200 grills need to be saved from the scrap yard in Northern Virginia!!!!!


 
J

JimV

TVWBB All-Star
Hello all.....Well a friend of mine that has been in the game for about 10 years is calling it quits. He has a backyard literally full of Weber grills. He has old silver classics......a bunch of Genny 300's......a bunch of Spirits.....just a bunch of a bunch. No Summits.....No Gen II's.....No LX's .....I have been grabbing one at a time and some parts but this haul would fill an 18 wheeler easily. He is not interested in the ole......do you have a grease trey for such and such......he is looking for a few people that are maybe retired and looking to get into the hobby that own big trucks that pull big trailers. So if anyone out there in grill land is interested just let me know and I will put you in touch. You might ask about pricing and such??? Right now he has just got over the hump and realized the stuff has to go....I think currently he would like to arrange for fair wholesale on large hauls.....pennies on the dollar but still a few bucks for his efforts. I was there for a couple of hours today with another grill guy and its a little overwhelming. I should note this.......these grills are not in OCD style rows in order of grill model.....nope they were dragged back there one at a time with no method to the madness.
 
Bruce said:
I just hope my career doesn't end like this.
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I'm sure it won't Bruce. This is just another case of a guy who gets more excited about collecting this stuff than actually working on grills. I stop short of calling this Weberitis, as I think it's a lot closer to hoarding. Now sadly, many of these grills may end up in the hands of scrappers instead of people that will enjoy them.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I'm sure it won't Bruce. This is just another case of a guy who gets more excited about collecting this stuff than actually working on grills. I stop short of calling this Weberitis, as I think it's a lot closer to hoarding. Now sadly, many of these grills may end up in the hands of scrappers instead of people that will enjoy them.
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Very sound warning. I was heading perilously close in this direction. I am more and more aware that I don’t want my sons to have to someday clean up behind me🥲.
 
Yes this was a bit of hoarding but he has been selling for 10 years. You are correct that he wasn't restoring and selling at anywhere near the pace that he was gathering. The issue was that these were all free so the profit margin was very high and there was a bit of a thrill to see yet another one there ready for pick up seeing dollar bills. As an actual full time flipper I would have fallin victim to the same issue. That said my OCD would have had them in perfect categories all lined up in perfect rows....reds with reds.....coppers with coppers......greens w greens. It would be so nice to have endless parts for every resto. Note.....all of these grills were on their way to the dump when he saved them.......so now we can hope that maybe they will be saved yet again before they become scrap metal.
 
Yep......and he was able to be selective when he dragged em home. So if it had a rusted bottom or grease fire he left it alone. But no sun fade....good bottom shelf.....good set of grates.....that got dragged home. It has been wearing on me that I might miss out on this huge opportunity to grab a bunch of grills......but its not the grills as much as the hard to find or expensive replacement parts that I would rather have. Hood emblems......hood handle bezels......small aluminum grease treys......sets of grates......Thermometers.......regulators..... I would prefer just a few boxes of those items vs the space hogs that the grills would be. In my market there isnt a day that I cant find a good deal on a used grill on FB. Hauling them back one at a time works for me. I usually have one I am working on and one that is listed for sale.
 
I am all for giving a grill a second life, but I just don't want to add a hoard of grills to the burden my kids will have to deal with after I am gone or no longer able to deal with them. But, I too have to resist the urge to "collect" when my rehabbing is not keeping up. Collecting is an exciting part of the process.
 
Well....not to tempt you buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I believe you focus on mainly classic Silvers and 1000's dont you? I had to put blinders on as I walked past the green and red ones! Thats where I got my start and would drive miles and miles to buy one. Then I would hop on this very forum asking all of the rookie questions on how to restore them. If it makes you feel any better I didnt see any blue ones. :)
 
I mostly stick to Silver/Gold/Platinum B and C grills, but I am finding that harder to do with the rehab candidates getting more and more scarce. I also think that the customer base is becoming more and more in tune with the newer versions as well.
 
When you see these pics it will likely turn you guys off a bit due to the lack of organization. A huge tree fell on 6 Genny's and kind of messed up the semi organized area. But Bruce you can see some of those red heads poking out of the pile :) Hey we should have a VWBB meet at this dudes backyard! Just grab a mug of coffee and walk n talk all the grills. Of course everyone will have to be scanned and weighed in at the gate.....then empty pockets and weighed when leaving :) For me it was those darn hood bezels.....and small aluminum grease treys.....I just couldnt leave em behind. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo Oh and the hood emblems! Shoot....guess I am going back for one more grab.1000059416 (1).jpg
 
Yep that is what I am finding. Even my middle aged Genny's are now getting long in the tooth and folks are swarming to the used Gen II's
 
I am sworn off to buying ANYTHING more after going to Illinois to buy my capstone unicorn Vieluxe. But if I ever whittle down my collection of older grills for flipping before I am too old - or dead - to do more, I think I would leapfrog from x000 to Genesis II grills. To do those right means getting good at rust repairs. I have wondered if the bottom slats on the open cart models (my favorites) could be replaced with Trex or even nicely done wood. One of my very favorite Webers was the open cart Crimson with the extra sear burner. I think it would be fun to substitute stained wood on those slats and change the frame color and end caps from dark gray to black to make a "last redhead" grill.

Crimson Weber Genesis II.jpg
 
The Gen II's rust pretty quickly if not cared for. The slats on the open carts are definitely enemy #1 but also that frame area under the slats gets rusted. Yes I sand down or grind down the rust on the frame and paint it up nice then install Trex across the bottom. It looks great and is quick and easy. Sadly the frame will continue to slowly rust over the years but my buyers will easily be able to get 5 years on their used grill and 10 if they really love on it. Now if you ever become a flipper.....you have to let go of the perfection game and hop on the fast and furious bus. I dont cut many corners on my flips and my grills are easily the cleanest and most sorted out option in my market. That said there is a time vs profit margin that has to be upheld for the hobby to make sense. So breaking a grill all the way down to a bunch of flat pieces in the garage and massaging every one of them aint gunna work. You get two fast and furious sessions with a total of about 6 hours labor to finish the job and get it listed that night. In my market they sell in one or two days then its on to the next. If I buy really smart one 4 hour session gets it done and listed in the same day. I do take pride in my product and really go after all of the small details.....but fast fast fast.......and of course in the end If I were to pay myself an hourly rate I would be upside down on every grill that I sell. As for open carts they do look nice but I always ask my customers if they have dogs or if this grill will be in an area where there are vermin that might like to get in a easily available grease trey. I am not sure which vermin would like a grease trey but I assume racoon.....dogs......and maybe rats......
 
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