55 gallon drum of lead

[walker77]

I have a 55 gallon drum that is almost 3/4 full of wheel weights. Other than scooping the weights out, anyone have a good idea on how to smelt it all down easily?

[snake river marksman]

My first thought is that someone around here has a sig line that says something to the effect of when your ship comes in, be sure you're ready to unload it! Your ship is at the dock! you are looking at a LOT of work.

build a fire under the drum?

[walker77]

I realize its alot of work, but i couldnt pass it up. Got it last summer for 125

[mooman76]

It's going to be allot of work no matter how you look at it. It's still good to have. Just do a hundred or two # at a time as you have time and it won't seem as bad after all you don't need it all at once.

[MtGun44]

I would guess this fits under the "How to eat an elephant" category.

One bite at a time. Take out about 20 -50 lbs, depending on your smelting
capacity and 'digest ' them. Repeat as necessary.

Wish I had that 'problem'!

[Casting Timmy]

I wouldn't melt it in the drum unless you have a good way to scoop it out without getting hurt.

[Typecaster]

Wear gloves and go slow. I've found all sorts of sharp things covered with WWs in a drum. Never found anything that made it easy to get the WWs out, but maybe one of those 3-tined cultivator/rakes for gardening could be used to rake some into a bucket. Once the level is low enough, you can tip the barrel over and rake them out.

Richard

[Matt3357]

Large strong magnet to pick a bunch up at a time? It would still be painfully slow but well worth it.

Matt

[chris in va]

Definitely don't just throw them all in a pot. You'll need to sort everything out first...zinc, pure lead, stick-ons, Fe weights etc.

[GabbyM]

Full barrel I had weighed 1,100 pound so you may have around 800 lbs their.
I just knocked mine over and used a square nose shovel to scoop them into the pot. About two days and three tanks of gas.

[imashooter2]

I'm with Gabby on this one.

[HeavyMetal]

If you have no use for the drum simply make a cut in the base big enough for a square shovel.

I'm thinking about 6 inch's high and a foot wide.

Now you put the shovel in front of the cut and use a small "Hoe" to rake the WW out nt the shovel. Inspect as you rake then pot into the smelting pot and make ingots.

By cutting the base you will release any water inside the drum and deal with that very quickly and you will not have a real big mess so you can smelt as you have time for it.

This is gonna be a lot of work so be careful and pace yourself!

[hammerhead357]

Tip the drum over onto a cement slab and sort through them then use a square nosed shovel to scoop them into the furnace. I do this when I am melting down large lots of WW.
Be very careful sorting the WW I have found razor blades and all sorts of other c r a p in them.
Not fun for the fingers and I do wear gloves at all times when handling WW.....Wes

[walker77]

I think i will have to just cut the barrel and shovel it like was recomended. I took the barrel down to my property in the country so it wont be in the way at the house. I probably have 200lbs of brick ingots at the house.

[thenaaks]

Tip the drum over onto a cement slab and sort through them then use a square nosed shovel to scoop them into the furnace. I do this when I am melting down large lots of WW.
Be very careful sorting the WW I have found razor blades and all sorts of other c r a p in them.
Not fun for the fingers and I do wear gloves at all times when handling WW.....Wes

i don't know who decided c.r.a.p. was profanity....i type it a lot, and i know people are thinking that i used another 4 letter word....
sorry about the threadjack...just had to get that off my chest

[walker77]

Thanks for sharing that. But it still doesnt help me to get the c r a p outa the drum!!

[nvbirdman]

Stick a lightning rod down in the drum.
Hire a couple of indians to do a rain dance around the drum.
A couple of bolts of lightning will melt the wheelweights.
Problem solved!
Your next problem is what to do with your 800 pound ingot.

[walker77]

find a 800lb 4 cav mold?

[jimb16]

Don't know the answer, but it would make one HE double hockey sticks of a wad cutter!

[walker77]

how would you size and lube it?

