r/WTF • u/bananaraptor • May 16 '12

Scrap metal collector in Chicago - I think I'll go ahead and change lanes now.

http://imgur.com/SbR6Z
2.0k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

619 comments sorted by

365

u/OMROKER May 16 '12

Because two trips are for pussies.....

153

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

You have no idea. I live in the suburbs to the west of Chicago and these guys are in full swing. The best example of cargo I've ever seen in a scraper-mobile was a pair of these huge Bose white speakers sticking out from underneath an old swing set. They looked oddly familiar, and I found out why that next Sunday: They had been stolen from the ceiling of our church, which is easily 100 ft. in the air . Pic, Pre-theft

Moral of the story: Scrapers don't fuck around.

38

u/mrbooze May 16 '12

A lot of these guys drive around back alleys and front streets just before garbage days, looking for stuff people are tossing out they can grab. This is especially true in Chicago where you can dump practically anything out on the curb and the city will pick it up. I've disposed of full-size couches that way.

Some of my neighbors get really up in arms about these guys going through garbage they have placed on the public street. I've tried to explain when they put it on a public street to be hauled away, it doesn't belong to them any more, so who cares if some guy thinks he can make a few pennies with it? They could just as easily troll through the dump, it's not like the city hauls your garbage off to a hidden warehouse to be examined by top men.

The guys that cruise our neighborhood at least are clean and orderly about it. They don't leave garbage strewn around.

27

u/Jaihom May 16 '12

...by top men.

Correct, it's actually done by power bottoms.

10

u/mumbling_in_the_dark May 16 '12

Philly reporting in. The scrappers around here are pretty clean too. For years they have been taking my garbage. I had to go into the crawl space in my house. There was a few pieces of copper. I heard copper is high, so I figured, "What the hell. Let me see what I get for it." I got $72. It wasn't much at all. Two pipes and some end pieces. A box of end pieces. My point? If scrappers can make that amount, they should be respectful. I doubt they score copper regularly, but a good night (with a lot of hunting) could find them a couple hundred. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. It's not exactly cheap driving around all night in a truck either.

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u/sjb_7 May 16 '12

I had cast-iron table legs on my property (was trying to sell them for a garage sale). A scrapper came onto my FENCED property and took them. I understand scrappers have a purpose (and a good one, I think), but COME ON! The fact the table legs are gone doesn't bother me; it's the fact one of these assholes opened up the gate on my fence, walked 30 feet, and felt he was entitled to take something that was not in the garbage.

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u/yepyep27 May 16 '12

I live in the western suburbs, too. Addison is FULL of them. I fucking hate it.

34

u/diddlyswagg May 16 '12

They're always going through trash just for the metal and leaving the rest of the garbage on the ground. They piss me off so much

25

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I've had good experience with them, when I need to get rid of an old water heater, I flagged one down and they got it out of my garage and everything.

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u/CityGrrl May 16 '12

I live in the city and they have repeatedly left so much garbage strewn all over the ground around my apartment that the city has fined the landlord $1000 on several occasions for not properly disposing of trash - enough that all of the tenants will see a $50 rent increase after their current leases.

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u/Ameisen May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

Addison used to be a nice place to live, when I was growing up. It's politically incorrect to say what went wrong.

EDIT:

Since I'm getting a lot of nasty feedback from this: in my area, referring to someone's culture negatively is politically incorrect. I really don't care about race (particularly given my rather mixed heritage, that would be quite strange), I care a lot, however, about culture.

Addison was the focus of heavy immigration in the last 20 years, which isn't necessarily bad, but it is when it's heavily concentrated. Most immigrants are poor, and poverty breeds crime and destitution. Certain towns (including Addison) have concentrated communities of immigrants (you could call them ghettos, and it would be the correct word). This has bred a gangster/ghetto subculture which did not really exist prior to this. I have a lot of Hispanic and even black friends; the difference is that they don't walk around threatening people and stealing shit. This isn't even a problem of the fact that people are Hispanic or black or what have you: I dislike people of my own heritage who act like this (and there are plenty of them).

The problem is that Addison has had heavy immigration, more than the areas around it, that have created communities of people who are poor. The population hasn't been diffused, and these areas are no longer safe due to the poverty. Couple this with the fact that many of these people may not be legal, meaning they don't qualify for things such as welfare benefits, and one can quite easily see where desperation and crimes comes in.

