Is $70 per bucket of wheel wieghts the going rate?

[fireguy715]

I stopped by a tire shop today that has several 5 gallon buckets full of wheel old wheel weights. He want's $70 per bucket and said he fills about one a month. Is that a fair price? About how many pounds of useable lead is that? Thanks

[DHurtig]

Way too high...............Dale

[muskeg13]

I paid 0.70 per pound week before last in Anchorage, Alaska. That's up a nickle a pound for wheel weights I paid 2 years ago, but these were cleaner with less zinc and iron weights. I only had 8 percent weight lost to dross, zinc weights and steel clips on the batch smelted 2 years ago.

[Bwana]

A fair price? I don't know. That is twice what I pay for a bucket full. I end up with about 85 lbs of ingots.

[Suo Gan]

No, not a good price at all.

[darkroommike]

I stopped by a tire shop today that has several 5 gallon buckets full of wheel old wheel weights. He want's $70 per bucket and said he fills about one a month. Is that a fair price? About how many pounds of useable lead is that? Thanks

The fact that he has several buckets available and only fills one bucket a month tells me his prices are high for the local market. Offer to take them ALL for $35 per bucket.

[Blammer]

tell him you'll give him a 12 pack per bucket full.

$70 is way to high IMO

[Floydster]

For $70 a bucket, he will have them for a long time--if you go back there, ask him if you get a kiss with that price:)

Smokeyloads

[possom813]

I'd happily pay $70 for a full 5 gallon bucket. I pay $50 for about a half bucket at a time and no tire shops sell them around here that I can find, I have to buy from the scrap dealer at 70 cents per pound.

I usually end up with about 60lbs of ingots.

[cbrick]

Yikes! :veryconfu He must be mighty proud of them weights.

I would hate to say don't buy'em if that's your only game in town but I would certainly shop aroud before buying them.

How much lead you would get depends on the weights, I have gotten between 50 pounds per bucket to 165 pounds but that was for pre-sorted truck weights that he intended to re-use till the lead weights were banned. It's the only bucket of weigths I ever had to pay for and I gave $20.00 for that. My average is probably between 80 & 100 pounds per bucket.

Rick

[imashooter2]

What a bucket of WW are worth is entirely dependent on how much alloy you currently have in stores and what your prospects are for more at a lower price.

[762 shooter]

As said before, You can get alloy from here for around $1 a pound shipped and you do not have to sort, smelt, stink, or sweat. Only your Postman has to sweat.

[jethunter]

Prices are relative and depends on your prospects - how hard is it to get lead or ww in that area.

If you don't have anything in hand and lead is hard to come by - then it's not a bad price. Offer him something lower. If lead and or ww are plentiful and easy to find and you already have some in hand then it's not a good price at all.

[Bassmaster]

I guess it really is all about the area....some places are just happy to get rid of them...$70 is insane

[RobS]

I will second with netting about 85 lbs to maybe 100 lbs (if the bucket is older and has less metal and zinc weights) from a 5lbs bucket these days. As been said as well, you can get about $1 per pound delivered here on the swappin and sellin section and they are already smelted down.

[Wilkie]

Here in Utah there is a guy who sells ingots for $.80 a pound.

[HighHook]

Show up on a Friday afternoon with a 30 pack of beer for that bucket and see what he says.

[zuke]

Way too high for my taste's

[Doc Highwall]

Go here and support one of our sponsors. Buy a $100.00 and you have free shipping and know what the alloy is.

http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm

[mold maker]

I sure hope I never have to pay that much. If I were out and needed some quick, it might be a solution.

[HeavyMetal]

At that price I'll second doc highwall! Buy from a respected source.

Now if your seller can garontee only lead ww in the bucket, no trash, zinc, or iron, then you have a basis for negotiating a price is worth the effort.

Mixed metals always bring less money ask any metal scrapper!

What this boils down to is local pricing and demand, google local scrap yards and
get a price for ww and confirm local pricing.

[Old Iron Sights]

Local tire shop was gettng .90 per pound. Bought some there until I found a small tire shop that trades a full bucket for a 12-pack.

[thegasharkman]

yes that is way to high. I normally get them for 15 a bucket. I have been getting lead from a local range that pushes everything out of the back stops with a dozer for 10 a truckload. this usually is about 2000lbs

[sleddog]

Way too high... Is this your favorite tire store in town ?? If so, buddy up to the guys that work there, Buy coffee or doughnuts for them, chat about cars and whatever and maybe they will tell you to take a bucket with you when you leave... couldn't hurt...

[DLCTEX]

The metal salvage place in Amarillo quoted .35 lb. for scrap WW not too long ago. At 150 lb. per full bucket, $50 per picked up is not unfair IMHO.

[762 shooter]

The metal salvage place in Amarillo quoted .35 lb. for scrap WW not too long ago. At 150 lb. per full bucket, $50 per picked up is not unfair IMHO.

