Are we losing access to steel yards?

Fred.Rowe

Fred.Rowe

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
May 2, 2004
Messages
6,848
A friend just returned from Pittsburgh, where he spent two weeks attending school. He was looking forward to visiting the local steel recycle yards aka junk yards, looking to find some nifty knife steel. He called eight yards asking if he could stop by and see what they had in stock.
Nope, all eight of them said the same thing. They told him it was because of the insurance cost.

A yard that we have been visiting for years here in S/E Ohio has now, sadly adopted the same policy. Another friend who has been getting his steel at this yard for years, to build his power hammers, told me a friend who worked at the yard said:
"we are shipping everything to China"

Whats happening in other locations around the country? Are you being denied access to these yards?

Fred
 
the only time you are allowed near the pile is when you are offloading your truck around here, and all of that scrap is going to China here too, don't worry, you can buy it back cheap at WalMart :barf:

-Page
 
I can still get into my local yard and just found a small yard that is close to the house. I didn't see a whole lot of knife steel but I did end up buying a couple of old wagon wheels for .25 cents a pound. I am going to use them for decoration though, I think they look good hanging by the forge.

With the way everyone wants to sue at the drop of a hat it would not surprise me if all scrap yards adopt this policy. Piles of tons of twisted metal and large pieces of equipment shifting this around and loading it into bins is a recipe for bodily harm. Thinking about it is making me want to go down and dig around. Get into them while you can.
 
A quick story I recently went looking for some pipe drops in hopes of finding something I could use to make a quench tank. I figured the scrap yard where I have always bought scrap steel was a good place to start. I was told I had to check at the office, (OK THAT's NEW)! So I went to the office and was first told they didn't resale out anything due to liability. Told them OK and as I was walking off a feller came out and asked me what I was looking for. I told him I was looking for a piece of 6" pipe around three foot long. The whole time I am looking at a piece of 6" probably six foot long over his shoulder.

He tells me that he will go check the yard and comes back a few minutes later and NO they don't have anything! I just had to ask about the piece I had seen over his shoulder when we were talking. Turns out that piece was not for sale as an employee had procured it for his own use.

I use to go to this same yard and walk over the piles looking for use-able steel, for knife making and any other project that I might have going.

The other big scrap yard in town has had a no customer past the unloading area/no resale of scrap, for the past three or four years. So yeah, we have lost out on the scrap unless you can catch it before it goes to the scrap yard!:grumpy:
 
One of my good buddies is in the metal business. He owns a gold mine and a recycling business.

He has over 1 million ounces of known gold reserves in his mine that he can't really mine due to regulations. We scrapped his smelter not too long ago as well, he used to process all his own metal into ingot but now he has to scrap it. He also had to close down his recycling location due to regulations.

He built up his business, bought a ton of land and is now trying to sell it off to pay the bills. It's funny, people want to see the economy do good, just "not in their backyard."

Speaking of scrapyards, he knows the guys really well and once they tried to unload his pickup truck with the big crane and electromagnet... long story short he now has a "shortbed" it ripped his bed nearly half off!
 
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I went to Schnitzer Steel a couple months ago to scrap the old Steelcase desk. They didn't have an active scrapyard, just a pile onto which my crushed desk was laid. It wasn't a very big pile either. Couldn't have been more than a day or two's haul. I guess they ship all theirs to China too.
 
Yeah, when I was a kid a trip to the junkyard was an invitation to adventure. As an adult, I was a born scrounger who got all kinds of neat thinks at junkyards. Now, well, they are all way out in the boondocks and even then, they either charge an arm and a leg for what used to be free, or they do not allow the public in anymore. As for the steel, it's all sold, to China or whoever. I was very lucky the other day, I got a 6" piece of quarter inch well pipe over four feet long for free at our local welldrilling Company, but something like that is getting rare.
 
Say it ain't so! I truly enjoy few things in life as much as exploring a great scrapyard. There was actually one near here for a couple years, I built several things with stuff I picked out of there myself. Then the owner died and the yard is sitting closed. It's been about a year, boy I wish I could still go there.

I live in a county that has a lot of rusty steel and equipment sitting around, the remains of farming, logging, and mining industries. I've scored a lot out of junk piles all over. Lately though, it's pretty common to see a 5-10 yard truck and a couple of guys with torches and even a clamshell loader breaking down scrap and hauling it off. They sell it in Spokane, from there I'll bet it finds its way to China, too.

Oh, the humanity! Must they also take all of our beautiful scrap iron?
 
