Whatever happened to the good ol’ American junk yard? (Cheyenne: sales, insurance)

[Wm Jas]

I grew up in an isolated rural community like the one I’m living in now – Sheridan, and I drive a 20+ year old American car, so of course it’s starting to go sour in a few obvious areas.

Where are the junk yards where I can go a get-for-myself [at a pittance] the random miscellaneous parts that I need to keep it on the road?

Wm Jas

[ElkHunter]

There is no such thing anymore and we can thank Insurance Company's for requiring that only employee's are back in the yard. Too many injuries and false claims of injuries put on the junk yards and the insurance company's got tired of being sued. Now, they remove it and bring it to the front counter. Most of them look in the book and charge you 80% of what the part is new.

You can check out Ted's, located over by the Railroad Round House, just head East off of Main on 5th street and turn left after you cross the tracks. He has stuff back in there, also he has stuff on Skeel up on the hill, and he has stuff down behind Pizza Hut.

You can check out Sonny's in Donner additions, you'll be able to spot all the cars on the South side of the road.

Both of those places will have the best deal, if they have the parts.

Next, you can drive down to Buffalo and take the second exit on the way to Gillette. When you get to the bottom of the off ramp, you'll see a road just across from you and it parallel's the interstate going South. It only goes a short ways and then ducks under the interstate. Mr R's is on the right. In that place, you will go to the counter and ask, and they will take it off the shelf. It's not a junk yard, it's a salvage yard. Your best bet is to call him and ask about the part. If he doesn't have it, he'll get on the junkyard circuit and ask, somebody will have it. They will ship it to your doorstep. I bought a alternator for my Lincoln at Mr R's. New price was $190. Mr R found one for $68, shipped to my doorstep. It came out of South Dakota somewhere, but I had it in 3 days.

That is your choices in Sheridan County for places that might have something for your car. There is one up on KROE lane, but he trys to keep only 10 year old cars and newer. Once they hit 10, he crushes them. He's really got no space.

[North Beach Person]

What happened?

Environmental laws.
Rural pioneers moving to the exurbs and complaining.
Zoning.
Insurance issues.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

What happened?

Environmental laws.
Rural pioneers moving to the exurbs and complaining.
Zoning.
Insurance issues.

Yup, exactly.

Now you got me started.

Today's high faluting society has covenances that restrict everything that is good for the environment. By that, I mean that today's society is a "Throw away" society. If it doesn't work, throw it away and get a new one. Where is the nearest TV repair shop? How about getting your microwave fixed? Oh, now where? Throw it in the land fill?

We used to have junk yards and we recycled parts and pieces until there just weren't any parts and pieces, and then, and then only, did we crush down what was left and sell it for scrap iron where it was melted down and used again. No more. Throw that tv in the landfill, oh the car has $1,000. in damage, junk it but don't even think about having that junk in "MY TOWN". I refuse to drive my Beamer up a street that might have a junk yard on it.

Here's the latest. A friend had an old horse drawn plow, rusted appropriately for the erra. He built a rock garden and put the old plow in the middle of it as an ornament. He was promptly told he couldn't house a "junk" yard as he wasn't zoned right. The ONLY thing in his yard was the old horse drawn plow. His neighbor had a boat that hadn't been used in 10 years, and two cars that hadn't run in 5 years, all parked in the driveway, but his neighbor said those were "Projects" and someday would run. So my friend put a sign on his plow that said, "Have plow, looking for team, must be cheap as I don't have any money." He then told everybody it was a project and that someday he was going to go back into farming.

[sunsprit]

Not quite, guys ...

While EPA and DEQ ground contamination issues have changed the scope of the wrecking yard business, there's been other factors in the business that are more significant ....

The aging fleet of cars and the lessened ability of car owners to work on their own vehicles over the last decades has made the older cars more valuable when crushed for scrap than keeping them around for serviceable parts. For the most part, the wrecking yards are more efficiently utilized by removing the common demand parts and warehousing them in an inventoried space than simply leaving them out in the yard to deteriorate. Plus, there's a lot of components that have common failure rates, so the one on the wrecked car or high mileage vehicle is no better serviceable than the one on your high mileage car that has failed; gotta' buy new replacements for a lot of this stuff.

