OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Scrap ally

I have stripped a heap of motors down and I wonder if anybody knows what they accept as clean ally. I'm guessing they will class the cases with the cast sleve in them and the fanwheels with the magnets in them as downgrade and as the pistons will be diecast and that makes then not worth much

You have to find a way to somehow separate the different metals whether that be bashing them out or using cutting tools to achieve that end. If it's too difficult you have you accept the much lower rate for irony aluminium.
With the flywheels that have magnets pressed into them, I have successfully used a hammer to knock them out after partially loosening them with a screwdriver. Otherwise I break them into chunks and submit the pieces with the magnets as irony aluminium and the rest as pure cast aluminium.

You must consider the sheer extra weight of the other metals with irony goes a small way to gaining a little lost ground. It's still worth more then ferrous metals.

Thanks MF, it is what I figured, big problem is the cast iron sleves in the barrel casing. I have cut one in half and there is no way I can break the cast iron away from the ally, so I am thinking I have to cut the barrels off and let that go as contaminated ally. I haven't worked out which is the best way to go they offered me 50 cents a kg for the motors complete.and a 375 Briggs motor weighs about 6kg so that is about $3 a motor. The Chondas are lighter and the Quantams are a bit heavier

That's not bad actually, I get the going rate of 30¢/kg for irony alloy.
You have to also consider the time and effort of separating vs submitting whole.
In one YouTube of a scrapper sending in copper electrical wire coated vs spending the day stripping them all with equipment he set up to make it faster, he worked out he gained $8 per hour for his efforts stripping them vs taking them in as is.
He thought it wasn't really worth it unless you really need the $$ or have the time on your hands and don't mind doing it.

Hi Norm and Mf,

Any alloy that has any metal parts is classified as dirty alloy and paid at a much lower rate, for eg alloy heads can't have any guides or seats etc.

Personally I would not waste my time even unbolting the alloy head off a briggs,I wish I got 50 cents a kg for a motor, around here they
only pay .076 cents a kg for motors and 36 cents a kg for alloy including magnesium .

So if I go to where Norm goes instead of $87. I would have got $366.

Hmm I've thrown out a few trailer loads of motors and didn't get much but at 50 cents a kg I'll probably be scrapping good running motors.

I filled a 200 litre bin full of wiring once but got virtually nothing for it considering the time to fill the bin so never did that again.

If you are spending time dismantling motors you may as well drive around with a trailer picking up washing machines ,fridges , dryers
for scrap steel as I see a few people that do that and it would make more money time wise in my opinion.

The only time if I was taking alloy off a mower engine is to smash it off with an axe or hammer and chisel.

Even mag wheels you need to punch the steel wheel nut inserts out otherwise the scrap price drops dramatically.

Cheers
Max.

Hi Max,
Yes I stuffed up, thought I was being smart, but you are right, just chuck the motors in the trailer and straight down to the scrap. Bit annoyed with myself for wasting time. I have always just taken them to the scrap and should have done so this time.

Hi NK and MW,
do your drain out the oil?

Hi Mf,

Yes you need to remove the oil and motors must be cleaned ,pressure wash or wire brush and compressed air.


Cheers
Max.

Hi MF, yes I do drain the oil out of them, I am just about to scrap another Chonda self propelled machine which is like new but has had ethanol through the carby, they remove the filter housing cover so that goes missing, then they keep pulling till they break the pullstart, then they dump it with no catcher so it is not worth chasing the bits to get it working again, so off to the scrap it goes

I've got a newish Honda self propelled with cast iron bore motor ,works well but I never use it ,I'll probably scrap that and
just keep the motor.

That is different Max, those motors are worth fixing up but dump the rest. I very rarely come across a Chonda that appears to have done a lot of work, most motors are nice and clean and would have a lot of life left in them, but 98% need at least a new carby to get them running and that just makes them not worth the effort. Just an absolute waste of energy and resources when the world is spinning its head about the climate problems

Hi Norm and Mf,

I hadn't seen the Honda for at least 5 years , it was sitting out the back with tin over it ,Shogun mower with Honda GXV160,
looked new when I found it but covered in dust now, may as well scrap it for the good motor ,I see people advertise similar
mowers to this now for $400. and 12 months later their still asking $400.

Very rarely do I find a Honda or Chonda mower that the carby needs replacing but years ago I'd also look for mowers in country areas
as I'd find more vintage mowers and would find some Chonda mowers that looked new but the motors were stuffed (no compression or
burning a lot of oil) about 10 percent of the motors were worn out ,the strange thing was sometimes the oil looked brand new as well as the mower.

