Scored a drum of wheel weights!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Been a few months since I stopped by the scrapyard and I had a load of cans, so off I went.

I got there and noticed the sign had changed. I immediately got worried that maybe they wouldn't sell anymore. Got in and asked a new employee if they had any lead for sale. He said, yes, and showed me to it. They had some misc soft lead and then this not quite full drum of wheel weights. Along they way, he mentions wheel weights are no good for boolit making, I just nod. I told him I was interested what they had and asked the price. Misc lead was $.60/lb and wheel weights were $.16/lb! I told him I'd take the drum!

I needed to get my trailer, so I told him to weigh them, let me pay for them, then I'd go get it. He first attempted to wheel it onto the scales using a handtruck. No dice. Not wanting to make him move the drum multiple times, I told him to wait while I went home got my trailer and come back, then we could weigh it on my trailer. The whole time I was gone, 30 min round trip, I was worried the price would change. But no, all was well. We loaded it up using the skid steer, weighed it, 1400lbs!) paid, and headed home. I was a couple hundred lbs over on the towing capacity of my Corolla, but it seemed to handle it fine.

Now the work begins! The last buckets of weights I've gotten have plenty of zinc and steel, but I figure even if I only get a 50% yield, I'll have done well. I'd upload a pic but something has happened and I can't upload anymore.

[sureYnot]

I'm gonna have to sign up for jelly school.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Made a deal with the devil (Photbucket) so I could post the proof! Maybe a bucket shy of a full drum. If I had some more, I'd top it up just to have a full drum! It'll be interesting to see all the trash that comes out!

[Conditor22]

Glad to see someone making out like a bandit

My scrap yard charges $1.50 for any lead

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I'm gonna have to sign up for jelly school.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

I had to look that one up! Took many years of scrounging, sometimes paying through the nose, to find this one. Keep scrounging, it'll happen some day!

[Iron369]

If you only get 50% lead, you just paid $1.20 a lb and have to put in a a lot of work to get it between hauling, sorting, smelting.

[Chainsaw.]

Keep your temp low! I see some zinks!

[5Shot]

If you only get 50% lead, you just paid $1.20 a lb and have to put in a a lot of work to get it between hauling, sorting, smelting.

$0.32 a pound...

[Iron369]

$0.32 a pound...

Shoot! You’re right! I saw the $.60 and thought that’s what was paid.

[jsizemore]

I bought a couple. First was about 8-10" for the top. Weighed 1800lbs. Second was full and weighed slightly over 2000lbs. That was back in the day of almost no zinc or steel. Those were the days...... Oh yeah. 25cents/lb.

[OS OK]

Made a deal with the devil (Photbucket) so I could post the proof! Maybe a bucket shy of a full drum. If I had some more, I'd top it up just to have a full drum! It'll be interesting to see all the trash that comes out!

OMG...that is a picture of pure beauty...a 'Labor of Love' awaits you...may you smelt and cast forever off that lil drum!

Well done Pard!

"I'll bet your still grinning! hehehehe"

[frkelly74]

Be sure to save the junk to sell back to the scrapyard.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Be sure to save the junk to sell back to the scrapyard.

For sure!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I did a test batch and it didn't go so well. TONS of steel probably 2-3 times what I have had in recent purchases. Used so much heat to get past the steel, that I think I melted some zinc into the mix. I skimmed aggressively and think I got enough out to save a dozen or so muffin ingots out of a 1/3 of a propane tank full of raw weights. I usually don't sort much, I just go easy on the heat and skim the zinc out, but I think I'm going to have pay a little more attention to these. I spent quite a while with a large magnet just pulling out steel. The zinc is a little more sneaky, but I'm hoping that if I get enough steel out, I can go easier on the heat. Not sure if someone cherry picked the weights, or if it just the state of things, but it is a bit disappointing. I'm getting down to another layer of weights that I hope will yield more. Even found a couple truck weights, more of which could turn the tide very quickly!

[kbstenberg]

Lucky Duck! Our legislature made it illegal for scrappers to sell ANYTHING back to individuals.

[Winger Ed.]

Good job. It's always good to see the little guy win once in awhile.

As time goes on, Lead will be harder and harder to get, and the price will probably not go down in the years to come.


Years ago, I felt that buying Lead at 25 cents a pound, was a rip when they were paying 10 cents.
Several years later when I sold several hundred pounds back to the same guy for $1. a pound,
I didn't feel so stupid any more.

[Peregrine]

I wish you better luck as you dive in deeper. A bit of zinc isn't the end of the world, diluting it to get a usable and hard alloy is easy enough and there's some alchemy you can find info on here to get it out. Might be worth your while to actually sort that stuff though, I find zinc really easy to pick out when you know what to look for.

[lightman]

That is a nice score. I hope your yield holds up as well as mine have been. I always sort my weights. I don't trust the heat building up in the bottom of the pot.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Congrats to you

[jsizemore]

You might start with enough melted sorted WW's to get started, then drop in your unsorted and skim aggressively. I'm so cheap I won't waste gas heating non lead stuff. Remember, you ain't got to melt them all today. Don't fire up the smelting pot till you have a couple buckets of sorted.