WW are getting tough to scrounge!

[subsonic]

I had to go to 15+ places yesterday to get about a bucket and a half! My wallet was $30 lighter too!

Used to be I could go to 1 to 3 places and get a full bucket for free! My goal was to fill 3 buckets, and I took 4 buckets.

Some of the places are telling me that they have a contract with a recylcler, like Wal-Mart, Sam's club, etc. Others tell me they have a deal with their battery supplier where he gets all of them. One place said they sell them for $.75 per lb to a boolit caster!

Considering the amount of un-useable stuff that is in a 5gal bucket of WW, I think that particular caster is paying more than the going rate for lead.....
I found maybe 3 places that agreed to sell me WW on a consistent basis, but it's going to be for more than I really wanted to give [smilie=b: considering that I have ALWAYS gotten them for free until now.

When I had to pay yesterday, it was about $10 for about a gallon of WW and trash.

Other rumors I heard were that everybody is going to steel weights because too many lead weights are ending up in landfills. Isn't the ground where lead comes from?

And also that most shops hate the steel weights because they are harder to install without dammaging aluminum wheels. Some are still using 100% lead weights, but they are more expensive and they offset that cost by selling the take-offs to a re-cycler.

Just sharing what I found. Anybody else having this much trouble?

[Ole]

Personally, I would not pay $.75/lb for raw wheel weights, but I have a good supply. If that was all that was available and I didn't have any lead to cast with, I suppose I might pay that.

I haven't even tried to scrounge locally in over a year. Gas @ $3.60/gallon is better burned elsewhere. :mrgreen:

[Gtek]

Welcome to the NEW WORLD! Gtek

[fatelk]

It's spreading. I've noticed a trend for some time now, over the last couple years.

Someone will post about how it's getting hard to find cheap wheel weights. Someone else will reply something to the effect of "Stop overreacting, I ALWAYS get mine for free. I would NEVER pay more than $10 a bucket for them, maybe some beer and pizza. They're cheap and easy to get, just do what I do." Inevitably sooner or later someone will post about how cheap and easy they used to be to get, but now I can't find any.

I'm not meaning to make fun of your post, in fact I feel your pain. I think wheel weights as a cheap lead source is rapidly going the way of linotype as a cheap lead source. They may still be available in a few areas for a while, but they are getting more and more scarce. If you can still find them cheap, good for you, but it's just a matter of time.

[wrench man]

When we balance tires at work we charge $.50 an OUNCE! for new weights, we still sell lead, I segregate the weights as I remove them and all the lead tape weights and lead clipon's bigger than 2oz go in "MY" bucket!, the ZN and FE go in one bucket, the stems go in a box behind the wheel balancer.
I've asked two of our suppliers about the lead they remove, but haven't got any results from the delivery guys?
So far I haven't spent $.01 on scrap lead.

[WILCO]

I think wheel weights as a cheap lead source is rapidly going the way of linotype as a cheap lead source.

That is the new reality. Thank a liberal. The EPA has waged war on lead and has set policies in place to do away with it. They even mention how much is consumed by hobbyists. I stopped looking for WW's a while ago and have found other less stressful sources.

[WILCO]

So far I haven't spent $.01 on scrap lead.

Enjoy it while it lasts.........

[thompsonm1a1]

the repair shop that i get all my ww from for free, all i have to do is do a little bit of cleaning up in the tire balance machine. the tire stems i put in a bucket and burn them later on and get about 2$ lbs for the brass. good lead ww are getting harder to find all the time so grap what you can. my stock pile of 600 one lb bars should keep me casting for many years to come.

[LEADLUBBER]

I have about 800+ lbs of WW lead that I bought about 8 months ago....

my Dad started sorting it and we have found only very few zinc and steel weights among the lead so far....

these wheel weights came from a big tire store with a lady nice enough to sell to me for a very good price....

[Lead Fred]

The new world order wins, YOU lose

Now we jsut have to wait for Jesus to come back, and kick all thier asses

[gbrown]

I have been to about 10 places around here. Every time I ask, I am told that they have a deal with somebody to recycle or they re-use them. Can't get a thing. One tire store out in the sticks offered to sell me a bucket of lead WW for $70. Didn't take 'em up on it. One store gives me a very meager amount every 2 weeks. What's funny is that a person I have made friend's with is a dumpster diver, in the true sense. Last week, he brought me a bucket of COWW and 50# of SOWW. What's funny, it was a dumpster behind a store that told me they recycled!!! I'm still laughing. I also have a friend that has a junk yard. I can go out there and pull WW anytime I want. Ya gotta make contacts and friends, is all I can say.

[Dframe]

I haven't been to all, but every place I've tried claims they are under contract to sell to a battery place. No one would give or sell me any. I smell the stench of "Enviro-nazis" in this. They've been trying to ban lead projectiles for a long time now as a backdoor way to dry up the supply of bullets and destroy gun ownership

[fredj338]

Well, anyone that didn't see this coming when the largest tire market in the USA (kommifornia)banned lead ww two years ago, just wasn't paying attention. You spent more than $30 too, gas @ $4/gal goes into the cost. I don't even bother anymore out here. There is so little lead it's not worth buying buckets around here, even if they will sell. Oh, I always ask if getting servie or buying tires, but I stopped driving & scrounging about a year ago. Berm mining @ my club is about it now days or buying from reputable guys here. At $1/#, it can actually be a bargain when you figure out your net from scrounging today.

