Guides
Yards pay by grade, and mixed or misidentified loads get priced at the cheapest metal in the pile. These guides cover the magnet test, telling brass from bronze from copper, aluminum grades, stainless, and how to sort a mixed pile into money.
That fin-and-tube coil in an AC unit is worth roughly double plain aluminum — because of the copper hiding in the tubes. Here's how to recognize an Al/Cu radiator, keep it out of the wrong pile, and prep it to pay.
Lead is heavy, soft, and pays a fair bit per pound — but it's toxic, so it's the one metal where how you handle it matters as much as what it's worth. Here's where to find it and how to stay safe.
Stainless throws off the magnet test — the good grades barely stick. Here's how to tell 304 and 316 from magnetic 400-series and from plain steel, and why the difference is worth real money.
Steel is the lowest-paying metal you'll haul and the one you'll haul most. Here's how yards grade light iron, heavy melting steel, and cast iron — and how to not give away the valuable metal hiding inside it.
Three reddish-yellow metals, three different payouts. Here's how to tell brass from bronze from copper by eye, sort yellow from red brass, and stop leaving money in the fittings bin.
Aluminum is a volume game — the money is in sorting it right. Here's how yards grade cast, sheet, extrusion, cans, wheels and radiators, how to tell them apart, and what each is worth.
The difference between #1 and #2 copper is often just a few minutes of cleanup — but it's dollars a pound. Here's exactly how yards grade copper and how to hit the higher tier.
Run the numbers before you pay — weight, composition, asking price.