Metal Prices

hobo finds

Sr. Member
Mar 15, 2010
276
13
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hobo finds

Sr. Member
Mar 15, 2010
276
13
March Prices

MLC Alum .52
#2 Ins wire 1.05
Die Cast .10
Yellow Brass 1.45
Stainless Steel .50
Paint Alum .50
Furnace Alum .18
 

hyderconsulting

Jr. Member
Apr 17, 2007
66
0
I made a trip to the scrapyard today in Chattanooga, Tennessee and got these prices:

900 lbs shredable steel - 10.5 cents per pound
No. 2 copper, bright - $3.00 per pound
Stainless Steel - 85 cents per pound
Electric motors - 22 cents per pound for 160 lbs.
No. 1 insulated wiring - $1.39 per pound
Sheet Aluminum - 62 cents per pound

Regards, Chris.
 

billjustbill

Bronze Member
Feb 23, 2008
1,089
659
Texas
Detector(s) used
Minelab SN/XS
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was talking to a fellow that said he took two #12 extension cords, each 100' long, to a local scrap yard. Still with all the insulation on them, he said they paid him just over $25.00. Can this be true?

Bill
 

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hobo finds

Sr. Member
Mar 15, 2010
276
13
billjustbill said:
I was talking to a fellow that said he took two #12 extension cords, each 100' long, to a local scrap yard. Still with all the insulation on them, he said they paid him just over $25.00. Can this be true?

Bill

They would need to weigh about 12 lbs each at $1.05 a pound around here to make the quick $25.
 

silvestor

Jr. Member
Mar 2, 2008
55
0
Chautauqua County, New York
Detector(s) used
White's Spectrum XLT w/Sun Ray Invader XL-1 probe, Garrett AT Pro & Garrett Pro-Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
billjustbill said:
I was talking to a fellow that said he took two #12 extension cords, each 100' long, to a local scrap yard. Still with all the insulation on them, he said they paid him just over $25.00. Can this be true?

Bill

Our scrap yard will Not accept an extension cord WITH the insulation on it.

silvestor
 

pronghorn

Hero Member
Jan 7, 2008
570
53
Can't believe what I seen today. We had an ice storm in
January or sometime last winter. Knocked over hundreds
of powerline poles. A couple people have called and asked
if they could have/buy the poles that fell over on my brother's
360 acres so I talked to him and he said sell them and keep
whatever you get. I went out and pulled all the poles away
from the highway into a pile and will sell them. What I can't
believe is the copper wires that were on them. The utility
company never picked up the wires. Uncoated copper
wires about 3/16th inch in diameter. 4000+ feet of it just
laying there. I will find out if I can claim it soon. What
should I hope for in price per pound if I can make this
score. Would it be considered #1 or #2, how do you tell?
It is uncoated but has a heavy patina or tarnish. Does
anyone have a website that shows current prices, all the
sites I find want you to register and I am not comfortable
putting my address on websites just to see current scrap
copper prices.
 

silversaddle1

Jr. Member
Dec 11, 2008
92
6
If the power company left the wire on your property, it's yours to do with as you wish. I'm guessing you are talking about the ground wire that runs down the pole? All yours! You may find it's kind of tuff to remove the wire from under the staples, but it can be done.

As for value. Check the wire with a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel. If it passes the magnet test, it should sell as #1. $3.10 or more per pound.
 

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hobo finds

Sr. Member
Mar 15, 2010
276
13
Prices in So Az.
steel at .08
Paint Alum .55
Elect Motors .20
Yellow Brass 1.50
Ins #2 wire 1.10
Die cast .10
Copper #2 2.60
Cu/Alum Raidator 1.15
 

pronghorn

Hero Member
Jan 7, 2008
570
53
simonds said:
I don't think the wire is going to be solid copper.
Check it out.

Three of the four wires are solid copper, been there for many
years. There is a large large large amount of copper laying
there. I rolled up maybe 10% of it one day after I cleaned up
the busted poles. Then after thinking about it I thought I
might be getting myself into trouble.
I talked to some people and some said I
could go to jail, others said it was mine for the keeping. I
am uncomfortable taking it. The thing is after this incident
which knocked down hundreds of poles and the blizzard
covered everything up, then this spring we had another
horrendous ice storm that knocked down thousands of
poles including the huge supply lines. I think the
utility company is so overwhelmed that this one mile of
line might have been forgotten. If I remind them they
might say it is theirs and say leave it alone, on the other
hand, if I take it I might get in trouble. I don't want
to get in trouble but I don't want to remind them of an
oversight and loose a huge windfall. Don't worry, I
will do the right thing, just trying to sort this out.
 

pronghorn

Hero Member
Jan 7, 2008
570
53
silversaddle1 said:
If the power company left the wire on your property, it's yours to do with as you wish. I'm guessing you are talking about the ground wire that runs down the pole? All yours! You may find it's kind of tuff to remove the wire from under the staples, but it can be done.

As for value. Check the wire with a magnet to be sure it's not copper plated steel. If it passes the magnet test, it should sell as #1. $3.10 or more per pound.

I am talking 3/4 of a mile of highline wires, three of the four
are solid copper, the fourth is copper coated steel. by my
calculations this is approximately 1000 lbs of copper not
counting the ground wires on the poles which I have not
attempted to salvage yet. I hear what you are saying about
getting the ground wires off the poles but it is worth the
labor even if I can't claim the other wire. I still think they
just got so busy they didn't have time to come back and
eventually they will come looking for it. I sure don't want
to be labeled a theif but I don't want to call them and remind
them they left $3000 worth of copper laying there if they
already wrote it off, what to do?
 

silversaddle1

Jr. Member
Dec 11, 2008
92
6
Well then look at it this way. Go ahead and clean it all up. Store it in a secure location. Contact the power company and tell them they can either pay you for the clean-up work on your property, or, surrender and salvage rights to said goods in lue of payment for clean-up. Be sure your clean-up cost are twice the scrap value. Inform them you will not turn over said goods until all bills are paid. Trust me, they will not want to mess with it, and if they do, you still make money!

The crap has been laying on your property for almost a year? It's going to be yours.

What happened was a out of state utility company did the repairs and the local utility has not been around to clean up the mess.
 

petecnc

Full Member
Dec 17, 2004
165
24
wilmington nc
Detector(s) used
used to own a whites dfx. i dont currently own a machine. cant wait to save up for a new machine
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
yesterday in south western nh i got

copper#1bright 2.70
copper#2 2.50
cast aluminum .46
alum sheet old .46
extruded alum .55
insulated wire .90
 

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hobo finds

Sr. Member
Mar 15, 2010
276
13
Steel prices dropped to .07 lb in So. AZ. Last month got .085! Summer is here!
 

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