Beating the Scrapyard

[pygmy]

These yards allways win. The scales used for small amounts, usually non-ferrous, have a resolution of 1Kg, about 2Lb. This means that your 10.9 Lb of Copper is weighted in at 10Lb.

For steel in a truck the weighbridge is used which has a resolution of 20Kg or about 50 Lb.
So a few fridges,ovens and washing machines at 1/2 a ton all up, can come in at up to 49 Lb less than what is really there.

Any idea's on overcoming this bias in there favour.

 

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[aa battery]

all i did was call Weights and Measures here in California and they took a look. Most scrap yards don't want to break the law but there are a few bad ones. No scale is perfect but sometimes we over look some small differences.

 

[whitesid]

i got my own scale to make sure this doesn't happen.

 

[pygmy]

You guys are missing the point I'm trying to make..
The scales arn't wrong , just coarse.
If the scales only measure in Lb's and not fractions of pounds then 10.9 Lb will
register at 10Lb through no fault of the scales.
Also if a weighbridge can measure up to 50tons then thats why it jumps in increments of 50 lbs.
These scales don't round off; they round DOWN.

 

[2muchstuff]

I get what you are trying to say. The old style beam type of scale had a finer resolution and could measure in smaller units. Then came technology, the newer scales use electronics and strain guages. You can get better resolution with electronics but it will cost more. Sometimes scales can be set for the resolution that you want, the higher it is set the better the outcome for the scale owner.

 

[pygmy]

The weighbridge for vehicles loaded up has to be coarse resolution to some extent as it
is out in the weather and gets covered in water, dirt ,mud etc .

Anyway the yard wins.

One method I use to "get back " is with batteries. I allways make sure the cells are full of water. Also pouring sand in or better still--most washing machine drums have a band of hollow plastic at the top filled with lead dust or pellets , for centrifugal effect. Yards wont usually touch it as it is a bit irony. But this heavy stuff can be poured into the cells with a funnel to add a few extra Lb. With a 100 or so batteries a week it adds up.

 

[pygmy]

This latter trick is only good if battery price is higher than steel. This week over here it is not. So I'm staying with water for the time being.

 

[whitesid]

If the scales only measure in Lb's and not fractions of pounds then 10.9 Lb will

thats not true. 9.5-10.4 will measure 10 lb
10.5-11.4 will measure 11lb

i have tested it out and it is true, many times on my scale i would have (whatever).6 or 7 and it will get rounded up.

 

[truckinbutch]

Loading your stash is as crooked as a crooked scrap yard.Don't look for integrity,bring integrity.If you are an honest regular you will get the benefit of the doubt.CAT scales guarantee their weight to the point of going to court with you.Find a local CAT scale if your scrapyard is suspect.Weigh loaded at Cat,weigh in and out at yard and drive directly back to Cat scale and reweigh.If there is a significant discrepency between Cat and scrapyard you have a valid,maybe compensable,complaint with the public service commision.
Probably wasted adivce on you,but maybe an honest scrapper will read the post and benefit.

 

[pygmy]

Whitesid, thats your scales as you say, but not 4 outa 4 scrap yards I go to.
It's easy to check at the yard, slowly add your scrap until it reads 10lb for example, then slowly add more. Nothing will happen until u put on enough to make it 11.

This means that if you were just short of 11 , u wouldn't know it and be cheated out
of about a pound of maybe bright copper wire.

Anyone who claims scrapping is or was or ever a clean / honest business must be some sort of idealist to put it kindly.

Geoff

 

[pygmy]

I hope this last example explains how the digital scales cheat u. And I'm not talking peanuts here. One local yard has 3 scales working full time for small amounts of
non-ferrous. I estimate they are ripping off the poor and hard working public
by about $5000 a day.
I overcome this problem in another way where I put most of the scrap on the scales then slowly add the rest
, wait for it to just tick over to the next whole number then stop adding scrap.
This means I usually come back home with a bit less than a Lb of each of the non-ferrous elements knowing I havn't been suckered by the yard
Geoff

 

[wardon]

I just have one coment. When it gets to where one lb. of copper or fifty lbs. of steel make or break me I will find another way to amuse myself. I would never try to cheat a yard I belive in karma. wardon

 

[2muchstuff]

I have noticed that the drive-on scales around here have a resolution of 10 LBS and the ones on the dock that are hand loades have a resolution of 1 LB.

 

[twenty5eight]

I hope this last example explains how the digital scales cheat u. And I'm not talking peanuts here. One local yard has 3 scales working full time for small amounts of
non-ferrous. I estimate they are ripping off the poor and hard working public
by about $5000 a day.
I overcome this problem in another way where I put most of the scrap on the scales then slowly add the rest
, wait for it to just tick over to the next whole number then stop adding scrap.
This means I usually come back home with a bit less than a Lb of each of the non-ferrous elements knowing I havn't been suckered by the yard
Geoff

That's pretty smart to slowly add.. U might actually be getting small bonus...say ur at 10lbs then u slowly start adding more, once u r past 10.5 maybe 10.6 or 10.7 it will read 1. So someone is getting cheated a little almost every time

 

[pepperj]

That's pretty smart to slowly add.. U might actually be getting small bonus...say ur at 10lbs then u slowly start adding more, once u r past 10.5 maybe 10.6 or 10.7 it will read 1. So someone is getting cheated a little almost every time

You're so right somebody is getting screwed for that difference every time something is weighed on a scale. Could be the customer or it could be the yard it's % of times it happens to one or the other. The odds of it happening every time in favour of the yard well that thinking is screwed, as well as if the yard thinks it's getting screwed.

It comes down to the basic thing called TRUST, and the old time thinking of customer screwed yard/yard screws customer is so ingrained that it's just the second nature for everyone to think of this philosophy first.