[HeavyMetal]

That Boolit I could tumble lube!

[walker77]

lol, ive been looking for an excuse to get a cannon. This could be it. Although i really had a golf ball cannon in mind. There is just something about shooting a golf ball a mile. Maybe then i could tolerate playing golf!

[lawboy]

Speed i over rated. You have the lead, the hard part is over. Take your time and be thankful you have it.

[walker77]

Yeah, i think im going to take the advice and just cut the barrel down as i go.

[clintsfolly]

just bring it to me i,ll smelt for half of the ingot! no sweat Clint

[WILCO]

This is gonna be a lot of work so be careful and pace yourself!

Oh yeah. Take your time for sure.

[troy_mclure]

and here im thinking how lucky i am when i spot a ww laying on the ground.

[GLL]

Put a chain around the top, tip it over, & shovel them out ! :)

Jerry

[walker77]

Along with all the rocks? Its in the ozarks, its nothing but rock down there. I still think cutting the drum is the best idea. I can cut it down as much as i use. I dont see a need to smelt all of it at once. I have a short attention span, get bored easily. Besides, that much weight would be a weekend job. If im down at the property, i have shooting and atv riding to do!

[KCSO]

When I lived out in the country I had a 1/2 a drum I used for smelting. I built a fire around it and fluxed with used oil. I also had a lead dipper with a 4 foot handle and a 5 pound head and I poured into a half dozen ingot moulds. If you can't do that it's gong to be a chore, sort of like mining gold though!

[SciFiJim]

My first thought was like a lot of others, tip it over on concrete and scoop up with a flat shovel. If it is not near concrete, how about tipping it onto a sheet of plywood? That will keep the WWs out of the dirt and rocks.

[Tracy]

how would you size and lube it?

Apply Liquid Alox with a roller, and shoot as cast. ;)

There is an advantage to going ahead and getting it done; by melting one big batch and casting it into ingots, you will end up with a very consistent alloy.

[targetshootr]

I'd take a sawsall and cut about a foot wide notch from the top and rake them in buckets until you need a new notch.

[AZ-Stew]

how would you size and lube it?

You get a Lyman 450,000 lubricator/sizer and 5 pounds of Felix lube.

Regards,

Stew

[Cherokee]

Sounds like a nice problem to have, a drum full of WW's. Just do some at a time and DO be careful with the **** that can be in there.

[TCLouis]

Like KCSO said, depending on the integrity of the drum, you may have the beginning of a solution, NOT a problem.

Just remember how much pressure 800 lbs of molten lead could/will exert on a weak spot in that drum.

I use 1/2 of a water heater tank used oil and sawdust flux to completely cover the surface and a pyre to get the melt. 300-400 lb batches give me consistent alloy for a while.
4 gang (6 1lb ingots per) ingot molds made from 1 1/2X1 1/2X 1/8 angle and it is an all day pocess. Cool to cold and dry day preferred for project of this magnitude.

[troy_mclure]

i saw cut a hole in the bottom and shovel it out and smelt as needed.

[qajaq59]

Unless you shoot a tremendous amount there is no need to melt them all at once. Just do a bucket full every so often and eventually you'll be done.

[pistolman44]

I got the same problem. got a 55Gal. drum from a scrap yard. Loaded it on my 1/2 ton trailer that nearly flattened my tires. I new I could haul it , because I already had 1,400LBS. of gravel on it before. They loaded it on with a tow truck boom and chains. Now it's sitt'n on the trailer and it going to take me a long time to unload with a 3 gal bucket at a time. Now I got to buy a gas turkey fryer and a big cast iron pot. I don't think using my 20lb bottom pour will last.

[Colorado4wheel]

I think i will have to just cut the barrel and shovel it like was recomended. I took the barrel down to my property in the country so it wont be in the way at the house. I probably have 200lbs of brick ingots at the house.

