How Much Lead In My Latest Bucket Purchase of Used Wheel Weights

[mfraser264]

Just finished up hand sorting a large bucket of used wheel weights and whatever else was in with them. This is from the West Michigan area. Paying for the entire bucket and below are the results. At the time of the purchase the scrap yard was paying .15 cents per pound:
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Bathroom scale weight for entire lot was 181.5 pounds

103.0 pounds clip on wheel weights

53.0 pounds iron weights

11.0 pounds 3M grey weights

7.0 pounds of stick on lead weights

4.5 pounds of stick on zinc weights

3.0 pounds of zinc wheel weights


Observations:

Percent of clip on wheel weights = 56.7%

Percent of iron weights = 29.2%

Most clip on lead weights were small in weight.

Once the percentage of lead wheel weights drops below 50% it may be time to really think about making the investment.

Comments and feedback are welcomed!

[TexasGrunt]

I just sorted about 8-9 gallons of wheel weights.

I got about 140 lbs of clip on. About 50 of stick on. Very little zinc but TONS of steel. By volume, I had over 2 gallons of steel weights. Thankfully I had $20 in all of them.

[rancher1913]

did not know they made zinc stick ons, will have to check closer now.

[BK7saum]

Yes, I get a fair number of stick on zinc weights here.

[pete501]

Let us know what 103 lb of WW yields in ingot form

[shoot-n-lead]

I am in the south...not sure if region makes a difference or not...but, my typical bucket will yield about 70% of total bucket weight, in alloy and stick ons...it used to be higher, but it has been at this percentage for several years,now.

[RP]

Also depends on where you get the WWs I have found. VW dealership was not worth the time to pick up their WWs most were junk, Ford dealership a few years ago was not bad but as they comply with the goberment the lead amounts are falling. Large tire shops are still not a bad deal if the price is right. The country mom and pop tire shops yield mostly lead very few steel. I sure miss the big truck WWs. When I first started sorting my WWs I could never find a zinc and really was thinking I was missing them,but found my first one about two years ago but was finding steel several years before that.
So I would say location will effect what you are getting out of a bucket as the lead is not used on new cars and the tire shops are having to buy another type weight to comply.

[scotner]

did not know they made zinc stick ons, will have to check closer now.

That is a new one on me too. I have a 5 gallon bucket almost full of stick on weights. I will check them closer as i put them in the pot. The good thing is that the softer lead in the stick ons melt at a lower temperature and it should be no problem with zinc floating to the top. Most of mine are marked "Tape Weight". Somebody must have been learning to balance tires because I have a bunch of stick on and quite a few lead clip on weights that appear almost brand new.

[lightman]

I have found both Zinc and Iron stick-on weights. The iron does not bother me except for the weight that is lost, as they can not be melted in the lead pot. The Zinc is a bother but the stick-ons seem to be well marked.

[ioon44]

I continue to find new types of Zinc CWW, makes it hard to find all of them when hand sorting.

[scotner]

did not know they made zinc stick ons, will have to check closer now.

Well, a week after I said I had never seen zinc stick on weights, I got some today. I picked up a bucket that I had left at a tire shop. It only had a couple of inches of weights in the bottom but there were probably 6 or 8 zinc stick on. They were clearly marked so I would not have missed them even if I had not seen this post. There was not enough lead in the bucket to make a dozen bullets (30 cal 240 grain any way).

I had been debating what to do with the soft lead from the stick ons. Having recently found a local source for foundry type, I think I will try blending something satisfactory for pistol bullets. Waste not, want not.

[Drew P]

What about brake pads, tire stems and lug nuts? Had a fair amount of that last time.

[fredj338]

Plus deduct 15% for clips & dross off your lead wts. The lead tire weight is going extinct so get what you can. What did you have to pay per ##? Can't even find lead ww out here anymore.