28,000 lbs....yes 28,000

[lightman]

Oh yeah, would love to see pictures of this when it happens!

[maxreloader]

The buckets alone are worth a few bucks...

I was offered 10+ 55 gal drums of mostly lead with some rubber and sand mixed in from the indoor backdrop and refused because of the amount of time/work it would have been. If I ever need any more lead I will go on a keel hunt, much simpler.

[hpdrifter]

Hire some local starving college students to move the lead FOR you - Prevents back injury :P

Be careful, they might sue you later for lead poisoning or try to sick the EPA on you.

[MaryB]

Might be worthwhile to cast long skinny ingots that can be later cut with a saw... make a dozen molds all connected to a common feed trough and you might be able to cast 400+ pounds at a time... add a valve on the smelter to drain it into the feeder trough that sits next to the fire to stay hot...

[lwknight]

For cutting a propane tank, hook a hose to the truck exhaust and purge the tank while cutting. No O/2 , no fire or boom.

Famous last words. I had met a guy who was going to weld on a tank that he has supposedly purged. He died 3 days later from injuries. I found the tank head 200' away wrapped around a tree.

[NavyVet1959]

Famous last words. I had met a guy who was going to weld on a tank that he has supposedly purged. He died 3 days later from injuries. I found the tank head 200' away wrapped around a tree.

Then obviously, he did not purge it completely or correctly.

Before I would start cutting on a tank with a torch, at the very least, I would start by drilling two small holes on opposite sides of the top after the tank was supposedly emptied. With the first hole, you're going to notice very quickly whether there is any residual pressure left in the tank. If there is, then back off and let it bleed off. Drill the other hole. Drill both holes out wide enough that you can put an air hose nozzle into them. Start up your air compressor and let it pump air into one hole and out the other hole. It will dilute any vapors enough that they will not be flammable. Let that run for a few minutes and then remove it and put a lighter to one of the holes. You should not even get a puff of flame. At this point, you can take a torch if you are so inclined, but I prefer a smoother cut, so I use an abrasive cutoff blade on a circular saw usually.

If I had to smelt that much lead, I would probably use a natural gas burner, not propane, because natural gas is a lot cheaper than propane. One thing that you need to factor into the cost of smelting it though is the amount of beer that you are going to be drinking during the process. I figure probably 6-12 beers per 100 lbs, depending upon whether it is the winter or summer.

[MyFlatline]

Famous last words. I had met a guy who was going to weld on a tank that he has supposedly purged. He died 3 days later from injuries. I found the tank head 200' away wrapped around a tree.

You are right, it was supposedly purged, not good. It MUST be purged. It is no different than filling it with inert gas, which is what the welding shops do.

You continue to cut them your way and I will still cut them mine, that is the best of both worlds we can choose.

[6mm win lee]

I just secured 28,000lbs or lead from a indoor range all in 5 gallon buckets, how would you even start smelting? I mean where to even start I need to remove some
Rubber from it but would you all use a wood fire instead of propane?


Let the ideas start!!

Have you thought about "volunteers" visiting your locale and melting down your bounty for ten to twenty percent, depending on distance traveled, of what they melt? You might have to set up a spreadsheet to keep track of the schedule. Gee I would spend a couple of my vacation days from Kenya to sit and melt your lead for a small trade of my labor. Of course I would not leave the fire until I dropped out from lack of sleep. Food? Bah.

[country gent]

A one hole tank is very hard to purge since it air locks. several methods can be used as mentioned above drilling a vent hole in the discarded area works keep it as close to the highest point as possible. This lets air and fumes be pushed out. A hose that fits thru the hole very loosely pushed to the bottom of the tank to fill it. This allows air and fumes to escape around the hose. The last is to pour the soap water thru a funnel and watch the air fumes displaced bubble up thru the funnel. this can take awhile to do. I fill the tank and let soak for awhile pour part out and slosh roll around to help clean the surfaces in side as much as possible. "Clean" 55 gallon drums have injured a lot of people. With out the soap a petroleum drum water alone may not remove the layer left and a problem is still there. We always used a chisel and hammer to remove the tops when needed. A drum may never be completely purged so I use hand tools to cut them when needed. In industry tanks are purged with argon/co2 when welded or worked on. this provides an inert atmosphere with no oxygen, and if welding is done cuts down on the flash thru on the inside that can be a problem. In th food industry all of the transfer pipes are purge welded so there is no flash or slag inside to contaminate the product. Cutting a tank can be done it also needs to be done as safely as possible. A hacksaw working around the outside has little chance of sparks to ignite anything. And a new sharp blade one thru the tank cuts quickly working around. We made several hacksaws in 16" -24" with a deeper throat at work for odd jobs. ( when you have a blade welder on the band saw making these odd blades is easy to do LOL).

[Oklahoma Rebel]

when I cut mine, I first removed the valve, of course after making sure it didn't have pressure, and filled it completely with water, that's the only way I KNOW that no gas is left in it, the problem with purging with compressed air, is that some gases are MORE explosive when they are diluted to a certain percent, a boom will tell you when you have reached the right percentage if you are cutting with a powertool that might spark.

