Price of wheel weights

[avidtrapshooter]

I think there was a thread about this not too long ago, but I can't seem to find it so here it goes. What is everyone paying for a 5 gallon pail of wheel weights? I have found it varies a lot from place to place. I called up a few tire shops today and found a bucket for $50 (way more then I am willing to pay). Then I found a bucket at another place for $20 for a pail that is about 4/5 of the way full, which is reasonable. Then I have another place I get them from once in a while that charges $10 a pail, but I have to beat about 5 other guys to it...which can be a pain in the butt. Then there is another place that sells only to me, but they are not very big into tires so I might only get a bucket every 3-4 months from them, and I pay them $15-20 a bucket depending on the amount of trash I see. So, what's everyone else paying?

[RBak]

My experience is pretty much the same as yours....seems it all depends.

WW are in demand in my neck of the woods for a totally different reason than shooting....seems the salmon & sturgeon anglers always get there first, and it takes considerable weight to hold a "sinker" in place on the Columbia River.

And, as you mentioned $20 to $25 seems about average when you can find a bucket full. I can't remember paying any less, but other folks tell me about the $10 and $15 buys they luck into....and, of course, those who get them for free are always rubbing salt in the wound.

Russ...

[Forester]

I trade a few sinkers for his grandson to lose in a pond to the manager of a local tire shop. I end up with about a 5 gallon bucket a month from there. I am also working on a connection with a county government maintenance shop where I recently found out they just thow them in the dumpster![smilie=b:

I shoot my way through about 5-600 pounds of lead a year so this source has me moving ahead a little at a time.

[pumpguy]

Right now I am down to one shop that will provide me with WWs. Costs me a dozen donuts.:-D

[avidtrapshooter]

We go through a minimum of 750 lbs of lead over here, but that's with 5 people shooting trap, sending an ounce of lead down range with every pull of the trigger lol.

[avidtrapshooter]

Well melted up a bucket I picked up today, and I have to say that it was the best bucket I have gotten yet. A couple of them stupid stems, and a zinc weight but that was about it. No stick on wheel weights, which I like because the other ones are too soft for my liking. I got about 125 lbs of lead.
I noticed a mistake in my last message it says 750 lbs of lead but it should say $750 in shot, which is about about 400 lbs.

[johnly]

I did a major stupid over the weeken and passed up linotype for $1.00/lb[smilie=b: By the time I realized my mistake it was all gone.

John in Oregon

[Old Ironsights]

I just missed a bucket at one tie shop that I don't have "secured"... They will sell to the first comer.

I've got 1 locked up, and one a little better than 50/50... so on a lucky Quarter I can get 3 buckets for $15-20/ea.

[Castinoff]

You're in the ball park with the prices you quoted. I've paid from $10 to $30 for a 5 gal. bucket. Just made a new connection only today but the price is $30 per bucket. What are you gonna do?

[jack19512]

What is everyone paying for a 5 gallon pail of wheel weights?




Nothing.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

Scrap price here for lead WW's and such is $0.40/lb. A full bucket will be around 120-150 lbs. So if the bucket is full, $40-50 is about right. Anything cheaper is a deal.

I just went scrounging to a dozen places and most had already promised or sold to someone else. One place gave me #30. Another sold me #120 for $46.

I haven't tried the small towns yet. Maybe they don't know what lead is going for now...

[georgeld]

I don't use 'em, have gone to picking pellets at the range instead.

That's at N/C.

[730win94]

i picked up a damn heavy full to within an inch from the top 5 gal bucket for free.
i was also told to come back every 2 weeks or so. :drinks:
are there more opinions on how much a full bucket weighs? i may be stronger than i think LOL

[Forester]

i picked up a damn heavy full to within an inch from the top 5 gal bucket for free.
i was also told to come back every 2 weeks or so. :drinks:
are there more opinions on how much a full bucket weighs? i may be stronger than i think LOL

+/- 150lbs in my experience. If it is truely all WWs then a little heavier. I seem to average out about 100lbs of ingots per bucket.

