# Scrap Mobile Home $?



## jmcdonou

Our deer lease in Washington, GA has a mobile home that has seen better days.

I've been reading up on different disposal options and was wondering if anyone on here had any advice.

The best case scenario would be someone come to the property, buy it from me, and haul it off for scrap.

Its not in the way so I could care less if it stays but if someone wanted the scrap metal they could come and get it and I could make some money.   Then take that money and buy seed.   

I need to take measurements and find out the model/year/make.  

Has anyone done this before or know someone who may be interested?  I may just put an ad up on Craigslist but have no idea how much to ask.


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## jason4445

A friend a few years ago found one company some where in Tennessee that would take mobile homes for recycling.  If he delivered the home to them then he only had to pay them $600 to recycle it, if they had to come get it then there would be transportation costs added to the $600.

He thought he was going to get money out of it and they told him that there was only 37% of the mobile home that could be recycled and that it took about 40 man hours to remove the stuff that was recyclable - the rest they had to bust up and take to landfill and had to pay a tipping fee based on weight.


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## ugabowhunter

I think you will have a very difficult time finding someone to buy the trailer from you for them to scrap it, unless they only take the aluminum, copper, and iron with them. Then, you are left with a pile of particle board, sheetrock, and insulation...none of which are easy to burn. The only way you will make money is to scrap out the trailer yourself, clean the copper wire, remove all screws from the aluminum, and then you would still have to cut up the trailer frame in order to deliver it to the scrap yard. 

If you can find someone to do it on halves with you and they remove the trash, that would be a good deal. A big warning, most "scrappers" will tell you they will remove everything, but dissappear once they have the metals.

I am in the scrap business and know how much work it is to make an entire trailer dissapear. Keep in mind, you are looking at about$125-200 of aluminum, $200 in iron, and maybe $75-100 in copper. If the trailer still has appliances in it, you can figure about $0.09-$0.11/lb.

Ball park prices per pound are $0.50 for aluminum, $2.75 for clean Copper, and about $0.10 for any iron. Hope this helps!


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## jigman29

Way more trouble involved than profit earned.I took one apart for scrap and had a time and didn't really make that much money,but if you can get a few members from the club and bring a couple of trailers to haul the trash off you can dismantle it in a few days and use the money for the seed and all for the lease.


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## harryrichdawg

I scrapped a small camper about a month ago.  I spent more than a couple of hours removing all the aluminum and making sure that no magnetic fasteners were left.  I got $0.30 per pound and made less than $25 for a pile that was about 1 foot high on my 5x10 trailer.  I wouldn't do it again.


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## jmcdonou

Thanks for all your advice. 
This forum is a great resource, I'm glad I asked here before I just  let random Craigslist folks onto the property.

Looks like its going to stay for now. 

I don't get out to the property enough to spend an entire weekend tearing it down.  Got a few other things that are higher priorities and was thinking this was a quick way to make a buck.


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## DAVE

I had a 70 footer once that I had a hole dug, trailer pushed in, burned and buried. Most counties want let you move a mobile home on the roads after it gets a few years old.


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## shakey gizzard

Here's an idea!


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## jmcdonou

Nice!


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## sleepr71

Been there,done that. My advice: Drag it near the highway and..GIVE it away..and make them take the WHOLE thing..so the clean up is their problem. I had to clean up one that had been burnt on our farm & OMG..3 days work for one man! Tons of insulation,screws,nails,glass,etc to get up! IMO,the only thing useable from one would be the frame(to make a utility trailer out of it)..a little copper & such..but you'd be better off to make the same $$ doing something else Sleepr71


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## Showman

Why not rehab it into a bunk house or a storage building?


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## Knotwild

I tore one down for a friend about 2 months ago. It was a single wide two bedroom; but I do not know how long it was. Bottom line was about a week of very hard work and about $360.00.

If it wasn't for a friend being pressured by the county to remove it, I would have run like crazy. He offered me some more and I said no thanks.


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## rhbama3

Does the local fire department need a practice mobile home for training? I don't know if they would clean up afterwards or not, but i'd offer it to them.


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## Knotwild

The local fire department here reeled off a list of materials that could not be burned, and when they got finished, wood was about the only thing "burnable".


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## rhbama3

Knotwild said:


> The local fire department here reeled off a list of materials that could not be burned, and when they got finished, wood was about the only thing "burnable".



Ah. Gotcha.


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## BigSwole

My buddys dad had the local fire dept burn off one a few years ago. They burned it to the ground. Had people clean up the trash and all that was left was the frame. Then they scrapped that.

So i know that it could be done. Plus it takes what 5 mins? To call and ask.

Get the wiring and all out first and let them roast that sucker.