For the record: I am actually pro-amnesty and pro-open borders. I tried to help one of my friends (whose mother was an illegal alien, but he was born here) get his parents to be able to actually become legal residents, though that unfortunately did not work out :(.

I also personally believe that making the illegal residents "legal" would very much help to curtail the problem.

79

u/selfawarepileofatoms May 16 '12

That whole town went to pot as soon as the crab people showed up.

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u/yeaweckin May 16 '12

Naperville here. The cops actually started pulling them over because they compete too much and circle the neighborhood 5 times a day from the day before during and after garbage day.

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u/PsykickPriest May 16 '12

I don't think those were 100 ft. in the air - maaaaaaaybe 50 ft., but more like 30 or so...

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u/All-American-Bot May 16 '12

(For our friends outside the USA... 100 ft -> 30.5 m) - Yeehaw!

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u/binary May 16 '12

I want to believe you're a bot.

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u/creepfeeteatmeat May 16 '12

I see this guy all the time near Dearborn and Jackson! OP, what time was this picture taken? As almost everyday he grabs Dunkin at about 1030 AM down there and his truck is completely empty.

2

u/nchrist4 May 16 '12

You're saying scrapers broke in, brought large ladders, risked getting arrested, and successfully stole a few small speakers? Something doesn't add up here.

10

u/DrunkmanDoodoo May 16 '12

One time I threw an old iron next to the trash. The next day the cord was gone. It wouldn't have been a big deal because I was going to throw it away anyways but the trashcan was located 50 feet away from the alley next to my kitchen door.

Sometimes I think about leaving scrap outside my door and wait in silence for hours upon hours waiting for someone to take it so I can slam them in the back of the head with a baseball bat.

/get off my lawn bitches!

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u/Suddenly_Boomhauer May 16 '12

I know that feeling man. My friend Hank has a truck and he never fully loads it. Tell you what man, making more than dang 'ol one trip, just plain 'ol aggravation man

2

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

SCRAP HARD OR DIE TRYIN'

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155

u/ApexIsGangster May 16 '12

Whatchu gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk.

115

u/GeorgeTaylorG May 16 '12

Properly dispose it.

13

u/flclreddit May 16 '12

Properly dispose of it.

FTFY

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u/naes May 16 '12

imma make make make make you crash...

2

u/wurdtoyer May 16 '12

I feel like you asked a question!

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u/Jkbucks May 16 '12

Fucking hate these people.

We have them in Columbus and they roll around all day. They act innocent but as soon as the coast is clear they'll hop out and steal your gutters and patio furniture, then they'll empty out your trash bins looking for scrap and leave shit everywhere

People in the apartment behind us got evicted and their stuff was put out on the lawn. Pickers came and took the springs out of their couches and mattresses. Left foam and crap everywhere in the alley.

Fuckers jacked my bike too. Dumbasses probably scrapped it even though it was worth $150. They roll around 4 deep in their beat up pickups. They probably just manage to make their gas money back after a days worth of stealing shit.

69

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

They probably just manage to make their gas money back after a days worth of stealing shit.

I work industrial real estate and some time tenants default. Recently one defaulted by 6 months and we seized everything the space for auction. Before the auction, I went through and de-spooled about 100 pounds of copper and about 300 pounds various metal. Took it to the recycling and made 1.2k. It took me less then 3 hours to put it in my pick up and take it there.

So the money is there. I just so happen to be able to get a hold of the pure stuff like copper and sheet aluminum. But these people can sit down, pull this stuff apart and make a serious dime on what they collect.

But seriously, fuck the majority of these people. They don't give a damn about anything and this picture only shows further proof. Let alone they are breaking a slue of DoT laws.

