Scrap prices are up, and i'm depressed

we try to hold as long as possible but when '64 valiant (drove in) worth more in scrap than can sell on craigslist for, something has to go.

 

my brother is a scrapper. He had a early 40s chevy dump truck i said i would give hime 300 for cab. Next think i know he scrapped it cause he said he had no time to take it off. Guess what he got for truck. 250 that was when scrap was down. I am annoyed at scrappers to. Also farm auctions i get my stuff at, you end up with about 4 more people bidding against you when scrap is up.

 

Put your money where your mouth is if you want to save it, go buy it before they do, or give them more than scrap, Don't just offer, wave the money at them. We did that a few years ago and saved about 50 out of 1000 cars. Still saw stuff scrapped that would make you sick, but after a while just couldn't sell anything fast enough. Advertised stuff here and got mostly shit from people, so after a while I said fuck it, if people want to be assholes, let it get scrapped and watch them complain when they can't find the things I could have had six of the year before.


I have a '58 Imperial carcass I'd sell cheap and a '66 Ford crew-cab that's basically just a cab donor, but would be cheap to build and I will probably scrap both of them as soon as it's dry enough to move them to where I can cut a few things off before they go. I'll get more than any "slick 60's" guy will pay for the truck, over the scales, they were telling me it wasn't worth what it will bring for scrap when scrap was down. Cheap bastards, it's not like I want a fortune for it.

 

A friend of mine was bragging about his gold investment that has increased in value 4 fold in the last two decades. Commodities of all sorts have gone up in price. I had to remind him that ALL metals have risen and that gold has raised the LEAST. Scrap iron and steel has raised ten fold in the same time frame.
We are experiencing a precursor to inflation folks, for those of us that remember the 70’s you know what I’m talking about. Consumers better get used to paying more for less.

 

When I want to buy... it's rare, and almost impossible to find

when I want to sell... it's an orphan that almost nobody wants.

I've got a whole ration of shit more than one time for scrapping parts that people "needed". Of course, they hadn't "needed" 'em when I'd been trying to sell them weeks earlier.

Anybody want a flathead MoPar... better get in gear; scrap was up to twelve cents a pound, and with the trans on it... it's going to make the next trip. Been on ad for half a year here; price is now probably less than scrap value.

-Bill

 

'Not allowed'. Gee, where did that rule come from? Uncle Scam?

 

I love the folks who like to run down the Unions for "killing" the smelters and mills. Have you even been in a smelter or a mill? I spent a decade working in an aluminum smelter, and buddy, I wouldn't walk through the gate on a non-union job. Until you've stood face to face with molten metal, worked your ass off in 200 degree plus heat, and know what it's like to burn, well, keep your opinion to yourself. Yeah, I made damn good money, but it was doing a job that maybe 1 out of every 10 new hires could handle.

 

So I guess there are no Japanese, Chinese,Jewish,Union people on the Hamb? Buddy give your head a shake.

 

Just cut a 36 Ford sedan into small parts, kept what was good enough to sell/trade, the rest was too rusty, by ANYBODY'S standards to repair or reuse... it's scrap, and it can be turned into cash to buy useful stuff.

I have personal experience with a hoarder, Keeping useless stuff is HOARDING.

 

Aluminum I don't think that shit is hot enough to burn you is it ?
Just kidding. I worked over 45 years in steel mills and foundries.
I think what started the decline was the pollution laws, the companies were spending millions on dust collectors, recapturing this , recapturing that. Pure water testing, we even had to sample the dust and shit on the roofs of the buildings and collect downspout water, test it and report to the Feds and State. We actually had a crew sweeping the roofs, wtf ? None of that BS added a penny to the bottom line it was all tacked on costs.
When I started in the mills in the mid 60's you couldn't see the clock on the wall that was 10 feet away, now (the ones that are left) are really clean inside.
I spent some time in China a few years ago in some steel mills, it's not only the low wages but most of the mills were years ahead of us in facilities , equipment and technology.
I think the most modern mill I worked in in the States was built in the 20's or 30's.

 

Hi Everyone...
Scrap prices are still crappy here in Eastern NM. Got 8 cents a lb for 2700 lbs of scrap in Feb and 7 cents a lb in early April for 1400 lb.. It helps, but still isn't much when one must trailer it 65 miles to Clovis, with $3.90 gallon gasoline now.... Enjoy your higher returns wherever you are... duane (NM Sandrail)

 

Real good point. It's all new in China, and in many ways they can learn from our mistakes and inefficiencies. It feels good to knock them, say they turn out nothing but junk, etc, but there is a whole lot more to it than that.

Yeah, I also hate seeing some of this stuff scrapped, but I can't afford to outbid scrap price so I think I'll just sit here and complain about it! I can't blame the salvage yards for clearing out their lots-who needs the hassle of sitting on a 50 year old car? One customer comes by and steals some chrome. Another customer comes by and beats you up because you want $20 for the horn button. Somebody calls from 8 states away wanting a price on the left quarter panel so you go out and check it out, call him back (long distance), you never hear from him again. Why not just cash it in for $500 and be done with it?

