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When no collectors wanted to give him anything he felt was acceptable, he looked into it's scrap value (this was at the height of the thefts of metals). Even then, nobody wanted it because it it's weight. He too got several "offers" from people to take it off his hands, and most wanted him to pay the costs of moving it off his land so he could give it to them.
When I was visiting a steam cotton compress, the owner showed me what appeared to be a spare part. He tried to have it hauled off for scrap; but was told it was too heavy, and take too much cutting torch gas to cut it up to make it worthwhile.
For the same reason, many of the old compresses were left behind when the buildings were demolished. It is a shame more railway related items were saved for the same reason; though at some point the land they are on will become valuable enough to pay to have it cut up and hauled off.
Most of these were located trackside, so they are railroad related. This compress is now being used as a general warehouse. Removing the compress would involve hiring a crane big enough to raise the parts up through the coupla, swing it over the tracks, and set it down. It would also involve shutting the railroad down; so they decided to just leave it in place.
Someone went through what must have been a great deal of trouble to remove this one. But, I guess they found out that no-one wanted to haul it off. So, it is still sitting in a field across the street from the compress building.