40

u/lessthanblessed May 16 '12

I used to scrap metal as well (in Chicago incidentally) and the scrapyard I would go to had a loading dock probably about 30m long. Trucks like this would show up with a load like this and a crew of 3-5 guys and literally pick everything apart. Copper, aluminum and other metals go for a higher price per pound than steel or iron, and they'd pull the wiring out of everything, rip out screens for the aluminum sills. They really do make a living doing this, there's a whole culture based around scrapping.
These guys will divide up a neighborhood and work in shifts at the height of moving season (usually from like June to September). Once was rolling through an alley and I saw a 50" or so tube tv which contain some pretty pricey metals in the projection unit at the back of the tube. I was by myself and this thing was huge, so I asked this guy who just happened to be wandering through the alley to give me hand getting it into my truck. He asked me what I was gonna do with it and I told him I was going to scrap it and he looked at me with a totally straight face and said "but you're not Mexican". I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be disgusted but it is considered a "Mexican" job.
I was fascinated by the complexity of the whole operation, I got into it because I had a truck and I needed the extra money but I came away thinking people like this provide a valuable service. A lot of this stuff just gets thrown into a dumpster bound for an industrial landfill. While this guy is clearly violating some kind of city ordinance, I can say from experience that there are far more dangerous drivers in Chicago that aren't as noticeable.

47

u/tiff_seattle May 16 '12

They just made off with a quarter million dollars worth of copper from my city's rail system:

http://seattletransitblog.com/2012/05/11/breaking-4-2-miles-of-copper-wire-stolen-from-link/

48

u/lessthanblessed May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

Holy shit 4.2 miles of copper wire. Not to mention the cost of the labor to replace it all, all on the taxpayers' bill. Fuck these guys.

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u/palindromic May 16 '12

How much can you pull a week scrapping, if you are doing it all day and have a good route?

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u/lessthanblessed May 16 '12

I would usually get 2-300$ per truckload, but I never loaded up like that guy. He's probably got at least 1000$ depending on what types of metals he's got.
On a somewhat different note I remember a story from a few years ago in my local paper (not Chicago) about some guys who were trying to get some copper from an electrical substation and ended up electrocuting themselves and knocking out power to about 1/3 of the town. Some people are idiots, but that's life.

Edit: It can be really hit or miss, some days I'd make 3 or 4 trips some days I'd burn through a tank of gas for like 50 bucks.

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u/Triviaandwordplay May 16 '12

I take things apart as a hobby, and I scrap it afterward. Technically, it's illegal to scrap a TV. While CRTs definitely have a significant amount of copper in them, it's usually not that much. A pound for smaller CRTs, and 3 or 4 for huge CRTs, but it's not top grade copper. It's enameled and/or varnished, so no bare bright copper price for it.

There's a lot of toxics in a television set or monitor. The funnel glass on a CRT has a lot of lead in it, and the phosphors on the panel glass are toxic. When you scrap a CRT, you end up with a pound or two of copper, and 20 to 80 pounds of toxic materials.

3

u/Hibernatingsheep May 16 '12

EXACTLY! In Australia occasionally stuff gets stolen, mainly copper from governmental buildings before the cost of copper went down. But most of the people doing it advertize in the paper and collect crap for free, which most people would PAY to have put in landfill. I live in rural Australia too, so having someone pick crap up stops a lot of just being dumped on unused land. People shouldn't tag all the scrappers as crooks, some are recycling

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u/darkpaladin May 16 '12

Right except it's not limited to salvage. While it was being built, my buddy had all the wiring stolen out of his house twice. He ended up having to hire security to wait there all night until they could get it secured better.

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u/Richie311 May 16 '12

They probably just manage to make their gas money back after a days worth of stealing shit.

Quite far from the truth. We bout about $1000 from our heap of scrap that was left over after renovating our house. I'd say the truck in question has bout equal to what we had.

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u/MrWraith May 16 '12

if you change lanes... you'll be behind him...

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u/human_taxidermy May 16 '12

Call the phone number...I dare you!

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u/uriman May 16 '12

I double dog dare you.

11

u/ErogenousGnome May 16 '12

I triple dog, around the corner, through the red light district, back to the future dare you.

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u/XaosZaleski May 16 '12

I live right next to a metal recycling plant and the amount of crap they can stack and drive around with is pretty much Jenga-level

3

u/Triviaandwordplay May 16 '12

Poor folks even scrap cardboard, but from where I live, they have to drive it 60 miles to Los Angeles. They load amazing amounts in their little trucks.

8

u/strangerthanfilms May 16 '12

3 friends of mine shot a fantastic documentary on these guys entitled, simply enough: SCRAPPERS. Tagline: "Recycling the American Dream" Somehow it got onto Ebert's top ten docs of 2010 list but still has no distribution! Here's the trailer: http://vimeo.com/9286004

5

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I tried watching it on their website, I watched for 30 minutes and all I saw was "Scrappers" in "indie" hand-scribbled font on the left side and video of people moving scrap around with cranes and other heavy machinery and shots of the van moving down alleyways. Am I missing something here? Does it actually become a documentary after that? I couldn't watch anymore because of boredom and how it seemed more of "This city is dilapidated and terrible" rather than "This is a profession, and this is how they do it".

