Has anyone ever moved there lead stash across the country?

[Tom R]

Has anyone ever moved there lead stash across the country? I live in Nebraska and I plan on moving to Texas in about 1.5 to 2 years. I am worried that I will have a lot of trouble by then moving all my lead down there. I am hoping to be able to keep my lead coming at the rate it is but I am realizing that that will be over 2000lbs I was wondering if anyone has moved there lead pile.

[sundog]

Palletize it and ship it to yourself.

[9.3X62AL]

I moved about 1200# 3 years ago, 130 miles. What a huge PITA, though a lot of the metal was in 5-gallon buckets--and the boolits in 1# coffee cans. At least the stuff doesn't take up much space.

[454PB]

Yeah, moving it 20 miles is just about the same amount of work. I moved 3000 pounds in my pickup truck, but it took me two trips. The volume wasn't a problem, but the weight was.

[mtnman31]

I recently moved 1100 miles and even my smaller stash (around 500 lbs of both ingots and raw WW) was a pain. I am forced to keep my supply small because I know my job will have me moving every couple of years. By itself the lead wouldn't be so bad, but you throw in heavier items like a bunch of ammo cans full of loaded ammo, tools, a lathe, motorcycle, work benches, an 18' wooden canoe, etc. and the move becomes a challenge. Keep in mind that I am single and 75% of my possessions are items that belong in the garage or basement. Needless to say, it was painful. To add insult to injury, when I was off loading my stuff, the lathe fell about three feet from the loading ramp onto concrete. Some would say to hire movers and let them suffer and do all the work. Well, problem is movers don't take care of my stuff the same way I would. Movers are expensive. And, movers won't move any HAZMAT or liquids (think; oils, cleaners, gun powder, ar care products, paint and all the other stuff a self-sufficient person needs to live an average existence). Movers aren't worth the cost and worry. Last time I used movers I ended up renting a small trailer to haul all of the stuff they wouldn't move and they ended up breaking all sorts of things. Sad part is they broke all large items - a desk, shelf unit, window air conditioner, BBQ grill, etc.

To sum it up - moving sucks and I don't envy you becasue there is no easy way around moving.

[bumpo628]

Make sure you ingotize everything before you move to get rid of the scrap. Pack it into 5 gallon buckets - it should take about 10 of them (or less). Then just rent a Ryder truck (not Uhaul) and move it with the rest of your stuff. It won't take up too much room and I'm sure the truck can handle it. It will only cost you a little more gas.

[midnight]

I moved about a ton of lead 30 miles. It was a PITA but I had 3 mos to do it. Moving all the guns was a pain too. Not nearly enough cases. I've been in this house 16yr. Been retired 7yrs. I plan on dying in this house but no for a long time yet. Maybe the lead will be the kids problem unless I can turn it into cash toward the end.

Bob

[fecmech]

Palletize it and ship it to yourself.
That's a good idea! Pallets are everywhere for the asking. Buy a box of long drywall type screws and some 1/2-3/4" plywood and make a box on a pallet. Fill the box with your lead stash and add packing to fill the space and screw a cover on it. I did something similar 6 years ago when I thought I was going to move to Missouri. I had one of those little 4' x 4' trailers and did the plywood box thing and took about 1200 pounds of ingots with me when we went to see relatives. Then I drove it back the following year when we decided not to move!

[high standard 40]

I plan on moving across the state in 2-3 years. I'm getting too old to lift 5 gal buckets of lead. I like the pallet idea but you have the problem of lifting it once loaded. Since I began casting I've stored my lead ingots in a manner intended to make moving it as little an issue as possible. I build small boxes out of 1/2" plywood that each hold about 60 pound of ingots. The boxes nailed and glued and are sized so that the ingots fit fairly snug so no packing is required. The lids are 1/4" plywood and are nailed on or screwed on. Contents and date are marked on the outside of each. So when I move these, I can stack the boxes into a much smaller space than the round 5 gal buckets and I can still lift the 60 pounds. Some people store in milk crates but again those are too heavy for me to want to lift them. I use my table saw to precisely make all the cuts and usually make a dozen or so at a time.

