Got to love scrappers!!!

[Neverdone]

Had to laugh the other night!!

So I picked up a new play toy the other day, a POS bike. It had been sitting for several years and was full of sour gas. I can't hardly stand that smell so I beat the tank out of it, cut off the filler neck (not sure why), and through the rest out for the trash man. Put it in my trash can and wheeled it to the curb.

Not 10 minutes later almost right after I went inside some guy (must have been watching me throw it out) came walking up took the tank out of my trash can and walked away with it!!

Made me laugh!!! The smell alone wasn't worth the 50 cents you would get for scrapping that!!

 

[Sam_Fear]

I watched three people almost get in a fight over a aluminum screen door - a couple in their 60's and a bum on a bike in his 30's. She kept screaming "This is our territory!" and threatening the bike guy with one of those 'pick up trash sticks' with the nail on the end. Crazy! After about 10 minutes, the husband got the door out while the wife kept the bum away.

I don't leave anything metal outside my open garage door even when I'm right there - a scrapper might try to walk off with it. They won't cross into the garage, but if it's passed the line, some would see it as fair game.

My garage opens right on the alleyway.

 

[donsrods]

Scrappers are relentless, but I see why, with the high prices scrap is bringing. I took a couple of old heads, a crank, and a couple more pieces of steel to the yard near our shop and got $ 57 bucks. Makes me want to drive around finding stuff, but the days of people just giving steel away are long gone.

Don

 

[phitter67]

There's a truck here in town with big letters in the back window, "WILL HAUL AWAY STEEL FOR FREE'. Was down at the scrap yard last fall, and a guy came in with a pickup load of propane tanks. The owner was trying to explain that they would have to be cut in half before he would take them. The guy had that deer in the headlights look.

 

[earthman]

Lost a transmission that was next to the garage door recently. When i first moved to Az in '79 there were junk cars littering the desert around the city and it wasn't unusual to see piles of angle iron and pipe. Not anymore.

 

[Cyanide Jello]

Really wish I could put my junk in my shed. I have wheels, springs, exhausts, sheet metal, body parts, etc. just laying around outside. Scrapper would have a hay-day here...

 

[super56]

Yea, with times being tough and all... I took out an old rusty fence that was in the yard, took it to the scrapyard and they gave me $6.60 for it[cl It was only like 8 foot long and 3 or 4 foot high, easy money! While I was there I did ask about cars being scraped and he said that they dont "scrap" them right away. I gave him my # and he said he would call if he got anything[P.

 

[Neverdone]

Yea around here you can't let anything sit, it is gone in seconds. Two days ago a neighbor pushed an old lawnmower to the curb. By the time he walked ten feet from it a truck had already stopped two guys got out and were throwing it in the back of a truck.

 

[BigIrish]

I'm not sure if they are scrappers, but anything I put out by the curb is gone in 1/2 day no matter what it is. It is mostly south-of-the-border types, but they will take absolutely anything (dirty rug, broken lamp, etc)

When I bought my house it still had the 70's antenna on the roof. I took it down, wadded it up and threw it on the curb. Poof!! it was gone. Maybe 50 cents worth of aluminum? [S

It's like a free trash service, saves me alot of runs to the dump!

 

[Neverdone]

Wonder if they have resorted to turning in soups cans as scrap steel yet?

 

[Tim...Ok]

its crazy what stuff brings now..we scrapped an old rusted solid "fence row" john deere square hay baler about a month ago..brought $375

 

[donsrods]

We have a local guy here that I have seen for the past 20 odd years, riding his bicycle with huge garbage bags filled with aluminum cans and pieces. He is slightly mentally challenged, but is the hardest working man I have ever seen in my life. You will see him at 2am and also at noon and 6 am, he must work 15 hour days.

His territory is huge, I see him sometimes 15 miles from where I saw him the last time, always with those bags and sometimes with long pieces of gutter and stuff like that strapped to the bike. He must have a regular route he works every day, and I see him 7 days a week.

A girl I worked with had one of those storage units and she said he had one near her. One time he opened his door up while she was at hers and she said that 10 x 20 unit was overflowing with aluminum cans and other stuff made of aluminum. My Son's GF worked at a bank and he has his accounts there. One day he came in and made a deposit and she said he has 5 accounts with over $ 100,000.00 in them !

Just goes to show that not everyone like him is looking for a handout and is not willing to find ways to make money. I really respect that guy, but it is sort of sad at the same time. He is really dirty and I think he sleeps on benches and places like that. He will probably die having a million dollars in the bank, yet end up living like a homeless person.