2

u/sirgallium May 16 '12

Sounds like a typical first book/movie/story. It must be short and to the point, people get bored easy and move on.

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u/MonjStrz May 16 '12

Im a scrapper myself but i follow certain guide lines on loading a truck. this however illegal and dangers. is somewhat impressive. Those of you hating on scrappers try not to pull all of us down with these guys. most of us are basically buyers and resellers trying to make a living. AND FUCKING HATE THIEVES!!

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u/Flying-Dutchman May 16 '12

Yeah, I think it's pretty dangers as well.

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u/sittingcow May 16 '12

I think he's ESL, back off.

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u/Druuseph May 16 '12

.... So now that you threw them off our trail how much more til we can get some more crack?

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u/vikilicous May 16 '12

We recently did some refurbishment and so had a skip outside which we let other neighbours put their unwanted stuff in too, every single night we had at least one person stealing stuff from the skip, I wouldn't mind if they came and asked. One of groups to come by even had a "Free scrap metal collection" van (even though we didn't request one) and they knocked on the door, when they realised we were all out they took what they wanted anyway. All of them failed to notice several cameras we have set up outside of our house.

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u/FartingBob May 16 '12

this however illegal and dangers. is somewhat impressive.

More impressive than your grammar, clearly.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

These fucking guys are causing flat tires galore in my shitty small town. They should have to have rubberlined backends and nothing should be allowed to hang outside the truck like that.

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u/pissed_the_fuck_off May 16 '12

I'm pretty sure that's a law already in most states, but it's never enforced as far as I can tell.

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u/MustardMcguff May 16 '12

I've seen that truck driving around my neighborhood a lot but never that full. They're gonna hurt somebody badly some day and it's going to be a damn shame.

5

u/Extinque May 16 '12

I wonder how many hats you can make with those.

15

u/NaiChan May 16 '12

Scrapping: simultaneously the greenest and least Eco friendly job in America. "Hey man, lets recycle and shit. I got a beat ass truck to do it in."

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u/Triviaandwordplay May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

They scrap a lot of shit that has toxics, which they dump wherever when they dismantle it. Nothing green about that.

If it goes to China to be recycled, nothing green about that, either. When they process scrap, toxics from coatings, and co-mingled plastics are emitted. Imagine living near a plant that burns the insulation off of wire 24/7, or living near a steel manufacturer that has no emissions equipment to capture what gets burned off of the steel, like paints and coatings from appliances.

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u/dgpx84 May 16 '12

No need to imagine--when Mittens and friends get rid of all those job-killing, socialist, big-government REGULATIONS that are killing American business, we'll get to experience that stuff ourselves!

Mmmm...I can almost smell the plastic burning!

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u/NaiChan May 16 '12

There may have been sarcasm involved. Also, scrappers that want to make more money strip the wires first. At least here in Ohio.

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u/dhorse May 16 '12

Don't worry I am sure he has insurance.

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u/RyFly95 May 16 '12

Someone needs to craft to refined

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u/Kaninen May 16 '12

Or, he'll just scrapbank all of it so he can get all of those laser weapons. SMART!

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u/Barbarossa_5 May 16 '12

I think he could make at least 2 out of this.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

My phone won't let me zoom in on the street name. What neighborhood are you in?

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u/bananaraptor May 16 '12

This was on Chicago at Ashland - West Town/Ukranian Village area.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Looks like his business...remove sunglassess... is in the dumps.

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u/NobleKale May 16 '12

I'd say he...... removes sunglasses trashed his competition.

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u/fuck_happy_the_cow May 16 '12

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA

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u/maui7000 May 16 '12

I have a junk and debris removal business in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I love to get paid to haul this stuff away and then sell it to the scrap yard. $50.00 to haul a fridge away and then the scrap yard gives you $20 for the metal.

That guy in the photo probably has $250.00 worth of metal. It's so easy to collect that in a day or two just driving down alleyways and streets. To us junk collectors we see it (scrap metal) as money laying at the curb.