[megafatcat]

USPS. 2000# is about 34 small flat rate boxes, $170. What a deal.

[nicholst55]

USPS. 2000# is about 34 small flat rate boxes, $170. What a deal.

Better give you letter carrier a bottle of 20 year-old Scotch for Christmas this year! You might not get much mail, otherwise... ;)

[Digger]

Just curious ...... how about that moving , storage outfit called PODS .... same thing as a container but looks a little smaller ... they drop it off and pick it up . (but with a ton or so of lead , wonder if they could pick it up ?)

[fecmech]

I think the pallet idea is that it can be fork lifted or pallet jacks as are in use on semi's for moving goods. Build it where it can be accessed and drop it off where it can be broken down. My little trailer worked great and didn't take up hardly any room at all and with over 1200 lbs on it I could wheel it around myself.

[jimfix44]

I think your best option is to leave it here in Nebraska with me and then come visit it once in awhile:drinks:

[badbob454]

you could sell it.. and buy it later, after you are setteled but save @ 100 lbs in case you get a hankering for some casting ...and blasting i moved 700 lbs of ammo and ended breaking my rear axle housing in nevada moved from arkansas to california had to tow my truck for @ 600 bucks , wasnt worth that ...

[SciFiJim]

USPS. 2000# is about 34 small flat rate boxes, $170. What a deal.

Actually, you would need to use a medium flat rate box that will hold about 68 lbs. Cost at online price of $10.50 per box and 30 boxes would be $315 plus tape and labels. It would be about 17 cents a lb to move it anywhere in the country. Plus the benefit of not having to transport it across the country yourself.

Actually, I would probably ship some and carry some myself.

[cbrick]

Curious . . .

All sorts of suggestions on transporting but notice no one has mentioned getting rid of it? [smilie=1:

Must be folks like me. The furniture, the wife, the kids, the dog can stay behind but the lead goes with me. Ok, not the dog.

Rick

[Tom R]

I think your best option is to leave it here in Nebraska with me and then come visit it once in awhile:drinks:

I knew someone would step up and lend a hand lol

[Cherokee]

Moved from TX to OH 18 years ago with about 500# lead, plus brass & ammo components. Took them myself in PU truck, a real pain but it was worth it. You can get the movers to take the lead, I did that once before, but it does cost. If you are paying, move it yourself.

[Tom R]

I like the mailing idea. I also will have to look into the pod's idea. I will have to move my lathe, my mill and all my machining tools. I have to move a garage full of hotrod parts and tools. to mechanics chests and a house full of ****.

[troyboy]

I would rather have another root canal than move. I end up moving every couple of years. I would cast all I needed and sell the rest. When I got to the other side I would use up what I had cast and when the inventory got low I would get more led as needed.

[Wilsknife]

I drove 1600 miles round trip to buy 500# of Linotype for $100 dollars. Visited w/parents-family while i was there. Fun trip...

[astroskg]

you guys are a Hoot. love the comments. my mail man makes me go to his truck to get my packages or quickly runs (well i have really never seen him move quickly) to my door to put a sticky on it to tell me to pick it up at the post office, ...

my suggestion on moving lead would be make more boolits shoot a whole bunch more and then you don't have to move it ...

great suggestions all. i personally am not looking forward to ever moving and my son will probably disown me if i do have to move . am up over 1200# and just scored another 450#pure lead from the local machine shop bars, chips, scrap for a 12 pk of Pepsi and a 5 gallon bucket from the local tire store for free. headed back to the machine shop today to pay my bill 12pk in hand and most likely another 400# of lead scrap. now i just need to find someone who wants to trade pure lead for some WW so i can mix and use my pure lead Any one interested in Tradin?

[bpost1958]

I moved over a ton in the shipping container and another 1/2 ton in the bed of my PU from Alaska to Southern OH. If I had to do it again, I would have moved DOUBLE the amount.

