Does it matter whether a motor's core and housing are cast iron or steel for scrap pricing?
Short answer: Yes — cast iron and steel are graded and priced differently as scrap, so a motor with a cast iron housing or frame will be sorted and valued separately from one with a steel housing once the copper is removed, and mixing the two in the same pile can result in a lower blended price than sorting them apart.
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Cast iron and steel are chemically and physically different materials with their own separate scrap markets and price points — a buyer sorting motor scrap will typically want them kept apart rather than combined, even though both are broadly “ferrous” metals.
How to tell which you have
Cast iron is generally more brittle with a duller, grainier fracture surface if chipped, while steel components — especially the thin laminated stack that makes up a motor’s core — are typically sheet steel, distinct from a solid cast iron housing or frame. When in doubt, a buyer can usually identify it visually faster than you can research it.
Whether it’s worth sorting yourself
For a small number of motors, sorting cast iron from steel yourself may not add much — a buyer will often sort a mixed small lot themselves. For a larger volume, keeping the two separate from the start avoids a lower blended “mixed ferrous” price being applied to material that could have priced as two distinct, cleaner grades.
How ScrapTrade Makes This Easier
Noting the housing material type in a ScrapTrade listing, even a rough guess, helps ferrous buyers assess the lot faster than an unspecified “steel and iron mixed” description.
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