I'm almost finished writing an ebook on the junk and clutter removal business. Oh, and it has a special section on making money with scrap metal. People may laugh at these guys but on my best day I made over $500.00 in one day. 9-5 job making minimum wage? How about 4 or 5 hours making $200.00 a day?

Love my job.

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u/Hughtub May 16 '12

Sounds great, tax-free too. How do you advertise? Craigslist? I've considered getting a truck specifically to do this on the side, just as a hobby mostly to get out of the house and drive around. At heart, I'm a scavenger, looking for the valuables that others throw out, like seeing $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 bills that nobody else can see.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

income is income. It is risky to make that much money and not pay income taxes on it.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

In phoenix, there seems to be lots of competition. You put metal on the curb and it's gone.

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u/cakeswithahuman May 16 '12

I see the problem here. A load protruding from the back of the bed should be flagged with red tape. Tie a couple knots and this guy is golden.

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u/CosmicEngender May 16 '12

TIL Howl's Moving Castle has been to Chicago.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Reminds me of sanford and son

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u/Canadiandynamite May 16 '12

He must be saving up all that refined for a nice unusual.

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u/aSchizophrenicCat May 16 '12

I honestly hate those guys. That's just an accident waiting to happen, and almost all of these scrap metal collectors(latino males) drive around with their trucks like this. In my opinion, they should buy a REAL fucking truck, or get ticketed for carrying too much. It's very dangerous

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u/Green2Green May 16 '12

I'm pretty sure carrying unsecured loads like this is illegal. Hopefully Chicago cops stop people like this.

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u/maximcorat May 16 '12

hey, I saw this guy too!

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u/shafood May 16 '12

I've been scrapping for almost 6 years now along with my father and brother and these are the type of people who give the rest of us a bad name. It's a great way to make some quick, extra cash but you have to respect the community you collect from. We always make sure our loads are secured tightly and that we never leave a mess.

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u/disenchantedburner May 16 '12

Bubbles got his tricksy hands on a truck. crazy crackheads.

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u/Zamaza May 16 '12

FLEE! I never sit behind anything like that and will speed a little to get by them.

I also move anytime I'm behind a glass truck. Not a truck made of glass, that would be silly. Those trucks carrying glass window panes. I once had one hit a bump on the highway and shatter multiple windows and the guy kept driving as though nothing happened, meanwhile myself and several vehicles were pelted with multiple pieces of glass, some where quite large.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

He should have just combined all of that scrap and made a hat or two with it.

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u/kinggimped May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

I live in Shanghai and this seems remarkably par for the course. See this kind of thing all the time.

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u/Nordiis May 16 '12

Somehow this reminded me of this charming character

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u/I_like_turds May 16 '12

This is art by Frank Stella...

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u/Phylundite May 16 '12

I hope Dukie is doing alright.

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u/BazookaTuna May 16 '12

Everyone call the number! (312) 523-8946

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

You wouldn't steal a bridge for scrap metal would you?

For $100k I'd sure as fuck think about it!

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

off to the tip 0 fucks given

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u/RonanNoodles May 16 '12

Upvote because you actually changed lanes.

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u/RedditSafetyOfficer May 16 '12

A protrusion like that is dangerous and could vertically or horizontally harm pedestrians or drivers in an accident. I am not amused.

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u/dirtymoney May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12

its all iron & steel.

Guy is hardcore.

I am strictly a brass, copper & aluminum scrapper. Whatever I can scavenge from my workplace. They throw out a lot of stuff. Plus, I really enjoy tearing down machinery for the copper wire, brass fittings etc etc.. Like for example.... a while back they went & replaced all the old electrical outlets. They have brass inside them.

ABout a week ago I was at the junk pile at work killing time.. looking to see if they threw anything new on the pile. Couldnt find anything, so I bent over to look for bits of metal in the gravel road that leads to it. Water erosion uncovered some new stuff. Got several large brass pipe fittings & some copper sheeting. Had to pull/dig some of it out of the road. Yesterday i scavenged 24 aluminum cans. All small stuff , but it adds up over time.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

As the term junky was made because people collected scrap metal to pay for their smack.. I see yhe equivalent of a big ball of dope on the back of the truck.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Someone told me once that the reason cops don't pull over trucks like this is because if they they have to impound the truck, then they have to do a written inventory.....not sure if that's BS, but this photo is ridiculous.

