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Indiana shooter
07-23-2015, 01:14 AM
One of my works trusty forklifts lost it's transmission last week and boss said that they're just gonna scrap it. Bossman said if it there's any lead in the counterweight I could have it. It's an older model toyota 2 ton lift. I looked but couldn't find any lead in the open but on the steel/iron counterweight there appears to be welded on caps that could have been used to inject something into a hollow cavity. (It could just be wishful thinking though)

Anyway, I'd really hate to take the time to disassemble everything, take it home, and cut it up just to find that there's nothing useful there. So is there anyone out there that can tell me there's any lead in there?

P.S. i did try to do some research before I asked but couldn't get a definitive answer either way.

retread
07-23-2015, 01:51 AM
Lead is commonly found in forklift counterweights. Cut off the caps and find out. Then comes the fun. You have to heat up the iron shell to melt and pour out the lead. A little planning and a chain fall or hoist and you can pour into large ingot molds ( I process mine farther to remove any rust or slag contamination from the counterweight in a second stage and pour into smaller ingots for final usage). My last forklift lead if not pure Pb, was darn close to it.

waynem34
07-23-2015, 01:57 AM
hit it with a big hammer a few times that will tell you. I t will be back part and i have seen very few that are lead. Give it a try if it dents up real easy then bingo. Where safety glasses, no fun picking metal shards out your chest. had a friend smak two hammers together one day lets just say he didn't like what happened.Good luck just read the earlyer reply and dont do what I said.Peace out