A pound of metal per mile......

[CrazyTom]

Good job. Together we're gonna clean this place up!

Today I got 3 silver Roosevelts on the bike bank scrap run!

[CrazyTom]

It got hot here fast and work kept me off the road all week. Saturday and Sunday pulled in the metal as usual.

9 lb 7 oz steel
15 oz lead wheel weights
2 oz brass
3 oz aluminum
14 oz aluminum cans

1 zinc penny

3 silver Roosevelts on the Saturday bank run.

The heavy steel piece this morning was an adjustable wood clamp. It was bent in half and it must have done serious damage
to someone's vehicle.

Also spotted a brand new plush bath towel on the road, still smelled of fabric softener. Someone at the lake today is gonna be wet........

[hirbonzig]

16 AL cans, (3) 3/4" X 6" bolts-found in the road-(they could do some serious damage if they were kicked up by a passing car), 1 lead wheel weight, a cell phone(was run over a few times) and a couple short pieces of tailpipe from this mornings walk.

[CrazyTom]

16 AL cans, (3) 3/4" X 6" bolts-found in the road-(they could do some serious damage if they were kicked up by a passing car), 1 lead wheel weight, a cell phone(was run over a few times) and a couple short pieces of tailpipe from this mornings walk.

Man, since it hit 113 here all I've been doing is working and no time for bike road scrap.

[CrazyTom]

No ride Saturday, however I snagged 13 pounds of clean aluminum from the freeway. I was heading to a job
at 6 AM when I saw up ahead what looked like a skinny ladder in the right lane. It was one of those ramps
you use to load motorcycles and ATVs into the back of a truck. It was already hit by the looks of it and
it would do a good job wiping out the next poor slob who wasn't paying attention.

I whipped on to the shoulder and grabbed it since traffic was sparse. It weighs 13 pounds. My yard pays
50 cents a pound for clean aluminum. I don't mind getting reimbursed $6.50 for my civic minded good deed.
Also found a heavy U bolt in the dirt on the shoulder as a bonus.

Sunday's ride;

3 zinc pennies
1 copper penny
1 nickel
2 clad quarters

2 lb 6 oz steel
3 oz lead
4 oz pop cans

[hirbonzig]

Found a small muffler while working this morning, along with some large washers and 5 steel "hockey pucks" weighing about 1 lb. each.

[smalltimeopn]

After a 2.5 mile run this morning, I found a medium sized wheel wt. (about 3 inches long) while cooling down. What is lead going for these days?

I don't find these too often and I don't have that many now - maybe 1 lb?

Ooops, just read another thread - .41/lb. in AZ. I'd better get busy and find more of these!

[CrazyTom]

After a 2.5 mile run this morning, I found a medium sized wheel wt. (about 3 inches long) while cooling down. What is lead going for these days?

I don't find these too often and I don't have that many now - maybe 1 lb?

Ooops, just read another thread - .41/lb. in AZ. I'd better get busy and find more of these!

I pick them up where ever I see them. I always park away from business doors so I have more opportunity
to see lost change, cans, and weights on the ground on my way in. Also, it helps keep the car from getting damaged by lazy slobs who fight for the nearest spot.

I also tend to find them where the pavement changes.
Curbs and such probably jar some loose.
I always find a few around tire shops after hours.

[CrazyTom]

Man its murder out there even at 6 AM. Yesterday we hit 114 but who's counting?

I did 20 hours of overtime this week but still got the weekend rides in.

2 silver Roosevelts on the Saturday bike bank run

4 oz aluminum
8 oz lead weights
12 oz cans
7 lb 10 oz steel

Of the steel, 1.5 pounds came from a chrome ball hitch (minus the chrome and the nut).
Also I have now found two flattened chrome tail pipe extenders that bring up the weigh nicely.
My little assassins must have moved along because I have now found no more of the CO2 cartridges
when a month ago I found dozens.

[CrazyTom]

Having the day off got me a chance to do a route I haven't done for a while and the metal got busy while I was away.

