On Apr 5, 5:54 pm, SCOTT wrote:
The town where I live has started not letting you take anything from
the scrap metal bin at the town dump. Apparently they have a contract
with the removal company that requires all metal brought in to stay
there. So it looks like I need to find a new source for bits and
pieces. I haven't tried to buy from scrap yards before. Do you guys do
this, if so is there repairable machinery that comes up there, or is it
all shredded, or what?

Scott

Hi, Scott.
The people at the local transfer station moved the metal dumpster
right up by the guard house with the open end of the dumpster right
where the attendant can see into it, unless you park your truck right
in front! So much for recycling! They are not interested in recycling,
only scrapping!

I used to find quite a lot of useful stuff there and tried to swap my
metal junk for theirs. A lot harder, now.

A few weeks ago I took a bunch of scrap aluminum to the scrap dealer
in Bend, Oregon. They had just posted a sign stating they were no
longer selling any scrap to the public. There is a steel dealer in
Redmond that still sells cutoff pieces by the pound, but no one here
in Central Oregon sells other types of metal.

So, that leaves yard sales, farm auction sales, and up until the last
couple of years, old farms that were being demolished to make way for
housing developments. I found lots of free metal at such places just
before the houses and barns were demolished. Sometimes more metal was
found after demolishing! It was hidden away behind other stuff
destined for the land fill. I usually asked the heavy equipment
operator or just waited till they went home. It was all going into the
dump truck, anyway.

The last place had a big bunch of drive shafts with u-joints on the
ends. I cut the u-joints off and had a nice steel tube. Used two
pieces to make a screw jack for raising the patio frame so I could
place new posts. Another u-joint find was a rather long length of
ancient farm equipment drive shaft. This went from a stationary
engine, across the ground to the thrashing machine, or similar thing.
Lots of nice steel shafting. Same thing from parts of an old hay
bailer that was going to the dump.

Also scrounged a broken drill shaft from an air powered rock drill.
After drilling a series of holes, they pack the holes with explosive
and set them off to break up the lava rock. They just went off and
left the drill bit. The other day, I was going to cut off a piece and
discovered it is hollow. That is where the air goes to blow out the
ground up rock. Have to find another use.

My point is, there is usable metal all around you. It may not be what
you need today, but you never have enough metal pieces, do you?

Good luck,
Paul in Central Oregon