Don

 

[maverickmk]

As I was reading your story I was thinking that he probably has more money than the average person, then I read further down and saw the comment about the bank accounts. That is sad if he is working hard making some good money and homeless. He probably doesn't know any other way to live. My wife teaches children with special needs and some of them can get so focused on one thing that everything can literally fall down around them and they won't notice it. A lot of these kids are very intelligent they just have some very quirky personalities.

 

[goose-em]

Yep, cleaned out my shop and hauled off a minor amount of scrap steel. Almost didn't take it to the recycler and thought about throwing it in my neighbours scrap bin because I thought it wasn't worth much.

Took it in anyway and left with $97 was suprised to say the least.

I have an old guy that stops by our aluminum shop once in awhile. He offers a "free" service hauling off our scrap.

Free I say? How much do you pay me for the scrap? He says. "no, I haul it for free to get it out of your way but I keep the money."

Funny I say but he keeps trying.

 

[donsrods]

As I was reading your story I was thinking that he probably has more money than the average person, then I read further down and saw the comment about the bank accounts. That is sad if he is working hard making some good money and homeless. He probably doesn't know any other way to live. My wife teaches children with special needs and some of them can get so focused on one thing that everything can literally fall down around them and they won't notice it. A lot of these kids are very intelligent they just have some very quirky personalities.

I think that is what is going on with the guy I mentioned. I have walked into McDonalds and he is standing there eating and never makes any eye contact with anyone. He just quietly goes about his business and stays to himself. I hear the local police just let him nap on benches as he isn't really hurting anyone and is self supporting.

Must be a story there somewhere.

Don

 

[Sam_Fear]

Wonder if they have resorted to turning in soups cans as scrap steel yet?

My nutty neighbor was collecting those a couple years ago. Big pile in his back yard - like 4' tall. His girlfriend was sick of it too, so one day he was gone, I waved down a scrapper and told him to talk to the neighbor lady. They used shovels and a wheelbarrow to fill up their truck.

 

[goose-em]

I think he has inspired me to buy a bike

 

[izzy]

when my wife and I lived in Grand Rapids Michigan I had a lawn mower that just gave my fits trying to start. I got mad and threw it to the curb, it sat there for three days. but if my neighbor put a three legged chair out it was gone in 2 minutes.

 

[brchopper]

I love scrapping !

before metal was worth anything it was a lot more fun. stripping down someones junk truck. getting out the torch, cutting out the wires and setting aside the parts I wanted to keep, then hauling a overloaded beatup ford to the scales to get a little cash. beer money and a tank full of gas. well, times have changed, no one wants to give away any metal but for some reason they will still throw it away. yep, I pull steel out of the dumpsters and I ll stop along the road for a muffler - but its not really for the money , its more like a hobby for me. Heres a story that I ve got no reason to tell . I had just moved to town , didnt know anyone. Down the streat a guy scrapped steal. we had something in common, maybe I can make a friend. well , I helped him pick up steel , he helped me ,we did some trading.off to a good start, then one day he needed a chain so I loaned him mine.No big deal than a weak later I had a car to pick up and needed my chain. went to his house, knocked on the door and no one answered. so I got in his truck and got my chain. the dude came out of the house yelling that I was in his truck. I yelled back that I was just getting my chain. than we both just started verbally attacking each other getting rid of all our stored up hate from years gone by. we never talked after that day and when we run into each other the hate is still there. we didnt even know each other enough to get that mad and it was just a chain?looking back I mite of been getting into his territory. oh well , so anymore I keep my scrapping to myself.

 

[BigIrish]

I think that is what is going on with the guy I mentioned. I have walked into McDonalds and he is standing there eating and never makes any eye contact with anyone. He just quietly goes about his business and stays to himself. I hear the local police just let him nap on benches as he isn't really hurting anyone and is self supporting.

Must be a story there somewhere.

Don

There's a couple of fellas around like this that I see alot. One is an older guy that pedals a trike towing a hand-dolly loaded down with all sorts of cans & whatnot. The dolly is so shot that one of the wheels is a lawnmower wheel that he has attached to the dolly with blocks of wood.

I have a couple of extra dolly wheels in my garage and I really want to flag him down and hook him up. He seems quite mentally challenged though, so I'm afraid to disturb him.

Another guy is always riding through my area, again obviously challenged, but is happy as a clam, always smiles and waves. I see others ignore him as he rides by and waves. I don't understand that and it kind of upsets me. You can see he looks dejected when others don't wave back. A tiny bit of kindness goes a long way to someone like that.