Surplus steel

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Local company contacted me last week as they had heard on the local grapevine that I was downsizing with the result that they paid a visit and after 10 minutes of horse trading they bough the whole stock of steel, brass, alloy, stainless and all the spare sheet and profile that was so handy to fabricate bits out of.

They also bought the power saw and three of the welders.

 

So on Monday two guys rolled up with a long bed Transit pickup and loaded the first lot, or rather overloaded the first lot

 

Problem is you can't see where they have been. I reckoned on about 4 tonnes but this first load had to be well over a tonne so not sure now just what was there.

So when they are finished that will be every bit of steel and alloy off the premises except for some oddment in a couple of drawers.

Edited By John Stevenson on 27/06/2017 12:36:13

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Reminds me of that series on BBC in the nineties by John Harvey-jones telling little companies how to run themselves based on his experience of running British industry into the ground in the eighties. He always started by clearing out all the stock and machines, probably followed off screen by the experienced old machine operators.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I don't know if that was a good thing or not, you may have even more time on your hands now an post more

Probably the best way to do it though rather than have it go in dribs and drabs having to hang about for various people to pick up the bits they want.

J

[steamdaveParticipant @steamdave]

Glad I was able to grab a few bits last year then! Thanks once again John.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Wasn't that two years ago Dave, how time flies.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

You're going to be really upset next time you need to stir a cup of tea and can't find a length of silver steel to stir it with…

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Didn't sell the silver steel.

 

Bonus from this is piece of mind from a one stop selling point of view, they don't pick over it, they take everything and if at a later date when the new workshop is built at the new house I can go back and cherry pick what I want for free, knowing that I'll only want a metre of this and that.

Edited By John Stevenson on 27/06/2017 15:15:14

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

As an inveterate hoarder, disposing of things can be bad news. You will always find a use for something that you then recall getting rid of last week.

Best one I've met is a local farm centre that disposed of the Oxy Acetylene gear, on the grounds of elf and safety. 'Cos it was a fire risk! HOW do you run any sort of farm without the ability to weld, or heat metal?

Just wish that i could justify the cost for my activities, not for regular use, but invaluable when needed.

Howard

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 29/06/2017 16:42:34:

As an inveterate hoarder, disposing of things can be bad news. You will always find a use for something that you then recall getting rid of last week.

Best one I've met is a local farm centre that disposed of the Oxy Acetylene gear, on the grounds of elf and safety. 'Cos it was a fire risk! HOW do you run any sort of farm without the ability to weld, or heat metal?

As a reformed hoarder, I can assure you that has never happened to me! It's the opposite: I've spent days rooting through piles of festering crap that hasn't been touched in years, whilst muttering I know I've got one somewhere. Then when I do eventually find it, it's in worse condition than the one I was hoping to replace.

[vintagengineerParticipant @vintagengineer]

You will amazed what you can do with a Transit.! I worked for an engineering company in the 80's and we had a fleet of Trannie diesels, a driver phoned in broken down with 40 cwt steel on board, I went out to tow him in with another transit loaded with 30cwt of steel and we towed it back home 60 miles with no problems at all! That's when Ford made proper trucks!

[steamdaveParticipant @steamdave]

Posted by vintagengineer on 29/06/2017 19:58:52:

You will amazed what you can do with a Transit.! I worked for an engineering company in the 80's and we had a fleet of Trannie diesels, a driver phoned in broken down with 40 cwt steel on board, I went out to tow him in with another transit loaded with 30cwt of steel and we towed it back home 60 miles with no problems at all! That's when Ford made proper trucks!

Aye, and they go round the Nurburgring pretty quickly, too. (From Top Gear about 10 years ago!)

Dave
The Emerald Isle

[James AParticipant @jamesalford67616]

Posted by Nicholas Wheeler 1 on 29/06/2017 18:50:08:

Posted by Howard Lewis on 29/06/2017 16:42:34:

As an inveterate hoarder, disposing of things can be bad news. You will always find a use for something that you then recall getting rid of last week.

 

Invariably I used to find that whatever I had been keeping "because it might be useful" was too small, thin, fat, far too big, the wrong thread or whatever else could prevent it from actually having been worth hanging on to in the first place. These days, I tend to throw out far more and keep far less; it saves wasting time searching for something that proves to be useless.

James.

Edited By James Alford on 29/06/2017 21:03:37

[OuBallieParticipant @ouballie]

Posted by Bazyle on 27/06/2017 13:19:12:

Reminds me of that series on BBC in the nineties by John Harvey-jones telling little companies how to run themselves based on his experience of running British industry into the ground in the eighties. He always started by clearing out all the stock and machines, probably followed off screen by the experienced old machine operators.

Remember his attempt at getting Morgan to 'update' themselves.

Good thing they totally ignored him, as they could have been history now.

Geoff – Austin Seven body back in the Carport at last!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by vintagengineer on 29/06/2017 19:58:52:

That's when Ford made proper trucks!

Yeah, ones that broke down and had to be towed home. Oh, the good old days….

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

In the 80s?

That had to be the 4 and 6 cylinder York engine.

Bankrupted more firms than the V4 petrol.
Still not much different today, the 2.2 engine is still known in the trade as a grenade engine

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/06/2017 18:47:19

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/06/2017 18:48:06

[vintagengineerParticipant @vintagengineer]

We had 2.4 DI turbo engines in most of them but we did have a couple of 3.0 V6 ones which we replaced the rotor arms as these had a built in rev limiter!

 

Clutches was our biggest headache due to bad drivers!

 

Posted by John Stevenson on 30/06/2017 18:46:55:
In the 80s?

That had to be the 4 and 6 cylinder York engine.

Bankrupted more firms than the V4 petrol.
Still not much different today, the 2.2 engine is still known in the trade as a grenade engine

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/06/2017 18:47:19

Edited By John Stevenson on 30/06/2017 18:48:06

 

Edited By vintagengineer on 30/06/2017 20:49:26

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