03-07-2023, 07:22 PM
Hello there, im Thornton Scrapper.... You may know me from SMF and i have a small scrap channel on youtube. figured i would join cause i like scrap metal and recycling.
Ive been scrapping metal for the last 13yrs. I started out doing trash routes on my days off of work and to and from work. started taking scrap home from work if we had any to get rid of. Shelf, racks, broken carts, ect. Back in 2014 when steel priced dropped to 40/ton and no one was scrapping, i met Jim the car guy. his scrap guy stopped answering his calls so he threw a bunch of car doors, fenders, bumpers out front. turned out he was a owner of an auto body shop. That was my 1st contact i made.
The longer i was scrapping the more contacts i was making and work seemed to be in the getting in the way of scrapping. I started a facebook page for scrap removal in my town. i met a hvac tech threw there, that was awesome. But mainly it was people with appliances in a basement or rip down a old swing set in the yard and such. i didn't want to take fridges out of basements so i took that page down. Later I had an opportunity to quit my job, (i got transferred without being asked and no raise) so i quit. Then i was a full-time scrapper. it was hard at first, but then i figured out the area besides running the curb, i found were the good stuff was. I started to do a dumpster route around 11am before i would start my street run. i found some trade shops that left scrap out for the taking. i became friends with a owner of a plumbing co. by checking his dumpster twice a day at his shop. im now his scrap guy. no copper really, but they do leave brass and some copper on the water lines they replace. he keeps the copper for his guys xmas bonuses and party's for them threw out the year. i mainly get the pipes, faucets, water heaters, sub pumps, sinks, tubs ect. I also got in with a hvac company. they only do commercial and industrial jobs but i do get condenser unit or furnace from them time to time. so after getting a taste of the good stuff i cut my trash route scrapping down to 1 night a week. I now just do my town for fun.
I also did pallets for a few years. i didnt really get into it.... So here we are now a days. i went from a street scrapper to "being that guy" who gets the calls for scrap instead of having to rely on trash routes and competing with all the other scrap guys around my area. (just south of Chicago) I love the freedom of being self employed and not having to punch a clock, Working outdoors is a plus and is way better that being inside 4 walls for 8-10 hours a day, night, weekends and every holiday.
Sorry for the long intro but thats my story.....
Ive been scrapping metal for the last 13yrs. I started out doing trash routes on my days off of work and to and from work. started taking scrap home from work if we had any to get rid of. Shelf, racks, broken carts, ect. Back in 2014 when steel priced dropped to 40/ton and no one was scrapping, i met Jim the car guy. his scrap guy stopped answering his calls so he threw a bunch of car doors, fenders, bumpers out front. turned out he was a owner of an auto body shop. That was my 1st contact i made.
The longer i was scrapping the more contacts i was making and work seemed to be in the getting in the way of scrapping. I started a facebook page for scrap removal in my town. i met a hvac tech threw there, that was awesome. But mainly it was people with appliances in a basement or rip down a old swing set in the yard and such. i didn't want to take fridges out of basements so i took that page down. Later I had an opportunity to quit my job, (i got transferred without being asked and no raise) so i quit. Then i was a full-time scrapper. it was hard at first, but then i figured out the area besides running the curb, i found were the good stuff was. I started to do a dumpster route around 11am before i would start my street run. i found some trade shops that left scrap out for the taking. i became friends with a owner of a plumbing co. by checking his dumpster twice a day at his shop. im now his scrap guy. no copper really, but they do leave brass and some copper on the water lines they replace. he keeps the copper for his guys xmas bonuses and party's for them threw out the year. i mainly get the pipes, faucets, water heaters, sub pumps, sinks, tubs ect. I also got in with a hvac company. they only do commercial and industrial jobs but i do get condenser unit or furnace from them time to time. so after getting a taste of the good stuff i cut my trash route scrapping down to 1 night a week. I now just do my town for fun.
I also did pallets for a few years. i didnt really get into it.... So here we are now a days. i went from a street scrapper to "being that guy" who gets the calls for scrap instead of having to rely on trash routes and competing with all the other scrap guys around my area. (just south of Chicago) I love the freedom of being self employed and not having to punch a clock, Working outdoors is a plus and is way better that being inside 4 walls for 8-10 hours a day, night, weekends and every holiday.
Sorry for the long intro but thats my story.....
