Dump Dilemma

[logueb]

I never carry a wallet on a dig. And I usually only carry a weapon to a dig if I have encountered wild dogs. I may just lay low on this site for a while.Here is a picture of cast iron stove parts . At $10.75 a hundred, I guess it makes it worth their time. This includes old tin, rusted metal , etc. (called mix). One of the guys that I talked to said he makes about $95 a truck load. Buster

 

[ncbred]

I never knew you could get money for cast iron. Thats the heaviest stuff ever. My dad is a plumbing contractor and if we would have known that he probably would be saving that along with the copper and brass too. Last time I took his scrap copper and brass to the Recycling Center, #2 copper was $3.27lb and brass was $1.85lb. Made for a pretty hefty bonus check.

 

[tftfan]

Kinda spooky Buster, kinda wonder about their reasons for be'n out there. Srap....maybe. When you park your car to walk in are you obvious ? I try to take the dog with alot of the times, she is pretty good at seeing people before we do, she wont bark or growl, just sits and stares. Amazing how many people ya run into in the woods...walkers, hikers, dog walkers, mushroom pickers,cross country skiers, blah...blah...blah, gets old try'n to duck these people,, but your situation I think is a little strange. Be careful, hope you dig some good ones. Micah

 

[Plumbata]

2 dumps I've dug in the past had similar occurrences. One was at school in Champaign IL in a 1915-1923ish dump. I was about 6 feet down, looked up, and saw a weather-worn homeless 20-something looking at me with curiosity. I get out, say hello, and offer a cigarette which was much appreciated. The guy was named Ben and after explaining my hobby he told me that whenever I dug there he would later go with his wheelbarrow and collect the iron scraps out of my tailings piles to sell at the scrapyard a few blocks away. He said that he had made about 100 bucks by that time. The dump was loaded with iron so I certainly believe it. He was a great guy and after about 20 minutes of good conversation he went on his way. He had no interest in the bottles, and at the time I had no interest in the iron (kept the nonferrous though). Never saw him again.

In "my" dump in Peoria, I came across 2 guys walking the creek collecting the Iron and other nonferrous scrap, and pointed them towards an area that I knew had a good quantity of both. I was too busy milking the 3-foot thick layers of solid TOC refuse to worry about bits of scrap metal, lol. One of them lived within sight of the dump so he probably had more of a right to be there than myself. A year later I was deep in the dump and I look up and see a girl I went to high school with, who said "Stephen?!?!?" and after alleviating her confusion I learned that she was dating the fellow who lived within eyeshot and was scrapping there before. The guy came down and said that he had been collecting all the non-broken bottles I had left behind. A week or so after i saw some dinky little holes around the dumpsite, probably from them looking to dig some of their own, but none were anywhere near where they should have been, nor nearly as deep as necessary to get at the layers. Amateurs... [8D]


Anyway, I would not say anything about collecting "valuable antique bottles" because they may well start looking for them in addition to the metal. When it comes to city land, possession is pretty much 99% of the law so the metal you leave behind is fair game for those intrepid scrappers. You should take with you the metal you collect/dig to scrap yourself, and rebury the unwanted bottles you unearth. Those guys are probably harmless, but just as easily they may be amoral, opportunistic types who would rob you in an instant if you turn your back. They probably don't know that you don't carry a wallet there so use your judgment.

I wouldn't stop digging there because of them, unless they actually seem dangerous. If you decide to be friendly and engage them in conversation, they may tip you towards other areas with "old bottles laying around" because they probably have done this sort of scrapping elsewhere. Perhaps trade some metal for quality new dump information, or give them some just to ensure mutual goodwill. They are scrapping in the same type of area(s) that I like to scrap and will probably move on when it becomes less profitable to collect there. I dunno about that hole that was dug. Could it have been another bottle digger?

Here, rusty Cast Iron and steel is worth 220 a ton, and there are plenty of heavy cast drainage pipes laying around along hills, in ravines, and mixed in with busted chunks of sidewalk concrete. Got about 700 pounds piled up next to a church that I need to go get. Cast iron is dense so a truckload adds up pretty darn quickly. Around thanksgiving I found about 2660 pounds in one area along the Illinois river. Only took me about 3 hours to get it all. Good exercise and good cash, though my truck wasn't very happy, lol.

