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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Not much left of my International

The word is that scrap metal is worth some money. Perhaps over $200 per ton if it is prepared. Meaning cut into smaller chunks. We thought the International parts truck would come apart pretty easy. We were wrong. The real fast scrappers use a trackhoe with a thumb to lift and twist and rip. We are using a very very old Farmhand F11 loader on a tractor with no powersteering and a torch my brother bought at a garage sale. We are using propane instead of acetyelene  and it really drinks the oxygen. We have gone though four bottles of oxygen and less than 4 gallons of propane.
I thought I had a tachometer for Ralph but it seems to be missing along with the drive. I am still searching.
Then the Uncle and Aunt discovered people are dumping metal trash at the burn pile. So... they picked it all up. It would have been better if they would not have thrown partially burnt chunks of stuff and a couple broken bottles in with the metal. They even picked up two coffee cans of empty brass shells. I knew there was a lot of .22 as we had been saving empty spray cans and shooting them. If you get them hot from the burning "brush pile" and then shoot them they explode nicely. Especially after dark. Apparently someone else went nuts with .22 target practice as it looks to me like they may have caused the US .22 ammo shortage themselves. A coffee can of .22 shells all in one place? That is a good day's
worth of shooting!
 

6 comments:

  1. Made me nostalgic for an old International Scout that we once owned. Then, quickly became horrified to see all those shell casings!

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  2. It's a shame you can't reload .22's. Well, actually, you can, but not safely or in a practical manner. Even with prices way up from what they used to be, it would be a money-losing proposition. Still, it seems a waste of brass.

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  3. Sabine, thanks for joining the lazyfarmer. I have been reading about your school teaching in New Orleans. Very interesting. I was also kind of horrified to see the amount of shell casings. There must have been $70 bucks worth of ammo shot and the shooters can't even afford their rent. Then i realized that you perhaps have a different thought when you see empty shell casings than I do. It is a little different when you live on a farm. Not any people within range... I like to shoot at tin cans myself. Nice stress reliever.

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  4. Gorges, there were a lot of .22 casings in that can. I can't believe the aunt picked them all up. I suppose they were pretty much in one spot. Not sure what was going on. I think it was Chronic boy and friends.
    I found .17, .223, .300 (!!!) .280, .45, 9 mm and 12 gauge. Not really the spot for a .300.
    I never heard the shooting. Must have been while we were at Church. Of course the neighbors all shoot so I probably didn't pay any attention.

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  5. No worries. I didn't think the bullets were meant for people. Was just worried that anything that wasn't completely used up might go off in the burn. Having lived in LA, I've known my share of farms and gun enthusiasts!

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  6. Out here its gophers that are the target pest. They will eat up a lot of cattle pasture and the neighbour's crops if allowed to multiply. I've had to use poison some years when I don't have time to sit out there with the 22.

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