Thought on Bucket Weight

[DrNick]

Hello everyone,

We filled some buckets from an indoor range the other day....they were 5 US gallons measured to the bottom of the rim. Two of us could barely lift them out of the trailer using a 2x4 and sling. We had filled the buckets while they were in the trailer.

I didn't have a scale handy but I was SURE that these must be heavier than the 110-180 lbs the same bucket of WW usually is.

Enter the math:

5 US gallons to the bottom rim
Water is 8.3 pounds/US gal
That's 41.5 pounds of water....but lead is 11 times as dense so:
450 pounds is what an ingot the size of a 5 gallon bucke would weigh.

Given a small amount of copper waste and other crud and that there is some air space between the scrap...not much, but some. Let's assume HALF that volume is not lead.

That leaves us with a conservative estimate of 225 pounds per bucket.

[zomby woof]

Yea, they're freakin heavy. When I'm by myself, I look for the ones that are less than half full, around 70lbs. I usually get around 25% waste.

I've also used a hand truck and ramps to get them in the back of my truck.

[gray wolf]

All depends on the size of the WW and how they have packed Themistocles in the bucket.
I have found that I will get about a 120 pounds of usable metal out of a decent bucket.
That's an average for me. But keep in mind that I have not seen a full bucket of WW in the back of my truck for a long, long time.
Edit to say : If anyone wants to donate a few WW to this poor boy in Maine just pm me and I will give you my address, I wont refuse a little tin either. I get very nervous without metal to cast with.

[*Paladin*]

Yeah, I usually take 2 buckets so I can dump half a bucket into each, so they aren't so bad to lift into the bed of the truck. I put two full buckets in my truck a while back. THANK GOD the employees took pity on me and gave me a hand lifting them into the bed of my truck!

[Jailer]

Yup, made the mistake of filling a 5 gallon bucket to the top with range scrap and then trying to lift it into the bed of the truck. Yeah, that didn't happen. There was a time when I was strong enough to lift it but that time has passed.

From that trip I ended up with 3 nearly full 5 gallon buckets and one partial 3 gallon bucket. It netted over 350lbs of lead and 110lbs of copper jackets. At least 20 to 30lbs of dirt was skimmed off as well so your estimate sounds about right.

[a.squibload]

Range scrap probably packs in tighter than WWs.
I can lift a full bucket enough to scoot it around, but not truck high!
Usually don't have that problem, "we just sold some" or "there's a guy who picks 'em up".
I try to have a bucket or 2 in the trunk of my work car, just in case.
Also a few plastic bags, not the thin trash bags.
Have dumped a bucket over onto a bag before, smaller piles to make a few trips.

[fredj338]

A 3gal bucket full weighs about 100#-110# depending on what's in it. A 5gal is over 150# full. Takes two to gt that into a pickup bed.

[Tom R]

I was told that I could have a bucket of ww for free if I could lift them over my truck bedside and dump them in the bed so they could have the bucket. I did it and the mechanics jaws dropped. I got free ww. Heavy but well worth it.

[theinfamouselguapo]

Last tire place I bought a bucket that was within an inch of the top wouldn't budge off forty bucks so I shut up and forked it over. A bit of Fe, almost no zinc.

Tire guy let me back into the bay AND loaded it up before I could even get out of the truck.

I made a mental note to never, ever, pick a fight with a tire dude.

[DGV]

I think if you had a molten gallon of lead, it would weigh about 97 lbs. A five gallon pail of spent bullets i had weighed almost 189 lbs.