Wild Goose Chase

[stealthshooter]

Well I had a Doc appointment in the "big city" yesterday so I figured I'd visit the recycler and all the tire shops and car dealerships in search of some lead. I first hit the recycler which by the way was a JERK!! He told me they won't have anything to do with lead. He also chewed me out for melting the solder from the heater core I took to him saying it wasn't worth the time to do that. I think he just wanted the solder but anyway he proceeded to tell me what a fool I was for wanting to shoot cast bullets through my new rifle. Cast bullets are only for old guns according to him. So I left there and started hitting the tire shops. The first one wanted $20 for a bucket of wheel weights and there was a very long waiting list for them. I hit the next shop and he also wanted $20 for a bucket and he had one. I decided to see what else I could find and come back to him if I couldn't find anything else. So on I go to the next 2 shops which were big chain stores. Both the big chain stores told me they are now required to send all their wheel weights back to their corporate office so they can be properly disposed of. They also said all these regs are due to California. Ok so on I go again to a small mechanic shop which was a good thing! The guy said I just had to bribe the scrapper to take what I had but if you come back in a month you are more than welcome to have what is here! I thanked him and went on my way. The next guy is a CROOK!! I walked in and the owner came over and I asked about wheel weights. He said he had 20 five gallon buckets full in the back. I asked what he wanted and he said the recycler was giving him $45 a bucked. That's funny because the recycler said they don't want lead. I walked out of their pretty discussed and will never buy tires from them because I'm pretty sure he flat out lied to me. One last stop on my trip was the Ford dealership and they were more than happy to give me what they had. He said they are a pain in the butt to get rid of and to come back from time to time. I walked away with about a quarter of a five gallon bucket from them. I now have 3 places to get wheel weights which is good but I can't believe some of the people I talked to.

[P.K.]

Sounds like my trip around town, I ended up with about a 1/2 bucket of sticky to sort through but the promise was made to seperate the clips into another bucket for the next time. Seems like the only places you can do this are the small timers. All the large chain stores here abouts have proticols to follow, a big fat thanks to the "New and Improved" EPA.

[evan price]

So a guy offered a bucket for $20 and you said no?

Even $45 a bucket isn't a bad price nowadays. And he may be taking stuff to some other recycler, or your recycler won't deal with you, not him.

[stealthshooter]

So a guy offered a bucket for $20 and you said no?

Even $45 a bucket isn't a bad price nowadays. And he may be taking stuff to some other recycler, or your recycler won't deal with you, not him.

I sure did because I have other places that charge me nothing. There is also only one recycler in town.......he was lying to me plain and simple!!

[man.electric]

Even if there is one recycler in town, that doesn't mean that is who is buying their lead. Many shops that sell car batteries have agreements made with their battery dealers to buy/sell scrap lead. Perhaps when lead was at its peak price Interstate Batteries was paying that rate. I doubt it and you are probably right, but I have had tire shops tell me outright that their battery vendor was paying more then I was willing to pay.

[fryboy]

i know a guy who runs a small scrap yard , about twice a month some guy comes thru and buys all his catalytic converters, radiators and lead ... he wont sell any of the above to anyone off the street . one thing to keep in mind is that wheel weights - at least lead ones - are going the way of the dodo bird , all too soon there wont be any at any price [shrugz] many people ,as noted, already cant find any ( for love or money ) true locale has alot to do with it but it's a creeping sickness that will spread until like that dodo bird is but a mere memory [just sayin']

[stealthshooter]

All I know is the guy that wanted $45 a bucket was the only one in town that said the recycler was buying lead from him. Seems to me that the scrapper would of at least stopped by the other 8 shops I stopped at to see if they had anything for sale. The other place wanting $20 threw all their wheel weights in the same bucket and said that there were steel weights mixed in with the lead. I'm not going to pay for half a bucket of steel weights when the other shop said he would save me all his lead weights.

[P.K.]

On a whim I called a dive shop asking if they had any unserviceable belts to sell me...Guy quoted me $6.00 a pound!!! No thanks, stickys are soft enough for what I need them for.

[badbob454]

i heard interstate is now starting to make the tire dealers ship at their cost ww to them to dispose of them properly , i just save them the shipping cost and pick them up for them , the battery company is probably losing money picking up and seperating zinc and iron form the lead , good news for us casters ...

[mrbillbus]

I bought a set of tires at Sam's Club this week. I asked the guy what they do with their WWs and he said they go with the batteries. Part of their contract with the battery supplier.

OTOH I called the local junk yard guy and he said come on out to the yard. He'll loan me his WW tool and I can get as many as I want. I can cut the terminals off of the car batteries and the terminal ends off the cables too. 20 cents a pound. He says it's too much trouble for him to do it and the shredder doesn't give him anything extra if the lead is on board when the car goes. Seems a fair deal to me. What say ye?

[fredj338]

You've found out what many of us have been saying since the kalif ban, the lead ww is going to become extinct in 2-3 yrs. So get what you can where you can. I don't actively search anymore, gas & time cost too much for what I get, but when I am in a shop, I ask, always ask. I scored 25# form the GM dealership when I went in for an oil change & 40#+ of pure lead from my dentist of all places. So think about who uses lead & then when in their shop spending moeny, ask if they need to get rid of some.[smilie=w:

[stealthshooter]

A friend suggested that I take the guys that have been giving me the lead a dozen donuts when I go pick it up and that sounds like a very good Idea to me!!

[clintsfolly]

In the morning donuts, lunchtime pizza,afternoon pop or closing Beer? All works and is cheap. Clint

[P.K.]

In the morning donuts, lunchtime pizza,afternoon pop or closing Beer? All works and is cheap. Clint

How is the tire business? If you are a customer I'm ready to open!

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

wow...!

Rich