Storing Lead Outside In Shed? Ideas? 1000+ lbs

[psychbiker]

I recently picked up 600lbs of lead in small lyman molds. It was a drive but worth it. Seller said before I unload from truck, find a spot cuz you'll never move it once stacked.

Sooo....my garage is kinda full, smaller 2 car with no spot to stack this much plus USPS boxes of lino/mono.

I'd like to build this bench in my 90"x50"corner of my yard, have the tops flip up and store it all in the there. I imagine it would fit, having the bench at say 24" height.

Father, 30+ years a contractor, said get a rubbermaid shed, that the bench would need to be out of pressure treated wood and cost too much.

What do you guys think? He didnt ballpark the price in materials for the bench but those sheds are $100+ even on craigslist.

145051

145052

[andremajic]

Try finding a "gorilla box" or a rubbermaid type tub. They can be had for a couple dollars and are generally waterproof. You just can't stack them if they are filled with lead, but that would be your only drawback.

Thrift shops, on the side of the road on trash days, especially yard sales, etc. would be the place to get them free or cheap.

You can also get the rubber gasket lid covered 5 gallon buckets from anywhere that serves a lot of food for the asking. Burger Joints, Convenience stores, doughnut shops etc. are all good places to ask for them.
I'd only put them single file, because the weight of lead would probably crack the lids, but you can keep your ingots free of corrosion by storing them this way. You could even bury them with the lids level with the ground for a little "lead cache" if you felt like it. That way you wouldn't be taking up too much room in the back yard.

Andy

[Electric88]

I don't know about buying a shed, but you could always build a similar style storage "box" as what you have a picture of using plywood and 2x4s... Get some sealer for the wood and use weather stripping for the lid. But maybe that's just the redneck ingenuity in me :D

[dragonrider]

Use ordinary 2x4, plywood construction and saturate it with Thompsons water seal. Make certain water can't puddle beneath it.

[bangerjim]

Whatever you buy/build.....be sure to keep weight distribution in mind. Those plastic sheds will not support concentrated heavy weights on the floor. Been there done that. After a year of hot and cold, you may have a mess. Wood (4x4) floors are the best.

[762sultan]

Several years ago on this forum a member had a photo of his lead stash. It was stored in a aluminum tool box that fits in the bed of a pick-up truck. It had a lid and a lock. He kept it in a building and it was clean and dry. Just make sure you put it where you want it. Moving it would require unloading it.

[Beagle333]

Several years ago on this forum a member had a photo of his lead stash. It was stored in a aluminum tool box that fits in the bed of a pick-up truck. It had a lid and a lock.

+1. Surely 1000# will fit into a truckbox.

[shoot-n-lead]

Store mine in 25gal plastic drums...

[JSnover]

Mine are in 5 gallon buckets, mostly. Some are stacked neatly on the floor. Lead doesn't need much of a shelter, just maybe a few boards to keep it off the deck.

[35isit]

Use an empty paint drum. The ones with the removable lids held on with a ring. The top has a gasket on it and the band keeps it on and water tight. Just be sure to elevate it off the ground so it doesn't rust through the bottom. I have about 1500 lbs of separated wheel weights in one.

[bob208]

look for a job box like the contractors us on job sites.

[jsizemore]

A steel 55 gal drum will hold about a ton with no stacking. My scrapyard gave me 10 with lids and gaskets cuz I keep their lead bin empty. The drums are from highway construction that used to hold lane paint. I set the drums on reclaimed 4x4's and landscape timbers to keep them off the wet ground.

[NavyVet1959]

If your garage has unfinished walls, you can stack the ingots on the baseplate around the perimeter of walls.

[rondog]

I keep my Lyman ingots in .30cal USGI ammo cans. They're heavy mothers, but still movable. Come in handy in the winter to put in the back of my truck for weight, for traction in snow and ice.

[lightman]

There have been members on here posting about using truck tool boxes, job boxes and even foot lockers. Tool boxes can be had cheap but job boxes are usually a lot more. The weather really won't hurt your lead very much, probably a little surface oxidation. There have also been threads on here about members having their stash stolen. That would worry me more. Good Luck with your choice.

