suggestions on scrapping out a bus

[oldmansax]

There is an old Flexible (1990) that is going to be sold for scrap about 30 miles away. I have some time next month & was thinking about buying it myself & scrapping it out. Any thoughts along this line? I haven't seen the bus yet but I understand it is not salvageable. I have a scrap metal dealer withing 2 miles of my present location so getting rid of the scrap would not be a problem. How is the most profitable way to do this, considering I only have about a month of free time? Make a fast strip out of the aluminum & copper & sell the rest bulk? Just drag the entire bus to the yard & see what it's worth?

I already know I am crazy because I am a busnut!    Is this just another hair brained scheme ( my wife's opinion)?

TOM

[HighTechRedneck]

The shop where we are currently parked at scraps old buses as a routine activity.  The owner says that he gets about $5000 gross scrap value out of each one, less labor and materials (i.e. blades).  He says that the key to getting that much is separating all metals (Copper, Stainless Steel, plain mild steel and Aluminum).  Some places take them whole, but pay much less since they then have the labor of stripping out the various metals.

They completely tear it down separating all metals and disposing of all non metal. When done, there is nothing left.  Even the big heavy pieces are cut up into small enough pieces that they can haul it to the recycler with their pickup and trailer.  One person at the shop does most of the work and it usually takes about two weeks of full time (40 hrs/wk) labor.  It is a lot of hard labor.

Breaking it down, you may also find parts that you can sell for a lot more than scrap value.

[Paso One]

The biggest problem I see with your plan is it is hard not to "save" all the good stuff.

I stripped a donor bus and I had to make some "hard" decisions.

Some stuff is just to hard to scrap. I couldn't control myself I just kept removing the "good stuff"

The next thing you know you have a great big pile of good stuff. (That you might need   )

You'll need it alright sometime in the future.

The carcuss is still a 30 miles away from the scrap yard.  ( tow bill)  My case scrap yard 5 miles away.

Other than that it is a great way to have your own parts department. ( of great stuff)

A month usually is not enough time if you argue with your self like I do.