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Rich22
08-15-2016, 05:34 PM
So, I know we have some brilliant people and some experienced people and some brilliant experienced people so someone here may have actually done this before, if so, I would love to hear how it was done, if not, I propose a question.

Lets say you are in a room with a 55 gallon drum full of fired bullets, another 55 gallon drum full of mixed fired brass. Your goal is to move them to a moving type truck outside. Obviously (at least in this case) you cannot move either of the drums while anywhere near full due to the weight. It is likely but not certain that another person will be there to assist. How do you get the materials into smaller containers most efficiently? Getting them out and loaded is about as straightforward as possible but how to get many tiny little objects from a huge container into small ones quickly is somewhat more difficult. The primary goal is safety of course but speed will need to be the secondary objective since the time available will be minimal.

I have considered the obvious, shovels hand carts moving dollys etc etc. Looking for solutions that are somewhere between outside of the box and not even in the same zip code as the box.

Appreciate the ideas , many thanks

RU shooter
08-15-2016, 06:24 PM
For the brass I'd say a study metal hand scoop into five gal pails till light enough to move the 55 gal container . For the barrel O lead ! Well I don't think there's an EASY way . May be a good job for some neighbor kids with strong and young backs to do the same as the brass remove it into 5 gal pails till light enough to use a barrel dolly if you can find one to use , just give them some gloves to use and some money for their effort .

JonB_in_Glencoe
08-15-2016, 06:27 PM
fired cases...I'd use a steel coffee can as a scoop, and fill 5 gallon buckets.

Lead range scrap ???
whatever you do with that, make sure you have some good dust masks/respirator type thing.

DerekP Houston
08-15-2016, 06:36 PM
If it were me...I'd try and melt that lead scrap down before moving it. Remove as much dross/dead weight as possible and store in smaller buckets as muffin/bread pan ingots are made. Brass wouldn't be nearly as dense, i assume removing half of the 55 drum would make it light enough to transport the rest as is. I like the ideas above of a metal shovel or coffee can into 5 gallon buckets.

Walter Laich
08-15-2016, 07:06 PM
push the drum over to about 45º and use a shovel to remove the contents. have something under the side of the drum to hold it in place as you and a friend or two tip it over.

Victor N TN
08-15-2016, 07:12 PM
I think you'll find the best thing to move the materials inside the drums are one of the gardening "claw" cultivator, digger. I have borrowed the one my wife uses in her flower beds. I thought it worked very well for both mangled bullets and fired brass. Rake the material into a metal trash can. I used a square metal office can. That was the best way for the quantities I had.

Good luck. p. s. Be sure to wear some kind of gloves. Or go get a big box of Band-Aids.

JonB_in_Glencoe
08-15-2016, 07:17 PM
push the drum over to about 45º and use a shovel to remove the contents. have something under the side of the drum to hold it in place as you and a friend or two tip it over.
a "55 gallon drum full of fired bullets" would weigh about 1600 lbs.

rintinglen
08-15-2016, 07:22 PM
A 55 gallon drum of fired bullets could easily weigh over a half-ton You will need a crane to move that. I once got lucky and was given a 33 gallon trash can full of wheel weights. I dumped it over and shoveled them into the back of my Pinto Station wagon on to a tarp. IIRC, I ended up with nearly 1000 3/4 pound ingots.

jlchucker
08-15-2016, 07:25 PM
a "55 gallon drum full of fired bullets" would weigh about 1600 lbs.
Just think how heavy the same drum would be if it were filled with primer cups instead of fired bullets LOL.

OS OK
08-15-2016, 07:29 PM
This little dilemma is going to teach you about getting behind in making ingots! Weld a trailer hitch to it and just drag it there.

Paper Puncher
08-15-2016, 07:57 PM
I have used cherry picker (engine hoist) on lighter loads than the lead but I think it will work. Cut four (two might work) holes (opposite each other) near the top of the drum and hook with chains. Should be able to lift it put a pallet under it and use a pallet jack.

dverna
08-15-2016, 08:07 PM
Put lids on the drums. Tip over and roll. Remember that levers, winches, ramps, and rollers/wheels/cylinders are your friends. You already have the cylinder.

Look at what the ancients did with basic equipment.

Shiloh
08-15-2016, 08:11 PM
The thought of moving my stuff would be daunting.

Shiloh

RU shooter
08-15-2016, 08:29 PM
Put lids on the drums. Tip over and roll. Remember that levers, winches, ramps, and rollers/wheels/cylinders are your friends. You already have the cylinder.

Look at what the ancients did with basic equipment. and the help of ancient aliens !!! Well according to the TV show anyways !

174524

DerekP Houston
08-15-2016, 08:32 PM
and the help of ancient aliens !!! Well according to the TV show anyways !

​finally someone who gets it.

frkelly74
08-15-2016, 08:33 PM
I was thinking tip it and rake with garden cultivator into buckets. scoop the brass with a small scoop.

