finding free metal

[Soundguy]

how come people throw out soo much good metal?


I was driving from my house to my farm property the other day and saw a stack of bed frame rails out leaning up against somebodies trash can. must have been enough for 3 beds.. not rusty.. still painted.. etc. That's alotta angle iron.

No one was home so I didn't stop.. and it was gone when I went back past! shcucks!

soundguy

 

[Kays Supply]

Check out your local motorcycle shops. The shipping pallets for 4 wheelers are almost all odd shaped steel. Some are box tubing. I can see the scrap pile from the highway, I stock up every chance I get. The hardware that holds them to the pallets are made of really good metal also.

 

[zzvyb6]

Bed frame steel has a lot of use if you also have a welder or can torch weld. It also takes a saw of some sort. Skills and equipment that fewer and fewer folks have. You might also notice that a lot of these single bed throwaways are being replaced by fulls and queens as the population gets wider and thicker....

 

[magicheater]

how come people throw out soo much good metal?


I was driving from my house to my farm property the other day and saw a stack of bed frame rails out leaning up against somebodies trash can. must have been enough for 3 beds.. not rusty.. still painted.. etc. That's alotta angle iron.

No one was home so I didn't stop.. and it was gone when I went back past! shcucks!

soundguy

I pick that stuff any time I can. It is a harder metal and works great for the ends of decking on trailers. Also made my solar collector framework from them. Sorry you missed them, I have missed lots of good stuff by saying to myself "I'll get it on the way back", and then find it gone.

 

[Soundguy]

I got a welder and love that stuff.. especially bed rails.

I wanted to stop by when they were home.. I'm kind of queezy about grabbing it even if roadside by the trash can without asking. I've never had someone say no if they were home though.

soundguy

 

[travis potter]

Bed frames are a better grade of steel than you get at the steel yard.

 

[PILOON]

I use bed frames to make my split rail fences.
I cut one end to a point and pound them in with my homemade post driver.
I use salvaged hydro wire to tie them in place and then lash split short pieces to cover up the bed rails.
Unless up close you can't see the rails and it shure makes a nice looking 'rustic' fence for lansdcaping purposes.

Used to use T bars, but as there cost kept rising I turned to salvaged bed rails which IMHO are just as strong.

 

[lostcause]

Bed frames are a better grade of steel than you get at the steel yard.

i guess that depends on the usage. i find that they are less workable than mild steel. they are very hard to drill and also rough on saw blades. i've even seen cases where they are almost too brittle after welding. the metal can be prone to cracking near welds when a load is put on it.

don't get me wrong, i've used a lot of it, and even bought some from a local scrap yard recently to make some racks for holding small steel shapes. i just don't think i would use it on any sort of item subject to fatigue loading.

 

[Chilly807]

I thought I was the only fan of bed rails for recycled steel...

Apparently not..lol

Chilly

 

[Bedlam]

I bought a bed once from a dealer, and my dad noticed a stack of old frames by the trailer they had saved and I asked they were some happy when I took them all.
I have used bed frames for years. I agree hard to drill but..beggers cant be choosey

 

[Taylortractornut]

I was sick the other day went to the big scrap yard with a 20 yard load of tin i had acummilated from demo jobs. This old man had a 3x3 sheet of 3/4 plate and an old gof course mower with 3 hydraulic motors on it. I was behind him in line and asked him if he would like to sell it to me. Nope gonna make 7 cents a pound on it. I told him lets weigh it and Id give him 10. Still wouldnt take it. I finally offered 25 cents a pound and he just wouldnt budge. I hated to see it go up to the pile that way. That bed frame angle is great to make battery holders for equipment to.

Its sad t osee some of that stuff go infact i counted 10 wagons in there not for sale any waiting on the shredder.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've used both bed rails and the ATV shipping racks. The bed rails are hard to drill, but if I cut them with an angle grinder and weld, they make good projects. The oldest stuff seems to be the best.

The ATV racks that I have used are made of very thin wall tubing. They are very workable, but do require some engineering to make the end project strong.

Old treadmills also have some good stuff. Once again, thin wall stuff, but there's tubing, plate, linear actuators, and DC motors that are all great for projects.

There's a guy in my area who used to work in the gas fields of Wyoming. He'd come home every few weeks and he'd be pulling a trailer overloaded with old pipe and tube that he'd picked up from the trash at the gas fields.

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen those shipping crate frames.. I've always wondered what happens to them..

soundguy

 

[Scotty370]

I've also stumbled upon cast-aways! The last was about 40 pieces of 1" square tube, 1/8 wall, about 30" long each, out for the garbage!! Grabbed all those babies! My experience with bed-rail has not met with great success. The high carbon content, had it 'disappearing' when I Oxy/Ace welded it. Have not yet 'stick' welded any. My visits to the 'scrapyard' have yielded great 'finds' and they were always willing to deal. Currently there's two L-Shaped forks from a fork lift that I'm contemplating......! I'm generally 'shopping', there, more than 'scrapping'. It can be an interesting tour, what with industrial scrap, moters, fans, gearboxes, hydro stuff etc, etc, etc....~Scotty

 

[Scotty370]

I had heard, that when the scrap market went sky-high, (a year-eighteen months ago) that the old tractors and equipment, parked in hedgerows were dragged out and scrapped. Great for China, Bad for collectors!! I've not been able to verify this claim, but makes (sad,) sense. ~S

 

[magicheater]

I have used bed frames for years.

Hence your handle?

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

With the price of scrap being around $240 a ton there isn't any scrap left laying arround in my area. One theif was even steeling the aluminum bleachers from the school and taking them to the scrap yard.
Bill

 

[Jim in ICT]

About the only time I find scrap out along the roadside is when I'm cleaned up and in the car and not in my pickup. Just my luck.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

About the only time I find scrap out along the roadside is when I'm cleaned up and in the car and not in my pickup. Just my luck.

...or late for something. That's my story.

 

[Chilly807]

Don't let little things like "clean" and "late" stop you... late is like pregnant, there's no such thing as a "little bit". And clothes wash, right?

I keep a tarp in the car for "just such an occasion", like Foghorn Leghorn.

Now, if it won't actually fit in the car, that's when the cordless recip saw comes out, and usually the people that used to own whatever it is too.

Almost kidding.

Chilly