Many of us here have the same commonality, an afternoon checking out piles, of what others call scrap, in search of treasure. Most of my shop is built from castaways, oil field parts and the treasures I found at the local scrap yard.
I know when premier makers, like Salem, say with only a hint of humor in there voice, "must they also take all of our beautiful scrap iron" they are really saddened to see this pass. Me too. :(

Fred
 
The one here in town will let you in, depending on who is working that day and even then they will have to accompany you. The one guy that has let me in has told me that they usually scrap a dozen or so anvils a year. Aargh! However, certain stuff they won't resell. Automotive coil and leaf springs are one of these. They're afraid that they will be reused, cause an accident, and then they'll get sued. So, no spring steel from them.

Even the auto parts yards are the same--no entry. If you want a part, they pull it and charge you an extra fee for doing so.
 
NStricker said:
Even the auto parts yards are the same--no entry. If you want a part, they pull it and charge you an extra fee for doing so.
Click to expand...

That's what I was going to mention, too. I remember as a kid going with my Dad and uncle to the car scrapyard looking for parts, and sometimes finding cool stuff they didn't know they "needed" until they saw it - no more.
 
Here in omaha you pretty much have to be a personal friend to "the office guys" to get to the scrap metal.
It's MUCH easier to poach scraps from machine shops, but then the scraps are extremely tiny.

aside: i wonder if you could take all the cutoff scraps from a machine shop and mash them all into a damascus steel blank.
 
We had a new bridge made here and Sam and I went to scrounge .On a working day they told us that all the steel had been spoken for -I guess for China. We came back on a day off and got a few pieces of rebar , that's all. China and insurance it's destroying us !!
 
We're very fortunately here in wnc to have a couple of yards that are still open, but its way fewer than it used to be. I got a huge scare a month or so back when I was walking into the yard at Bimco, with my ipod on. Half way in I'm wondering why its so dead, I get a tap on my shoulder from one of the guys, said he's been screamin at me. Yard's closed, insurance is making them change some things. Fortunately he promised they would still be reopening to the public, we just might have to start wearing hardhats etc.

Few weeks later I went back, had to sign in and a waiver, but its all good. Honestly, I wish they had required some kind of registration for yard access, because as it is already there's a bunch of clowns that go and hang out all day, sitting in lawn chairs waiting for anything of value to fall that they can resell. Lucky for me, none of them seem too interested in heavy plate, tubing, or 3ph motors that are too big to cary in a wheel barrow.

This yard is high volume, constant large trailers loading in and out, and even the rail guys use em, but fortunately they seem to be loyal to the idea of letting the rest of us get a shot at something useful. I'm sure they don't mind the quick turn around for cash, but its probably a wash with the insurance cost.
 
They have a "Useables" section at the scrap yard by me. They have a couple of employees that try to keep track of what is going onto the pile. When something of use is on it they grab it and take it to a section of the yard we can walk through. They price most of their "scrap" at .55/lb Rounds go for .65/lb. Since I opened my big mouth and told them what the wagon wheel iron was it is now $1/lb. I find some gems there from time to time like a 6' square box full of large 52100 rounds. Some even still have the smelter's sticker on them. The good stuff, like post vises and such is priced at the discretion of the yard manager. Stainless and non ferrous it pretty high but still cheaper than new, most of the time anyway.
 
Are we losing access to steel (scrap yards) ?
Don't even say that! When I lived in the country I had a pretty good one of my
own going. Not and option now. Theres about 3 or 4 within 30 mile striking distance
that pretty much let anyone scrounge, meander. Its always something I look forward
to on whatever day I decide to go.
Ken.
 
Wow, I hadn't realized I was so blessed with my local scrapyard. They allow you to go and scrounge through the piles of scrap, I actually found a reaonable amount (36 lb) of
1" diam wrought chain there in one of the scrap piles last year. Kept my mouth shut, paid scrap steel prices for it, and rejoiced all the way home.

I am in dread of the possibility that someday some idiot hurts themself, and they stop allowing people to scrounge.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
I know when premier makers, like Salem, say with only a hint of humor in there voice, "must they also take all of our beautiful scrap iron" they are really saddened to see this pass. Me too. :(
Click to expand...

HAHAHAhahahahahaHA! It happened! Actually much sooner than I had thought. But that's 'cause Fred's such a good dude.

On a more strictly thread related note, this kind of stuff drives me NUTS. Liability issues and all. And, the certainty that machines in working shape get scrapped everday- I couldn't afford to outbid the scrap man on a lot of them.

NStricker, you should have that guy call you when they have anvils. The thought that they are actually melting those is terrible. If not, at least tell him he can make a lot more from them selling them as anvils on CL.

There should be a group of vigilante superheros that go around righting the wrongs that happen to good metal.
 
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