Scrapping Kinda Sucks

Oh, shit no. I'm not looking to collect to collect the aluminum dust.. I just don't want to cut more out the wheels than I have to. I didn't realize there were different width disks for angle grinders, I thought they were all like a 1/2" thick. I might go to HD later and see what they have. Whatever I get, it will be corded. Sawzall works great for tire tread and sidewall, it's getting through the bead that takes all the time.


Is it possible to reheat the joints and slide them apart? Then wipe off whatever solder is there when it's still liquified?


The cost of heating fuel is not worth it I'd bet. I got some cheap 2' steel cable cutters to try but not used them yet. If not I'll deff use them for other stuff. [edit] Suppose a wood fire might do the trick but even then, the solder makes it number 2 and that end would need clipped.

Disk i have. The thick ones are more for grinding, got a few of those too but hardly use em.

 
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Disk i have. The thick ones are more for grinding, got a few of those too but hardly use em.

Amazon.com
That thickness would be ideal. I mean, .045 is basically a spark plug gap. The amount off loss would be about the same as the sawzall, but a hell of a lot quicker. Bonus, cut off wheels will last a hell of a lot longer than expensive sawzall blades.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to HF. They have a couple different 4 1/2" corded Bauer angle grinders on sale. One is $29 - the other is $34. They are both 8 amps/11,500 rpm, so lots of power. Both have great reviews. The only difference between the two (that I can tell) is the trigger. One has a normal push button trigger, the other has a paddle trigger. They both have cruise control. Cheapo cut off wheels scare the hell out of me so I'm gonna buy those from HD instead of HF.

I bought 4 more wheels this evening for $60. Guessing they are 22 lbs. each. Profit $61. They have tires on them so the angle grinder method is gonna get tested.

Total weight for Monday morning is up to 872 lbs.
I'm getting worried that I won't have enough room in the truck.
 
I have never had good luck with HF grinders they never last .
If they come with spare brushes they are junk don't over heat them all I have to say .
I have spend better money to get a good one from Lowe's and has lasted many years .
I'm with you on the HF cut off wheel they are junk and dangerous that is why I buy the better cut off from Lowe's
 
I have never had good luck with HF grinders they never last .
If they come with spare brushes they are junk don't over heat them all I have to say .
I have spend better money to get a good one from Lowe's and has lasted many years .
I'm with you on the HF cut off wheel they are junk and dangerous that is why I buy the better cut off from Lowe's

Got an old orange HF one that is ok, Chicago eltric maybe. Then bought a cheap black HF one and that thing will rattle your arms of,f it shakes so bad(not even cutting anything). Actually found a ok brand grinder, in a case with various disk not long ago. Cuts out on/off type and not trouble shot it yet, might be just brushes if I'm lucky. idk never messed with the stuff before but the disk alone were a score.
 
HF cut-off disk and other consumables are deff junk and only good for if you need something cheap n fast. I've got good bulk consumables on ebay or amazon. Can't fully say those disk I linked are yet but they seem ok so far.

[edit] Well for my cheap low power grinder. Combining a powerful grinder and cheap disc, don't seem like a good idea.
 
I bought the Bauer angle grinder, and against my better judgement, I bought a 10 pack of Bauer cut off wheels. Knock on wood, I didn't have any disc explosion, and they cut as good as any other good blade I've used. The weight and feel of the tool is solid, and it doesn't vibrate at all. I did wear glasses and a face shield. I cut off 4 tires today (8 beads) and the disc has very little wear. Tools and tax, under $50.

Cutting through the beads with an angle grinder is an absolute game changer. I'd struggle using the sawzall on a lot of beads, especially on wheels with thick material and/or weird shapes on the faces. The angle grinder goes through the aluminum and bead steel in literal seconds. I still use the sawzall to cut the sidewalls and tread.

The wheels I got last night were actually 23 lbs. each.
Adjusted total for tomorrow load is 876 pounds.
I use the bathroom scale to weigh each wheel.
My scale vs the yards scale was withing 10 lbs. last time.
 
I bought the Bauer angle grinder, and against my better judgement, I bought a 10 pack of Bauer cut off wheels. Knock on wood, I didn't have any disc explosion, and they cut as good as any other good blade I've used. The weight and feel of the tool is solid, and it doesn't vibrate at all. I did wear glasses and a face shield. I cut off 4 tires today (8 beads) and the disc has very little wear. Tools and tax, under $50.

Cutting through the beads with an angle grinder is an absolute game changer. I'd struggle using the sawzall on a lot of beads, especially on wheels with thick material and/or weird shapes on the faces. The angle grinder goes through the aluminum and bead steel in literal seconds. I still use the sawzall to cut the sidewalls and tread.

The wheels I got last night were actually 23 lbs. each.
Adjusted total for tomorrow load is 876 pounds.
I use the bathroom scale to weigh each wheel.
My scale vs the yards scale was withing 10 lbs. last time.
Happy we could help .
Did you cut the tread first then side wall to stop the flexing of the tire
 
Happy we could help .
Did you cut the tread first then side wall to stop the flexing of the tire
I lay the wheel/tire flat on my tailgate with one side of the tire hanging completely off .. With the sawzall, plunge the top sidewall .. go straight through the tread .. then cut the opposite sidewall .. all in one fluid motion. It's a straight shot cut through the entire tire without letting off the trigger.. I hope that makes sense.

After I cut the sidewall and tread, I plunge through the beads with the angle grinder. It takes about 5 seconds to cut each bead.

I know this may seem petty, but the one thing that is annoying is that I have to keep unplugging one tool to to use the other tool.

I'm not even kidding.. I'm pretty sure I can remove these tires in less than 2 minutes.
 
