lead

[mescalero1]

Is $ 30.00 for a 5 gallon bucket full of lead:
unreasonable?
reasonable?
what?

[Don McDowell]

If its lead, that's not bad. If its unrendered wheelweights, I'm on the not so hot side.

[AJMD429]

I'd probably buy it. If it doesn't have zinc or some such in it, it would be good bullet material, and if it turns out it does, you're "only" out $30 - and could use it for some other purpose - cast some slugs, cast some .45 bullets to use in sabots for a .50 muzzleloader, etc... OTOH, I've not casted bullets in 30 years, and know little of what I speak...

[TedH]

I wouldn't be too crazy about it, but that's prolly about the going rate for wheel weights so long as they are usable lead and not a bunch of zinc weights mixed in.

[Ysabel Kid]

Not to highjack this post, but it is along the lines of the original question. What is a fair price for lead by the pound, and where is the best place to get it?

[mescalero1]

YK,
I consider that to be germain to the subject matter.

[Ysabel Kid]

YK,
I consider that to be germain to the subject matter.

Kind of thought so myself m1! Just didn't want to be accused of the vile "hi-jacking"!

[KirkD]

The going rate for WW's here is 30 cents/pound. A 5 gallon pail is over 100 pounds, maybe 130 pounds, if I recall correctly. So $30 is good in my books. I stopped carrying 5 gallon pails full of wheel weights last winter ... a fellow is way off balance if he's carrying just one, so he needs to carry two, which puts an extra 250 pounds or thereabouts straight down my spine. Nothing happened yet, but I figured I'd stop before something did and Ol Betsy blew, especially with all the side to side twisting necessary to get out of the tire shop with all my loot. I could tell the tire shop owner wasn't very happy about me carrying 5 gallon pails full of wheel weights out of his shop. I imagine he was thinking popped spine=big lawsuit, because he asked me if I couldn't start using a little trolley. I wasn't going to buy a trolley, so I started carrying smaller pails into his shop.

[Don McDowell]

Not to highjack this post, but it is along the lines of the original question. What is a fair price for lead by the pound, and where is the best place to get it?

If you're after certified alloy, I've not found anybody better than www.rotometals.com
There are folks on Ebay selling rendered wheelweights and other types of recycled lead, the price varies greatly.

[Old Ironsights]

I get mine for anywhere from $20/pail to spot scrap price depending on the shop.

Most of the Chain tire shops require WW turn-in either for use by their in-house battery mfg operation or other EPA/scrap recoup.

Smaller/independent shops mostly stopped throwing WWs away a couple of years ago, and got serious about scrapping them out when Lead was selling for over $1.60 spot last fall.

Can't get as much from the scrappers now, so some kind words, a $20 bill and/or a case of beer will get you a long way.

I generally lose about 10% of the weight of a bucket to Trash, Fe, Zinc & Polymer weights, and another 10% to Pure Lead stick-ons (which I smelt seperately).

I spent an afternoon sorting my most recent intake.

I had 3 buckets (identical 5gal, generic, from the surplus mart) filled by the same tire shop.

They averaged 130lb each.

Most of us sort out the (nearly) pure pb stick-on weights, but I go a couple of steps further.

I sort out the stick-ons, zincers & steelies (I get most of them this way), and all the trash... PLUS I seperate the WWs into 2 seperate sizes: 40g+ and 40g- (essentially >1.5oz and <1.25oz) call 'em "Biguns" & "lil'uns".



Most people wouldn't bother, but since I'm sorting anyway it gives me the opportunity to smelt the ones with the higher alloy-to-clip ratio first...

So, by the numbers:

390lb(+/-) raw "from the shop" WWs weighed in 3 buckets on a bathroom scale =

188lb <40g WWs (lil-uns)
143lb >40g WWs (big-uns)
035lb pb stick-ons
015lb Zinc/Steel/loose clips
010lb Polymer Tape weights, Dirt, Valve stems, Cigs, etc.

FWIW, all 143lb of "big-uns" just fit into a 5gal bucket. I can only get 130ish# of "lil-uns" in a bucket...



Next step/stop will be to smelt each set & post the clip/alloy ratios.

(the ratios really interest me because 655# of my WW stock is in "Lil-uns"... and I want to calculate out the yeild...)

[Travis Morgan]

I buy lead from an indoor range's backstops for $35/5 gallon bucket. I've yet to take the jackets in to sell for scrap, so I dunno what that'll bring.

[Bis]

I am paying $10 for a 1 gallon jug of wheel weights.

[Lefty Dude]

I am Kinda spoiled. My Son-In-Law is a service Mgr. at a Chevy Store.
He has the Tire Guy save all the weights for us.
He shoots PB, and uses the stick-ons and I get the hard one's.

[BenT]

The local scrap yard is paying $.10 - $.20 apound for wheel weights and $.30 for lead. I've been paying $15 to $20 a bucket because it isn't all usable. But if your having a hard time finding it $30 isn't bad.