wouldn't it have been easier just to make her one solid offer on everything, instead of going piece by piece?

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I bought it in piles and stacks instead of piece by piece. She wanted to go through it and find tools and stuff, plus I wanted to see what was inside of all of the boxes before I offered anything

Here's a few pics:
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...6/abdcf45a.jpg
This is my pile of cords with the garbage can next for size reference

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...6/da546440.jpg
http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...6/fdd36843.jpg

These are of the first full load I removed. The truck is full of the pile of electronics and the trailer is a mix of boxes and electronics

I had a picture of everything stacked up in the garage, but it was hard to see anything, so I'll try to get a better one of it.

I forgot to mention that I got at least 5 386 and 486 computers (the ones with gold $70/lb CPUs) plus 2 loose 386 CPUs.

what an excellent find. thanks for sharing.

i could have added a lot of TV's to my collection!

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Originally Posted by TrashPickingAusKid2

i could have added a lot of TV's to my collection!

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There aren't really a whole lot of old ones. They're mostly normal CRTs

i collect old CRT's

I got my third and fourth load today.

The day started out crappy. I woke up feeling like crap and still drowsy from the NyQuil I took last night. I ate breakfast and headed over to my storage garage at about 8:30. I organized my massive pile of wire the best I could and shifted some other stuff around. At 10:30, my friend got there with a truck and trailer and we left.

I got there and started doing my thing. I cleaned out the back room for $20, and got a big pile of computers and other stuff from the front room for another $25. That took care of load #3. I unloaded that, stopped at mcdonalds for lunch, and got back at about 3:30.

Load #4 was the first load from the side room. This room was packed floor to almost ceiling with mostly computers and monitors. My partner and I started pulling stuff out and making offers on whatever we could fit in the front room. I was going for mostly bulky stuff like computers and monitors because it was getting late and I wanted to fill the truck fast and leave. I paid about $55 for the 4th load and got it unloaded buy about 7:00.

My total investment so far is about $260 for buying everything and other expenses. My total profit so far is about $20 which was from some steel stuff that I mixed in with another load.

The pile of stuff I have in the garage is probably about 20' long, 10' wide, and 3-5' tall so far. I'm starting to run out of room lol

The goodies I found today include a decent desktop in the box that another friend of mine wanted, a few LCD monitors, a (probably) working laptop I'm keeping for myself, a few more gold CPUs, and a digital postal scale. I've been looking for a good scale for awhile, and that made my day.

This is a call to all computer experts:

I have quite a few older computers and parts that I think may be worth more than scrap. I need advice on these. If you think you're an expert, either PM me or post here. I'd like to have at least a few people to ask.

I'm not an expert but for what you've paid so far and by looking at the few pic's you probably have about $600.-800 worth right now. Just in scrap value.

Here's a picture of some of the CPUs I've pulled out so far:

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...6/163e80f2.jpg

The big pile of similar sized CPUs are all 486s and the 2 in the middle are Cyrix 686 gold sided CPUs. Half of the 486s plus a 1/4lb of RAM came out of a small box of stuff I went through. I think I was quoted at $70/lb for them from Easy awhile ago.

Edit: 2 of the flatscreen monitors I found are in need of repair. I have yet to test the third one.

not to step on toes but @70/lb for 486 cpu's you may consider looking at other buyers price quotes, those prices plus shipping to TX is cutting yourself short i know easy's prices are competitive on most items just look around he would not have so much support if they were not, but there are better prices out there for some items.


just a thought take it or leave it. NICE Score BTW!!!!!!!

try listing some of the older ones make and model numbers, maybe it'll be easier those who know to point em out. After you've tested and torn down enough of em, it gets fairly easy to know by looking which ones belong in a museum. When I was in TN i went through truckloads of them, mostly old gov't surplus, and kept what parts I figured were worth keeping. Once considered attending classes at ITT and was being shown around the campus, and one place they had a long row of cases loaded with what they considered important computer items from the past and couldn't help thinking hek, I've got better stuff than this in my closet

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Originally Posted by ilovejunk

not to step on toes but @70/lb for 486 cpu's you may consider looking at other buyers price quotes, those prices plus shipping to TX is cutting yourself short i know easy's prices are competitive on most items just look around he would not have so much support if they were not, but there are better prices out there for some items.


just a thought take it or leave it. NICE Score BTW!!!!!!!

