​7 Places to Find Scrap Metal This Spring

The cold season is over and spring is here, creating more ideal temperatures to get out and hunt for scrap metal. There is more construction activity, cleaning and decluttering during the warmer months. There is an increased chance of finding scrap metal during spring if you know where to look. Your community can be a convenient place to find scrap metal this spring. Take a look at these seven places that you may have overlooked.

Garage Sales
Many people do spring cleaning this time of year, and one way to get rid of old or unwanted belongings is to sell it dirt cheap at a garage sale. You never know what you could find at a garage sale, so be on the lookout for neighborhood garage sales. Electronics, bicycles and tools are some items that you may find at a garage sale.
 
Community Clean-Ups
What better time to clean up your neighborhood than during the spring? There are many things lying on the side of the road, and you may very well find items that contain metals during your clean-up, such as wrecked car parts rims containing aluminum. Check the message boards or your city or town’s website community clean-up activities that you could participate in and do some scrapping at the same time.
 
Bulk Garbage Day
Bulk material pickup day is a service offered by many waste management companies, and it provides an opportunity to find both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. It’s common to find bulk material like grills, AC Units, washers and fridges, out on the curb the night prior to pickup. These items are public property and free for anyone to grab.
 
Craigslist
Craigslist is a platform where you can find individuals selling scrap items that they are looking to get rid of. Homeowners use Craigslist to find a new home for nuisance items, like old brass beds, old air conditioning units, televisions, old kitchen appliances, and other unwanted metal objects. Move quickly because items could go fast.
 
College Campuses
College students often dump or leave behind a number of items when moving out of their dorms or apartment. They tend to leave behind items like broken lamps, televisions, mini fridges, microwaves and shelving units. 
 
Spring Festivals/Events
Spring community events, such as fairs occur all across the country each year, providing the opportunity to acquire scrap metal. Pop is a common drink sold at spring events, and if aluminum cans are items that you are after, you can collect plenty at an event. Place bags in various locations to collect a bulk of aluminum cans.
 
Recreation Center
You may be interested in old equipment to scrap, and a recreation center may have some old or broken ones stored away. Consider contacting local recreation centers and inquire about old sports equipment such as aluminum bats, exercise and playground equipment, toys and park equipment that they no longer use and would like to discard.
 
You might be surprised by how much and the type of items that you could find at these places. After acquiring your loot, seek out reputable scrap metal services to get the most for your scrap metal. Contact Second Street Iron & Metal for all your scrap metal needs! 

 Scrapping Metal In The Winter

Making extra money on the side is always something people are looking out for. A great way to do this is to find metal you can scrap and get money for. At second street iron & metal we offer metal scrapping services for all different types of metals and objects. During the winter time, scrapping metal is a great way to make extra cash while the winter weather settles in. However, because of the harsh winters that New England tends to have , you will have to take some precautionary measure to ensure that you are safe and warm while looking for metal to scrap. Below are some tips on how to prepare for looking for metal to scrap this winter. 

Preparation
since you will be out in the cold collecting the metal you want to scrap, you will want to be prepared for the climate. Be sure to have warm clothes and gloves ready as well as a shovel and ice pick. With the cold temperatures in the winter, the metal you are looking for may be frozen to the ground or frozen to other objects around it. By having the proper tools with you as well as proper clothing, it will make your metal retrieving process more easier. 

Stay Warm
As mentioned above, you will be out in the harsh New England climate potentially scavenging through snow and ice. Knowing this, be sure to cover up your body so you are warm while you are out there collecting scrap metal. Be sure to layer up under your winter coats and have the proper footwear that can handle the snow while also keeping you warm. Whether you are scrapping for yourself or for a business

3 Popular Scrap Metal Finds During Spring Cleaning 

​Spring cleaning is a great way to declutter and get rid of accumulated junk from your home and your life. It’s a great way to de-stress, purge, and organize your space. You can find items you though you had lost during spring cleaning, and you can also find garbage. Is everything deemed garbage necessarily junk? Maybe there is a little bit of money to be made from perceived junk you have found during your spring cleaning. You could earn a bit of cash with these three scrap metal finds.