Rich22
08-15-2016, 08:52 PM
If it were me...I'd try and melt that lead scrap down before moving it. Remove as much dross/dead weight as possible and store in smaller buckets as muffin/bread pan ingots are made. Brass wouldn't be nearly as dense, i assume removing half of the 55 drum would make it light enough to transport the rest as is. I like the ideas above of a metal shovel or coffee can into 5 gallon buckets.

Unfortunately I do not own the property where this is at and have very limited access, talking a matter of a few hours.

Everyone will have work gloves and respirators, not horribly worried about the lead contamination but the dust will likely be significant.

I have only a small idea of how much a 55 gallon drum weighs but will not be tipping a full one over for sure. My guess is an engine hoist will not lift up the weight of a drum.

Not behind in making ingots yet, when this stuff gets moved it will only be the second time I have seen it.

One thing I forgot to mention is, no lids for the drum and I cannot damage the drums since it is not mine. My largest "what the **** is my best way to do this" queestion was moving the lead from the drum to the buckets efficiently, the rest is not particularly difficult.

Rich22
08-15-2016, 08:54 PM
I was thinking tip it and rake with garden cultivator into buckets. scoop the brass with a small scoop.

Sending you a PM in a few anyways, tipping the brass was a plan and setting it on blocks but the lead, god the thought of doing anything more than looking at it in the drum makes my back sore.

OS OK
08-15-2016, 11:04 PM
This is just one of the times...no matter how you do it...it's gonna take some elbow grease!

runfiverun
08-15-2016, 11:46 PM
if it's on a cement floor I'd dump it on some sheet metal then stand the barrel back up on one of those 4 wheeled furniture mover carts.
that gets the drum outside.
then it's sweep, shovel, and move.
5 gallon buckets and a 2 wheel cart will move things quickly.
then just sweep up the area and finish up round 2 outside.

Mk42gunner
08-16-2016, 12:13 AM
My first thought was "Forklift," my second thought was "Bobcat." Any chance of renting or borrowing one for a couple of hours?

As for not damaging the drums, 55 gallon barrels are fairly cheap, the Rhino lining place near here gives them away according to my neighbor. If it became necessary it wouldn't break the bank to just replace it with a newish one.

Robert

Rich22
08-16-2016, 12:26 AM
My first thought was "Forklift," my second thought was "Bobcat." Any chance of renting or borrowing one for a couple of hours?

As for not damaging the drums, 55 gallon barrels are fairly cheap, the Rhino lining place near here gives them away according to my neighbor. If it became necessary it wouldn't break the bank to just replace it with a newish one.

Robert

Slim to none unfortunately, also no way to get a large piece of machinery in to where the drums are. Have to pass through normal sized doors.

Harter66
08-16-2016, 11:37 AM
Go to Harbor Freight they have a bbl clamp for lifting full bbls get 2 of them . My shop crane is rated for 2000# and at that lift length with the clamps at the middle rings on the bbl could get it in a standard hight half ton or a 2 wheel drive low e3/4 or 1 ton . Use 2 clamps at 90° pick it up set it down on the crane legs and move it outside. If you cant raise it high enough to get to the deck set it down on the ground or on blocks and block up your crane . Just enough to clear and back the truck or trailer in under it .
The downside is that the collars will most likely only be rated for about 550# .

I would move the brass bbl 1st while my coconspiritors down loaded a 1/3 or so of the bullet bbl into 5 gallon buckets . This way you will know how to A set the bbl clamps and B if it is still a good idea to pick up the bullet bbl the bullet if level full will have 12-14 level full 5 gallon buckets in it .

lightman
08-16-2016, 11:53 AM
If you can't borrow lifting equipment and can't access the barrels with equipment, you're down to doing it by hand. Get a collection of buckets and some type of scoop and go to transfering it. Recruit some buddies or neighborhood kids to help. Buy or borrow a 2 wheel hand cart. 55 gallons of lead seems like a lot but just dive in and start scooping. One bite at a time! All in all, this is not a bad problem to have!

PaulG67
08-16-2016, 12:36 PM
I would pay someone with the equipment and skills to do it.

