Scrapyard Finds

[Brettl]

Now this may be the chainsaw equivalent of asking somebody to reveal the location of their favorite fishing hole, but.....
I've seen many threads where some of you mention scrapyard finds for little to nothing. My question is, what are these scrapyards? Dumps, scrapmetal recyclers, .....? I have some parts/project saws and am always looking for more but scrapyard finds are something I have not tried yet. Thanks guys.

 

[80sDweeb]

I've been wondering this, as well. I figure I'll stop by my local recycling place and see what they say, or rather have my wife do it - she always manages to curry favor with people and gets them to do favors for her, as in, she got said recycling place to charge us commercial rates when dumping our roofing shingles off.

I'm certain they get them, as they get EVERYTHING at this place. But what do they do with the ones they get, keep them? Ebay them? Crush them? That's what I'd like to know.

Scott in Penfield NY

 

[MechanicMatt]

Try and get in good with the workers, the managment/owner will get you "in" but the men doing the work will set them aside. Otherwise they'll get tossed in a pile. Litteraly tossed, when they land bad things happen. My buddy has the guys at the yard near him setting all OPE aside for him to "inspect" before it gets crushed. Donuts and beer : )

 

[C SAW 090]

No picking at the town dump but I can. I was droping off brush one day and i saw a saw. I asked the dump guy if i could have it. He sayd yes, and i like coors light as he walked away. Now i have free rain of any thing i want

 

[machinisttx]

I have talked to almost every scrapyard in the area. Most of them know me now and what I'm there for. They'll usually point stuff out to me to. Yes, they do get smashed/melted if nobody buys them. I've managed to pick up some good stuff lately.

 

[MnSam]

My local dude will not give me the time of day, I've been real nice to him and everything.

 

[066blaster]

i bet everything generally gets scrapped, or they would be setting aside alot of mowers, trimmers, saws, bikes, stoves, dryers, washing machines, that could be saved.
it would drive me nuts working there.

 

[066blaster]

your best bet would be to put an add on cl, saying you will buy junk or non running saws, you would probably get some decent stuff. i have one on there saying i buy 70cc plus stihl and huskies, i have got some great deals. i dont like to mess around with the little stuff. you can always turn people away if it aint what you want.

 

[Mad Professor]

Metal salvage yards or Auto salvage yards.

Got a 3 burner coleman stove full of fuel, 7 cents a pound. it worked but the grease kept it from rusting

Also keep an eye on CL, got a straight gassed 026 and running 056M (needed oiler) and new 20" stihl E bar $50. both saws already had their own bars.

 

[machinisttx]

i bet everything generally gets scrapped, or they would be setting aside alot of mowers, trimmers, saws, bikes, stoves, dryers, washing machines, that could be saved.
it would drive me nuts working there.

I've seen a lot of stuff worth hundreds, sometimes thousands sitting in scrapyards, either crushed by the crap piled on top of it, or by the grapple used to move it. I saved an older garden way produced Troy Bilt Pony tiller a while back for about $45. The exhaust valve is stuck open. Haven't had time to fool with it yet. It's mind boggling to see what some folks scrap with how little it needs to be serviceable, especially considering the replacement cost of something comparable in quality.

 

[workshop]

I've got a scrapyard near to me I check about once a week. They take anything from beer cans to cars so there is always something interesting. One of the guys will usually put things back for me.

 

[kc4sfe]

I check the local saw shops... they always have something they were told to keep since the customer didn't want to pay the eval fee... sometimes it works... sometimes not.

Sent from my intellectually challenged "smartphone".....

 

[naturelover]

Hmm, lets see.

I've got (or has either been found and later given to me by a worker at the local scrapyard..)
1/4" electric drill
1/2" off-brand air impact wrench
3/4" off-brand air impact wrench
7" Ingersoll Rand air orbital sander
7" Ingersoll Rand air grinder (probably the most expensive find, is $1500 new...)
1.2hp Gamefisher outboard
Jari sicklebar mower
10-10s
Redmax 3400BC trimmer
Poulan 2000 (parts only)

Sure I'm forgetting something, but all worked with little to no effort. Worst part is there's probably way better stuff than that gets thrown out.

Don't understand it...

The outboard, sicklebar mower, 10-10s, sander, drill, both impact guns, and the Redmax needed nothing more than air, fuel or electric to get them to work. I did have some cost in parts afterward for a few of them, but only after checking them over and seeing that they run.

The grinder had the nut loose that held the bevel gear on, I had it up and running in half an hour. That's 3 grand an hour if you consider the cost of buying a new one to someone fixing that one.

 

[80sDweeb]

How would I find the right "local saw shops"? I'm only familiar with a shop that wouldn't give me the time of day unless I'm buying something new, right now. How do I figure out what local dealers will be the right kind of place to approach with "used junk" requests?

Maybe I'm just too shy to do this sort of thing...

Scott in Penfield NY (shy in person, Ruler Of The Universe behind the keyboard)

 

[machinisttx]

I'd suggest the smaller repair shops and not necessarily dealers. Might try the tree service companies too.

 

[kc4sfe]

X2 on the tree service companies....especially the smaller ones.. and the small repair shops.

Great advice there machinisttx!

Sent from my intellectually challenged "smartphone".....

 

[Naked Arborist]

Yea, junkyards...

I could open a warehouse everyday around here and fill it. I have considered buying bright new copper fittings and selling them back to the industry/servicemen and women, the crackheads stole them from. You can not even imagine the millions of pounds of small engines and other good stuff that get shredded everyday in the Delaware Valley. You need a platoon of mechanics just to keep up with sorting and diagnostics. Thousand more for repairs. You could fill some land/sea boxes that's for sure.

 

[arrow13]

I go to my local scrap yard about every two weeks. I'm about the only one who looks for old saws, except the owner of the place. A short while back I got a Jonsereds 52 for ten bucks. Cleaned it, tightened things up and it now runs. I pass up a lot of good stuff that folks like us wish we had the place to store it. Amazing deals are out there.

Take a saturday drive somewhere new, you may just find a fun and cheap project. Don't forget garage sales too. I always ask for chainsaws. Many folks don't think about putting them out to sell. Once I got a running Stihl 066 redeye for 20 bucks cause the guy couldn't pull it with his bad shoulder anymore.

 

[mainewoods]

We have a weekly published magazine where you can " buy -sell -swap or trade" anything and everything. It's free to place a classified ad and is available in printed form or online. I would imagine many states have something similar. Maybe google "weekly classified ad digest" for your state. And no it is not CL, it's better. Some of the finest "out house" reading material there is.

 

[homelitejim]

please disperse! Nothing to see here! Please disperse!