[Sieveboy]

Got a company relo during the good old days (2003). The moving guys eyes went wide as saucers when they saw my thousand pound stash of ingots. They were very happy as there was a weight component to the moving charges...and even offered to move all the loaded ammo too.

[Bullshop]

I moved about 5 ton of lead from Alaska to Montana and back, does that count?
I bought a school bus to haul it in and had lots of room for other stuff too.
I think I gave about $2600.00 for the bus and at that time it had about 35,000 miles on it. I still have the bus but it is now my hunting camper. It of course now has a wood stove in it but hay that goes without saying right.

[RugerFan]

Yes, several times. Of course I don't lift anything, the movers do and they all hate me.

[bowfin]

jimfix44 is right when he says it should be left here in Nebraska. You know the old saying:

"What's smelted in Nebraska, stays in Nebraska."

For a half share, I'll make sure jimfix doesn't use more than 50% of your stash.

[Texasflyboy]

I like the mailing idea. I also will have to look into the pod's idea. I will have to move my lathe, my mill and all my machining tools. I have to move a garage full of hotrod parts and tools. to mechanics chests and a house full of ****.

I moved the same list as you. Lathe, Mill, odds and ends of two full tool chests, hotrod parts, and about 4,000 lbs of lead. From Texas to North Carolina.

When I looked at the costs vs. tradeoff's what worked for me was to hire a 48 foot trailer (a standard 18 wheel trailer) from a trucking company. I had them drop off the trailer in front of the house. I hired three guys for two days and we filled that 18 wheeler with everything. Including the lead which I had in .30 caliber ammo cans (ingots). I rented a 5,000lb forklift and palletized a bunch of stuff. We also were able to build a deck mid level in the trailer with special bars that came with the truck. Installed the bars and laid down 3/4" plywood for a deck and were able to stack lighter stuff on top to fill the whole truck. I estimate we filled the truck 90% which was pretty good. The weight was only 60% of max load. All the household stuff fit.

That was what was most economical for me given my other choices. When the stuff got to NC, I hired two semi-local guys to help me unload. I only had to rent a forklift for one day to unload. I just unloaded everything into the garage.

I won't ever do that again. It would have been smarter to sell the lead and then over time, build up the stash again.

I've moved three times since then, and now when I move, 90% of the lead is sold. It generally takes me 2-3 years to replace the stash by just being diligent and patient.

I cringe when I think how much that lead cost me in the three moves.

[a.squibload]

I heard about a guy who likes to buy cars when he's driving around out of state.
He will buy a trailer to get a car home, then maybe sell it. He has 3 trailers now.
Usually not hard to get rid of a trailer.

We moved about 1000 miles in a Ryder, towing a pickup. I didn't have much lead then but we had both vehicles full of stuff. Also another car packed full.
Hired movers to help us load the truck, they stole a couple of boxes.

[redneckdan]

Moving sucks. No two ways about it. Last time I moved about 3 years ago I had over 18,000lbs of lead to move. Fortunately it was just across town but still it took the better part of a day with two other guys helping me. Right now I am again relocating this time about 15 miles further up the keweenaw but with just under a ton of lead.

[Wrbjr]

I have a few hundred pounds of ingots in storage on the west coast in a utility trailer. Fuel prices have really put a damper on bringing that trailer to the east coast. Trying to figure out how to get my trailer back without dumping $1500 in fuel. Stinks.

[bootsnthejeep]

I'm up against this now as well. Got what I estimate as about 800# in my stash that I've been accumulating for the last few years. The last year or so I've been relentless in my search as the free wheelweights are rapidly drying up here in Maine and I'm trying to accumulate as much of a lifetime supply as I can while the getting is good.

Naturally, I JUST moved my stash to its "permanent" storage spot, behind my deck in five gallon buckets filled to the top with 2# ingots. I had to put a plank under them to keep them sinking in the soil and tried to move on that was full and fortunately right before my back started to give out the handle tore off the bucket. So guess I'm going to have to break them all down AGAIN into smaller receptacles for movement.

Ugh. Why couldn't I have a pillow collection or something? Why do all my hobbies have to be so HEAVY?