My parents unintentionally became scrappers when my uncle up in ME passed away. His basement as well as a rail car were just stocked with scrap metal. In addition to leftovers from him machine and fabrication shop, he would collect and barter for it, then stockpile it until the price was right or if he needed money for something. He had a couple cars and a fire truck out in the back 40 as well. While the metal was stockpiled, that doesn't mean it was sorted. They spent the better part of summer weekends separating it and grading it. A guy up the street would cut up/separate any mixed metals (my uncle literally had a ton of brass and bronze valve bodies, the neighbor split them open and took the unlike metal on/off assemblies out). The same guy loaded and hauled all of the metal to the scrap yard for 20% (he actually wanted less, my father insisted on him taking the 20%).

So far the estate has netted $12,500 and there is still a rail car (including the truck assemblies, the guess is 30 tons), a couple 40 yard dumpsters lying on their sides and welded together (which was his machine shop), and a utility trailer full of copper wire left to scrap.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)