When salvaging material to recycle, especially metals (aluminum, structural steel, copper wire, old pipe, etc.) we might also consider looking at the piles of material that others bring to the scrap yard which we might want.
Some scrap yards will allow people
to buy their scrap at approximately
twice the price they pay the salvager
bring it in. This is still WAY cheaper
than buying new steel or aluminum, and
can often be a way to build a stock
of material for home and farm projects.
These same yards also often have their
own scrap piles of materials left from
the new steel they sell (if they do).
These piles can be picked through for
new, cut material for very low prices.
Repairing tractor equipment, building art objects for sale, and other uses of such materials is going to be more and more difficult as the energy we've become accustomed to having becomes in short supply over the next few years and decades. Building and repairing with salvaged materials is going to be common, and sharing those materials is a fine way to find what you need, inexpensively.
For now, one of the best ways to share is to take your salvage to the scrap yard, and then look through it for materials you might need. The yard will let you weigh your truck upon delivery of scrap, weigh it again empty to pay you, and then you load up with goodies you want and they weigh it still again, saving lots of lifting and moving of heavy materials. If the quantity is small, they will have a floor scale and you can simply pile the handful on for weighing.
I've built two very nice table lamps with salvaged brass fire hose nozzles found at the scrap yard and purchased for a fraction of new cost. These lamps can be sold to bring in cash, or they can be given as gifts or used at home. Building shelf frames, repairing machinery, making construction brackets for your shop or pole barn, and more, are great uses for small bits of steel. So when you go to the scrap yard to sell, think of buying, too. Below is a picture of my steel and aluminum storage rack.
This rack was built from bed-frame steel pulled from dumpsters. Much of the steel pieces stored here were purchased as scrap ends and cut-offs from the salvage yard. I have lots more of this nice bedframe angle iron, and will use it to build a rack for my little car (1986 VW Golf), so I can use it to haul goodies, and not use the truck so much (fuel here is now $2.39.9/Gal. And will go higher). The VW gets about 30 MPG.
[On a side note, the reason I bought a very used VW Golf is that early VW Rabbits and Golfs can be converted to electric cars! Check out the information on electric cars in another section.]
I'm also assembling a small trailer
to pull behind the VW for larger and
heavier items, and more of this free
steel will be used for it. The truck
is still necessary for now, but much
money can be saved with a small high-milage
car properly outfitted for hauling.
The picture above shows the trailer frame I will use. It's from a garden trailer, but will work fine for a small car to pull, and it also was found in a dumpster!
Have fun!
Take care. Do good work. Be well.
Edmund Fitzgerald
