Bucketful for free! BUT...

[Goatlips]

Had to buy a tire while visiting family and range in Florida. Out of habit I asked the tire guy if they had any wheelweights, he said they had a regular pickup guy, but I could have the bucket next to the tire balancer - free, and they helped me get it in the Jeep.

Problem: For the trip back up north, my vehicle is already loaded to the gills with guns and ammo (I'm changing over to a Michigan gun club) so to avoid a broken spring I'll have to leave this beautiful, extra tall, no-trash overfilled bucket of lead in Florida to rot for a year.

Q: Should I take them anyhow and only fill my gas tank halfway? Or maybe risk leaving my spare tire, jack, and extra oil and tools behind? I'll never get through the mountains with all that extra weight.(No, Carpetman, the cat has to travel with me.) Just thought I'd share a pleasant dilemma. :castmine:

Goatlips

[trickyasafox]

any chance you just pay 30 bucks and fill 3 or 4 usps flat rate boxes to the gills and ship it?

[redbear705]

Hey GoatLips.....What part of Michigan?

JR

[Goatlips]

Fox, considered that but I guess I can wait until next year. Lessee... 70 lbs max I think? For around nine bucks? Hmmm...

Redbear, Southfield, wish I was farther north. Joining DSC, where garandsrus and several others shoot, and I've been doing cowboy for about eight years. You?

Goatlips

[carpetman]

Goalips---There are all kinds of stories of cats finding their way from Florida to Michigan. Only problem it might have is winds. Make a weight vest for your cat and let it carry some of the weights for you. Think how good a condition it will be in when it arrives---most likely add years to it's life.

[Lee]

How much does the "average" bucket full of ww weigh?
Umm, how much would an "average" barrel of ww weigh??
(There's a reason I'm asking the 2nd question..........Thanks...........Lee:wink:

[Springfield]

About 125 pounds.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Springfield is right on at 125 lbs. for a bucket of WW. If your barrel is a standard 55 gal drum, that's 11 buckets. You're looking at +/- 1375 lbs. or about double my entire stock. You can call me envious!

[Lloyd Smale]

If your going as far as the UP just drop them here and ill watch them for a year. I may watch them hit my bullet trap though!

[MT Gianni]

Leave the bucket and scatter them in a cardboard box as short, fat and wide as you can find. That should not change your overall height of items carried 3"-4". If 130 lbs is enough to stress your springs you are already overloaded. Gianni

[ron brooks]

Carpetman,

This is for you. :-)

Take the wheelweights and send the cat by Priority mail.

[GSM]

Scrounge a little more, or on the way to Mich., and rent a small U-haul. How many tire shops between Florida and Michigan????

[Andy_P]

Leave the bucket and scatter them in a cardboard box as short, fat and wide as you can find. That should not change your overall height of items carried 3"-4". If 130 lbs is enough to stress your springs you are already overloaded. Gianni

X2

If 130lbs would potentially break a spring, you're already 500 lbs over (which I doubt). What's you vehicle's Max Gross Vehicle Weight? I doubt very much that what you have described would tax a Jeep to the extent you fear.

If you are still unsure, a bucket of free wheelweights is not worth the angst. Leave it behind, or offer it to a local Boolit Maker.

[Ohio Rusty]

I might bring back all the wheelweights and leave my clothes there to be sent back. Clothes are cheaper to send and you only need a change or two for the ride home. Which whould you rather bring home ?? A bucket full of gold or a bucket full of clothes ??
Ohio Rusty

[trickyasafox]

the clothes won't save enough weight unless you have a lot more clothing than i am forseeing.

if you could pack it right, you could get them shipped for under 20 bucks with insurance.

not a bad deal :)

[Four Fingers of Death]

Go to th ejunk store, buy one of those cheapo non slip rubber mats for $2, empty the bucket evenly accross the tray. If you don't have a passenger, spread a bit on the passenger's side floor as well. maybe even if you do have a passenger, especially one with short legs.

You can't be that close to the wind unless you are bottoming out with every bump already.

Option 2: Jettison the wife :D , Just joking.

[686]

i got 2 5gal buckets of ww yesterday . one was 165 lb the other was 172 lb. they were 5 gal buckets.

[grumpy one]

Ever since they were very small I've taught my kids not to call for the guy in front to speed up; nobody but the driver can make a sensible judgment about the right speed for that combination of driver, vehicle and conditions. In the case of an experienced driver the same applies to gross vehicle weight: you know what makes sense, and adding "just" another 150 pounds is plain dumb.

Unless Florida is infested with lead thieves, or you are about to run out of WW in the near future, what is wrong with leaving the bucket for next trip? Seems an easy decision to me. And if you return there regularly, I don't see why you'd want to pay for shipping either.

[targetshootr]

That's the kind of decision I can't take. Is it worth the extra gas? Could I leave it behind and find a replacement bucketfull closer to home? What if someone else turns them into fishing sinkers? Would it be better just to stay and have your belongings shipped to a new home?

Too many horrible choices.

[Mallard57]

What about finding someone on this forum to guard your treasure till you can return (I think a cut would probably ensure this)?
Jeff

[redbear705]

[QUOTE=Goatlips;
Redbear, Southfield, wish I was farther north. Joining DSC, where garandsrus and several others shoot, and I've been doing cowboy for about eight years. You?

Goatlips[/QUOTE]

GoatLips...small world! I live about five miles from DSC but have never shot there.

I do belong to a clug about forty miles north thou.....

As a matter of fact i am going to DSC this saturday for some instruction on being a RO/SO for IDPA....so I will finally get to shoot there!

I may become a member there so maybe we will meet someday...JR

[Goatlips]

I think I got it. I hammered Wheelweights into the rims of all four tires, all the way around, inside and out. That's maybe 30 pounds off the springs.

Threatened with Carpetman's solution, the 20 lb cat agreed to jump up and down for the entire trip, so she'd add only an average of 10 pounds to the springs, being weightless half of the time.

I rigged my largest steel target on the luggage rack as a reverse spoiler, so that should provide enough lift to handle the remaining weight at highway speeds. On the road this Sunday! [smilie=2:

Many thanks to all for the input and the spirit in which it was given and recieved! :castmine:

Goatlips

[Howdy Doody]

Solution is take the heep, I mean Jeep down to the Dodge Dealer and trade off for quad cab 2500 with the new bigger Cummins and it will carry 11k with no sweat. Plus you will still have the truck and you can go shopping in Mich for a trailer whe the weather turns cold and next winter come out and shoot with me. Park in my driveway and plug in. Bring the weights though and you can use my pot. :)

[Ron]

Goatlips, so loaded all four wheel rims with lead. You might just find that you now have four unballanced wheels. It might be a bitch of a journey home!

What is the cost of four new tyres?

[diego]

:-D lloyd smale, hello from the woods north of saint ignace. how's the copper picken your way? my son works for a recycler, #1 copper today $3.15 per lb. says will be $4.00 very soon. i have a friend that has a place in houghton has one of the old mines in his backyard. keeps asking me to come up and work it. been a handloader and caster 30 years.