As well, friends of mine in the boneyard business for 30 years who had a "u-pick" yard in SLC saw that a tremendous amount of their potential profits were walking out the yard in folks pockets. They told me that the small items of value weren't getting any sales for a couple of recent years, modules, switches, fused items, etc., but also noticed that the parts were disappearing from the cars in the yard. So they experimented by closing the yard and hiring staff to pick the parts for the front counter customers. All of a sudden, they were selling items that hadn't seen sales in years. After only 30 days, it worked out to be a net profit to them to pay for the new staffers and collect for the parts they were selling.

FWIW, Balken's wrecking yard in Cheyenne sold out last year to a new operation that cleaned up the place and is strictly a "u-pick" boneyard. They have carts at the entrance to the yard and you can load up your tools to fetch the items you want. They inspect your toolbox on the way in and when you exit the yard. They also charge off of a flat-rate table; ie, a window regulator is "x" Dollars, a hood is "x" Dollars, a starter motor, an alternator, a manual transmission, an automatic transmission, a door, a trunk lid, a taillight, etc etc etc etc. Even the electronics are listed by type: so much for an FI computer, and ignition amplifier, etc. You know exactly what you'll pay for an item when you check into the front counter before you enter the yard. The pricing is not based upon a percentage of new retail. I'd mention that this is the 3rd yard they've opened up in the last few years, they've got a couple down in Colorado. When a car gets stripped to a certain point, they'll crush it to open up space for another car. Much of their operating income comes from their on-site crusher and scrap metal sales. Historically, Balken's would let known customers into the yard to check items and pull them, but that was a limited group of people that they trusted to be in the yard.

Additionally, there are a couple of "u-pick" boneyards in the Greeley area; one specializes in Subie's so that's where I source parts for my OBW's. But I've found that the common items that have failed in my cars are similarly bad in the cars that have made it to the boneyard.

For the most part, the business model of the wrecking yard industry has been dictated by the owner's vision of what can make their business the most profitable. We have several other wrecking yards in Cheyenne that will allow you to enter their yard, inspect items and pull them ... if you appear to them to know what you're doing. I've gone to them and asked for specific parts, and they've waved me through to the yard with vague directions as to where the vehicles with the item(s) I'm seeking may be located. With a small tool bag in hand, I've been able to snag the items I was seeking and pay for them out the door. Much less expensive when I pulled the parts instead of them doing so, and I got the part before I left. Otherwise, I may have been waiting a long time or had to come back the next day when they had time to pull the part.

The key issue is to "follow the money". The wrecking yard owners aren't doing this just for a hobby and a way to pass the time.

RE: the "insurance" and liability issues: the u-pick boneyards I go to all require you to be an adult to enter the yard and sign a "hold harmless" release form before you can go past the front counter to the boneyard.

[sunsprit]

PS to the above post ...

several of the "u-pick" boneyards I go to have an entry fee to go into the yard which you pay upfront.

their front desk folk can only tell you what year/make/models they have in the yard, they can't tell you what parts remain on a vehicle. some of the yards are disorganized, too, so you get to wander a lot of rows of cars to find the ones you need.

you get to pay for what may just be a hike into the boneyard to find that the part(s) you're seeking have already been removed. On those days, I'll pull parts which have been on my list for awhile but not necessarily needed at the time.

[jody_wy]

needed a inside of a rear end on a 1069 stack curser(bale wagon) years ago , they told me to come back in a hours. They sent a kid that was higher then a kite to go take one out of a old dump truck.... got back he had one hand with a bloody rag tied around it.... did need to get the two speed motor for the same rear end a couple times ...they always went into a big back room and get it off a shelve.
last time I got to walk thru a junkyard and find a part for a Buick was 1987 on a trip to California, there a big junk yards in Ogden UT down the road from Smith and Williams. They told me which row and that it was on a Caddy on piled two high , just needed a tail light.
My kid bought a big old 80 Lincoln town car had a hard time even finding tail lights , but his 69 Chev truck we had a catalog(LMC) to rebuild the whole truck from the frame up with after market parts