'Storage Wars' Star to A&E ... Pay Up or I'm OUT!!

The A&E hit show "Storage Wars" could lose one of its biggest stars ... because of guys who are younger, cheaper and hungrier.

Sources connected to "Storage Wars" veteran Darrell Sheets tell us the network is going to cut his pay in half, from around $30k an episode to $15k.

And there's more bad news for Sheets ... we're told he's slated to appear in only 4 of the show's 26 episodes. Sheets thinks the handwriting is on the wall -- he's being phased out so the network can put in new guys who will work for a lot less.

Our Sheets sources say he's willing to walk, because he's gotten offers to do other TV shows.

A rep from A&E tells TMZ they plan to go forward with the season, whether Darrell's a part of it or not.