Every farm has one. The pile behind the machinery shed, the fence line of old gates, the heap of wire that was going to get dealt with one day.
It is usually worth more than people assume, mostly because of what is buried in the middle of it.
What is usually in there
- Old implements and machinery. Mostly steel by weight, but with motors, radiators and sometimes brass fittings in them.
- Irrigation. Aluminium pipe, brass and copper fittings, pumps with motors in them.
- Fencing wire and star pickets. Steel, heavy in quantity.
- Old roofing iron and shed cladding.
- Water tanks. Steel or aluminium depending on age.
- Batteries. Usually a stack of them somewhere.
- Electric motors and pumps. Worth well above steel.
- Old vehicles and utes. Often several.
Worth separating
You do not need to go through thirty years of heap item by item. Pull out these and leave the rest:
- Brass and copper fittings, wherever they turn up.
- Electric motors, pumps and alternators.
- Batteries, kept upright.
- Radiators, especially off older tractors, which are often copper and brass.
- Alloy wheels.
- Aluminium irrigation pipe, kept away from the steel.
Ring before you move these
- Old chemical drums and tanks. Anything that held spray, fuel or oil.
- Gas bottles and pressurised cylinders.
- Old transformers off the property's electrical gear.
- Asbestos sheeting, which is common on older farm buildings. We cannot take it and it should not be disturbed.
Access and logistics
The main question on a rural job is access and volume. A thirty year pile is usually more than one truck and may need a different vehicle or more than one trip.
Ring and describe what is there, or send a few photos across the pile. We will work out what it needs and give you a figure before anyone drives out.
Clearing it properly
For most properties this is a once-a-decade job. It is worth doing it in one go rather than in bits, because the pickup is the expensive part and a full load is far more efficient than three small ones.