7 lb 11 oz steel
4 oz lead weights
1/2 oz brass keys
1 lb 2 oz pop cans

one nice 3/8 Craftsman wrench
2 zinc pennies
1 golf ball

Happy 4th of July everyone. Try and enjoy what freedoms we have left................

[smalltimeopn]

I pick them up where ever I see them. I always park away from business doors so I have more opportunity
to see lost change, cans, and weights on the ground on my way in. Also, it helps keep the car from getting damaged by lazy slobs who fight for the nearest spot.

I also tend to find them where the pavement changes.
Curbs and such probably jar some loose.
I always find a few around tire shops after hours.[/quote]

Not to mention the bit of exercise walking the extra distance to the door!

I've read the posts on the high temps. The temp has been hot here in SC as well which limits the exercise.

[CrazyTom]

This week was a lot like the last, including the Haboob monster that ate Phoenix. My pool was brown

Saturday and Sunday ride;

9 lb 4 oz steel
9 oz lead weights
1 oz brass
10 oz pop cans

2 zinc pennies
1 clad dime

One silver Canadian dime and one silver Roosevelt on the Saturday bank run

Today's heavy hit was a shock absorber. The brass is coming mostly in keys and I have a small can filling up with them.

[CrazyTom]

It is still hot here folks. Can't get home in time during the week for a good ride before dark.

Dark is when the psychos come out. If any of you remember the Phoenix serial shooters,
Dale Hausner and Sam Dietman, they lived half a mile down the road here in Mesa when they
got arrested. They shot people after dark on the streets that I ride.

Brave sorts, shot unarmed souls from the safety of their car. Called it "taking out the trash".

Got my Saturday and Sunday routes in.

4 lb 13 oz steel
1 lb 2 oz pop cans
5 oz aluminum
2 oz lead weights
2 oz brass/copper

1 golf ball
2 clad dimes
1 nickel
4 zinc pennies
1 copper penny

2 silver Roosevelts Saturday from the bank run

[psi]

I should start doing this. I use my bike for just about everything including coin pickups and I see aluminum cans all over the place. Only problem is I don't really like to get off the bike and put it down if I already have a load of coins on there. Somewhere I have a pretty heavy duty double kickstand which might help with that but the best is probably to pick up cans or whatever when I'm not already carrying something heavy. I can post pictures of the rack/box I made for my bike if anyone is interested, the frame is made from pieces of a metal futon frame that we used for a while after someone threw it out.

[CrazyTom]

I should start doing this. I use my bike for just about everything including coin pickups and I see aluminum cans all over the place. Only problem is I don't really like to get off the bike and put it down if I already have a load of coins on there. Somewhere I have a pretty heavy duty double kickstand which might help with that but the best is probably to pick up cans or whatever when I'm not already carrying something heavy. I can post pictures of the rack/box I made for my bike if anyone is interested, the frame is made from pieces of a metal futon frame that we used for a while after someone threw it out.

I carry my coins in a backpack and it does get heavy. Getting on and off the bike becomes an effort. What I do is plan my Saturday ride so that the banks are at the end of the run after I've already picked up a lot of metal.

[CrazyTom]

Got a Saturday and Sunday ride. The tally of metal:

1 lb 9 oz cans
6 lb 11 oz steel
1 lb 2 oz lead wheel weights
6 oz copper wire
2 oz aluminum

2 clad dimes
5 zinc pennies
1 copper penny
1 nickel

1 silver Roosevelt from the bank run

Heavy items; a lock, brake pad, crank hook for a spare tire storage.

[CrazyTom]

It was a bag breaking weekend!

10 lb steel
1 lb 1 oz lead wheel weights
1 lb 2 oz aluminum
1 lb pop cans
4 oz brass contaminated with steel

1 golf ball (have enough now to open a driving range)

And it was a weekend for loose change.

