Lead problem- too much!!!

[evan price]

So I was out and about looking for stuff when I stopped in a place I had stopped many times before. This time I knew who the competition was.

I asked to buy some lead from them. They agreed my price was fair. They would not sell me a thousand pounds...they said that I would have to start taking ALL their range lead. He said they get 3-4 tons a month. Every month. ALL of it from now on.

For adjusted market price, right now $.40/pound.

LOTS of jacketed. I'd make that 40 cents a pound back up on the copper alone.

But I've got no way to deal with that much lead every month. Smelting, hauling, storing, etc. plus the up-front investment in the lead itself.

Sometimes I am too successful...Ideas?

[birdadly]

Sounds like an interesting and fun problem to have... hmmm... what the heck would I do with that problem... I have to think about it! I'm intrigued!! -Brad

[slim1836]

Sounds like a new business startup to me.

Seperate the lead from the brass and sell to scrap yards or members on this site.

Slim

[dnotarianni]

Sounds like a part time job. How you going to haul all that lead?
Dave

[southpaw]

Maybe if there are enough people that are close enough you could split it to make it easier. If there were 6-8 people close enough that would be about 1000 pounds each a month. Where abouts in Ohio are you?

Jerry Jr.

[geargnasher]

Sounds like it's time to build a 500-lb, wood-fired smelter and find a good helper on the weekends. You can make your money back and then some on the copper jackets so you won't be out anything but your time and just stockpile the lead ingots for later and sell/trade them as you need to and have time. I'm not sure where you'd find a market that large that was profitable, but lead is only going to get more valuble. You could do it for a year and pass it on to someone else if you got tired of it, and you'd have about $75,000 worth of stash at todays purchase prices to go toward your retirement.

Gear

[KohlerK91]

Maybe if there are enough people that are close enough you could split it to make it easier. If there were 6-8 people close enough that would be about 1000 pounds each a month. Where abouts in Ohio are you?

Jerry Jr.

Im in!!!!!!!!

[geargnasher]

I have a feeling this could go like problem solving in Walkabout Creek: Just tell Wally. Wally tells everyone else about the problem, get it out in the open, and no more problem! Just post on Castboolits, you'll find just how many members from Ohio there are interested in solving your "Problem"!

Gear

[groovy mike]

If you were in NY I'd happily take a thousand pounds!

[waynem34]

If you could manage to get the first months lead AND smelt and go from there it would snow ball into alot of work.

[KYCaster]

Is that .40/lb. loaded on your truck or do you have to dig it out of the backstop?

BIG difference.

Jerry

[bumpo628]

Here are the numbers:
$2400 to $3200 per month
@ two 55 gallon drums worth of lead to store/sell per month

If the copper pays for the lead, then you will probably need to process everything as it comes in. Then you just need to worry about storage or selling the lead. I'm sure we could all help you out with a chunk of that. With things the way they are it's good to have another consistent source of lead.

[Jal5]

Sounds like a part time business to me. Keep us informed of what you decide to do!

Joe

[dbarnhart]

My $.02 worth: I think you need to outsource as much of the actual work as possible even if it means that your profit is less. Handling 6000-8000 pounds of lead per month every month will wear your body out fast. Just boxing up and shipping the ingots will be strenuous. You are talking about approximately 120 fifty-pound USPS boxes of ingots per month.

[GLL]

I have never sold copper jackets at the scrap yard. What price to they bring contaminated with a little lead mixed in?

KYcaster has a important question ! Do you have to dig the range lead out of the berm?

You may need to invest in a bobtail dump truck, forklift, and if you plan to make ingots that 500-pound smelter and molds geargnasher mentioned ! A full-time massage therapist will also be needed for your back !

Jerry

[cf_coder]

I would like to know this as well. I've been collecting and keeping the jackets from my range scrap smelts. I try to get all the lead out, but there is invariably some stuck to the jacket or left around the edges...

[Philngruvy]

Is this range lead coming from an indoor range or an outdoor range? What type of backstops? Without this info, there is room for very much guesswork.

[dragon813gt]

The jackets should bring #2 copper price. That's what I've gotten at the yard I use.


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[imashooter2]

If there isn't a contract with performance penaties attached, and if you have a place to store a 12 - 16000 pound pile of scrap, agree to their terms. Take it for two months, then tell them you've decided you can't handle the waste anymore. They got their scrap gone for two months at better than scrap yard prices and you have a 6 month or so supply of ore that you can smelt at your leisure. Everybody wins.

[runfiverun]

sell it at cost as is.
.40 a lb for range scrap plus shipping,with you picking out some of the jackets and recycling them.
would most likely sell just fine.
put out some feelers on the swapin and selling board.
make it clear it's just range scrap dumped in a box for say 45-50 cents a lb weighed out to 60 lbs and add 13 bucks shipping.
you could smelt what you could handle and get a bit more for the ingots as you got them done.
there's also the e-bay option.
choosing to mail packages on only a couple of days during the week,etc.
and possibly providing a part time job to a neighbor hood kid.

if you have to clean it out yourself does change things.