[psychbiker]

Thought about between studs but my garage is finished. I have the the small lyman ingots as well as bags of linotype and monotype letters. The job boxes arent bad. They run around $200 on craigslist around here.

I think I can make that bench system in under $100 of wood and screws. No one is gonna take 1000+ lbs of lead, not many know I cast. The bench idea also spiffs up my yard. I may look for decking woods to lay down first then built the boxes and put on top.

[SeabeeMan]

That's exactly what I do. I use mini muffin tins because they stack perfectly in those cans on edge. They have to be upwards of 80-90 lbs but can still be moved around if need be.


I keep my Lyman ingots in .30cal USGI ammo cans. They're heavy mothers, but still movable. Come in handy in the winter to put in the back of my truck for weight, for traction in snow and ice.

[bearcove]

I have 2500 lbs sitting on a pallet OUTSIDE of my garage. Fenced yard no thieves. Lead does NOT need a roof.

[quack1]

Mine have been setting outside, in 5 gallon buckets, but under a roof and in the shade for a lot of years. Got all the buckets for free from a bakery, they got their frosting in them. Even after washing them out, whenever I open one to get ingots, they are still nice and shiny and smell really good, and then I get a craving for cake. I made sure that they are in the shade, as I think the plastic buckets would degrade and maybe crack if they were exposed to the sun every day.

[waarp8nt]

Several years ago on this forum a member had a photo of his lead stash. It was stored in a aluminum tool box that fits in the bed of a pick-up truck. It had a lid and a lock. He kept it in a building and it was clean and dry. Just make sure you put it where you want it. Moving it would require unloading it.

+2 Truck tool box. Aluminum or the plastic if the bottom is supported good. Construction worker style Jobsite box would be great too. Craigslist for a good used one.

[white eagle]

I have 2500 lbs sitting on a pallet OUTSIDE of my garage. Fenced yard no thieves. Lead does NOT need a roof.

I agree as long as it is marked or separated where you can identify the alloy you should be golden

[fredj338]

Whatever you buy/build.....be sure to keep weight distribution in mind. Those plastic sheds will not support concentrated heavy weights on the floor. Been there done that. After a year of hot and cold, you may have a mess. Wood (4x4) floors are the best.
You can also go with a plastic type shed, then just reinf the bottom with some 2x4. I ahd to do this for my kitchen cabinet bench bottom for holding bullets. You don't think about the weight when stacking boxes of bullets.

[Springfield]

i guess I am just cheap. i have 2 large caches outside,sitting on a sheet of plywood with a plastic tarp over them. Replace the tarp every few years, they are cheap at Harbor freight. Lead doesn't rust and go away.

[lightman]

+1. Surely 1000# will fit into a truckbox.

You can get around 700# of Lyman style ingots in a plastic milk crate so I would guess a tool box would hold 1000# easy. Just make sure you start loading it in the place where its going to stay.

[RogerDat]

The folks that steal lead do so for the scrap value. Same folks that steal manhole covers for iron or air conditioners for aluminum and copper. You know what they say about open door tempting a saint. I would make it takes at least some work to break in and steal from the stash. Not saying has to be a massive vault, but locked and metal so breaking in is a difficult or at least noisy proposition.

Inside a shed 5 gallon buckets will stack well 3 or 4 high if you don't do lids. 70 to 80 lbs. is 3/4 bucket and they just nest inside each other when stacked. Need cover from the elements if stacked in open buckets. Don't neglect some form of drainage for any water that does get in the container if that is a possibility. 5 gallon pail with several inches of scuzzy water in it lacks appeal.

[labradigger1]

You can store the lead in small brass tubes.

[Bzcraig]

I wouldn't think the floor of the Rubbermaid sheds will even get close to supporting 1000# of lead which doesn't take up much room. Your idea of the benches is good in that it's dual purpose and attractive. Like your dad said, you'll spend more than $100 in materials and will need to keep maintained to keep water/moisture from destroying it. Having said all that, what little I know from your post, I would build the benches.