Gold

Old electronics are things that many folks hold on to, even after they have been replaced by a new model. These old electronics, such as laptops, computers, TVs, cell phones, DVD or VCR players, and cameras may have electric motors inside that you can scrap. While there are thin copper wires in these electronics, for example, copper wires are attached at the base of a TV monitor, VCRs, CD Players and DVD players, and old stereo components, like amplifiers and receivers, contain printed circuit boards with gold. You could be lucky and find a scrap dealer that takes not just circuit boards, or individual component, but whole computers and servers as well.

Copper

Air conditioners are common scrap metal items and you can take it apart for the scrap metal
inside. Copper, steel, and aluminum are all materials found inside, and a whole window air
conditioning unit can earn you between $4-6. If you found a couple units during your spring
cleaning, you could make a few extra dollars scrapping them for their copper, which is popular to
recycle as scrap metal.

Aluminum

In your garage, you could have valuable scrap metal just laying around and collecting dust when
you could earn some money from it. If you work on your own car, chances are you have an old
engine or aluminum rims ready to be thrown out. Before you do, consider scrapping them. Both
can be salvaged for their aluminum; the engine has aluminum with steel running throughout it
and aluminum rims can fetch a decent price. Prices vary depending on the quality of the rim and
where you live, but aluminum rims can go for 50 cents per pound or a little higher.

Taking your scrap metal to professionals is a better option than throwing them away because you
could be throwing money away, and it also significantly benefit the environment by being
disposed of properly. If you are interested in our scrap metal services, contact us today! 

While it might be easy to find any random piece of metal and bring it to a scrap metal recycling center, you should do some preparation before going out the door. Although you might not want to invest a bunch of money into buying expensive equipment, it pays to be a bit more prepared. Before you decided to give scrap metalworking a try, here are few things you should consider.
 
Magnet
A magnet would be your most helpful tool in helping you to identify and assess the value of a metal. This is helpful in determining whether you're dealing with a ferrous or nonferrous metal. Ferrous metals will stick to your magnet whereas nonferrous will not. Generally, ferrous metals will not be worth a lot because they are more commonly available whereas nonferrous metals would be more valuable.
 
Containers
Having several containers would be helpful in sorting every type of metal you have collected. It is generally best to separate your metals because the scrap dealers would often tell you to do so and if you do not, they will generally pay you based on the price of the least valuable metals in the bunch.
 
Durable Gloves
Working with rough material, especially sharp metal can be hazardous if you're not careful. To prevent cuts and the possibility of other injuries, wear durable gloves when handling scrap metal. Leather gloves are an excellent option to consider.
 
Some Basic Knowledge
Having the basic level of knowledge to be able to tell the metals apart would be very helpful to you. Without this, it would be very difficult and time consuming for you to try to estimate the value. Simply knowing the most common forms of ferrous metals (such as steel and iron) and nonferrous metals (such as aluminum, copper, and brass) would help your search go much more smoother.
 
Second Street Iron & Metal is a fourth generation family business that has been serving the greater Boston area for over 100 years. Because of our experience and high level of standard, we are highly respected and earned a strong reputation among the recycling industry. With locations in Chelsea and Everett, we are open Monday to Saturday. Contact us at (617) 387-1188 or visit our website for more information.

Although winter seems to be lingering like an unwanted house guest this year, we promise you, Springtime will soon be here for real. A common household task during the Spring is “Spring cleaning”. The process of opening your windows, airing out your home, and giving it a good clean.

During this task, home owners typically take stock of the items around their house and do away with those deemed no longer necessary.Many items that take up unnecessary space and are no longer needed in a home or property can be scraped for some pocket change. 

For example, copper and steel outdoor decorations or furniture is a popular item that is scraped this time of year. Many people put this off for years, not knowing they can drop it off at our Everett Scrap Yard.

Another popular area in the Spring time to clean our is the garage. New England is notorious for having garages with no cars in them. That’s because that’s where many homeowners store no longer needed materials from their home. A typical old New England home may have old appliances, no longer used vehicles, various rusted old tools, and a plethora of scrap-able materials.  

Second Street Iron & Metal in Everett, Massachusetts is here to help you with your spring cleaning! We accept a large amount of household appliances and goods. Items such as filing cabinets and other outdoor furniture are typically made from recyclable metals.

​If you have any questions about the house hold items we accept, contact us here today to find out.