Last time I ran the GXV160 it ran well, the last serviced yardking mower I sold for $50.also looked like it wasn't used much
but still took a couple months to sell ,5 years ago I could have sold 50 mowers in a month on one ad at that price.

Not worth fixing a mower on Saturday to sell for $50. when I can cut and split firewood in the back yard and make $1000. and
the wood can sell in a couple days.

Cheers
Max.

Getting rid of at least 60 motors and 8 ally bodies to the scrap tomorrow or Friday and then a load of bases and scrap steel possibly Saturday and that should clean up a bit of space. Then I will look at the catchers and start culling them, sick of keeping rubbish on the off chance I might need something

Yes it's a bit of a problem Norm with the motors I scrap you still need to find space for carbies ,starters ,wheels and coils if
you keep them.

People kept giving me ride one mowers ,quad bikes and Chinese trail bikes but am glad now I've sold what I could and thrown the rest out.

The only way I can see to get rid of 100 catchers quickly is to burn them away from any houses.


Cheers
max.

Getting rid of the catchers doesn't bother me too much Max, I just cut them into flat pieces and that way I can get a number in the rubbish bin each week. That gets rid of about 20 a month

Found another 12 motors in a shed up the back, so by the time I get those out and in the trailer it will total close to 80 motors out of here. Should get a couple of hundred for that lot. Still leaves me with probably 100 Victa 2 strokes, with probably 50 having been straight fueled. I will think about what to do with these

Hope you get a good price for the scrap Norm as the price dropped a lot here but even last time I went to your guy he only
paid $1.30 a kg for the alloy mower bases instead of $1.50 a kg previously.

Just got rid of 40 catchers in 2 hours , the fire was hot so didn't smoke, had to completely flood the pit with water to put the fire out
and the water just kept boiling for ages.


Cheers
Max.

Should have thrown some tyres in as well.
I'd love to be able to do that.

Got rid of a lot of catchers there Max

Burning tyres release toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Benzene, xylene, ethylene, and acetone are among the most dangerous compounds released during the burning of tires. These chemicals have been linked to cancer and birth defects.

Besides the Koalas will get black faces and fur.

Burning plastic isn't a great idea ,but is done all over the world https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/2019/10/are-we-getting-sick-of-burnt-plastic/

It’s best to reduce use and recycle where possible. Of course, some plastic is burned in incinerators for disposal and for electricity production. This commercial incineration process occurs at much higher temperatures than a fire at home. If the fire is not hot enough it will smoke.

The fire I had melted alloy but I generally wouldn't recommend burning catchers , It's a pity we went to plastic catchers as the old
metal catchers recycle themselves when they rust away. The catchers were stored a long way from any roads to get them out and I didn't want to bury them.

Our car tyres are burnt in india to make dirty diesel.

I've cut catchers up before Norm and put them in the bin but it's very time consuming and probably ends up getting burnt somewhere.

Hi Max,
I don't have the option of burning the catchers so it is in the bin for me

A mate remembers his dad threw a pair of tyres in the backyard incinerator, and saw black smoke rising in the sky from several blocks away.
How much did mower manufacturers save when they turned to moulding their catchers from plastic? The metal ones were much more durable and didn't crack easily.
Yet the Paris accord wants us to sign up while letting India get away with thatt yet they're enjoying rapid industrialisation.

Hi Norm and Mf,


Most places these days you aren't allowed to have a fire outside ,when I have a fire I use the fire to cook some food ,then
you're allowed the fire for a BBQ and you're also allowed a fire for camping.

It's a little strange how we're not allowed plastic bags yet over 40 percent of garbage worldwide is incinerated.

I know my BBQ fire got to at least 660 degrees.


Yes I remember the days of backyard incinerators and lots of people burnt plastic etc and is now probably a good thing
that the government stopped us burning in backyards.


Yes the metal catchers would last a lifetime if looked after but the plastic catchers will deteriorate (crack ,break) It's just
another example of Planned obsolescence ,it was well known in manufacturing that the black plastics lasted the longest
but manufacturers would still make other coloured plastics that didn't last very long.

With planned obsolescence manufacturers sell more products to make more profit.


Most countries say one thing then do the opposite ,https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/30/worse-than-plastic-burning-tyres-india-george-monbiot

If we're not allowed plastic bags you would think you would stop making most plastics and start growing more trees to use wood and paper.



Cheers
Max.

Hi Max and MF,
You only have to look at a few of the Indian manufacturing processes on the internet to understand why the Indian workes have a much shortened lifespan. Working with all sorts of chemicals and not a bit of PPE to be seen
And $424 for this lot of ally is better than a poke in the eye with a wet stick