[borg]

You can store the lead in small brass tubes.

LOL, I like your idea the best.

[LAGS]

If you want a cheap watertight container, then try Plastic PVC Sewer Pipe with the plastic end caps.
You can even put on the male or female adapters and thread a PVC plug into them for easy access
You can cut the PVC to any length tou want.
I use 4" pipe that I pick up off my construction sites.
Do some Dumpster diving at local construction sites if you want to get it for free.

[NavyVet1959]

Lead weighs around 700 lbs per cu-ft, so you're only looking at around 1 cu-ft of space needed to store that 600 lbs. If you made the bench like you mentioned, you would still have a lot of space left to store other stuff. If you just wanted to store the lead and nothing else, then make the base for a square coffee or end table, fill it with the lead, and then put a square piece of granite over it as a top.

[skeettx]

762sultan
That be me :)

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-055S1.JPG

[zuke]

What about sitting them on the ground 1 or 2 layer's thick then covering them with sand?
You'd know where they are, and their a lot harder to find being camouflaged in the sand?

[psychbiker]

Going to start on the bench thing tomorrow. Phot shows the spot. Pretty much the rock outlines my spot. Only area I have and k think a truck box or job site would look pretty bad.

Now ow just gotta draw it out and see how much pressure treated I need. Should only need it for the base and frame then run 2x6 length wise on the face and stain/seal them.

http://i.imgur.com/oIDyfK2l.jpg

[Knarley]

Just a note,
If the lead is cold from the weather, winter time, when you bring it in it may have water condense on the surface. The tinsel fairy will not bee too far behind. Let it come up to room temp before you drop it into your melt.
Trust me, it gets a little exciting if you don't.

Knarley

[roberts1]

Nice idea. Hidden in plain sight. You may want to consider constructing the bench with the idea of a separate weather proof container inside. With the lid made of separate boards like the pic you posted water will get inside if that is a a concern for you. You could make a small pad out of sack concrete to support the weight of the lead then a relatively lightweight bench on top of it. Id use cedar or whatever your fence is made out of there to match. Again it need not be heavy duty (2x2 & 1x material which is less expensive) because the concrete would be doing the heavy lifting so it only needs to be as strong as a bench to sit on.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Personally I would go with the bench idea. Splurge for the treated wood and make yourself a nice piece of yard furniture that just so happens to double as a storage box for your lead. I wouldn't worry about the lead it self getting a little wet, so long as you don't throw it into a hot furnace.

[HATCH]

get you a rubbermaid storage container
145706

the middle size one is $40 and should hold the 1K pounds with no problem
I have 5K pounds stored in 4 20 gal rubbermaid tubs. Its inside my garage but no one is gonna steal them if it was outside.

[NavyVet1959]

You can get a 55g drum for $10-20. Use it as a waterproof storage area and then build a wooden box that fits over it and acts as a base for a bar height table. Then, just add a top. That will hold a LOT more than the lead you currently have.

[Geezer in NH]

Buy the wife unit a small economical/environmentally correct vehicle. Place lead stash in the added room behind her car in the finished garage. There solved your problem. :bigsmyl2:

[slim1836]

145722
I put mine on piano dollies, holds 1000 lbs.
Dang hard to roll around though.

Slim

[rbt50]

mine has been sitting out side for the last 15 years in a wooden box uncovered. I can't see how you can hurt it.

[RogerDat]

Hmmm. Just thinking this thing through. Put it wherever! Having a thousand pounds of lead is the important part, not how you box it up. Unless you box it in MFRB and send it to me then how you box it matters.

Really anyplace you figure it won't get stolen, won't have to be moved to sweep or mow and it's all good.

[Alley Cat]

I store my lead in home-made wooden boxes about 12"x5" by 4" deep. They each hold approximately 30 lbs of lead and are stackable. I keep them stacked under my workbench and can easily move the entire stack if ever the need arises.