That sounds like a buy price not a sell price. Around here they buy at $0.20 and sell at $0.50.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I stopped by a tire shop today that has several 5 gallon buckets full of wheel old wheel weights. He want's $70 per bucket and said he fills about one a month. Is that a fair price? About how many pounds of useable lead is that? Thanks

A overfull 5 gallon bucket of Lead alloy WW (with few or no ZINC) will weigh about 145 lbs. and will yield about 120 lbs of Lead alloy. It's probably worth the $70.
$70 divide by 145lbs is 48¢ per lb. I have bought WW's in the raw from a Metals salvage yard (where it was known the WW's were 20 Plus years old) for 60¢ per lb.

BUT if that bucket is not totally full to the brim and has lots of ZINC WW then it's not likely worth $70 IMHO.

My local tireshops are starting to produce a higher percentage of Zinc, and it's becoming not worth it to me. I buy more from Auto salvage yards now.

[selmerfan]

I'm getting full to the bring 3-gallon buckets from my local tire shop for $10/bucket. Bringing in homemade fresh bread once in a while doesn't hurt the relationship any. :grin:

[Michael J. Spangler]

Paid $20 for a full bucket plus another 1/2 gallon or so.
So far I'm about 1/4 of the way through sorting and the zinc is few and far between.
I wouldn't mind if I paid enough that it worked out to be .50 cent a pound of so. Much higher than that and I would just buy ingot from the reputable sources on this forum. Not worth .10 or .15 cents a pound "savings" to bother with smelting your own vs shipped ingots.

[Doc Highwall]

I forgot to mention you have to take into account the steel and zinc along with other trash to minus from the weight. Mention also that the wheel weights should be washed off to get the asbestos brake dust off them before melting along with the cost of gas to melt it. Let them know you can buy clean certified alloy without any work when negotiation of your price.

[braol]

Couple shops give the lead away for free. Most sell for $20-45 per bucket, and some wont sell cause they have it promised to there buddies or relatives. And 1 shop wont let anyone have it. Truck shop here in town said that truck tires dont get balanced. Walmart wont let anyone have any either, but they dont use lead weights, so most of what you would get from them would be zinc anyway.

[Jim]

..... Truck shop here in town said that truck tires dont get balanced.....

That's odd. Wonder why there's myriad sites where lead truck wheel weights (http://www.ammcoats.com/btcal200-lead-truck-wheel-weights)can be purchased? [smilie=1:

If you can't or don't wanna give 'em to me, just say so. But don't lie to me about it.

[waksupi]

Whoever said truck tires don't get balanced has their head inverted in a dark, dark place.

[wgaynor]

$20 per bucket here. That's my price though. I go into tire shops and ask for ww's and they give me a blank look. I then offer them $20 per 5 gallon bucket (cash) and the guy behind the desk gets happy.

[williamwaco]

As said before, You can get alloy from here for around $1 a pound shipped and you do not have to sort, smelt, stink, or sweat. Only your Postman has to sweat.



This is the ONLY way to go. This is where I get mine.

Don't forget: If you get clean lead wheel weights with steel and zinc removed. You will have 15 to 18% waste.

If you buy 100 pounds of mixed wheel weights, you will be lucky to get 75 pounds of good ingots.


.

[NYBushBro]

As said before, You can get alloy from here for around $1 a pound shipped and you do not have to sort, smelt, stink, or sweat. Only your Postman has to sweat.

My postal delivery person does NOT like bringing 'flat rate' boxes of lead to my address (60 lbs fits in a medium box.)

[lancojames]

Stealing them off cars parked at Wal-Mart may prove to be a better low-cost alternative.

[JB LoCo-Oh]

I get them by the 5 gal. bucket full for $30, up from $25 from last year. Stockin' up!

[fireguy715]

Thanks for the responses and sorry I didn't get back to this sooner. I'll pass on those wieghts. I found a total of one and a half buckets from a couple of small shops. I would say roughly 25% was steel or zinc. I made ingots out of them already but haven't wieghed them.

[gwozdz]

Here in NY lead wheel weights are a thing of the past. They can no longer add them to tires, so it's going to get a lot harder to find the lead ones from here on out.

[cbrick]

Naughty, naughty Salvadore, the mods will slap your hand. Please read the rules you agreed to when signing up regarding selling on this forum.

But anyways, welcome to CastBoolits. :mrgreen:

Rick

[KCSO]

Depends on how many are lead. Last bucket I got was more zinc and steel than lead. But then again mine were free.

[on1wheel01]

Seems high to me. I try to get mine for free and usually do. But one shop has a good amount and said they will let me sort out the lead I want and sell what I need for .50 a pound. That seems pretty good to me so I'm not paying for steel and zinc I don't want.

[ncbearman]

I guess it's supply and demand depending on where you are. Here in eastern NC the going rate is $20 per 5 gal. bucket. That seems fair. I'm still fortunate though I can still find it for free.