Yes it's always good to get a little free bonus in life but when it comes at the expense of another then it's just wrong.

When I opened up a yard it was that a person got paid the scale weight of what the product was, nothing more-nothing less. If the scale fell on the 2 or the 3 well that was it. The customer base liked the fact the scales were tested 4 times a year and the finding of the certification was freely posted on the wall, and that was showing I had nothing to hide.

To gain the trust of a person is one of the hardest things in life, and when there was many companies and private individuals that regularly dropped off their scrap and didn't even watch the weigh in, they just came back for the payment as it was going to be the same and their time was worth something more than watching us do the weigh.

Everyone that worked at the company treated everyone the same as I truly believed that until the payment was processed the metal still belonged to the customer, and I didn't know if the customer weighed their scrap before filling a bin that we'd pick up, or the small load the person dropped off, and it was not in my interest to muddy my name for the little short term gain of a few dollars. It's comes down to simple honesty and if a person has a problem with the yard then change your yard, if a person thinks that they're getting screwed all the time then it comes down to the lack of trust in everything in life.

 

[darksky1x]

The weighbridge for vehicles loaded up has to be coarse resolution to some extent as it
is out in the weather and gets covered in water, dirt ,mud etc .

Anyway the yard wins.

One method I use to "get back " is with batteries. I allways make sure the cells are full of water. Also pouring sand in or better still--most washing machine drums have a band of hollow plastic at the top filled with lead dust or pellets , for centrifugal effect. Yards wont usually touch it as it is a bit irony. But this heavy stuff can be poured into the cells with a funnel to add a few extra Lb. With a 100 or so batteries a week it adds up.

No offense intended but the way I read what you have just posted is, "Beware, I can not be trusted". WOW, I'm not sure I would be comfortable announcing to the world that "I have no honor or integrity". Funny, it doesn't seem to bother you though.

Too each their own!

 

[Jason in Enid]

No offense intended but the way I read what you have just posted is, "Beware, I can not be trusted". WOW, I'm not sure I would be comfortable announcing to the world that "I have no honor or integrity". Funny, it doesn't seem to bother you though.

Too each their own!

Why are you responding to a person who hasnt been here in 6 years, in a thread almost a decade old?! dont be a necro-poster!

 

[darksky1x]

Why are you responding to a person who hasnt been here in 6 years, in a thread almost a decade old?! dont be a necro-poster!

Why are you being so condescending and so willing to label a person? Perhaps you should do some soul searching.

Forgive me if I don't live up to your standards but the truth is, I could care less what your standards are! Apparently you are so wise and know all and see all, but how am I to know whether the OP is an active or non active poster and whether they are active or not really has not bearing on on the fact that they clearly announced to the world that they can not be trusted.

Another point in fact, what difference does it make if the thread is 10 days old or 10 months old or 10 years old? I read nothing in the rules about any time limits regarding the age of a post and whether or not one can reply based entirely on that age. If you are bothered when someone reply's to a post that you believe has reached an age where it no longer qualifies for any reply's, then take your belief and lobby Admin to institute a policy change which meets your "better-than-thou" standards, but do not get self righteous and start casting stones in my direction, clean up your own house first!

One other point in fact, I did read in the rules about extreme negativity and being quick to tag someone else with a derogatory label, such as you just did. Perhaps you might benefit by taking some time to review the rules

 

[Jason in Enid]

Why are you being so condescending and so willing to label a person? Perhaps you should do some soul searching.

Forgive me if I don't live up to your standards but the truth is, I could care less what your standards are! Apparently you are so wise and know all and see all, but how am I to know whether the OP is an active or non active poster and whether they are active or not really has not bearing on on the fact that they clearly announced to the world that they can not be trusted.

Another point in fact, what difference does it make if the thread is 10 days old or 10 months old or 10 years old? I read nothing in the rules about any time limits regarding the age of a post and whether or not one can reply based entirely on that age. If you are bothered when someone reply's to a post that you believe has reached an age where it no longer qualifies for any reply's, then take your belief and lobby Admin to institute a policy change which meets your "better-than-thou" standards, but do not get self righteous and start casting stones in my direction, clean up your own house first!

One other point in fact, I did read in the rules about extreme negativity and being quick to tag someone else with a derogatory label, such as you just did. Perhaps you might benefit by taking some time to review the rules

Wow dude, you got issues if you saw anything in my post as insulting or derogatory. Actually, from your reply here.... you just plain have issues.

 

[darksky1x]

Wow dude, you got issues if you saw anything in my post as insulting or derogatory. Actually, from your reply here.... you just plain have issues.

View attachment 1507731

You think?

"dont be a necro-poster" Do you reasonably believe that this term is not derogatory and/or insulting in any way? Do you actually consider this "label" as flattering or uplifting in any way? Give me a break. Only someone that can admit to not wrong would take that position!

And what about, "a thread almost a decade old", "person who hasnt been here in 6 years", though not derogatory in nature they were clearly intended to be demeaning and insulting. If not, then please explain what the purpose of their usage was? What did you reasonably expect to accomplish by using them? How did you reasonably expect me to respond?

Perhaps you thought i would say, "thank you so much for pointing that out and putting me in my place as a new "fish" to this forum. Your years of wisdom as a long time forum member and the your careful, thoughtful choice of words that you choose to use will serve as my guiding light!" Really? Surely you had to know what you were posting could only be interpreted as a negative attempt to put someone else in their place while elevating your self esteem at the same time.

it is you who has the issues not me my friend. your failure to admit that you were wrong and should never have made the post is a clear indication of someone who suffers from deep feeling of inadequacy and extreme insecurity.

Put your bucket away and quit casting stones! Anytime you point a finger at someone else you have three more fingers that point right back at you!

Read the second line of my signature and think about it!

And don't call me dude, dude!