[tntrapshooter]

sit it on a bathroom scale

[randyrat]

Always bring an extra bucket and a pair of gloves with you everywhere you go. You never know when you could run into a full bucket of WWs. Do i need a doctor to explain how you develope...........

[FISH4BUGS]

.....a case of Harpoon Ale per two buckets. That works out to about $13 a bucket. I also buy my tires form the shop (driving 45,000 miles a year gets you tires frequently). I also get alignments and oil changes there too.
I get a bucket every year or so for free from my other garage (the diesel guys) and here and there where I can.
I am lucky. Just keep asking everywhere you go. The worst they can say is no.

[Andy_P]

I recently lost one source to a recycler (I paid $20 and he pays $35), but my other two sources are still mine, one at $15 and the other free. I go every month to keep ahead of competitors, avoid overflowing buckets and stay familiar, and voluntarily upped what I pay to $20 last visit. I might abandon the free spot - I only get a full bucket every six months, and the boneheads throw the WW and junk into an empty grease container causing all kinds of problems when I smelt it.

My advice - when you find a place and are "the man", visit on schedule and pay well. Bring your own container as a backup.

[kellyj00]

whatever you do, don't call walmart looking for theirs. I got two fellas at two different stores in my area who said
"We can't sell them, they are recycled"
to which I replied "I make fishing sinkers out of them, so they are going to be recycled. I understand that you don't inventory or price them but I will be glad to meet you outside to pick up your extra wheelweights for recycling when you get off work. I'll give you $20 for your effort"

this is where it gets hairy... and I got similar info from both fellas....
"we keep them locked up with the old oil. I don't even have a key."

Somehow walmart has conned these fellas into thinking that their lead wheelweights are as dangerous to the environment as used oil.

[freedom475]

All of my free sources here in MT are now all spoken for. They have every bucket they can produce sold for $70 a bucket:confused::(.

[corvette8n]

We have only one scrap metal business in town and He is not getting any wheel weights, no one is bringing them in, he is not sure who is getting them, but they are not going through him. I was lucky to score about 60 lbs of lino for $20.00.
:-D
slim pickings for sure.

[38 Super Auto]

[QUOTE=...most had already promised or sold to someone else. One place gave me #30. Another sold me #120 for $46. ]QUOTE]

I am finding the same thing here in Northern Indiana: alot of places used to give me WW and the places that sold them were 15-20c/lb.

It's a shame, but inflation (including oil prices) is killing us. I seldom see others at our private range nowadays. I believe the higher cost of ammo and components has to be a factor...

[RBak]

i picked up a damn heavy full to within an inch from the top 5 gal bucket for free.
i was also told to come back every 2 weeks or so. :drinks:
are there more opinions on how much a full bucket weighs? i may be stronger than i think LOL

A full bucket of wheel weights can be embarassingly heavy when you are unable to break it down and you're loading it into the back of your truck....And then this smart alec guy on a BIG Harley Davidson, with the sleeves cut out of his shirt, and arms as big as my thighs, pulls up, leans down, grabs one and drives off holding it out to his side!!! I immediately explained that his bucket was nowhere near as full as mine. :roll:

Russ...

[avidtrapshooter]

Thanks for all of the replies. I don't do any bullet casting, well not yet anyways, I just make lead shot for trap shooting. I might try casting some slugs one of these days when I get a little bit more money...$15 for a box of 5 sabots is a little much IMO. Well I hope I score some more wheel weights soon, I love melting down a bucket of wheel weights, gives me something constructive to do in my spare time after class, not to mention I love seeing the ingot pile get bigger!

[mtgrs737]

10-4 on the ingot pile getting bigger! I figure that this skid load weighs a bit more than a thousand lbs. and this is a month old. It is now one layer taller.

[avidtrapshooter]

Now I could use a pile like that!

