Does anyone have experience with selling scrap metal? I've got a decent pile of metal from parts vehicles that I'd really like to get rid of. I've got a cab, bed, fenders and other random stuff. All of it's dinged up and partially rusted so it's no good for a vehicle. How exactly do the scrap yards work, never been to one before? Do I just load up a trailer and roll on down there?
Will they take a partially rusted bed/cab? How much can I make? Not looking to make money as much as I just want it gone but it would be nice to pay for gas to get down there.

Thanks

 

Load it all up on a trailer or in your truck bed. Go to the scrap yard and they will put you on the scales. After you are unloaded you will be scaled again. You get paid based on the weight difference. When you are on your way check out any body shops and mechanics for scrap they need to get rid of. Old wheels (without tires) are good scrap.

 

Around here there are a bunch of scrap buyers and they are all either ferrous or non-ferrous. If all you have is steel and iron, you go to the ferrous yard. Aluminum, copper, lead and brass go to the non-ferrous. Make sure you sort everything - ferrous is bought by the ton, non-ferrous by the pound.

Be careful where you go - some scrap dealers around here are quite unscrupulous and will screw you in a second. Make sure they have a certified scale, know the per ton (or pound) price before you unload and if they tell you that they can't pay you for something but they will get rid of it for you, they are screwing you.

 

Steel is different from light iron just remember that.

The pay from least to greatest is:

Light iron
unprepared steel
prepared steel (4' or less in length)

The way I've been taught to tell the difference between light iron and steel is if you can hit it with a hammer and put a good dent in it then you've got light iron. If not it's steel chop it into 4' or less you get paid far more.

We had a LOT of scrap steel laying around our company yard a couple years ago. I was told if I cut it and hauled it off it was mine. That was a good part of how I paid for my PSD. That was back before steel prices tanked though.

 

might need to show proof it is yours and not stolen...

back when scrap prices where high, and everyone was steeling copper wiring and catylic converters and anything else they could toss in their cars or trucks with out being to suspisious... i think some states started requiring a proof of ownership... or atleast the scrap yards did cause they got tired of having stolen property being brought in...

so make sure you got a title or bill of sale for the car parts and such...

 

You can call around for prices. If you just want it out of the way there's usually guys that will come pick it up for free.

 

There's no VIN on the cab or bed so there's no way to really prove it's mine. I have a title to my truck and the parts truck it came from but no way to prove it's the same one. It's all smashed and rusted, pretty obvious I didn't just unbolt it from someone's truck on the way over.

Also what's a ball park for prices, I'd say I have about 1000#s of scrap steel(bed, cab, panels) and a bare engine block so I'd say that's about 300#s of iron.

Scrap yards a little ways away so I want to know if it'll cover gas. Pretty much am I looking closer to $10 or $100.

 

WA requires a driver's license and you have to sign an affidavit that you own the material. Cars need to have a title, if the parts obviously came from the truck you are currently driving, then they might be ok just seeing the title for your truck.
If it's over something like $60, they have to mail you a check. Call ahead, when I was leaving WA last year I got paid $0 for my last scrap run. It sucked, because it was about 4200lbs. But that was also Navy City scrap in Bremerton, they were known for ripping people off.

 

Alright well I'll give some places a call and check on prices. Any recommendations for scrap places around Seattle, Tacoma or Bremerton? Or at least any places to avoid. It's gonna cost me like $30 to take a trailer on the ferry so I don't wanna end up getting shafted by the scrap guy.

 

I do odd jobs with my pickup... Sometimes people buy a used washer and dryer, and they don't have a truck so they ask me to pick it up for them. If they have old ones they want to get rid of, I'll charge them $20 a piece "dumping fees".

Place up the street from here gives me about $10-15 for a dryer, little more for a washer, girl in the office says it's about $.05/pound for whatever washer and dryers are made of.

 

I know around here nobody will junk complete cars unless you have the title...not sure about a bare cab though?

Someone stole a set of aluminum wheels from me about 2 years ago when scrap prices were high. They were some old oem wheels from my Mustang and had semi-decent tires on them, and the douche probably got $30 each for them. Still pisses me off big time that the guy had the ***** to go onto our property when nobody was there and steal them, along with a couple other small things.

But, my brother knew who the guy was (he had been up there poking around earlier), went to his house and told him if he found him snooping around on our property again, it would not come out well for him.

 

I doubt Navy City in Bremerton is paying, if they are even in business anymore.
Simon & Sons is a decent place for raw scrap, but I don't know how they treat vehicles. I used to take stainless scrap there about 1500lbs at a time, but that was processed scrap and also a little over a year ago.
For that sort of stuff, you might be best off just having someone come and remove it. Lots of people advertise free scrap removal on Craigslist.

 

around here scrap runs just over 100 bucks a ton in the denver area, a little more for complete vehicles. parts like fenders and such they don't worry about, if you bring in a car without a title they just write up a bill of sale

I practically payed for a semester of college with catalytic converters, nobody likes em. that was right when prices went up and before everybody was stealing them though.

 

around here if the Vin # is present you need a title for them to take it. Also if you just pile evrything onto a trailer you'll be lucky to get $50.00 a ton. They prefer the scrap to be seperated, cast seperate from steel, ss, copper,aluminum, brass, all seperated out. Pian but you get a good boost in the price that way.

 

i scrapped alot of metal to pay bills over the years
there's some crooked dealers out there so shop around
steel and iron are pretty worth-less they used to cover the fuel to get to the scrap yard.
last time i scrapped iron i got a penny and a half a pound.
copper brings big bucks
brass is decent
aluminum is middle road but doesn't weigh much.
stainless steel was about 20 cents a pound last time i scrapped it.
make sure it's as clean as you can get it.
ie remove insulation from wire if possible.
get all the steel fasteners dowels screws bolts etc out of the aluminum
call ahead for pricing.
dont mix metals