It's best to check with the yard as to what they consider prepared.

The yard I most often used to go to pays prepared price for 2 feet or less in length. The yard I most often go to now pays prepared for four feet or less. (We're talking what the one yard calls "#2" and the other yard calls "heavy melt".)

The first yard used to pay prepared for four feet and under. I showed up with a load one day, and the crane operator asked if it was shorter than three feet. I said no it was all less than four feet. He said it was unprepared. I asked the boss then, and he said it had to be two feet or less. He pointed to his machine with the shear on it and said he can make it prepared really easy.

Well, you know what? I get lots of stuff that's already less than four feet, but might be longer than two feet. Why should I take a hit on the price just because he can shear it smaller? (Price difference is $1 per hundred.) That's one reason I don't go there very often now.