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I was going to get some other quotes, I was just throwing some numbers out there.

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Originally Posted by Bear

try listing some of the older ones make and model numbers, maybe it'll be easier those who know to point em out. After you've tested and torn down enough of em, it gets fairly easy to know by looking which ones belong in a museum. When I was in TN i went through truckloads of them, mostly old gov't surplus, and kept what parts I figured were worth keeping. Once considered attending classes at ITT and was being shown around the campus, and one place they had a long row of cases loaded with what they considered important computer items from the past and couldn't help thinking hek, I've got better stuff than this in my closet

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I know, I've been checking every part before I scrap it. I've already found quite a few things, including some older Apple parts

one add in card i once had was some type of a "translator" wasn't sure what it was but listed it on ebay. I got one email question "does it work?" was all it said. I replied it was most likely replaced due to a system upgrade than due to unit failure. The single card sold for almost $300, and they (a company in canada) were very happy to got it
Those early Apple branded scsi hard drives bring a nice sum too, the 1 and 2 GB ones included

be nice to list some of those part numbers on a web page, treat it like an old coin collection, no telling how many of them would sell farrr above scrap value

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Originally Posted by Bear

be nice to list some of those part numbers on a web page, treat it like an old coin collection, no telling how many of them would sell farrr above scrap value

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I'll start with one I have right here.

It's a Packard Bell Multimedia S606. Model Number A940-TWR (I think thats the model #). I really don't want to screw around taking it apart, but it appears to be complete. I'm pretty sure it works judging by it's proximity to other valuable working machines. If anyone knows anything about it, feel free to let me know

plug it up, see if it boots, watch the boot screen, see what's in it, Ram, cpu mhz, hdd size, i'd think the lower those numbers are the better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B1C55tYOr8
http://www.motherboards.org/forums/v...ac93723dc21cf3
http://www.partstore.com/Model/Sumit...Bell/S606.aspx (memory and PS "no longer available" ; )
might be worth listing on ebay, even 25 or 30 bucks beat scrappin it?
the pcworld write-up was 98ish

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I saw a few similar ones go on eBay for up to $200. Even getting $100 off it if it works would be nice.

i didn't get any ebay results for packard bell s606, past or present, that could mean you're the only one in the whole wide world with one for sale, it could also mean nobody else wants one :D if you start at 24.99 (is there still a fee line there?) and it sells, at least you'll get that much. Does it still have the hdd and an os on it?

you can get a domain name for $10 a year, and hosting for $5-$10 per month, build you a site posting those parts numbers and set a price, google the part numbers to get an idea what to set it at. You can find merchant accounts that let you take CC purchases for a percentage but I've never used one of them, actually you can use paypal on it too

Ok, I'll have to look into that. Thanks

Scrap Man, do you break them down and get the gold off yourself? Or do you just sell the pieces to someone else?

I sell the pieces to someone else. From what I hear, it isn't profitable to refine it unless you have a few tons of stuff and know what you're doing.

Just an update,

I finally picked up the last load a few weeks ago. In all, think I took out about 10 truckloads plus 8 trailer loads. I've got a majority of it broken down, and I'm getting ready to ship out an entire pallet within the next week or so. The massive pile I had in the middle of my garage is gone, and is now a series of smaller piles scattered around. I've been selling a few parts here and there, and still have a lot more to go, including my massive pile of Apple stuff. You guys wouldn't believe my box of processors. I must have found at least 20 486 CPUs, as well as other assorted gold caps. Just thought I'd give you guys an update on how everything went.

I can only dream of a score like that! Great job!

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Originally Posted by Scrapcrazy

I can only dream of a score like that! Great job!

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Every dog has his day, I'm sure something will come along for you eventually