 

My Brother in law does a lot of scrapping. We just had the same type of discussion a couple of weeks ago FOR THE SECOND OR THIRD TIME! He has cleaned out quite a few old farm places, and is constantly hauling in "junk cars" Last place he cleaned out about a month ago he hauled out about 10 mid 60's and older cars, including a couple early 60's t-birds and an "big old caddilac" I told him (again) that 95% of the stuff he hauls in is just that...scrap, but it's the other 5% that I worry about! I told him he probably could have gotten a $100 or so bucks for each of the t-bird motors, as well as the caddilac if it was a 50's vintage. Not to mention all the stainless bits and pieces that WE could have salvaged and made something off of. He looked pretty bumbed out! Another time he scrapped out a mid 60's chevy dump truck with a 409 in it! I saw with my own eyes an old dodge grain truck that he had stuffed with a track hoe into his trailer that HAD a set of guide headlights on it.....I told him "too bad you mangled those headlights so bad, as they are worth about $250.! He looked like he was going to shit! I have told him SEVERAL times to give me a heads up when he gets into this type of situation, and I'll help him make him more than scrap price on this stuff. The problem is, he listens more to my Father in Law who keeps telling him the stuff is all shit! My Father in Law HATES my old car hobby!! The sad part is, he ran a body shop for about 40 years. It was the same shop that his father started back in the early 50's. His father was a parts hoarder, who also had a small junkyard along with the shop. I have seen family pictures with the junkyard in the background. It's sad, since the F-I-L had 3 brothers who all had decent 2 door cars when they were growing up...many of which were still in the yard, including a couple of early 50's mercs, and 55-57 Fords and Chevys including a 55 bel air hardtop and a 56 Ford club coupe with a 312/stick combo!!! That is until my F-I-L scrapped it all out along with a barn loft FULL of NOS and rust free early 70's and later sheet metal that his Dad had been saving. He did this just a couple of years before my wife and I started dating. I'm sure he would have went ahead and done it just to piss me off even if I had been around! He did the same thing with about 2 dozen NOS 50's-60's windshield just a couple of years ago! That was less than a few days after I told him to let me try to sell them for him! As I said, he HATES my old car hobby!

Whew, feels good to get that rant off my chest!!

 

No, us Ally boys don't have much to say when compared to the steel mills, you all, dang, that's a mans job.

(Our smelter was modern, I think it was built in the early to mid sixties)

 

It sucks to see cool tin get crushed... That being said buddy up with some of your local scrappes and scrap yards. Scratch their back and they will scratch yours. Make a habbit of not selling your scrap but donating it to your local yard or guy. Make sure they know that you are " giving it " to them. and that you want dids on the old cars . Hell one of the two local yards calls me when something cool comes in! Help one of the scrappers go cut stuff some saturday! You can't save everything but you can save the best of it for yourself! This year so far I've brought home a 47 ford truck cab. 1940 ford , 36 ford & 1930 ford frames all with axles , 50 buick grill - 48 ford f-5 front sheetmetal, and like 6 cool grills from 29 - 47 ! Lots of other cool stuff to! Let the highprices help you find new treasures!

 

I haven't seen much old stuff coming into the yards lately. I think most of it got cleaned out years ago in this area. I actually haven't seen many cars of any sort at the scrap yard, mostly random tin and weird odds and ends.

It has been hard to find any decent $500 cars for DD since scrap has been up. Any thing over 10 years old basically isn't worth fixing once a head gasket goes out or a transmission goes out. Most folks can't wrench on them and a shop will charge thousands of dollars to repair a transmission or a head gasket. So most of those vehicles wind up going to the scrap yard.

I always thought if the government really wanted to do something "green" they would offer tax breaks to folks that re-use old cars and convert them to some sort of alternative fuel (CNG, woodgas, electric). Most folks idea of going green is buying a hybrid made from scrapped cars shipped thousands of miles overseas that are melted down using fossil fuels, then shipped back over to the US by large freighters burning bunker fuel (which is so dirty that it is illegal to run a motor on it within so many miles of shore). I had an idea once to take old cars and convert them to electric. But a lot of people would whine and moan about how an old car is so unsafe because it doesn't have 15 airbags in it.

 

It kills me to see any old cars get crushed. I think my signature says it all!!!

 

I Wasnt trying to be racist. I wasnt trying to be politically correct. Its just my opinion of how this high scrap price came to be. I once belonged to the operating engineers union. I made good wages however jobs where few and far between. Now the green card workers are operating heavy equiptment for the minium wage. And they are skilled at it too. Good or bad ,right or wrong
, My fault your fault nobodys fault? That is just the way things are. OldWolf

 

You must be kidding , only $70. I just took in 680 pounds of steel and got $88.00. They are paying $260.00 per ton around here for claean steel and iron.

 

anyone know what the price is for aluminum here in the north east (PA/NJ) & is there a price difference between aluminum cans & billet scrap? I have 300-400 lbs of aircraft grade solid billet 2" plate scrap i want to cash in on & another guy told me it makes no differance if it's cans or billet...same price?
Paul

 

Here cans are 80 cents a pound. billett is 70cents. Cans are more pure and easier to smelt. OldWolf

 

Just took two years worth of scrap wire brought home from various jobs done before I retired last fall. I can't find a reason to complain about $3.80 lb. for bright stripped #1 copper! That will keep me in car parts for the next six months or more!

 

Don't know what you scrap at $70 a ton or why you would waste time hauling it for that price. We scrap on a monthly basis and its close if not more than $10 a hundred for heavy iron around here...

 

Yeah, but sadly I can't be everywhere. Some people will never get it anyway Rex.

 

Too much Politics on this thread.