[TheForge] Re: Read it and weep

[Harland Johnson]

My #1 son cut and hauled/ sold  scrap steel for several years.  Last year, I 
believe he  was averaging under  $40 a ton, which calculates under $0.02 per 
pound.  As a result several  of the local haulers of scrap steel were giving 
up on "cleaning out a grove" unless paid to take the stuff.  Kind of like 
garbage removal. 

Trying to get a return for time/ labor after the  diesel fuel cost to haul 
the iron was impossible. My son would really snort, when I started to pull 
some "treasure steel" OFF his load, but I noticed that he tended to bring my 
cutting torch home for a visit when the tanks got empty.  (I wonder where he 
put my rose bud. ) 

I never did feel guilty about picking  off "my"  two cents worth of his 
scrap steel. 

Dann Johnson 

Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer writes: 

> Here on the left coast, the price of scrap seems to have been diddle for 
> the last few years. On Hwy 101, just north of Paso Robles the ABC junk 
> yard sometimes charges as little as an eyeballed 5 cents a # if they like 
> you. Their turnover is pretty quick so the pickings vary radically in 
> quality.
> Part of the reason for the low price is that the county has harassed  so 
> many of the junkyards out of business, that for most folks getting rid of 
> iron is a disposal problem. Some places actually charge to take junk!
> Is junk were to suddenly be the coin of the realm..I'd be rich! As junk is 
> amongst the things I desire, I guess I must be.........Pete F