wyofool
08-16-2016, 12:37 PM
Looks like most of this will be done by hand. Besides buckets, glove, dust masks, a few extra hands, get yourself several of these (https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-70246935-Scratch-Garden-Cultivator/dp/B004S0PGUC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1471364891&sr=8-5&keywords=garden+hand+fork) and a few of these (https://www.amazon.com/Harris-Farms-Feed-Scoop-Quart/dp/B006ZUNKQU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471364927&sr=8-2&keywords=metal+feed+scoop) With any luck you can get two sets of hands in each 55 gal drum. The brass should go fairly quickly the lead a little longer. I really don't see it as that much of a big deal. A scrap yard near me in Laramie had range scrap in a large pallet box and that is how I got it out into manageable lots in 5 gal buckets.
Good luck

beagle
08-16-2016, 09:28 PM
I've run into that problem before. Solution was a 3 pound coffee can, one of the little garden scratchers that women use on their flowers and 5 gallon buckets. There I was one Sunday afternoon, snoozing away after shooting all morning, coming home and getting the brass in the tumbler. Got a call from a friend. You want some lead? Does a bear go in the woods? Headed over and he has about five 5 gallon buckets of .38 wadcutters, three wooden 105mm ammo boxes and several other containers full of wadcutters from the police range. We wrestled several of the partially filled buckets into the bed of the Toyota but the full buckets were no go and the ammo boxes broke when we attempted that. Went home and got buckets and managed to get it all in partially filled buckets using the scratcher and coffee can method. Toyota drug it's butt on his driveway and mine. At home loaded the buckets into my industrial grade wheelbarrow and hauled under the back deck. Took five trips and a couple of hand carries from spilled wadcutters in the P/U bed but I made it. Not easy but that's how we did it./beagle

John Boy
08-16-2016, 09:35 PM
3 ton hand fork lift ... http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-1043/Pallet-Trucks/Uline-Pallet-Truck-Standard-Fork-48-x-27?pricode=WY236&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=pla&utm_term=H-1043Q&utm_campaign=Material%2BHandling

wv109323
08-16-2016, 09:40 PM
If the floor is level, get you four or five pieces of 1/2" galvanized pipe. Put the pipe under the drum and you should be able to roll it. Of course when the drum rolls off a piece of the pipe place it in front. For the lead drum weld or bolt a piece of angle to the top to set a jack against it to lift the drum to get the pipe under it.

Johnch
08-16-2016, 10:21 PM
I unloaded a large box of scrap bullets with a shop vac
I have one that you use a 5 gallon bucket to catch what ever you vac up
Don't try to go to fast and your help will not like how fast you fill the buckets

IMO the same idea should work for the brass

John

msinc
08-16-2016, 10:27 PM
It is funny...a 55 gallon drum of fired bullets weighs in at some 1600 odd pounds and yet there are still people posting that "simple, all ya gotta do.....is tip it right on over and then you can....." Reminds me of my in-laws. Without exception, every time they speak to me the first words out of their mouths is either "all ya gotta do..." or my other favorite, "well what ya shoulda done...."
The coffee can and little hand rake is the only answer, been there and done that and it was the only way, even with relatives like mine!!!!

Boolit_Head
08-16-2016, 10:34 PM
If you can tip the barrels over put anything that can be used as a roller under it. Two under it and roll forward onto another. Keep a couple ahead and move the ones from the back to the front like the ancient Egyptians did in building the Pyramid. Now getting that into a vehicle is another issue. I've "easily" cough cough... moved two ton computer racks that were on wheels and a hard surface.

Rich22
08-16-2016, 10:43 PM
Will definitely have to do it piece by piece but as of today it is seeming highly unlikely that the deal will be going through so this is probably a moot point for me but hopefully gives good ideas to others

mcdaniel.mac
08-17-2016, 12:50 AM
Man i need the kind of friends that give away a few hundred pounds of lead. All I get are bullets they find in the couch, picked up off the floor/ground at the range, or found in their deceased relative's reloading bench.

What's the best way to clean up the lead dust after moving? Vaccuum with a removable filter?

lightman
08-17-2016, 08:07 PM
Too bad if this deal falls through. This is doable with some manual labor.

Gtek
08-17-2016, 09:21 PM
Go find a hungry Bubba with a beat up roll back. Chain wrap near bottom and drag up and multiple strap angle including top of can. Get it to where it can be managed time wise and flop, dump, tie to a tree and drive out from under it. How bad do you want it?

MT Gianni
08-17-2016, 09:40 PM
We sold our house last May. I moved 1600 lbs of 5 gallon buckets mixed ww and ingoted lead, took about 1 1/2 hours. Get all the 5 gallon buckets you can, fill them no more than 3/4 full. Move with a hand truck and Harbor Freight ATV ramps.
I would not attempt to tip a barrel over until it was down to 1/3 empty. To much risk of pulling something at minimum, hurting someone at max.

45-70 Chevroner
08-17-2016, 10:58 PM
Some great ideas here.
I JUST WISH I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. :razz:

hlvabeach
08-21-2016, 08:06 AM
Melt the top of the lead with a torch. Lift out when cooled down. Melt and repeat. Wear gloves of course!

hlvabeach
08-21-2016, 08:14 AM
Heres an idea that for you to quickly transfer all that range scrap to 5gal buckets. First get another 55 gal drum, lots of 5 gal buckets, and something to cut a large hole in metal drum holding range scrap. Cut a 4x4 or larger hole in barrel a foot or two below where the lead is. The lead should flow out of the hole (may have to poke with stick) and into your 5 gal bucket with ease.