Jim makes an excellent point I have seen and witnessed a wire chopper running firsthand and to keep it feed and going is a different animal altogether. Say your wire chopper does 1,000 lbs an hour. For a full week you have to find a trailer load of wire and hope for like he said 78 percent recovery or better. Thats running it 7:30 to 4:00 o clock. Most companys will run two shifts or buy a bigger wire chopper eventually. Most wire is 80 percent but all scrap yards mix 45 percent and 60 percent recovery in with there wire because they can get away with it. I have witnessed it a million times make small bale with BS wire bale good wire in with bad wire and boom you have what looks like a great bale of wire but will only recover 75 percent or less. The copper game is very tricky with very little margin for error or else you have to grab your ankles and take it like a champ and take the loss. Businesses aren't in business to lose money they are in business to make money. All I can say is give it a shot maybe you make it maybe you don't but if you lose your pants take it as a learning experience. Some people make it big in this business some people lose there ass.