[Old Ironsights]

This is my current pile:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/MrMisanthrope/IMG_0285.jpg

Unfortunately (?) that's all Pure Lead (650lbs)

I think I've only got enough WW for about 400lbs of ingots. :(

[avidtrapshooter]

I had about 300 lbs at one point but I have went through most of it, and am down to about 125 lbs and looking for more! I don't know how many times I have locked up the brakes for a tire shop.

[shotstring]

Credoes to all those outstanding WW collections. I haven't been doing much shooting of late, so I have been able to just collect lead for a bit. Up to 1,000 pounds of linotype and maybe 800 pounds of WW's. I figue once I get up to 2,500 pounds of total weight, I am where I need to be. Keeping a lesser permanent supply around just seems inadequate somehow. Of course, matching that to a relatively equal primer supply is proving rather difficult.

[xsquidgator]

I don't know how you guys do it. I've called 10 tire stores today and gotten 9 "NO!"s and 1 "Maybe" on buying wheelweights. Hopefully tonight I can swing by the maybe to get 1/2 bucket of WW. Slim pickings indeed.

[Blammer]

My price is currently "free" Just got another one today...

[Blammer]

calling ain't the way to do it.

You ease in when they ain't too busy, talk to the "joe" working back there and ask him... He'll usually know the 'right' person to ask for ya. It's a "barter" you say "hey how about a 12 pk of some drink for a 5 gal bucket full?" Most likely he'll figure out a way to get you one....

[avidtrapshooter]

I have been calling as well, found almost all my buckets this way so far. Found a half a bucket just hitting up all the tire stores. Either way seems to work ok for me.

[xsquidgator]

Well, the 10th time was the trick, for $5 today I "scored" a 1/2 5-gal bucket of wheel weights, tire stems, cigarette butts, misc trash, and some mystery metal. The wheel weights seem to be good stuff, I cast about 30# of them tonight at about 650-700F (melted, removed clips, fluxed , and cast the ingots).

But, I'm curious as to my mystery wheel weight (is it also WW?) metal. It's in the form of little lead-looking squares maybe 1/2" on a side with adhesive holding them together- were these stick-on wheel weights or something? Some of them/most of them are marked on the back with "1/4 oz - 7g" and a couple also have "T-A-W" underneath the weight stamp. What are these? I hope they're also useful for casting harder bullets, but I'm keeping them segregated until I figure out what they are.

[crazy mark]

I have gone to posting on Craigs list that I will buy used wheel weights. I look at what other people are willing to pay and go a little higher. I've had 2 hits so far and one has a little more than what I was looking for. Craigs list is free and is in cities over 30,000 out here on the west coast. Not sure where else they are at. Mark

[MT Gianni]

But, I'm curious as to my mystery wheel weight (is it also WW?) metal. It's in the form of little lead-looking squares maybe 1/2" on a side with adhesive holding them together- were these stick-on wheel weights or something? Some of them/most of them are marked on the back with "1/4 oz - 7g" and a couple also have "T-A-W" underneath the weight stamp. What are these? I hope they're also useful for casting harder bullets, but I'm keeping them segregated until I figure out what they are.

Those are stick on WW. They are usually soft enough to be considered as pure lead but several have been marked Zinc. As long as you check each one they should be good. Gianni

[randyrat]

calling ain't the way to do it.

You ease in when they ain't too busy, talk to the "joe" working back there and ask him... He'll usually know the 'right' person to ask for ya. It's a "barter" you say "hey how about a 12 pk of some drink for a 5 gal bucket full?" Most likely he'll figure out a way to get you one.... I was going to say just that Blammer good one. Sounds like you've been around the block. Calling on the phone is one way to NOT get anything. Phone calls are IRRITATING to people that work with the public.

