Lead farms pumpin' mud lately

[evan price]

I run a number of lead farms that I visit periodically to gather the harvest of wheel weights. Usually three months between visits. So far this year #2 and #3 producers have shut down, both times because of staff changes- one is a new manager and one is a new lead tech. Both of them are adhering to their corporate policy of sending all lead weights back in with a vendor and won't allow them to be sold. My #5 producer has sold so few tires that in a year they haven't even gotten more than 1/4 of a bucket of weights which is a real drag. There's a few other places but they are visit annually sort of deals and none of them have a lot of lead either.

Well, Friday I visited my #1 producing lead farm only to discover that my buckets are gone. I asked the manager what's up, he said that corporate is cracking down in the tough economy and they are enforcing the rule that all lead is to be returned to the vendor they buy new weights from to get a credit on the weights they buy. The vendor removed my beautiful buckets and gave them some miniature Nestor stackable crates. I thanked the manager for the good run, and he said that he really didn't care what corporate said, if I needed lead, come see him and him alone and he'd take care of me. Well, I went back and scrounged up a half a bucket of weights by dumping out the vendor's little crates into my bucket in the trunk of my car, and went in to pay. The manager says he can't sell me weights due to corporate policy... so just take 'em.

That's the good news.

The bad news is this shop switched over to iron clip weights about 4 months ago. No more lead in the shop at all, not even stickons (zinc now). After dumping and sorting that free half bucket easily 50% of them are iron or zinc. Disappointing, but at least there is some lead to be had still.

I'm doing good at Farm #4 which is a junkyard, I go out there and raid for lead periodically. They used to be a great source when aluminum wheels were over $15 each as scrap because they would pick the weights off the rims before melting. Now they just ship them out as is. However my buddy that works there discovered he likes my cast bullets and is now saving all the battery terminal ends for me as well as all the weights they can pull. Only problem there is a couple other scrappers are looking for lead too so I have to be fast.

Going to have to start making the rounds at the metal recyclers again and see if any of them will sell this winter. That's getting tough too, the last few times they all told me they could not sell because of EPA or HazMat regulations (Oh really?)

The silver stream is getting harder to find, that's for sure.

[WILCO]

Yeah, it's gonna get tougher. Thanks for the updates.

[white eagle]

I have been running into the same type of situation around here
it aint lookin good

[Dennis Eugene]

Tough times here on the Island also #1 producer of WW's for me has switched to all steel. It's only a short time until my WW's supply dries up completely. Thank goodness I have a ton or so it should last me more than a couple years. Dennis

[starbits]

My only wheel weights for donuts guy got fired so that source dried up. Another place closed and a couple others never seem to have any weights available.

Still have a couple consistent suppliers, a bucket from each every other month or so. One gives me the bucket, I sort through it and go back in a day or two and pay him $0.28/lb for all the lead. The other is all stickies at $20-30 per bucket

Was at an auction the other day and bought a lot that had some thermocouples in it and a guy asked about the tubing in the lot. We got to talking and I mentioned I used the thermocouples for casting and I asked him if he had any lead. He didn't, but the guy with him said he had about 300 lbs. Today he showed up with 362 lbs of photomultiplyer shields. :bigsmyl2: Clean lead for a hair under $0.30/lb. Lead is where you find it.

Starbits

[2wheelDuke]

Sorry to hear about the tough luck with lead. That sounds alot like my luck, except I never had the good runs since I'm new to the scrounging.

My fine city has many tire shops, but I've struck out at all but one. The guys there all fish, and are pretty happy with the egg sinkers I just brought them. I met the guys there when the owner's son approached us with business cards as we wrapped up a traffic stop in front of his store.

So far they've been good to me. The prices he gives me on tires are good, so I'm bringing him business any time I can. I think he's only making a minimal markup on the tires he's selling me, but that has to beat sitting idle. 2 days ago I went in to order some tires, and I dropped off an empty coffee can. Yesterday he had it filled when we got the tires mounted.

The downside is that I'm getting a bit over half lead. Lots of steel stickons and some zinc. I've got a box started for the Fe stickons and a little tub for the zinc. Eventually it'll be worth my while to take em to the scrap yard to see about a trade for lead. I've thought about using the zinc for sinkers but I'm afraid of damaging my mold.

I need to talk to my contact at the junkyard and see if they'll put them aside for me when they scrap wheels.

I have a huge potential source in my brother because mounting and balancing tires is part of his job. He's afraid to just take them for me. I need to meet his boss and go straight to him I guess.

I'm starting to frequent the indoor range alot too. Maybe I can work up to asking them about range scrap.

[BSkerj]

We just got hit with a big storm...couple that with the Holiday travelers before the storm hit and that equaled 7 gallons of WW at one of the tire shops that gives them to me. I have to go to the other one tomorrow in another town and pick up theirs. They called and said they had alot and asked if I could come and get them. I guess you could call it a "perfect storm" for lead scroungers like us. Like stated above, they have switched over to steel so the lead is getting harder to get but it is still free.