[subsonic]

Ok, so what is plan B for alloy with antimony and maybe tin in it? Range scrap is going to be very soft and buying real boolit alloy is expensive. I'll probably buy boolits before I buy casting alloy.

And yes, it cost me a pretty penny in gas too, but I didn't figure that in the $30.

[gbrown]

Plan B for me would be linotype from members here and range mining. I smelted down 50# of range scrounged last week. I am helping a friend smelt down raw mono/lino and have access to that. The range lead I have done in the past comes in around 10 bhn after aging. As members have indicated on this thread and others, its out there, its just how creative and resourceful you are. One lucky hit I got was from my roofer. I have not checked with other roofers, yet, but plan to. Make friends with plumbers, also. A lot of times when they do a remodelling job, there is old lead there.

[GSCSA]

Have you tried any scrap yards? Mine charges me about 39 cents a pound for wheel weights. Last week I picked up 118lbs of lead at my local yard. 53lbs of it was one big ingot (which casts beautiful boolits), there were six bars of solder, and the rest brand new wheel weights. All for 60 bucks.

[357maximum]

I have come to the conclusion that I will not live long enough to use my WW supply. (that's a big conclusion for me as I have hoarding issues):oops: My pure lead supply could still use some hoarding on but it is not "urgent".

I am glad I started scrounging over 2 decades ago. I would not want to have to start anew in todays leadfree- do it for the children- libtard infected world. Don't get me wrong I still ask when I am getting new skins or a repair done and the ask is normally successful for a bucket, but I deal with the same tire dood everytime I need to lighten my wallet.

I get most of my soft lead from the scrapyard nowadays. I always see a big heap of COWW there btw. That is where I would purchase my ww if I had to do it over. Last time I was there I traded a pile of scrap steel + $3.00 for a 220lb cylinder of almost pure lead.

Lead is out there...how bad do you want it?

[fredj338]

Range scrap can be anything, but about 10BHN for what I get. mix it 4-1 w/ lino & you get a pretty usefull alloy. Keep an eye out, you can get lino for $1-$1.5/#. It won't take much to sweeten most range scrap.

[latesvak]

welcome to the club but be glad you are not in cali . led ww are banned here and WAAAAY to hare to find. i have 1 place i get about 1.5 5gal bucket a month from and at least half is all zink . and i have had to pay even closer attention during sorting cause lately i found zink ww that look exactly like the lead ones. so i need to cut each one just to double check after hand sorting.

BUT ITS STILL FREE


latesvak

[500MAG]

I went to a local tire store last week and was told that they throw the old WW's in the trash. I offered to leave a 5 gal bucket and to pay them for them and they said no. Unbelievable!

[mold maker]

Don't turn your noses up, at the Zinc WWs. Zinc sells for as much as lead, at the scrap yard.
The Fe weights don't have to be touched except to throw into a bucket. Although they don't pay much, it buys the gas for the trip.
When ya go, take your junk brass, and aluminum. Every little bit helps.
The end of an era is upon us. You either get inventive, and pay what ever the price, or soon you'll do without.
Free lead and the DoDo bird have flown the coop forever.

[white eagle]

as far as I concerned ww are not worth all the trouble to get ,sort,and stack

[gbrown]

as far as I concerned ww are not worth all the trouble to get ,sort,and stack

Sir. Not to make an issue or insult you, but the way I see it, every bit helps. Sometimes I only end up with 5 or 6 lead WW. Sometimes a lb of itty bitty ones. Doesn't matter, all adds up. After a month or so, I have a bucket full. 90# of good alloy to cast with. I have time. Retired. Had to take some ibuprofen tonight for the back and legs. Squatting and bending smelting out about 200# of COWW. Got a nice pile, however. Got a nice bucket of steel clips and such for my friend that brings me nice presents! Free is good! Time is money. I'll spend my time getting free stuff and not sweat the sorting, smelting and stacking.

[fatelk]

I can sure see both sides. I guess it depends on how much time or money I have. Back when I was working lots of overtime and getting paid very well for it, I just couldn't justify spending much time to save a few bucks. It made more sense to just work a few extra hours and earn three times as much as I would save.

Now I have less money, but even less spare time (more kids). I did do something stupid the other day though, in the name of scrounging lead. I picked up a big chunk of firewood out where I shoot and brought it home. It looked like folks had been shooting into it for a while. Out of sheer curiosity of how much lead I would find I spent way too much time and split it into kindling. I picked 13.5 lbs of bullets out of one piece of wood.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm274/fatelk/bullets002-1.jpg

[bslim]

Scrounging lead may not be cost effective at some times, but it's habit forming. Once you start, it's hard to stop. At first I thought that I needed 15 or 20 places to get WW's from. Not true. I have 2 tire shops that call me every month with a full pail. Cost - $25/ pail. Over the winter I don't shoot much and by the time spring rolls around, I have over 1000 lbs to smelt. Problem is, I don't shoot that much in a year so my inventory keeps building.