[mtgrs737]

Wheel weight alloy seems to be just about perfect for any pistol casting that I do with the exception of 44 magnum. I have about 600 lbs. of Linotype that I use to enhance my alloy for cast rifle bullets that I am just now getting into. I have suggested to my bother in law that he stockpile WW's as I think that the manufacturers will be converting over to zinc and steel under pressure from the tree huggers soon. I wish I could find a resonable source of WW's so I could accumulate about 5 tons of ingots and then I would be set for life. In the future we may be forced to do group buys on new alloy from refiners at market prices if we want to continue our hobby. :castmine:

[otteray]

Anybody tried going to their local or county public works (road dept.) fleet maintenance shop?
That's where I get a lot of my ww. Those 10 wheelers all use a lot of 'em!
It help's that I drive a county pick-up truck, I guess. :)

[avidtrapshooter]

Well I scored half a bucket of wheel weights yesterday for $5. Made it into about 60 lbs of ingots. I have 200 lbs of ingots stored up now, and with all the shot we have already made combined with the ingots we have 500 lbs of shot. That should get us through the better part of the year.
I'm working on getting a job at a auto parts place right now, that has a service shop in the back, let's hope they do a few tires I know they have the balancing machine.

[4thebrdz]

I offer up a 12 pak for a bucket of WW. Last one was 155# uncleaned. Cleaned with the tape weights taken out, zinc , steel and junk cast to about 110#.

[kir_kenix]

this is my first post here, but ive been lingering for a while.

somebody mentioned the walmart tle not giving out lead, and thats about all i check. between 3 or 4 local stores, i get all the ww's i could ever cast. i usually get 1-2 buckets per store a month (and i know im not the only guy who is hitting them up).

[mauser1959]

Well I could not get wal mart to give out any WWs and I knew the manager and assistant manager at one point. In fact that is one reason that I have tried to avoid wal mart as much as possible. And from what the car dealers tell me , wal mart is buying a cheaper grade of tires from China and I would as soon keep the money close to home.

[weasel 21]

Went on the tire shop journey and got 2 buckets of WW for $40. Funny thing I thought the mom & pop shops would be productive; got my prize from chains. Just had to grease the palm a little bit. Seems like only 2 yrs ago you could get all you wanted for free.

[Alangaq]

I am still working with the lead I got from one shop about 5 years ago. It was owned by this old guy and he said "yea, I got wheel weights you can have, but you take one bucket, you take them all"! Like an idiot I had my wifes chevy station wagon and with 8, 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights in the back, it didnt drive to well on the way home! But I did get alot of lead...................free!!!

[snowwolfe]

I guess it is all in the timing and who you ask. My son works at a large chain store doing tire changings. I thought this was my ticket to free lead for life. I was sadly mistaken. Every wheel weight they take off has to be sent back to there supplier for credit for there next shipment.
You guys that have a source, my hats off to you. Get it all while you can because it is a shrinking market.

[RBak]

I agree with snowwolfe, Get it while you can!

Russ...

[TX BOOMER]

Seeing that I am just into this ,I guess I am lucky. I have made 6 differant shops , 2 of which are own by the same man , 1 is 4x4 lift shop , 2 mom and pop shops, and even got a Modica Bro's to give some. These shops have all given them to me free. And told me to come back in about 3 weeks. As it stands I have somewhere in the range of a large garbage can half full. Don't know what that weighs but it sure looks like alot. Oh BTY , because they were so nice to me I did give them each about 3 lbs of ground venison from this years hunting season. Another thing is I have been given this in the last couple of days, like I said just starting. :Fire:

[wire nut]

As I read about you fellows buying wheel weights it makes me wonder if the region we live in makes that big of difference. Had a buddy call on new years day for me to come get a bucket full out of his way. He gives me all he can get. Also another place in a nearby town is good for 4 to 6 buckets a year and they are happy to see me come around. Last trip there and they were glad to see me as the local scrap dealer would not take them when the shop tried to give them to him. He told them not to bring anymore to him that it was just in his way. Make a person wonder what'soing on.

[Typecaster]

Southern California report:

Went to the scrapyard and there wasn't a WW to be found. A little soft lead pipe...that was it.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

This morning, 190# at 32¢ a pound