Possible Lead Score - trying to figure out a price

[35isit]

I have a 55 gallon drum about 3/4 full of clip on weights. They have been sorted to remove trash, steel, and zinc. I figure it contains 1200 to 1500 lbs. That doesn't mean I didn't miss something. All were free. If he offered for free I would already have loaded and got home. The way things have been going lead is becoming a precious metal.

[reddog81]

I'd pay $.10 to $.20 per pound for mixed WW assuming a sample of them appears to be at least half lead. The tire shop I use has been using zinc for years. I glanced in their bucket once and didn't see a single lead weight in the whole pile. I wouldn't have paid anything to take that bucket.

I'd pay $.75 per pound for lead WW's assuming all the crap had been sorted out and they just needed smelting.

I'd expect to pay around $1.00 to $1.25 for ingots from WW's.

Like others have mentioned, hauling off 2 55 gallon drums full of WW's is a lot of work. Sorting through the weights is going to be very time consuming. It'd probably take 10 hours+ to sort through that much. Do you have 10 hours of free time to sort through WW's?

[remy3424]

I would be impressed if it only took 20 hours to sort two 55 gallon barrels of WWs...that is a nasty but required job....I use a side cutter on anything I keep, most steel ones it is not necessary, blistered hands and aching forearms and back. Just part of the process! Go get those bad boys before they are gone!

[Kylongrifle32]

I have been buying and processing lead into ingots myself for the last year now. My lead source also comes in 55 gallon drums and average around 1,300 pounds per drum. If you want to get into this venture to melt and sell you have to consider a few things.

How to process it first. I started out using my pot and fish fryer burner set up that I use for casting. I could do about 75 pounds per pot with this set up. But there is the cost of fuel to consider.
To eliminate the fuel cost I built a wood burning smelter. But I work where the components didn't cost me any thing and I can cut and weld. These pots will hold 160 pounds of lead and depending on the temp outside take from 1 1/2 to 2 hours from lighting the fire till the last ingot is poured.
Then you need molds to pour ingots. Make or buy?

Most all of that work is enjoyable to me and if making ingots for yourself or friends its rewarding but if you want to sell them this brings you to the part that I dislike the most. Now you have to spend time trying to stack and wrap you ingots good enough to get them from point A to point B though the postal system.

[trebleplink]

I've been buying lead at scrapyards for 60 cents/pound. Recently I bought two 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights for .15 /lb. Netted about 25% lead and took me 10 hours to sort.

[reddog81]

I bought six 5 gallon buckets last year. I could do each bucket in under an hour. You should be able to do a visual sort for at least 75% if not 90% of the weights and that really cuts down on the time spent sorting. Just throw all the questionable ones in a pile and test those once finished with the visual sort.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I'd jump on it. Word gets out and some scrapper will have them down to the scrap yard in a jiffy...

[fredj338]

I would figure 50% waste. So if you calculate 2500#, 1250# useful @ scrap prices, 20c / # is generous, but I bet you give him $100 cash & haul it off for him, he would be thankful.