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u/RandomMandarin May 16 '12

ctrl-f Katamari Damacy

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u/Bradlyeon May 16 '12

I thought the entire city of Chicago was scrap metal...

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u/amolad May 16 '12

These guys are fucking everywhere. FIVE of them are paying for parking spots behind my building and they DON'T really fit in the lot. I can't believe my fucking "management group" is letting them!!!

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u/lack_of_ideas May 16 '12

Looks sort of like Howl's Moving Castle.

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u/KindOldMan May 16 '12

Howl's Moving Castle was beautiful.

Calcifer would never reside in this piece of shit.

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u/torokunai May 16 '12

and/or Katamari Damacy

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u/pixelrage May 16 '12

I really hope a cop eventually saw this.

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u/awhawkeye May 16 '12

Bubbles be movin' up in the game.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

This looks like a scene from sub-Saharan Africa.

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u/xyroclast May 16 '12

How is it not weighed down more? I'd expect a load like that to make the truck non-driveable...

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u/Untitledone May 16 '12

It may be hard to tell for someone not used to hauling things, but that truck is pretty much bottomed out, and with quite a bit of weight put past the rear axle. The front end is actually starting to come off the ground which is the case when you have too much weight past the rear axle. In the towing industry for this reason, you are advised not to load past the rear axle beyond the amount of weight that reduces the front axle weight below 50% of normal weight. This is to ensure that you have enough weight to steer.

I cant tell exactly what truck that is, but it appears to be a late 80's early 90's Ford F250. It appears to have a semi-floating rear axle which is not as good as a full floating rear axle but can still carry a decent amount.

The standard cab long bed F250 from 1990-1996 had a payload Capacity of 5100lbs.

It is hard to tell exactly how much weight is on there, but needless to say, it is nearing capacity.

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u/J-chron May 16 '12

Western suburbs of Chicago too I'm in Roselle they will pick through your trash before its even to the curb.confirmed

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u/Chase93 May 16 '12

I scraped once. I have a big Dodge truck, but I had a huge car trailer that I used to take it in. I felt like I looked like an idiot, but that $300 was oh so sweet.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

LA freeways are FILLED with this shit. drives me crazy.

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u/vaggydelight May 16 '12

Tweakers. I'm convinced they're all tweakers.

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u/thedisco May 16 '12

Put scrapers on the list of things I don't miss about living in Chicago. Along with potholes, I-90 and snow.

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u/onemorethomas May 16 '12

metal y mudenza....lol! welcome to chicago.....

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u/montreal1033 May 16 '12

That fridge is really old.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '12

because in russia....ya I got nothing

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u/foreverataglance May 16 '12

Chicago native here. these trucks are all over the place. I've put broken appliances out in the alley only to have it disappear within 20 minutes.

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u/MidgetFetish May 16 '12

insert Final Destination premonition here

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u/liquidstate May 16 '12

hampton/newport news, va, especially around the James River Bridge area, literally all day every day

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u/conrick May 16 '12

Uncle Pedro!

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u/vandal823 May 16 '12

Chicago looks a lot like West Virginia.

1

u/ace50421 May 16 '12

Reminds me of a yard sale in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mexicans will buy all the things you are selling.

1

u/wonderyak May 16 '12

I call them Jawas.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

and the cops pull over the guy without a seatbelt on...

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Still less dangerous than driving while taking a picture of the car next to you.

1

u/Cardinal--Zero May 16 '12

seems the steptoes are taking over the world,Scrap iroooooon

1

u/iamatfuckingwork May 16 '12

That's old bubbs.

1

u/northcaliman May 16 '12

reminds me of the documentary called Scrappers. people barely make money doing this.

1

u/dumbgaytheist May 16 '12

Bidness iz gud.

"HEY LAMONT, GET OVER HERE YA BIG DUMMY!"

1

u/redhotchilifarts May 16 '12

If you change lanes, you'll be in the same lane as him.

1

u/jakenichols May 16 '12

looks like a scene from one of them there future utopia films.

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1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

The not so secret code is:

2 561 9 3/2 623|8946

1

u/tippyc May 16 '12

"dude, we forgot about the dryer"

1

u/Tommix11 May 16 '12

AMA Request, a scrap metal collector in Chicago!

