Scrap Metal Yard Payout Calculator — which yard nets more, split the load, strip the wire

Which scrap yard nets you more? Payout after the drive, split or not, strip wire or not

For scrappers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs and demolition crews. Type the lots you are hauling and what two yards pay for each. The tool takes off fuel and vehicle cost, the minutes the trip takes at your hourly value, handling fees and grading deductions, then shows what the load nets at each yard, whether splitting it is worth a second trip, how much the other yard would have to pay to catch up, what a 10% or 20% price drop does, and whether stripping copper wire beats selling it insulated.

1. Your lots

One row per kind of metal. Use the unit each price is quoted in on the yard's board. Prices below are invented; type your yards' own.

Metal	Weight	Unit	Yard A price	Yard B price	Price per

2. The two yards

Yard A name

Yard A: miles one way

Yard A: minutes for the round trip, including unloading

Yard A: visit or handling fee ($)

Yard A: grading or dirt deduction (%)

Yard B name

Yard B: miles one way

Yard B: minutes for the round trip, including unloading

Yard B: visit or handling fee ($)

Yard B: grading or dirt deduction (%)

3. Your costs

Truck cost per mile ($): fuel, wear, tires

What an hour of your time is worth ($)

4. Strip the wire or sell it insulated?

Wire to deal with (lb)

Insulated wire price ($ per lb)

Bare copper price ($ per lb)

Copper recovered from the insulated weight (%)

Minutes to strip one pound

Fill in the numbers, then click Check this load.

Result

Option	Gross payout	Trip and fees	Net

Lot by lot

Metal	Pounds	At Yard A	At Yard B	Pays more

If prices fall before you sell

Prices	Best option	Net

Wire: strip it or sell it insulated

How it is built

Units: everything is converted to pounds first: kilogram 2.2046 lb, short ton 2,000 lb, long ton 2,240 lb. Gross payout at a yard = pounds × that yard's price per pound × (1 − its grading deduction), summed over the lots. Trip cost = 2 × miles one way × cost per mile + round-trip minutes ÷ 60 × your hourly value + the yard's fee. Net = gross payout − trip cost.

Split: every lot goes to the yard that pays more for it, and both trips are charged; the tool shows the split only when each yard gets at least one lot. Catch-up: the percentage by which the lower-netting single yard would have to raise all its prices to equal the best single yard, with its trip cost unchanged. Price drop: every price cut by 10% or 20% with the trip costs held. Wire: stripped copper pounds × bare price − pounds × insulated price − strip hours × your hourly value; the break-even recovery is the copper share at which that is zero.

Common questions

Should I strip copper wire or sell it insulated?

Compare what the stripped copper sells for, minus the insulated price you give up, minus the value of your time. The calculator does it for your wire: pounds, insulated price, bare copper price, the share of the weight that comes out as copper, and minutes per pound. It also shows the recovery percentage where stripping stops paying, so you can test a different yard price or a faster stripper.

Is it worth driving farther to a yard that pays more per pound?

Only if the extra pay covers the extra miles, time and any handling fee. The calculator nets each yard after fuel and vehicle cost per mile, the minutes the round trip takes at your hourly value, and the fee, then tells you how much more the lower-netting yard would have to pay across the board to match the winner.

When does it pay to split a load between two yards?

Rarely for small loads. Each lot can pay more at one yard, but a split means two trips. The calculator sends every lot to its higher payer, charges both trips, and shows split only when it nets more than keeping everything at one yard.

How do I compare prices quoted per pound, per ton and per kilogram?

Pick the unit each price is quoted in and the unit you weighed in. The calculator converts everything to pounds (short ton 2,000 lb, long ton 2,240 lb, kilogram 2.2046 lb) before comparing, so a steel price per ton and a copper price per pound can sit in one load.

Does this show live scrap prices, and is it financial advice?

No. It has no price feed: you type the prices from each yard's board and they change daily. It is arithmetic on your numbers, not tax, legal or financial advice, and nothing you type is uploaded.