CurlyGeorge Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 This was a first!! I went to a scrap yard, General Steel, in Mattoon, ILL, the other day. I was looking for the anvil for my tire hammer that I am going to make. When I explained to the lady in the office what I was looking for, she said that I couldn't go out to the yard to look for it. "The company doesn't allow that". OK, so I figure it's a liability thing. So I asked her to let me talk with one of the guys from the yard and let them know what I'm looking for to see if they knew if they had anything like that. She said it wouldn't do me any good, because the corporation that owns them won't allow them to sell scrap to the public. HUH??!!!! Anybody else ever heard of a scrap yard that won't sell scrap?:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cckemm Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Yes we have one like that here, what goes in, never comes back out. Is a shame sometimes to see what is in the piles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Ohio is like that, been that way about a year. Apparently there were some class action lawsuits about injuries of some kind. I haven't found out the whole story yet, but it sucks. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Between liability and single buyer contracts there are fewer and fewer scrap yards that'll sell to the individual every day. Really, REALLY sucks! Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Its also economy of scale. They don't want to continually fiddle around with single buyers where their bulk buyers pay them for the scrap in one go and clean up the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 What happened to the good old days when a guy could go to the dump or scrap yard rumage around, find a few treasures, buy them and be on there way, like a kid with a new toy.... I thought it was a Cali thing... but I guess its country wide now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Same way here in SW Washington No one is allowed to take anything out of the yard. Drop and go - no hanging about or trying to finagle a deal. Makes you long for those good ol' days . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedwards Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 They don't want folks wandering around the scrapyard here either but the only one in town is also a steel retailer. Sometimes they will let me rummage through their drop bins and discarded metal bundling straps in the cutting shop. The other steel retailer in town lets me do this too. Try to find the people/businesses who sell scrap to them - auto repair shops, front end shops, construction and industrial equipment repair shops and so on. They won't all talk to you but there are a number who will. I've offered to pay what the scrap yard would pay but if you get to know the people they will often just give it to you. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Same here but some of the U-Pull it places have scrap that you can buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Only one place left in Memphis where you can buy off the lot. They are getting really xxxxx about letting you in now. It was really sad when Lazarov Brothers shut down. They had mountains, literally of scrap from the Millington Naval air Station. I remember being able to buy the fuselage from F4 Phantom jets that were discarded there. Tons of military hardware and really beautiful alloys,Titanium, aluminum and stainless, S7 and loads of D2 made for wonderful tool stock. Sniffle Sniffle :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 (edited) You have to find the little guys. All the big yards here sell truckloads or more only. Lots of little yards around though. Be friendly and considerate. Toss a little extra dough around now and then (what the cajuns call "lagniappe"). One local smallyard only buys non-ferrous but they let their customers drop off iron for pickup by one of the BIGYARDS and they let me pull what I want for a donation to a jar they keep for a former worker with health problems. Sometimes I throw in a little extra that may, or may not, make it into the jar. I needed a piece of 2 1/2" pipe for a jig yesterday and Lowes has nothing that large but this little yard had it and also picked up about 15 old mower blades for a $10 donation. OHhh yeah a couple of springs too. Edited September 18, 2009 by bigfootnampa OHhh yeah added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Welcome to my world. Living in the shadow of DC, I've never yet found a scrap yard that'll sell to me as an individual. Even getting into the yard is a total no-go. As far as I can tell they generally forward the stuff up the chain to single buyers, which I assume either stick the scrap on rail cars and ship it to U.S. steel mills for remelting, or put it in containers and ship it to China for the same purpose. I can still go to an auto junkyard and buy parts at used part prices, but that doesn't usually work out to be a great deal. Of course it all makes perfect economic sense, but it still sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 The killer, George, is that General used to do that. I bought some sheet aluminum from them just a year or so ago. I guess times are changing. I wonder if the salvage yard I used to go to for car parts still does the find it yourself and take it off cheap deals... Kendrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chyancarrek Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Only one place left in Memphis where you can buy off the lot. They are getting really pissy about letting you in now. It was really sad when Lazarov Brothers shut down. They had mountains, literally of scrap from the Millington Naval air Station. I feel your pain John! We had a similar place called Koppes here in Clark County Washington. Nothing military but the full spectrum from odds & ends to huge industrial dismantles - bring in a cup o' Starbucks or a dozen donuts for the yard workers and they'd let you spend all day picking through. They sold out to the big scrapper in town and now all you can do is look over the fence wistfully . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hi. I "feel your pain". Not kidding; I really do. The largest scrap dealers around here do not sell to the public. They just buy from the public. There is one small operation in one of the seedy areas of town (you would not visit that place for any other reason). The manager will say with a smile that the place is blacksmith friendly. They have a very small scrap pile that only has choice pieces in it Any anvil that finds its way there gets tucked into a corner and the master smith retrieves it on his regular run. Torch cuts are free, and they don't hassle you about being picky with stock size and quantity. But, if you want scrap at a rock bottom price, the best deal is from a small fab shop, especially one that is going out of business. The rate they get from the scrap yards is pretty low, and they will give you a deal. There are a few blacksmith friendly ones around, and they will introduce you to others that are as well. They also like to chat and eat donuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 this what i do i find the guys who bring the stuff in also watch for the guys picking up metal out of garbage and from repair shops those guys are selling to those big guys and tell them what you are looking for and that way you can bypass the scrap yards i think the scrape yards are paying around $4 hundred so if you top that price they will sell it to you and keep an eye out for things you need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifter Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Once Alters moved in the friendly moved out. They have bought out all but one yard in the area. They don't even sell retail steel to the public anymore. What a shame. Drifter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttt Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I guess I am lucky here. I live in Bremerton. We have a ship yard here. They scrap old ships and submarines. There is also a scrap yard that is really close that gets truck loads of scrap from the ship yard. There is always tons of cable and huge pieces of high grade steel available. They let you walk around and look all day, as long as you stay out of the loaders way. I have gone there enough that they know me now. I can go in and trade stuff I can't use for pieces of scrap that I can use. Really nice place people friendly. Mutt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yance Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 We count ourselves lucky here in Western North Carolina. Biltmore Iron and Metal still lets us scrounge the whole yard, (stay clear of the "claw") and retails all "metal" @15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I have purchased scrap from a Vegas yard. We needed some thick plate to perforate with some .50 APIT rounds out of an M2HB for a demo. 15 cents a pound wasn't too bad. They let us wander around the big yard, and told us to just stay clear of the equipment. When we found what we wanted all we had to do was hail a magnet driver who would retrieve the material for us. I dropped some stuff off at a smaller yard that had some neat airplane parts. I didn't have a chance to ask about buying. Unfortunately I got to see a large Simplex jack being dropped into a container-----gone forever Where I work now there is a large steel fabrication company down the road. Drove by there and saw what was in their dumpster. BIG I-beams, and channel. Some appeared to be around 12" or better. May have to go back when they are open to see what else they have. Scrap here pays $70 a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Hey Kendrick. I found a small yard down your way. Go north on Rte 45 just a little past the Mid America Motors, (the Corvette rebuilder), and he's on the east side of the road. His name is Dale Thornton. Nice guy. Let me look around and even wrote down what I am looking for. Gonna call me if he gets any of that size in. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I never heard of such a thing, for once NJ isn't the screwed up one, there are a lot of junkyards in this area and I have never heard of anyone being told they wouldn't sell them steel or any kind of junk or scrap for that matter. For a scrapyard, selling to an individual is where they make their most $$, if a guy walks in and wants to buy a couple pieces of angle iron or sqaure stock or whatever, you can sell it buy the piece and make $10,$20,$30 or whatever, but if that steel would have went into a container and got shiped out then they would have only made a few cents on it, it's common sense. I'll never understand where some people come up with their new ways of doing business, so many of them are triping over a dollar to get to a dime, it's rediculous, and forget good business and common courtesy.....sad.....it really is. welder19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Probably has more to do with possible litigation worries than anything. Too many sue happy people nowadays, and corporations asking "What if?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 welder i guess you and i are lucky to live here for this reason anyway crammers is now making you sign a wavier but tommy still takes good care of me for what ever i want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midwest mike Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 best way i found to get the scrap i need is to talk to the scrappers who bring the scrap steel in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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