These things crack me up. Every day, I see at least two or three more threads asking whether it's "worth your time" to break down this, that, or the other thing. And usually, the subject of breaking down XXXXX has been discussed & cussed ad infinitum in 27 other threads already.
Here's an analogy:
Bill Gates has about 441 million shares of Microsoft stock (among A LOT of other investments). Every day, shares of MSFT change value by an average of about 25 cents. So, every day, Bill's net worth changes by hundreds of millions of dollars. At that rate, it is not "worth his time" to pick up a hundred dollar bill blowing across the sidewalk as he passes by.
Now, none of us are named Bill Gates, and I think everyone reading this would definitely find it worthwhile to stoop over for a Benjamin. But some here might not pick up a quarter if they saw it. Fewer would bother with picking up a nickle. Even fewer would bend down for a penny (especially post-1982 pennies).
So, what I'm saying is, simply do the math as it applies to you, personally. What's this item worth right now?
That 2 pound motor would bring you 60 cents at my yard. If you spent 5 minutes pulling the 6 ounces of copper out, then you're left with about $1.13 worth of copper & 13 cents worth of steel... Sounds awesome, right? But you really only made 66 cents in 5 minutes. Not quite 8 bucks an hour. Not really worth it to me especially if spending that time meant I missed out on finding more scrap worth more money. But some might find that a good use of their time, especially if they really have nothing else to do, maybe they're sitting around in the evening watching TV, and want to maximize the value of what they have.
/rant
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