Been a'sortin

[Patrick L]

Largely due to needing to clean up the garage for an upcoming graduation party, I finally began sorting thru my wheelweights. I have about five 5 gallon buckets accumulated. I hope to get some more and plan on doing a smelt this fall.

Anyhow, the sorting. After reading the sticky on hand sorting, I'm using the cutter method. It really is pretty easy, as long as you're not in a rush. I've been working an hour here, 45 minutes there, and I've gotten thru three of the buckets since I started about a week ago. Interesting how much waste we get now because of these confounded non lead weights. I estimate I went thru about 9 gallons so far (my buckets are only about 3/5 full otherwise they're too heavy to handle.) I put the good weights into 1 gallon paint cans I've saved, plus a few other similar sized containers. I estimate out of 9 gallons processed I ended up with about 6 1/2 - 7 gallons of good weights, and 2 - 2 1/2 gallons of steel, zinc, and composite. Interestingly, the first and third buckets had lots of steel but very little zinc, but the second bucket had about 50/50 (of the non lead, that is.)

I miss the days when we just dumped it all in he smelting pot!

[mac1911]

Our small shop does about 6 tires a week. In the past few years zinc has pretty much depleted faster than lead. Iron and other materials have taken its place. The last 2 small batches yielded about 50/50 with 30% being iron

[Defcon-One]

Here in Virginia, I still get 85-90% Lead in my buckets. It is starting to go down, but our Lead to Zinc and Steel ratio is still pretty high. I get much more Steel than Zinc!

I imagine that in time we will catch up with the socialist states as their political will is forced upon manufacturers and therefore flows to us.

[Patrick L]

Well, I finished. Using the wire cutter method, I sorted thru 5 pails of wheelweights. Each pail was about three quarters full, about as full as the 5 gal pail in the photo. It took about two weeks just working a bit here and there as I found the time. Never did I spend more than 45 minutes at the buckets, often just 15 or 20. Here's the tally. A picture is worth a thousand words

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Sorting%20and%20Sizing/GunStuff.jpg

I put them into smaller containers to make it easier to move them around. The largest bucket in the back left is a 2 gallon pail, then some 1 gallon paint cans, and the rest are the old #3 coffee cans that didn't really hold 3#, but more like 42 oz. or something silly like that. The sole 5 gallon pail is all of the steel, zinc, and composite garbage. The paint cans , although covered, are full to the brim. I wonder, do the steel and zinc have any value as scrap?

It really wasn't that bad. And the plus is that when I actually do smelt sometime in the fall, there is no garbage to worry about, no valve stems, etc. I can just melt and pour. I think I need to get more wheelweights and keep it up!

[white eagle]

take that steel and zink in to the recyclers you will get a return on that too.....

[Bored1]

Nice!!! Ive got a few to sort through myself. Hope I come up with as much as you did! I second taking the 5 gal of zinc/steel to the scrapper, trade it for more lead (the kind you don't have to sort!!!)

[Patrick L]

Well, I was so in the groove I managed to scrounge another half pail on the quick. Much worse yield with this one, maybe 1/3rd junk vs good usable wheelweights.

This is depressing!

[Defcon-One]

Keep going. It adds up quickly.

Before you know it you'll have a lifetime supply. Then you'll keep looking just for fun, or out of habit, even though you don't really need it!

It is an addiction, but it sure beats drugs or booze. Besides, if you gather too much, you can always sell some.

The Zinc is worth as much as Lead, the Steel is much less.

[Patrick L]

Well, there's bad news and good news.

First off, I took all of the steel WW, zinc WW, plus a box of shot out cartridge brass to the same scrapper I have dealt with for years. I got $58 for my stuff. Unfortunately, they can't sell lead anymore (lots of other stuff too I think, but the lead is what I care about.) City ordinance.

Went to another scrap yard in a neighboring town. They don't sell, just buy. Period. The guy was very nice about it though, and suggested another outfit just up the road.

These guys were very nice. Lead sold for .75 a pound. While I would never pay that outright, I figured I had the $58 from my steel and zinc, so I figured I'd get about 80# and break even. They had a lead bin, or a 55 gal drum of wheelweights. I went with the wheelweights, and ended up with an even hundred pounds for an outlay of $12 out of pocket. I was good with that. As a bonus, they just turned me loose in the barrel with my own 5 gal pail, so I was able to semi sort as I went. I'm sure some steel and zinc got in, but not much, and I was scarfing up those long 4-5" truck wheelweights like candy. 100# was just about one full bucket (actually 2 half buckets, as I'm too old and lazy to try lifting one full bucket.)

So I sort of scored today, but I'm definitely worried about the future. Living in the Peolpe's Republik of New York sort of sucks from this standpoint. I think I am going to try for a lifetime supply NOW, and if I die with a half ton of metal in the garage it will be my wife's problem. I'm sure some of you guys will help her out.

I'm going to make this a new thread

[mold maker]

It's so addictive, I passed several life times worth long ago. I still can't pass an opportunity though.
The older I get the more lifetimes worth I have.
I'm not hoarding. I just can't forget the lean years, and foresee them coming back.
I aint never been this old before.

[gideons301]

Does anyone else use their wire cutters to cut the clip section from the weights? I do that and accomplish 2 things at once--- Sort out the steel and zink plus I can do my smelting and only have to skim clips off from one pot full of every 5 or 6. Works for me!!