I scrap a lot of farm equipment. That's it. I've never done a vehicle or anything outside of Iron and Aluminum. Today I saw a 1986 Chevrolet school bus (gas engine) no seats going for around $900 OBO. (Engine runs, has drivetrain, and is basically complete minus the passanger seats). I have tried to find the GVW of this bus, or any similar bus, for over an hour and a half and cannot find out what it weighs. If anyone has a reliable resource for this information I would appreciate your help very much.

Also, I do not know the procedure for scrapping a bus. This bus runs and drives, and the seller has the clear title. I will call the scrap yard on Monday, but I have no idea if I can just drive it over the scale and leave it??? I know I will have to take equal rubber with me, etc, which is not a problem.

Basically, I need to know if anyone knows what the GVW (empty weight) of a bus like this would be (1986 Chevrolet full-size school bus with a 350 gasoline engine). The woman who is selling it is pretty old and she won't go look for the name plate because she says it is "worn" too bad. She said I can come look if I want, but I don't want to drive 50 miles to check the GVW if it's not worth it.



Up for critique is my preliminary plan: Check the scrap yard requirements. Go see the bus. Purchase the bus for as little as possible (maybe $500-700?). Put "Farm Use" tags on the bus and drive it 30 miles to the scrap yard (I will bring my diesel pickup in case the bus breaks down, so that I can just drag it off the side of the road or the rest of the way to the yard). Drive the bus over the scale. Get paid.

The goal is to make a gross profit of at least $400 to cover diesel fuel for my truck, gasoline for the bus (probably $75?), and to pay my brother $100 for coming along for the ride. I would like to make a couple hundred bucks, otherwise I don't think it would be worth the stress. But I do thrive on stuff like this. Hahaha.

If you forsee any problems with this plan please let me know. Your advice is appreciated. I searched the forum for "School Bus" and got nothing good. Like I said, I know most of what there is to know about scrapping old junk equipment, but this stuff is a new dance for me. Thanks.


And were it to break down, is it illegal to drag a school bus down the road with a chain and a pickup truck? Do you think the steering and brakes would work?