Own a machine shop? Beware of scrappers.

I got to my machine shop job a bit after 4 yesterday. My buddy, the owner was there alone all day and has the big garage doors open, which is at truck loading dock height.

He sees something out of the corner of his eye at the garage doors... there's someone standing outside, reaching up and opening up boxes that he had finished parts in waiting for the customer to pick up. So he goes over and yells, the guy hops into a car and goes. He wasn't able to get a plate number since the car was on the far side of a big dumpster.

These guys will take anything and this was a choice order of 50 10-lb machined aluminum castings. Now we'll be keeping everything well-back from the open doors, from deliveries of raw stock to parts in process. In a few weeks the AC will be on, so for now the scrap barrels of steel will be blocking most of the access from the outside.

Bob

 

Last dealer I worked at they would sneak into the back lot and try to load up as much as they could. Sometimes they would load up parts from customer cars that had to be put back together. We chased out more than one.

 

Hopefully they were trying to outrun 00 buck shot.

 

Where I live,I'm surrounded by drunks and druggies so I got a new "helper" to let me know when anyone is outside.
These are old pictures.Now he is 6 feet long from tail to nose and still growing.He is 13 months old.

 

At the dealership I worked at they built a large lean to against the back of the shop that had a locked door for this very reason. All core parts, used tires, and body parts to be scrapped went in and an employee had to come unlock it for the vendors and scrapers and sign the stuff out. It was ridiculous what these scrap hillbillys would try to steal in broad daylight...


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I've had people steal anything from pistons out of our piston barrel to used trannys outside the shop. It's getting pretty bad here. There are railroad tracks out behind out shop so all the bum's like to fill their backpacks with aluminum pistons and catch a free ride. We had to move everything inside finally.

 

I have a good friend who runs a NAPA store. The latest theft was from his stock of radiators stored in a separate 'shed' in back of the store. Before that it was batteries....and on and on. He's got a lot of security alarms, cameras etc..but they keep on comin' over to see what's available.

 

Around Newark ..they aren't hillbillies

 

The scrapers in my area are pretty cool . I let them have my scraps in trade for scrap that they find somewhere else. Or they will give me a call when they find something that I may want, then they sell it to me for scrap price. A few months ago I got a offset harrow disc plow that is from the 30's for $150 and they go for close to a grand on Craigslist. And just before that they came over with a model t engine that I traded for some swimming pool tin that was laying in the dump pile. The last one was, I gave them $300 for a bit over 100' of 3-1/2 x 1/2 thick angle iron. I started a chassis table with it.

But at my last house, the meth heads would take anything they could get their twitchy hands on. That's why when I moved here I decided just to make friends with them. So far it has paid off.

 

I have a scrap yard down the end of the street and I had a guy that would carry my scrap down there for me and split the price. One day he took a big pile of alum. and I never saw him again.

Now I fill my truck and when full, I bring it to the scrap yard to keep the pile small.

 

Tweekers!

 

So in other words you trade your stuff for shit they steal from good folks.
Sounds like your enabling these pricks! Good work.

 

I have a friend who does hauling. Has a car trailer, and a big dump box trailer for his business. I give him all my scrap and in turn if I need a car hauled I get it done cheap, or free.
I wont let a scrapper near my place. They'll just scope things out and come back while I'm sleeping.

 

^^^^ we put in a locking recycle bin, keeps the "recycler's" out, don't really want them to see what i've got on the side of the shop,(old signs, car parts,etc.) people in this area well take anything not locked down. RD

 

Here is Missouri, the latest trend is to steal cars older than 20 years. They can "legally" sell them to scrap yards without titles.

 

Sad but true, we've had equipment and metal stolen from our loading dock adjacent to the warehouse on a few occasions. It took a repeat event to figure it out. The second time we confronted a regular scrap collector and he had stuff in his truck bed... Insisted that he pulled it out of the dumpster.... We saw him wanl out of the door... F$&*ing thief...