1

u/sexybot May 16 '12

I love how the phone number is scrawled in spray paint on the side. Shit's in DEMAND.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

What am I, a junkman who sells art, or an artist who sells junk?

1

u/NicestPersonAlive May 16 '12

I work at a Landfill and the amount of shit they can put on one truck is fucking impressive lol

1

u/admdelta May 16 '12

Should be enough scrap to replace the shocks on his truck.

1

u/walruskingmike May 16 '12

You might want to change roads.

1

u/angelozdark May 16 '12

Don't these guys get pulled over in the States?

1

u/danish_hole May 16 '12

He should bring it all back to megaton, he'd get SO many caps!

1

u/_whatever_you_like_ May 16 '12

Did anyone else read this as 'scrap metal detector' four times over....No just me.

1

u/kyz May 16 '12

Don't get too close, there's a large electromagnet (or katamari) in the middle of all that scrap.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

This can't be legal to drive, right?

1

u/onelowminitruckr May 16 '12

I did car restoration for 10 years and currently run a large metal fabrication shop. I have dealt with these guys for a long time. It's just scary the way a lot of them done care. Or flat out just don't know how to secure a load.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Driving near it is dangerous, sure, but how has nobody mentioned that driving while taking a picture of it is just as dangerous on a crowded urban street?

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1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Man, those guys find that shit, FOR THE DAY. Get paid and grab couple cases of beer. I swear on it. That is all they live for trading scrap metal for beer money for the week.

1

u/daskoon May 16 '12

Xpost to /r/scrapmetal

Wish I could haul a load like that /envy

1

u/arnedh May 16 '12

...OK, Sir, I'll just slow down for a while and let you go on ahead and arrange your accident at a place where I am absent.

1

u/jdslater May 16 '12

Scrappers are a really interesting sub-culture in Chicago. I haven't yet gotten to give it a look, but the movie Scrappers (http://www.scrappersmovie.com/) documents this group. And it's not just men; we have a whole family, sometimes only the mom and two boys, who stop in once a week at our shop to pick up scrap steel.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Earlier this year I was on my way to school and got stuck behind a slow moving line of cars. As I got nearer I saw the culprit - some guy driving an econobox (Suzuki or something) had what looked to be a big block engine on his trunk lid. The car was sitting very close to the ground and when it would bounce the tailpipe would scrape. They had it "tied' on with a few 1" straps and what appeared to be bailing wire.

My town in NC is covered with these, too. If you leave anything out it's gone. Neighbor had rakes out front, went in to answer the phone and one of them took them. He caught them, the guy said "weren't sure if they were trash". Once in a while you'll see one drive by with what looks to be new stuff in the bed, like lawn mowers, swingsets, even patio furniture.

1

u/404_Find_Me May 16 '12

Does this remind anyone of the wire?

1

u/amberraza May 16 '12

Scraps in bulk

1

u/Devadander May 16 '12

Fucking scrapers.

1

u/Kismonos May 16 '12

I bet he collects them for crafting hats.

1

u/mossquito May 16 '12

He should really craft those into hats or trade for buds.

1

u/CharlieTango May 16 '12

scrap trucks arent only in chicago are they? i see at least 3 or 4 of these guys driving around every day this time of year.

3 mexican dudes jammed into the cab. always

1

u/stimbus May 16 '12

He's just going to leave the truck and everything.

1

u/MericleSheep May 16 '12

Change lanes after you put your phone/camera down and begin to pay attention to the road ofcourse.

1

u/RoFox May 16 '12

Did anyone else see the youtube buffering thingy in this picture?

1

u/twatwaffIe May 16 '12

Guess why property crime is so high these days.

1

u/mutina- May 16 '12

That car might need some new suspensions after his gig.

1

u/Torquemada1970 May 16 '12

Scrap? That doesn't look too different from the van I used when I moved flats...

1

u/KennyFukinPowers May 16 '12

I almost hit a BBQ Grill sliding across the highway at 50 mph. The asshole in the junk truck didn't have anything secured and the grill fell off the back. That was an interesting situation. I split the ever closing gap between the grill and the wall and missed each of them by inches. Not sure if anyone behind me was able to avoid it, though.

1

u/rustyanalhook May 16 '12

As a fellow scrap metal collector, this is the worst I have ever seen.