1K pounds of lead. Not sure I feel sorry for you haveing to sovel them out of the thing. If you need to tip it just attach a strap to the top somehow and pull it over with your car/truck.

[D Crockett]

walker77 if I were you I would make a bunch of ingot moulds like 30 of them out of angle or old bead frames. Then I would purge a 30 lb lp gas tank for about 7 days then cut that tank off so you would have a large pot. Using a magnet to fill up the pot and take out the clips with. I would also reinforce the turkey fryer the legs and around the top and bottom with angle so it would hold the weight. How ever you look at it you have a job on your hands. one more thing get 2 5gal buckets drill holes in the bottom of one and fill the other one with water put the one with holes inside of the other one to drop the hot clips into so you don't melt the plastic buckets with hot clips.give me a pm if you need help making the pot and moulds I have made lots of them. D Crockett

[izzyjoe]

:(man it must be a drag to be in your shoes. to have $850+ in ww and not know how to get them out the barrel :violin: just kiddin' you lucky devil, if you ever need some cash i'd be willin' to take few lbs off your hands. you've got a life time supply. lucky man you are!

[DMCasts]

Next time there is a shuttle launch, spread them out out all over the launch pad.

[GabbyM]

you will find those WW's locked together in one big clump. You can pull them out a few at a time but your finger tips will be raw in short order. Which is why I recomended tipping the barrel over.

For storing ingots you might try laying plastic on a pallet then stacking ingots. When done pull the plastic over the top to bag them. Don't know if that will help but all mine are sitting open under roof and have turned white in only a few months.

You'll have a big tub full of steel clips to return to the scrap yard when done.

[pjh421]

Well I was going to suggest having ANeat get started on a big honking swage press while Buckshot makes the core seat and point form dies to save you from having to shovel so much but Jimb16 beat me to it with the giant wadcutter comment. Anyway, do you think 8 pounds of US869 would make major?

Paul

[Ken]

When I was a commercial bullet caster and used wheelweights as raw material, years go, I would run into this problem. Hammerhead 357 has it right. it may take a couple or 3 guys to tip the barrel but it can be done.
Then use a squarenose shovel and shovel the WW into 5 gallon buckets. Tip them onto a flat piece of plywood or similar if they aren't on a concrete floor.
it will work.
Three hernia operations later testify to the difficulties of handleing large quantities of lead.
Be careful

[pistolman44]

Friend of mine gave me some 2" angle. I have my own welder, my uncle has a metal cutting band saw to cut these for me. I guess I'll gang weld 4 cut angles together to make some ingot molds. Buy a few muffin pans I should be good to go. I got to find a turkey fryer now or some other good heat source to smelt all these WW. I heard scrap yards won't take the metal clips because they have traces of lead on them.

[hammerhead357]

Ken been there done that. That is the way the old print shops delt with lino from what I was told. It worked well for me when I was casting commercially and it still does. When I need it to..

I hear ya about the hernias. I was lucky and never had that problem but my back is all messed up because of the lifting and pouring of one heck of a lot of lead...Wes

[hammerhead357]

The scrap yards around here take the clips but you have to dump them where the magnet can get to them.....Wes

[Gunslinger]

In regards to the weight of a full 55gal drum of weights, how do you arrive at that number? Lead weighs 11.7kg per liter, which would amount to about 2 tons or 4000lbs per 55 gal drum - IF there were no clips air etc in there. I just assumed that air and clips would not amount to more than max half, which would be 1000 kg or 2000 lbs. But now I hear 850lbs per drum.... this sound like very little to me... or maybe I missed something??

[cajun shooter]

While a range officer in Baton Rouge, La. my fellow working buddy Chester and I came up with a great idea. We had these inmates that were detailed to the range. We would have them go into the berms and with heavy metal rakes recover the lead and put it in a 55 gal drum. We would then smelt the lead down at one of our houses and sell it to the cops who reloaded. well after a period of time this drum was full. We stood there and laughed until we had tears in our eyes as neither one of us had thought about the final weight of that drum nor it's removal and transportation from the range. It is still sitting there some 15 years later.