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## chase870

Been in the trailer park bussiness for 20 plus years. next time your at camp have a accidentt with the camp fire. maybe let the kids play with the fire etc. Home will be gone within 7 to 10 min. fire dept will never make it there in time. Problem solved


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## BigSwole

chase870 said:


> Been in the trailer park bussiness for 20 plus years. next time your at camp have a accidentt with the camp fire. maybe let the kids play with the fire etc. Home will be gone within 7 to 10 min. fire dept will never make it there in time. Problem solved



Ding ding ding!


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## harryrichdawg

chase870 said:


> Been in the trailer park bussiness for 20 plus years. next time your at camp have a accidentt with the camp fire. maybe let the kids play with the fire etc. Home will be gone within 7 to 10 min. fire dept will never make it there in time. Problem solved



Mr. Chase speaks the truth.  Just make sure that there is a burn line from the fire pit, so that it can't be ruled as arson.


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## deerehauler

Or you can just build a fire pit around it!


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## GrlsHnt2

You dont want to get in the business of letting anyone take it apart on your land. We did it with an old one on our property. We got $375 for every inch of metal we could salvage from a 62' long single wide, including iron tubs and water heaters, HVAC units and siding. And the clean up of insulation and scrap was so not worth the headache. Give the thing away free and make them take the whole thing.


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## zedex

My ex sis-in-law had one to get rid a few years back. It was older, but livable. She gave it away and some guy got in touch with her and said he'd take it. She gave him the papers and the next day, a mover would come get it. Well, that was the plan.

While she was at work, the guy shows up, rips it apart on her property. He takes wiring, plumbing and aluminum walls off, leaves the rest behind. 

 She came home to insulation scattered all over her property, her neighbor's place and all over each side of the road and in each direction.

 The city was there and she was fined for numerous offenses, had to pay the county for their cleanup and then had to pay to get rid of the rest of the m/h.

 Her gift to the kind fella cost her over $6000. 

 I would do as pointed out above. Get a backhoe, dig deep,push it in,  light it up and bury the rest.


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## SASS249

zedex said:


> I would do as pointed out above. Get a backhoe, dig deep,push it in,  light it up and bury the rest.



I have stayed out of this until now, but the above is REALLY bad advice.

To start with it violates at least two state laws, open buring of solid waste and illegal disposal of solid waste.  From your perspective though the more important part is that it also probably violates the terms of your lease on the property.  It creates a permanent liability for your property owner and the end result can be more hassle and money than you could believe.

I deal with these types of issues every day.  We never go looking for them, but you will not believe the number of people who file complaints regarding this type of thing.  When a complaint gets files the state has to investigate and apply the laws as written.

The downside liability is just not worth it.


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## zedex

If you are the property owner, you should be free to do with it as you see fit.

 As far as burning solid waste and burying the rest, it is the same thing the state would do when you haul it to a waste disposal site. The difference is that you pay them to do it for you. Basically, it is that by doing it yourself, the state doesn't make money from you.

I went back and re-read the OP. Yes, it is on a lease, therfore, removal from property is the only course of action. An accidental fire would eliminate some of the hassle, but the ensuing clenaup would be tremendous and of course, the risk of the fire escaping the "target".

In light of this, I would suggest placing a notice at the gate for a free camp home and be present when they came for it. I am sure there are some folks that would love a free camp home. On site scrapping would leave a mess to clean up. 

 You may want to call some scrap yards and offer it to them. Some will take it and as time allows, tear it apart and dispose of the junk stuff properly


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## SASS249

Don't want to get into a discussion about what you should or should not be able to do.  That is a discussion better had with your state legislator.

Please note the OP indicated this was located on his deer lease, not on his land.  Most leases I have seen specifically state you have to obey state and local laws.  Given how competetive it is to get and keep a good lease I would hate to see someone do something that caused them to lose a lease.


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## Sirduke

Scrapped out a few before I convinced my brother that it wasn't worth it even if the people were giving you the mobile home AND paying you to do it.

Roughly $200 worth of scrap iron, maybe $100 worth of copper and aluminium. Offset that by several days of work, and disposal of what you can't burn or scrap.

Give it away and consider yourself luck if you find a fool to take it.


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## sleepr71

Sirduke said:


> Scrapped out a few before I convinced my brother that it wasn't worth it even if the people were giving you the mobile home AND paying you to do it.
> 
> Roughly $200 worth of scrap iron, maybe $100 worth of copper and aluminium. Offset that by several days of work, and disposal of what you can't burn or scrap.
> 
> Give it away and consider yourself luck if you find a fool to take it.




Yup. Same thing I said in post #10...only I didn't have a choice.Sleepr71


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## GrlsHnt2

Sirduke said:


> Scrapped out a few before I convinced my brother that it wasn't worth it even if the people were giving you the mobile home AND paying you to do it.
> 
> Roughly $200 worth of scrap iron, maybe $100 worth of copper and aluminium. Offset that by several days of work, and disposal of what you can't burn or scrap.
> 
> Give it away and consider yourself luck if you find a fool to take it.



There are some broke fools out there stupid enough to take it...i have one lives across the street from me. Most of them need another "fix"


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