"Scrap electric motor price" is searched about 170 times a month in Australia, according to Ubersuggest, and "scrap electric motor" about 40, which makes motors the best-searched item in this group. The people searching have a motor from a pump, a fan, a workshop or a machine, and want to know whether to cut it up or take it in whole. This guide explains what is inside a motor, why the windings decide the value, when stripping might pay and what to ask a yard. The sources are recycler blogs, forum posts and marketplace listings, mostly overseas, so we give the pattern and no prices. It follows our older electric motor scrap price guide. ScrapTrade runs a scrap marketplace and has a commercial interest in the scrap trade.
What is inside
A motor is several metals at once. One recycler calls copper windings the most valuable material and says they are usually a modest share of the weight, around 7 to 18 percent depending on the motor type. The rest is steel or cast iron for the housing and stator core, and often aluminium for end caps and rotors. Cast aluminium end caps are normally sold as aluminium and not iron, and one yard operator said it paid breakage aluminium for rotors and treated stators as steel, which shows how a yard splits a motor by material.
Copper or aluminium windings
The windings are the question. Yards pay much less when the windings are aluminium or copper-clad aluminium. One forum poster described a motor that looked copper-wound but was aluminium with a thin copper coat and said a copper and aluminium mix is worth less than half what clean aluminium is, which is one person's account and not a rate. The usual test, from the sources, is to scratch the enamel and check the cut wire. If you are not sure, tell the yard.
Sell whole or strip it
Selling a motor whole is simple, and the yard pays a motor price that may be lower than the sum of its separated metals. Stripping and sorting usually earns more, according to the sources, if your labour is worth it. One buyer's note says some yards will take a motor with its belly band for the full motor value but prefer it removed. Another forum user said to strip and sort as much as you can so the yard does not have to. A hobbyist found that cutting up a large motor came out only about 20 dollars ahead in theory, so labour can swallow the margin. One source's copper estimate for a 50 pound industrial motor, 10 pounds of it copper, is an overseas price example from an unknown date, and we do not repeat its dollar figures.
What to ask a yard
- Do you take motors whole, and at what price per kilogram or per motor? Ask for the rate by size.
- Do you pay a separate rate for stripped copper windings?
- How do you grade aluminium end caps and rotors?
- Do you want any attachments removed? Such as the belly band, fans or couplings.
- How do you treat alternators and starter motors? Some listings group them with motors.
Larger motors
We did not research transformers or large industrial machines for this post. Large motors can be heavy and hard to handle, so think about lifting and transport before you buy a cutting tool.
If the motor still works
A working motor may have a buyer as a motor, which is a different market from scrap, and the price could be higher than its metal. We did not research the used motor market, and the sources we found were about scrap. Our guide to selling used machinery and industrial equipment covers the wider question. Test it before you scrap it.
Where ScrapTrade fits
One small motor goes to the nearest yard. The marketplace may suit an electrician, a maintenance contractor, a factory or a demolition crew with a quantity of motors, or sorted copper, aluminium and iron from them, to put before verified buyers. Listing is free with no commission, terms are agreed live and the buyer's 5 percent deposit is held in escrow once a bid is accepted. Businesses and individuals can sell once verified, and traders in more than 50 countries bid. We could not confirm how motor lots are graded, so ask cs@scraptrade.com.au before you plan around it.
For the global view, with US, UK and EU examples, see Scrap Electric Motors: Copper and Value.
What we could not verify
- What a yard pays for a motor or for the windings. We give no prices.
- The copper share of motors in Australia. The 7 to 18 percent range is one recycler's.
- Whether stripping pays for your motor. It depends on size, labour and yard rates.
- How Australian yards grade rotors and stators.
- Whether ScrapTrade accepts motor lots.
Frequently asked questions
Is an electric motor worth scrapping?
It has copper windings, steel or iron and often aluminium. What it pays depends on the winding metal and the yard.
How do I tell copper from aluminium windings?
Scratch the enamel and check the cut wire. Aluminium windings pay much less.
Should I cut the motor up?
Stripping can earn more, but labour can erase the gain. Compare your effort with the yard's rates.
Do yards take motors whole?
Many do, and some want attachments such as the belly band removed.
Can I list motors on ScrapTrade?
Verified sellers can list scrap. Ask support about motor lots.
Sources
- Ubersuggest keyword data, Australia, queried November 2026.
- Recycler blogs, forum threads and marketplace listings on scrapping electric motors, mostly overseas, as summarised in search results.
- ScrapTrade website, accessed November 2026.
General information only, not financial advice. Yards and motors vary.