Sell or hold

[fishhead]

I just finished taking down an overhead electric line at the farm. It's about 280' if I remember right. I put it up in 2006 so it's pretty new.

I'm wondering if I should sell it on Craigslist or if I should hold it in case I ever want to use it in the future. It's aluminum wire. I forget what size but I think it was rated up to 10-12 amps for 300'.

If I hold it I may never use it and who knows maybe code will change or something and make it illegal before I do. But if I sell it and need it who knows how much it will cost then. I paid $1/ft when I bought it so it's not a huge amount of money at least at this time in my life.

I've also got some subpanels to take down plus about 800' of 2-2-4 aluminum underground wire to pull.

Is stuff like this worth keeping?

[Ross]

I donèt know the rules for re-using wire but we could here and Ièd keep it or sell it as it is pretty dear to buy new.

[blooba]

I'd strip it and sell it to a scrap dealer unless you are planning a new barn or shed. who's to say you'll ever need the gauge wire in that length ever again.

[carasel]

i agree with boobla. strip and sell. if you don't think you'll need it. metal prices are up now. there are less manufactures selling scrap . so supply is down.

[Blu3duk]

If you have the room, keep it, scrap prices are low, if indeed the price rises again anytime soon, the price for new wire will also rise up, and you could profit more from selling the wire used-reusable than you will get from scrap in the current down market. If you dont have the room to just kick it around, hang it over head, or take up space in the yard, then by all means peddle it to the scrap yard and recoup a few bux..... nowhere near what you invested in it though, including labor for stripping it [cant burn it off or they wont purchase it here anymore]

"Ole Murphy" will get you though, peddle the wire and of course within 6 months to a year you are gonna need either a shorter chunk or want the same length to put up elsewhere again! a feller jist cant beat Murph's Law it seems.

ya might find an old used spool to put it on too, makes it easier to move around when the time comes and yer tired of kickin it around the shop or yard.

William
Idaho

[HermitJohn]

unless you are desperate for money, I wouldnt sell anything I might possibly use in future unless somebody offers me some crazy high price for it and has cash in hand.

[fishhead]

Yeah there's been too many times that I've gotten rid of something that's been laying around for years only to find a use for it.

This winter I gave away 2 house pumps because I thought I was moving but that fell through so now I have to buy a $200 pump for the garden to replace the identical one I just gave away.

I guess it's up in the garage rafter with it.

[Harry Chickpea]

Aluminum is 48 cents/lb around here. Not worth the effort of stripping and cost of transporting it to the scrap metal dealer.

[farminghandyman]

I save things like that, it is not costing me any thing to keep it,

and it will cost me much more than I get scraping it, if I need to replace it,

[OntarioMan]

I used to think this way, i.e. keep everything. The problem is that you eventually accumulate alot of stuff that takes up alot of space, and most you'll never end up using. We all remember the stuff we got rid of that we could have used... but we forget all the stuff we got rid of that we never would have used (if that makes sense).

With the internet, its fairly easy to find almost anything used... so its not like days gone by when you were forced to buy most stuff new at maximum prices.

Who knows, maybe I'm just getting old.

Originally Posted by fishhead

Yeah there's been too many times that I've gotten rid of something that's been laying around for years only to find a use for it.

This winter I gave away 2 house pumps because I thought I was moving but that fell through so now I have to buy a $200 pump for the garden to replace the identical one I just gave away.

I guess it's up in the garage rafter with it.

[fishhead]

That's true but there's a pretty good chance that at some point I will be putting up buildings or need a remote electric source.

I have been going through my "stuff" and getting rid of lots of it on Freecycle this winter.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by HermitJohn

unless you are desperate for money, I wouldnt sell anything I might possibly use in future unless somebody offers me some crazy high price for it and has cash in hand.

thats my thgoht. Never get rid of anything

[mightybooboo]

Keep it.

I would keep it too . Of course I'm a packrat . One time we had about 5 old flashlights in the hall closet that hadn't been used in years . I was digging around in there for something & saw those flashlights & told my wife to throw them away . Less than a week later one of the flashlights on my work van blew a bulb . When I got home I asked my wife if she threw those flashlights away & she said yes . I think I paid about $2.79 for a new bulb . I should have at least kept the bulbs out of them but then again I often buy something new & later on run across the exact same thing in one of my buildings .

[foxtrapper]

I'm split on keep or scrap.

Freely admitted, I've got a free old trailer that I toss scrap onto. When it gets full, I take it down to the scrap yard and get a few bucks. Always enough to more than cover the fuel.

But, aluminum wire can be darn usefull stuff. Not for running electricity through, but for wrapping things up with. I think the wad of wire would still go on my scrap trailer, but I bet it'd be snipping pieces off for sundry purposes.

[Cabin Fever]

I thought you were moving to Pennsylvania??? If that's still the case, I'd sell it now instead of dragging it with you.

[fishhead]

No. I'm not moving to PA now. Back to square one on finding a new state.

[clovis]

Why not just offer it on craigslist for 50 or 60 cents a foot?

[Jim Bunton]

I would definitely save it, but that is why my sheds are full and I spend a lot of time trying to keep the mess organized.

Jim