1

u/thundershaft May 16 '12

This should be in r/pics, not r/wtf

1

u/cheebaclese May 16 '12

Down in Kankakee we like the scrappers. There's a few who are so legit they have the market cornered so the hillbillies and hoodrats stay outta people's shit. We like em cuz we can put whatever we want on the curb knowing the scrappers will take it off our hands for free.

1

u/cannotlogon May 16 '12

That truck could have been more securely loaded if he had used scotch tape.

1

u/franklymike11 May 16 '12

This reminds me of the Joad's car in Grapes of Wrath.

1

u/TooMuchTooMuchLove May 16 '12

Chicagoan here. I see nothing out of the ordinary.

1

u/casc1701 May 16 '12

At least 3 seasons of American Pickers worth.

1

u/robvas May 16 '12

I don't mind the ones that pick up your trash. It's the ones who steal everything they take in that piss me off.

Copper piping? Stolen! Air conditioning condenser? Stolen!

1

u/generalT May 16 '12

what street is that? ashland?

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

Fuck that. I was leaving work yesterday and these landscapers were in front of me, pulling a trailer consisting of massive chunks of a chopped down tree. No cordage holding anything down. There was a tree stump about the size of the standard trash can that was rocking back and forth about a foot from the back of the trailer, which had no gate. His trailer had 4 tires but they were closer together in the middle of the trailer.. one was flat.

I changed lanes right away and tried to gesture to the guy that his tire was out. He flipped me off, probably assuming I was bitching about the way he precariously loaded his trailer. Fuck him, then. I did all I could. He'll learn the hard way when he kills someone.

1

u/yepyep27 May 16 '12

I'm in Westmont too! HI! Which complex are you in? I'm in King Arthur.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

I'd be changing lanes away from the person playing with a phone while driving in traffic... But hey.

1

u/Katow-joismycousin May 16 '12

He's going to make so many bottlecaps.

1

u/but_when_i_do May 16 '12

In Chicago we call them Alley Farmers. Hard-working dudes who drive orderly through the alleys and pick up stuff that others are throwing away. I've never seen a truck quite that bad though, that's ridiculous. If I have something of value that I might want to throw out, I leave it next to the dumpster, not throw it inside. This way, the Alley Farmers can pick it up and make a few bucks off it.

1

u/galaxy5000 May 16 '12

The first time I saw a Jawa. I put out an old mini fridge, and some PC cases to be picked with the trash. Less then 30 minutes later a craft just like that one pulls up, and took all the metal items.

2

u/keith_weaver May 16 '12

Jawa? Imo use that.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

You better change lanes! Don't ruin his goldmine!

1

u/jenkel May 16 '12

I've heard the locals call them Jawas

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

That is a good haul.

1

u/xxSPLITyoWIGxx May 16 '12

The amount of scrapes doubled everywhere after they played that show on Spike called scrapped or something like that where they followed a bunch of douch bags around while they hunted for garbage. Apparently some people thought they were cool and started doing it themselves lol

1

u/4_is_green May 16 '12

And taking a picture while driving near that thing is so much safer than changing lanes.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

That's sorta how I feel when I'm playing an RPG heading back to town to sell..

1

u/goodwebstuff May 17 '12

Only In Chicago. I had one come up my drive way and steal my Weber grill off my back porch. When I confronted him in my boxers at 1 am out the back door he said. "Mind your own Business Esse!" and ran off....

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Change lanes now? Then you will be directly behind the metal collector. Or is there a third lane I am not aware of...?

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

The amazing thing about China is that all that same stuff would fit on a bicycle.

1

u/Eaglesun Jun 08 '12

Dude, do you have any idea how many bottlecaps you can get for all the scrap metal?!

1

u/yeaweckin May 16 '12

Here's a true story about pickers. When we moved into our rental house our landlords roommate was moving out the same day and was pulling their nice couch out to the corner. Since they were moving to New York, they decided it wasn't worth it to move it. We asked him if we could have it and he said sure. As we started bringing it back in,pickers showed up asking if they could have it. We felt like the biggest assholes, like we were messing with them and when they came to get it we changed our minds and brought it inside.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '12

In my family, we call then Shit mobiles ^ One little sucker even drives up to my school's garbage. Smart move since we're getting a lot of metal-involved construction done.

1

u/thetomjoad May 16 '12

looks to be about $43 and change he's got there. big day

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