[MyFlatline]

A one hole tank is very hard to purge since it air locks. several methods can be used as mentioned above drilling a vent hole in the discarded area works keep it as close to the highest point as possible. This lets air and fumes be pushed out. A hose that fits thru the hole very loosely pushed to the bottom of the tank to fill it. This allows air and fumes to escape around the hose. The last is to pour the soap water thru a funnel and watch the air fumes displaced bubble up thru the funnel. this can take awhile to do. I fill the tank and let soak for awhile pour part out and slosh roll around to help clean the surfaces in side as much as possible. "Clean" 55 gallon drums have injured a lot of people. With out the soap a petroleum drum water alone may not remove the layer left and a problem is still there. We always used a chisel and hammer to remove the tops when needed. A drum may never be completely purged so I use hand tools to cut them when needed. In industry tanks are purged with argon/co2 when welded or worked on. this provides an inert atmosphere with no oxygen, and if welding is done cuts down on the flash thru on the inside that can be a problem. In th food industry all of the transfer pipes are purge welded so there is no flash or slag inside to contaminate the product. Cutting a tank can be done it also needs to be done as safely as possible. A hacksaw working around the outside has little chance of sparks to ignite anything. And a new sharp blade one thru the tank cuts quickly working around. We made several hacksaws in 16" -24" with a deeper throat at work for odd jobs. ( when you have a blade welder on the band saw making these odd blades is easy to do LOL).

You are correct..

I cannot see me sawing a 500 gallon propane tank length wise with a hack saw to make a smoker tho.
Caution is prudent in any type endeavor, much like loading you own ammo.

Edit to add: I have been more concerned about welding inside a septic pump truck do to the methane gas than I ever have cutting a propane tank. You can't purge the truck while you are inside.

[JBinMN]

when I cut mine, I first removed the valve, of course after making sure it didn't have pressure, and filled it completely with water, that's the only way I KNOW that no gas is left in it, the problem with purging with compressed air, is that some gases are MORE explosive when they are diluted to a certain percent, a boom will tell you when you have reached the right percentage if you are cutting with a powertool that might spark.

I have to laugh a bit... my strange sense of humor I suppose, but I have been waiting for someone to mention filling tanks with water first before cutting them open. I may have missed it in earlier posts, but I am glad someone finally said it. That is how I have done it anyway, on smaller tanks, without any issue.


To stay more on topic...

Has the OP decided on a course of action yet?
and...
I would still like to see some pics of those buckets of lead.

[D Crockett]

Famous last words. I had met a guy who was going to weld on a tank that he has supposedly purged. He died 3 days later from injuries. I found the tank head 200' away wrapped around a tree.

this is exactly the point I was trying to make in my post # 19. if you do not know what you are doing or saying DO NOT DO IT OR SAY IT. this thing of ours is very complicated and parts of it is dangerous. SAFTY is the most important thing in our sport. I have seen guns blown apart because of lack of knowing what is wright and what is wrong. this is the 3rd death I have herd of when someone did not know what they were doing has died. I would like to tell you of a death of a man that tought me how to shoot a compound bow. He had 2 passions in life 1 was shooting bow and arrow the 2nd love of his life was racing cars on the track after his death I was told by his brother that a man told him he could wield on a tire that had pressure in it well the man that told him that cost my friend his life because it blew up on him and killed him this is why I am so out spoken on the subject of SAFTY in our sport that is the 3rd person that died that should not of died that I know of and with that being said I am going to fix me a drink and drink to my friend Garry Shepard who died needlessly D Crockett

[Alcast]

And I thought I was smelting a huge amount of range lead when doing it over my wood fed fire 500# at a time.Whew!I guess I'll have to get membership to something like at least 50 shooting gun clubs to get as much lead as you did.Congrats!

[Rich/WIS]

Not sure if available in your area but you might look into renting a plumbers pot.

[43PU]

The lead is in 100 5 gallon buckets and then over 40 “bricks of rubber” that weigh 250-300 lbs each I need a way to break the rubber bricks up to get the lead

[kens]

I had a barrel of range scrap. I smelted it about 10lbs at a time with propane burner and a steel frying pan. The jackets float on top and can be skimmed off. they came out clean of lead easily, but they are not shiny as new copper. I ended up with about 8 gallons of copper jackets, my scrap yard paid me top dollar for the jackets.

Skimming off the jackets is about the same as skimming off the clips from WW's, if you could wash the range scrap first, you might get thru it with much less dross.

[MaryB]

To shred the rubber you could make a chipper of sorts with metal teeth on a shaft that rips it apart...Use a pusher to push the bricks in and no loose clothing!

I have cut a propane tank twice. Both times I took the valve off, added water and simple green degreaser, let soak for a week. Rinse, repeat for another week, then fill with CO2 from a welding tank. Used a cutting disc on an angle grinder...

[lightman]

Well, nothing says that this has to be dealt with all at once. But I'm the kind of guy that would have to jump on it so I'm thinking big. A bigger pot, a bigger burner, more ingot molds, and some help. Lead in buckets has a way of getting dirty. The buckets will let rain in, or sweat. And buckets of raw lead take up more space that neatly stacked ingots.

I would like to see pictures of this as it progresses. How it is being hauled. How it was loaded, unloaded and smelted. We like pictures! This is going to be a job, Good Luck to ya!

[woodbutcher]

A fellow that I used to know in Fl did it the easy way after a good purge.Just chucked it up in his lathe.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo