Is metal buying deceiving us? There is a suspicion that yes… We are thinking about how to catch him

– Oh, people say that Yaryshka’s scales are twisted. There the weight shows normally up to a hundred, and then it starts to fool around. People tell the truth, they won’t lie. And, with me everything is fair, I have accurate scales, so bring metal to me, you don’t have to go to Yarygin.

My partner and I had to hear this story almost every time we handed over the next batch of ferrous metal to Stas. Stas, our local reseller, naturally operates without a license, like thousands of similar metal resellers in our country. However, Stas has a competitor. Yaryshka, aka Vitka Yarygin. Yaryshka has been engaged in scrap metal since the dashing 90s. If you listen to him, you can find out how, not without his help, all the collective farms and factories in our area were using gas. But that's a thing of the past.

I was wondering if it was possible, in principle, to set up mechanical lever-type scales this way. Yes, we accept metal on old semi-fine scales made in the USSR. I don’t know where, but here they are called half-tons for the weight of half a ton that the scales can take at a time.

So, my partner and I had doubts that Stasik’s scales were just screwed up. How was it? As the price of metal fell, Stasik said that he could accept scrap metal for no more than 10 rubles per kilogram. Well, that’s his right, but we turned to Yaryshka and he gave us a price that suited us, 15 rubles per kilogram.

But that's not the point. Those who have been collecting metal for a long time, I think, are already accustomed to determining by eye how much weight is in the car. You drive from the copse and look closely at how the car sag and the engine is pulling the load. So, we are already accustomed to the fact that, anyway, we carry three hundred kilograms or half a ton, which is rare, but it happens.

And so it turned out that we were driving from a successful exit and my partner and I were figuring out how much we were carrying, we agreed that half a ton was the maximum. We give it to Yaryshka, it turned out to be 580 kilos. I’ll look at the result with my friend, we didn’t think or guess. Then the next day they loaded the trailer with what they had previously unloaded in the yard. The price of metal jumped, we waited until they agreed to 15. So, they loaded it into a trailer and into the Niva. We’re taking it, we’re figuring it out, well, if it comes out to a ton, it’ll be good. Slam, and it turned out to be three hundred tons.

Again my partner and I thought about it, on the one hand it’s good, a pleasant weight. On the other hand, doubts on the topic begin to creep into our souls, but didn’t Stasik deceive us all these two months?

Why did I go online with the request “How to tighten up mechanical scales?” I had to dig around for a long time because, in general, there was nothing on this topic. There are hundreds of websites, blogs and videos about how people cheat on electronic scales, but there are only a couple of videos about mechanical half-ton scales, and not about the body kit, but about the device.

Then I decided to contact our butcher, the owner of the butcher shop. A man has been selling meat, including wholesale, for thirty years. And he answered me that this is definitely nonsense. Mechanical semi-fine scales cannot be adjusted so that they first show the exact weight, and if more, then the wrong, so to speak, required weight. Mechanical scales are calibrated to zero. If they show exactly zero without weight, then even with a heavy weight of half a ton they will show exactly half a ton.

The main thing in this matter is to ensure that the metal receiver does not turn the wheel on the scale bar next to the weight during the loading process. That's when the weight on the scales can go negative. And, naturally, before starting loading, make sure that the scales show exactly zero kilograms. So next time I’ll definitely take a look at this whole thing.

Well, if we want ironclad proof, then I have already agreed with the director of the farm. We will go with the metal, we will go to the weighing station, we will hang up the car, and then after handing over the scrap metal, we will weigh the empty one. Now, then it will be clear, visual and firmly reasoned.