Should I walk away from these free batteries?

[SmallBlackCats]

Good day, and thanks in advance for your responses!

I have access to 2 batteries with the possibility of more coming. I'm wondering if I should bite at the opportunity or walk away.
The batteries are Saft PN: 018550-000 NiCad Type 4579. Nominal Voltage is 24V, 40 to 48 Ah capacity. They have 20 cells of type VHP450KA-1 and weigh 96 lbs.

These are used on Boeing 737 aircraft and are becoming obsolete.
The nice metal case the cells are in is vented and I believe the battery electrical connector is proprietary to commercial aviation but I could be wrong.

I don't have any solar panels, no charger or anything. I've been very interested in Solar and home power for years (have subscribed to an American magazine called "Home Power" for many years) but have not really had a reason or excess disposable income to invest in panels and batteries and such.

I'm wondering what the community would say about using these batteries for a small pilot solar panel/battery bank setup. There may be more of these batteries coming my way if I want them.
If they are worth taking, what charger and how should I string these together for optimum performance?
Thanks again for your consideration.

[Mike90250]

NO NO NO
NiCad batteries are considered Toxic Waste and are expensive to dispose of.

[SunEagle]

They need to pay you to take those NiCads off their hands so you can later properly dispose of them.

So IMO I would run away not walk.

[Sunking]

They are trying to avoid disposal cost which is extremely expensive to dispose of NiCd batteries. So they find a Sucker to turn a liability into an asset, and make it someone else problem to dispose them.