 

Nice lookin' pup. He has a huge rotty that comes with his wife when she does office work, but not a good environment to have him walking loose around the shop. There is some traffic in and out of the office for people looking for jobs, so there he's a plus.

He truly has the evil-eye for anyone he doesn't know. He'd be on them before they knew it.

We'll just tighten things up in the back of the shop for now.

Bob

 

I wouldnt leave the barrels of steel scrap out there, they'll even take the barrels, all my metal lawn ornaments and my fire pit were stolen out of my yard, they crawled under my porch and stole all my garden tools, broke off the wooden handles and left them in the yard, they look for houses here with the electric meter locked out, then crawl under the house and steal the wire and piping, I had friends of mine who had to go to Atlanta for medical treatment, they came back, and all the wiring and plumbing was ripped out of their mobile home, and everything they owned was destroyed or vandalized, they had to abandon it and go back to live with family, with nothing, they are still trying to sell the property

 

Good idea. Make friends with the crackheads in your area.
That way they wont steal from you? REALLY?
Didja ever hear about the scorpion that needed a ride across the river?
Dont think you might not be next on a slow day.
I have an aluminium boat. Chained to the fence and no wheels on the trailer. In a good rural neighborhood. There are 4 big loud dogs in the yard and a retired, unafraid to shoot neighbor.

 

There was a small fire in a abandoned sawmill here yesterday. Firemen found one frizzled and fried copper thief still holding on to the wires.

 

This will not end well. It won't be long (if you haven't already) before you're buying stolen goods. Telling the cops "I bought it from Scrapper Joe" probably won't help you out. And you will deserve whatever happens after that.

 

We had somebody break into our business, and steal about 65 radiator cores. It sucked at the time because nobody had reproduced the radiators yet.

F'kn meth head thieves.

 

We had a scrapper(s) trying to steal a complete outdide air conditioner unit from one of our buildings. The rocket scientist turned off the disconnect switch and proceeded to cut the wires on the hot side of the switch. The next day they found a barbecued set of heavy wire cutters laying by the unit. Guess they changed their minds.

 

I run the scale at a scrap yard up here. We get all kinds of shady tweekers bringing stuff in here. I ask where they got it they say they " found it" or grandpa gave it to me. Once a week someone comes in asking if I have seen their stolen wire or pipe. Shitty.

 

Most scrappers (TWO "p's!!! A scraper is used on a gasket!) are scum of the earth. They refuse to hold an honest job, and steal from others because they are too lazy and crooked to do otherwise. Meth heads, tweekers, whatever you want to call them, deserve nothing short of a painful way to die, whether by a big-ass dog, a well-placed bullet, or electrocution. Clean the gene pool up.

 

I live way out in the country and they hit my old garage. Got several vintage radiators, a set of ET wheels and a Hudson bumper. Never found them. They are getting older cars and trucks here too because of no paper work required.


on the good side though....

Saw a truck loaded with scrap parked at a business beside my body shop. Had and old metal windmill and other rusty farm yard goodies in the back. I was walking up to see if there was anything I could buy from the guy when he drove off. Thought it was odd so I got the tag number. Next day on the crime reports on the radio..... yep...stolen antique windmill and things. Gave all the info to the investigating officer . Arrest made

 

^^^^ good work

 

Some scrap yards are part of the problem.

Scrap yards should have similar requirements as pawn shops...
Get ID of seller, and a photo of him, and a description of his wares.....

 

I know there's been plenty said but part of the problem are the ones that buy items. I was in a not so savory part of town a couple months ago hitting an old junk yard and saw hand painted plywood signs in the area saying "We buy battieries and Catalytic Converters" hmm wonder where they come from.

Saw a piece on the local new about fleet companies having trouble with thier vehicles getting battieries stolen out of them. Sad thing is the crooks will do several hundrend in damage to steal a battery that they $10 for.

 

We have a lot of regulars . If someone brings in a big load I write down their plate number truck description and we put the stuff aside and or take pictures. We cooperate with the police too.