Heavy Equipment Catalytic Converter Scrap Price. Any Difference With Cars?

Sometimes, catalytic converters don't live as long as the vehicles and equipment they are installed on. Catalytic converters in cars usually survive about 150 000 miles. For heavy equipment, the cat converter's longevity is not measured in miles. It's measured in hours of work. And it's still very hard to predict the number of hours it can work.

Sooner or later, the catalytic converter in your equipment is going to ask for a replacement. And you will have an old converter in your hands thinking what you should do with that piece of scrap metal. And we have the decision for you - just sell it as a scrap part and make some money!

So, today, we'll be speaking about the following:

1. Heavy equipment catalytic converter fair price - how much?
2. Why are these converters so valuable and expensive?
3. Why stealing a catalytic converter from any equipment is a bad idea?
4. Where and how to sell the cat converter at the best possible price?

Let's get started!

So, how much is the converter from heavy equipment?

It's pretty hard to say for sure if your converter is worth anything. Before anyone can answer it, you will have to clean it, find a serial number and take pictures of it. This is the first step for selling your converter. The prices may vary depending on how much a recycling company may earn using your converter.

The average heavy equipment cat converter scrap price will be anywhere between $50 and $300. We would predict that a converter of this type may cost around $200, on average. This means that you can actually make money by selling a piece of metal you will never need again. This is important because if you don't sell the old converter, it's likely to become a resident of the garage or parts warehouse.

Now we'll try to explain why one converter may cost around $50 while some other cat converters from heavy equipment may be worth $300 or even more. This is not that simple.

Why are they ready to pay that much for an old cat?

The old converter is not just a piece of scrap metal. This is a thing that can give you some grams of precious metals. Mainly, platinum, palladium, and rhodium are taken from converters. These are the most precious parts of the catalytic converter which are usually there even if the converter has already started malfunctioning.

Here are some important facts about precious metals:

• they are melted and turned into some alloys that cover ceramic honeycomb with a very thin film;
• these metals are pretty hard to get out of the converter - you will need to melt all other parts in a special furnace;
• the metals should then be separated and cleaned before you may sell them to industrial companies;
• after cleaning, these metals are absolutely recyclable and can be used in production again;
• the prices of these metals vary all the time, and the price of each metal will determine the price for your converter.

Platinum and palladium will cost around $40 and $80 per 1 gram respectively. You will find up to 7 grams of each type of metal. But actually, a lot of old converters have already lost some parts of the honeycomb and so they have lost some parts of the precious metals. So sometimes it's only about 1-3 grams of platinum and palladium.

But mainly companies buy the converters for getting rhodium out. Rhodium costs about $650 per 1 gram and the prices keep growing in the world. Unfortunately, only about 1 or 2 grams of rhodium can be taken out of the heavy equipment converter. Sometimes 0 grams are available because of the type of converter.

Doing the simple math

So, you may now be thinking - why the hell they don't buy my converter for $1000? They are going to get 2 grams of rhodium which will make them around $1300 and also platinum and palladium for profit. But things are not so bright in the recycling business.

Here are some problems they may face:

• when buying a scrap catalytic converter, they always risk getting no precious metals and losing their money;
• you can never predict if all the precious metals are there;
• sometimes 0.3-0.5 grams of rhodium are presented in a catalytic converter;
• the process of getting metals out of the old converter is not cheap and simple.

Recycling companies need expensive equipment and a lot of resources to get those metals out of your converter. If you try to do it by yourself, you are very likely to give up in a couple of days. Also, these companies need to recycle all the side products in accordance with the law which makes them lose money on recycling procedures. So, their profits aren't that huge.

How to sell your heavy equipment catalytic converter?

You may try to sell the converter using a lot of different methods. Some of them are just dropping the converter in a local car repair shop or in a scrapyard near you. But in these cases, you will get up to $50 or even less for all the precious metals that the converter has inside. These people will resell the converter to some other companies and make money. So why don't you sell the converter to other companies and make this money by yourself?

Selling a converter legally is not as simple as just dropping it in some half-legal scrapyard. For this, you will need some proof that the converter belongs to you (for example, the registration documents for your heavy equipment).

Here's a step-by-step instruction for selling your cat converter:

1. You should take it off your equipment before. When you have the converter in your hands, you may start the procedure.
2. First, clean it in order everyone could see the serial number. Then, take the pictures of the cat that show the serial number and the honeycomb.
3. After that, think of who you want to sell your old converter to. The best option is recycling companies that specialize in catalytic converters.
4. Find their websites and send them pictures in your e-mail describing the converter you have for sale. Ask them to offer a certain price.
5. Wait for them to answer. Then look at the prices they offer. In most cases, you will have a couple of bad offers and one or two good offers.
6. Choose a company you want to sell your converter to. Phone or text them to get some details on shipping.

This is probably the best and the fastest way to sell your catalytic converter legally and at a good price. When you have a chance to compare prices, you may choose the best offer easily. But if you only inquire about the price in one company, you will not get the idea of what other businesses may offer.

Be prepared that the company will require some proof that the catalytic converter belongs to you and wasn't stolen. In most cases, you will need some registration documents of your heavy equipment and also your passport or driving license as the verification document.

Why will you need verification?

The verification of personality is important in all legal recycling companies and middlemen. The problem of catalytic converter theft is very important for the US police, so they require all companies to verify anyone who sells catalytic converters. Of course, there are still a lot of "black" dealers who may buy your converter without any verification. But they usually pay just a couple of bucks.

If you want to legally sell your catalytic converter, it's OK to verify your personality. If you are thinking about making some money by stealing a catalytic converter from heavy equipment, don't do it. This is a crime and you may get jailed once you try to sell the stolen scrap part. It isn't worth it at all because you will not even get $100 for your stolen converter.

Recycling companies are very careful now because they are all monitored by the police and they don't want to earn black money. So stealing a converter is a very bad thing you can do. Never break the law, never steal anything that doesn't belong to you.

Final words

Selling a catalytic converter from heavy equipment is just the same as selling a cat converter from your car or truck. You will need to find someone who is ready to pay money for the converter and then just compare what prices different companies offer. You can easily sell the old cat just after finding a specialized company that recycles the converters and makes money by selling precious metals.

Be careful and always compare the offers that you get. Many companies just want to buy the converters at very low prices in order to earn more money. But we know at least five big companies in the US that offer optimal prices, free shipping, and other important perks.