[GabbyM]

In regards to the weight of a full 55gal drum of weights, how do you arrive at that number? Lead weighs 11.7kg per liter, which would amount 2 about 2 tons or 4000lbs per 55 gal drum - IF there were no clips air etc in there. I just assumed that air and clips would not amount to more than max half, which would be 1000 kg or 2000 lbs. But now I hear 850lbs per drum.... this sound like very little to me... or maybe I missed something??

I've bought a 55 gallon drum of wheel weights before. It weighed 1,100 pounds. Was full to within a few inches from the top. Weight could vary by a couple hundred pounds but will be in that ball park. Once melted down into ingots and stacked it's just a little pile.

[mtnman31]

You can come smelt them at my house. At the moment, I rent and utilities are included - suckers. My smelting set up is tapped off of the un-used water heater's natural gas supply in the garage. My burner is an old burner I salvaged from a water heater. So far, total cost with all the smelting I have done is less than 20 bucks - had to buy a few fittings for the gas set-up. I just run the supply line out the window into the driveway and set up on a sheet of plywood. My only complaint about the burner is that it is on or off. I have to control the heat by cycling the flame.

BTW - I don't feel the least bit guilty about taking advantage of the utilities - I pay 1600 a month for an apartment and can't even get the landlord to do the most basic maintenance. Right now, the weeds out back are shoulder high. I'd get some goats to trim it all down but the coyotes are pretty active. They got my cat just last weekend. My girlfriend is pretty distraught over it and I'm pretty mad myself. I've had that cat longer than most marriages last. Right now, I am planning some ways to control the coyote population. I can't shoot because I'm on top of a hill and there are houses below me on all sides. That is a whole other discussion...

[pistolman44]

If you can't shoot then there is one sure fire way, poison meat.

[pjh421]

MTMMAN31

Have you considered building your pot stand up higher (like maybe with cinder blocks) and then varying the height of the burner as needed to better control the temp?

Paul

[uncle joe]

Thanks for sharing that. But it still doesnt help me to get the c r a p outa the drum!!

instructions on bottom of drum.
small letters near the side next to the ground as you tip it over, I promise
:kidding:

[walker77]

Huuuuh? Are you guys even reading the first post any more? I was originally asking for ideas on easily removing ww out of a 55 gallon drum. How in the world did we get to this point? I mean not to be rude, but how in the world is poisoning coyotes have anything to do with getting lead out of a drum? And i have no idea where you guys think i have some sort of burner problem. I have no issues smelting it. Just getting it out of the drum.

[SciFiJim]

walker77, you are going to have to get them out of the drum somehow. Either by hand, one at a time, or with a rake or shovel. If they have settled until they seem to be locked together, the only way I can think of to get them separated is to dump the drum onto something. The barrel falling over will unsettle them enough to be picked up.

Threads, like conversations, can sometime wander far afield from the original topic. All the suggestions given here will work to some greater or lesser degree. Like a lot of things, getting the WWs out of the drum will be a matter of getting in there and getting your hands dirty. There are many of us that would be willing to help if we were close enough to do so. Other than that, all we can do is offer encouragement and watch to see what your final choice of solutions is. I for one am looking forward to seeing pictures of the operation and the results.:)

[docone31]

You could build a small fire under the drum.
It will consolidate the lead, and you can scoop out the clips, etc.
You could even make a small hole on the bottom, and the lead will be self draining. Then it will be short work to remelt the flakes.
Could make nice bonfire/hotdog roast.

[walker77]

Oh man thats gross! A hotdog roast over smelted lead? If the lead content in our blood wasnt high, it would be after that! But no, i think what im going to do is just cut the barrel down a little at a time as i need lead. I think that will work best since im not going to smelt it all at one time.