I lay the wheel/tire flat on my tailgate with one side of the tire hanging completely off .. With the sawzall, plunge the top sidewall .. go straight through the tread .. then cut the opposite sidewall .. all in one fluid motion. It's a straight shot cut through the entire tire without letting off the trigger.. I hope that makes sense.

After I cut the sidewall and tread, I plunge through the beads with the angle grinder. It takes about 5 seconds to cut each bead.

I know this may seem petty, but the one thing that is annoying is that I have to keep unplugging one tool to to use the other tool.

I'm not even kidding.. I'm pretty sure I can remove these tires in less than 2 minutes.
Cutting the tread is the hard part with the side walls cut the tread would flop with the blade and break the blade or take forever to cut .
But sounds like you have a good method
 
Today's was a good day.

36 wheels.
880 lbs.
$1,214 cash money.

257 lbs. 'scrap iron'.
$28.20 cash money.

Nice!

Woke up ealry n went out for an early run since i didn't really go out last night. Only got bout $5 in bottles form this one stop(1 free beer), a bit of alum and then like 20lbs in steel. 1.5hr and bout 1.5 gal in fuel, so kinda a wash and i still gotta spend the time cashing the bottles in.

Yesterday i had a call for a pick-up. Knew it'd be meh, when the lady said someone already took some of it(they cherry picked the best stuff). Had to cut up an old steel pool and drag it far to my truck(lady said it was stacked in pieces already but one complete piece). Prob should of charged them LOL. But on the way home i found 4 entry doors(meh mostly wood) and then a nice guy flagged me down, for an old small generator, microwave n bit of other scrap. :)
 
I bought the Bauer angle grinder, and against my better judgement, I bought a 10 pack of Bauer cut off wheels. Knock on wood, I didn't have any disc explosion, and they cut as good as any other good blade I've used. The weight and feel of the tool is solid, and it doesn't vibrate at all. I did wear glasses and a face shield. I cut off 4 tires today (8 beads) and the disc has very little wear. Tools and tax, under $50.

Cutting through the beads with an angle grinder is an absolute game changer. I'd struggle using the sawzall on a lot of beads, especially on wheels with thick material and/or weird shapes on the faces. The angle grinder goes through the aluminum and bead steel in literal seconds. I still use the sawzall to cut the sidewalls and tread.

The wheels I got last night were actually 23 lbs. each.
Adjusted total for tomorrow load is 876 pounds.
I use the bathroom scale to weigh each wheel.
My scale vs the yards scale was withing 10 lbs. last time.
I use a lot of the HF cut off wheels never had a problem.
 
Only got bout $5 in bottles form this one stop
Bottles? As in, glass bottles?

After I got home from the yard on Monday I went right back to MP to try n make deals.
Monday, I scored 16 for $220. (estimated $288 profit)
Tuesday, I scored 12 more for $177. (estimated profit $204)
I base my estimated profits off a 23 lb. average.
So far I have 28 wheels, and the week is still young. :)
My goal is to have 1,000+ lbs. for next Monday's haul.

That said, one set is off a Hummer H2. Google says they're 30+ pounds each. I also got 4 Ford car wheels. I'm not sure what Ford they're off of, but they seem heavy as hell.

Against my better judgement, I started answering ads from St Louis.
There are tons of deals, and the prices are cheap.
If I get any bites my head will be on a swivel for sure.
 
Bottles? As in, glass bottles?
Yup, we have deposit in Michigan. I've taken in a few hundred cans/bottles, since i started. Very random but sometimes i find a trash bag of them only. Tho i have a 3 or so regulars, that I hit each week for bout $5ish each but i gotta pull them out of the can/cans(YUCK, part of why i always wear gloves). Well one guy works partly from home I think, so it's his shop can, mostly wood n other nonmetal building type trash.

After winter cause of the snow and no place to store them. Had 7 totes & bout ten cases/boxes as well, of glass bottles in my backyard to haul in. It'd snow during or over night before I unloaded and not dealing with wet snowy bottles LOL

Not all alum cans are deposit tho(Mi rules carbonated drinks have deposit) or even bottles(Canadian beer I found, from Canada) But you can still scrap the cans as alum. Got a couple totes of non-deposit cans or need to find the right store. Mostly craft beer that is too far for deposit. A place/store only has to pay deposit for what it sells. Often i take in a lot, to make the trip worth it, like right before i go out to scrap, so i'm already wearing work/grungy cloths.

It's funny this one scrapper i watch passes on them all the time, no deposit in his state and I'm like noooo $$$ LOL

It's also funny how much unopened beer i find. Just got over three 6 packs from one place and then another 7 loose craft beer from another, all in one night. I only clean n keep the canned stuff, don't trust bottles with twist off caps but still deposit). Just gave my friend two unopened energy drinks and a 5 pack of orange pop as well LOL

Heck I'd of never tried Stella Artois beer but got a full case of it in the winter. I'll prob buy that stuff once in awhile now :)
 
Oh and a bottle of white wine but no liquor yet :ROFLMAO:

[edit] It'd be funny if i saved the wine, for if someone ever invited me over for dinner. Like people do on TV or w/e. Then if they asked where i got and i'd be like... The trash. I'd never do that but it'd be funny :ROFLMAO: Just the random crazy thoughts i have driving around :)
 
I kinda f'd up.

I realized today when cutting tires that the Hummer wheels I bought are H3 wheels. They are basically the same as 6 lug GM truck wheels. I don't know how the hell I missed that when I put them in the truck. I'm so stupid. I need to hurry up and slow down some, pay closer attention to what I'm doing. Lesson learned. At least I didn't lose money.
 
I'm about to cut some tires off some gm wheel that have so much tread and been sitting out back for so long that the date code is 2013 I was trying to sell them cheap on MP but no bites
 
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