 

[myersdiggers1998]

I was digging our dump once and saw 2 guys scrapping,i asked what they were looking for and they said copper. well i had unearthed a 55 gal. drum full of old motors,i showed them and they left us alone,the next weekend the drum was gone and so were they.maybe you can cut a deal with those fellas.[]

 

[judu]

hey buster, same thing has happened here...very strange to see people where you think you are all alone. ive noticed that people can creep up on you in a second as well.i remember digging into a pile of dirt where excavators had dug up the bottles. i look up and see this really big dude with a shovel coming towards me. i thought he was going to give me the shovel. he instead gets two feet away from me and starts digging. never said a word. i asked what he was looking for and he said "this and that"..i asked again if he was after metal. he said "maybe".....there are some strange people out there,i would advise to never let these people get behind you and not take your eyes off them while they are there..next day new people showed up. there were two this time. i told them i collect bottles and thats what im after. they wanted metal. i gave them the metal i had dug out and they were happy. they kept asking how much bottles are worth. i told them nothing. i had to pay people to take them from me. i told them i just liked history and collect them for that...seemed to work , they gave me all the bottles they found in that hour....about a week later found even more people there. these two guys had all the metal AND bottles. they said people buy these bottles and they are now saving them....most of these people are street hustlers who want a dollar as fast as possible.im my honest opinion, i dont trust people too much. i feel like some of these people would shoot me for a dollar and lose no sleep over it....they may give you all the bottles if they feel they have no money value and will gladly trade you for the metal you find im sure. you just have to be a good salesman for how worthless bottles are.......be careful buster and maybe these people after metal will move through like a bad storm and be off to the next easier spot when they feel this one is picked over.........if not, maybe you could crack them over the head with one of those nice green lime colas you find there......

 

[Plumbata]

ORIGINAL: myersdiggers1998

I was digging our dump once and saw 2 guys scrapping,i asked what they were looking for and they said copper. well i had unearthed a 55 gal. drum full of old motors,i showed them and they left us alone,the next weekend the drum was gone and so were they.maybe you can cut a deal with those fellas.[]

Whoah, those motors are worth a good 25-30 cents a pound. I bet they were pretty darn happy about that score!


Judu - how old were the bottles you were digging out of the piles? Were the ones that the hustlers were saving any good? Sounds like an unusual experience, glad ya didn't get mugged by them.

 

[madman]

HEY BUSTER, SAME THING HAPPENED TO A BUDDY OF MINES DUMP IN VA, AFTER THEY GOT MOST THE SCRAP THEY DISAPPEARED, CANT BELIEVE THERE DIGGING FOR RUSTY METAL, TIMES ARE TOUGH FOR SOME PEOPLE BUT THATS HARDCORE, IM SURE THEYLL LOSE INTEREST AFTER THEY FIND OUT THERE NOT GETTING MUCH FOR THE SCRAP

 

[logueb]

Thanks again for the replies. Sounds like a lot of diggers have had similar experiences. After reading some of the responses, I felt like I needed to get the offical permision from the current Mayor before anymore digging to make sure that I was legit . I had to get a Purchase Order for new batteries for a fire engine, so it gave me a chance to run into him at City Hall. I sat down with him and explained my hobby and my intrest in local sodas and the area that I had been looking in over the years. He told me to help myself and search all I wanted. So I'm OK as long as he is in office. As far as the scrappers, I'll try to work out something with them. Buster

 

[madman]

ORIGINAL: judu

hey buster, same thing has happened here...very strange to see people where you think you are all alone. ive noticed that people can creep up on you in a second as well.i remember digging into a pile of dirt where excavators had dug up the bottles. i look up and see this really big dude with a shovel coming towards me. i thought he was going to give me the shovel. he instead gets two feet away from me and starts digging. never said a word. i asked what he was looking for and he said "this and that"..i asked again if he was after metal. he said "maybe".....there are some strange people out there,i would advise to never let these people get behind you and not take your eyes off them while they are there..next day new people showed up. there were two this time. i told them i collect bottles and thats what im after. they wanted metal. i gave them the metal i had dug out and they were happy. they kept asking how much bottles are worth. i told them nothing. i had to pay people to take them from me. i told them i just liked history and collect them for that...seemed to work , they gave me all the bottles they found in that hour....about a week later found even more people there. these two guys had all the metal AND bottles. they said people buy these bottles and they are now saving them....most of these people are street hustlers who want a dollar as fast as possible.im my honest opinion, i dont trust people too much. i feel like some of these people would shoot me for a dollar and lose no sleep over it....they may give you all the bottles if they feel they have no money value and will gladly trade you for the metal you find im sure. you just have to be a good salesman for how worthless bottles are.......be careful buster and maybe these people after metal will move through like a bad storm and be off to the next easier spot when they feel this one is picked over.........if not, maybe you could crack them over the head with one of those nice green lime colas you find there......

AND THERE IT IS!