[nighthunter]

Hhhmmmmm .... $70.00 for a 5 gallon bucket. Perhaps I could interest you in a bridge I have for sale. $70.00 is way too much for a bucket of WW. The last 4 buckets I have processed have been over 50% zinc and steel. I get them for free so I don't complain. That same amount of money will get you 70 pounds of cleaned and processed WW in ingot for readt to drop in your melting pot. That sounds like a better option until you find someone with more resasonable prices.

[on1wheel01]

Hhhmmmmm .... $70.00 for a 5 gallon bucket. Perhaps I could interest you in a bridge I have for sale. $70.00 is way too much for a bucket of WW. The last 4 buckets I have processed have been over 50% zinc and steel. I get them for free so I don't complain. That same amount of money will get you 70 pounds of cleaned and processed WW in ingot for readt to drop in your melting pot. That sounds like a better option until you find someone with more resasonable prices.



I agree I'd buy ingots read for use before spending that much on mixed ww's

[RG1911]

I'm about ready to pick up a large bucket (more than 5 gallons) of wheel weights from a Big O store in town for $60. I estimate it will run 170-200 pounds. (So around 30-40 cents per pound.) Of course, after sorting, I'll lose at least 15 percent to iron and zinc.

No place around here gives away wheel weights anymore and I just want to lay in a supply. Possible panic buying as I see sources here drying up fast, and iron and zinc replacing lead. I'll have to look into buying already-processed wheel weights.

Richard

[salvadore]

Sorry Rick, can I blame it on adult ADD?

[cbrick]

No need to be sorry, just thought I'd remind you before the mods did. :mrgreen:

Rick

[Ken TN]

I had a shop give me a 5 gallon bucket last week in agreement for 500 cast boolits form his donation! Just have to love recycling.
Today I just picked up three 5 gallon buckets full for $50 total.
Lots of smelting to do. Glad it is cool outside now.

I usally buy my ingots from the Captain. She does a great job and the lead is great.

$70 is way out of line in my market area.

[TrapperXX]

I was quoted $40 a bucket yesterday and politely walked. I can still find em for free sometimes.

[Beesdad]

No free WW in this part of North Carolina. I would not walk away from a $ 40 bucket. $50 - 60 is the going rate when you can find them.

[DGV]

Scap yards aroud here ( Western Mass) are paying .42 cents a Lb. I am afraid the new norm is going to be 50-60 dollars a pail

[David2011]

Compared to some of the prices I've been quoted $70 is downright cheap. Depends on availability in your market area more than anything. Where I am now they're very hard to obtain at any price.

David

[Malpaso]

Got two buckets for $65 yesterday, 260# estimated. After sorting a few handfulls, I'm guessing about 80% lead, 10% steel, 10% zinc, but maybe I just got lucky on the top of the bucket. if it keeps to those %s, I'll go back and get more. The owner seemed happier to sell them to me than to the recycler.

[dakotashooter2]

Put on a hazmat suit.. walk into his business and tell him it will cost HIM .40 lb for you to get rid of that hazardous material for him. LOL

[Eagle66]

If you can't or don't wanna give 'em to me, just say so. But don't lie to me about it.

You got that right, Jim. The favorite lie hereabouts is that "a guy" that comes around to pick them up was just here "last week". One place even said that the guy pays $1.00/lb for them. I told them that they should collect all the weights they can find before he comes back, even off of the cars in the lot, because the best the local scrap dealers will pay is 38 cents. The look on his face was worth the price of admission!

Now, on the side of honesty was an auto salvage yard where the guy looked up on his computer the current price the scrap dealer pays and offered them to me for the same price.

[Alley Cat]

I can remember when people on this board were amazed that anyone would pay anything for wheel weights!

[nighthunter]

My brother in law brought me a 5 gallon bucket of WW this week. Haven't started to process it so I don't know what the loss to zinc and steel is gonna be. Price paid ..... 500 125 gr HP sized .359 and 250 300 gr HP unsized for use in sabots in his muzzle loaders. He and I have been doing this swapping thing for years and it seems to keep us both happy. He knows its a lot of work for me to go from COWW to ready to shoot bullet.

Nighthunter

[zuke]

I have a deal with an old boy around here.
He reload's for other people. What he does is you bring your rifle to him and tell him what you want load wise and quantity wise.You leave your rifle with him and when he's done he'll call you and show you what he's done. He make's 2 copies of the load for that rifle,one for you and one for his record's. You can call him in a couple year's and tell him your name and read off the serial number of the rifle and he'll load up some more of the same ammo for you.
His biggest problem has been finding brass,which I was picking up in the local pit's for scrap. Now I swap that brass for any and all WW he can get me. I just picked up 4 3 gallon pail's from him and parked them in a snow bank. I'll go thru them when the snow's gone.