2 nickels
3 clad dimes
1 copper penny
6 zinc pennies

1 silver Roosevelt from the Saturday bank run

Someday I'm going to go back through these posts and tabulate the total pounds of metal I've grabbed..........

[CrazyTom]

All right, I got curious and went back over these posts and added up the available data
on my steel, lead, and pop can collections (since they are the most common finds). It is not
a full count since back in the beginning of the thread I did not itemize everything. Things like hot
water tanks and miscellaneous copper weren't included.

200 pounds of steel
29 pounds of cans
22 pounds of lead

Approximate price of steel .06 a pound, cans .70, lead .35

$12 for the steel
$20.30 for the cans
$7.70 for the lead

$40 for just this material.

[CrazyTom]

I didn't post on Sunday because I forgot my electronic scale at work!

The metal dried up a little bit, it could be melting and running down the gutter or the snowbirds being gone has reduced the traffic.
Even so I got;

11 oz lead weights
3 lb 5 oz steel
15 oz pop cans

1 zinc penny, got skunked on the silver bank run.

My little assassins are back. I found 14 CO2 bulbs at an intersection, all painted blue. It was a though someone emptied an ashtray
on the road except they were steel. Found 2 more down the road but they were not painted.

Also found a nice little Torx bit. I tend to find a lot of driver tips, I'm guessing that they slip out of openings in repair truck tool boxes.

[hirbonzig]

Found 27 AL cans, a chunk of steel pipe, a mangled steel road sign post and a clad dime on this mornings walk. Took the truck back to pick up the pipe and sign post.

[CrazyTom]

The metal was back this weekend!

21 pounds steel
2 pounds pop cans
6 oz lead

2 zinc pennies
1 clad dime

1 nice shop rag

1 silver Roosevelt from the Saturday bank run

Most of the steel came in two chunks, an 8 lb. 2 oz. bar and a 3 lb. 7 oz. radiator clutch fan.
Also helping out were 4 padlocks.

2 more CO2 bulbs, and I spied an unbroken paint ball down the road. Drive by paint balling?

I also found a black bag next to a bus stop with a bunch of papers in it. I saw a name and address so I thought I'd help the guy out and
get it back to him. Digging through it at home I discovered that this guy was a dirt bag, scheduled for court dates involving theft and
drunk driving. He also had an auto title loan at 174% yearly interest rate (now when you're stupid, you're really stupid).

He also had note paper with a long list of phone numbers, some only identified by a single initial. There was no way I was going to do
this idiot a favor and call him up. However, I thought that the police might be very interested in his creepy friend phone list. So I gave
Officer Friendly a call and he came and took my bag away.

I was briefly tempted to call some of his comrades from a pay phone.........

[CrazyTom]

Found 27 AL cans, a chunk of steel pipe, a mangled steel road sign post and a clad dime on this mornings walk. Took the truck back to pick up the pipe and sign post.

That's what a truck is for!

[CrazyTom]

I spent the weekend just south of Flagstaff with a few of my boys and only got a teeny ride in earlier in the week.
However, that did not stop me from getting some metal while I was there.

I picked up some steel from a canyon and a few pop cans.
Got some lead off the road too.

19 lb 12 oz steel
4 oz lead
3 oz pop cans

Just doing my civic duty..........

[CrazyTom]

Back on the road this weekend and cleaning up the metal.

Steel 6 lb 1 oz
Lead wheel weights 1 lb
Cans 13 oz

Found a nice 3/8 socket wrench extension and two sockets. Those went in the tool box.

3 zinc pennies

1 golf ball

[OneBiteAtATime]

Back on the road this weekend and cleaning up the metal.

Steel 6 lb 1 oz
Lead wheel weights 1 lb
Cans 13 oz

Found a nice 3/8 socket wrench extension and two sockets. Those went in the tool box.

3 zinc pennies

1 golf ball

Dammit, Tom, what do you do with all those golf balls? You must have a 55 gallon drum full of 'em by now. This could be the most profitable item you pick up - sort and clean by brandname and sell them for .50 a piece on craigslist?