MidSouth Shooters SupplyWidenersLee PrecisionReloading Everything
RotoMetals2Inline FabricationLoad DataTitan Reloading
Repackbox
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 29 of 29

Thread: Typical weight of a bucket of wheel weights?

  1. #21
    Moderator
    RogerDat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Michigan Lansing Area
    Posts
    5,751
    At even 50% lead yield on what should be abut 110 - 120 lbs. per bucket consistently paying $40 is getting WW lead at around 70 - 75 cents a pound. Increase the lead percentage and price per pound of lead drops below that. Seems like a pretty good price to me. True some work is involved but if you can invest the time they are certainly worth picking them up.

    I think the last WW lead I saw for sale here was $1.20 or $1.30 a pound as I recall. Lead at $1 a pound is considered pretty decent price.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    England,Ar
    Posts
    7,687
    Quote Originally Posted by oley55 View Post
    Completed my sort this morning. the raw unsorted 158# gave me 81.2#(51%) COWW, 9.2#(5.8%) SOWW, 51.8#(32.8%) Fe, 15.8#(1%) Zn. Total raw lead 90.4# equaling 57.2% of the unsorted weight.

    The tire store owner said a previous guy got 90# and that’s prezactly what I got.

    Does anyone have rule of thumb for how much weight will be lost to the steel clips?
    I estimate seeing 10-15% waste from the clips. I've never really weighed them.

  3. #23
    Moderator
    RogerDat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Michigan Lansing Area
    Posts
    5,751
    I had 6 buckets about 3/4 full of sorted COWW's (78# each). I ended up with almost a bucket of clips but clips are not as heavy as WW's are per bucket full.

    Bucket right rear is clips. Rolling dolly is the ingots from the COWW's

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20200202_161903-sm.jpg 
Views:	13 
Size:	48.4 KB 
ID:	280671
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  4. #24
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Atlanta, NY 14808
    Posts
    2,163
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich/WIS View Post
    Full bucket, word HERNIA comes to mind.
    As others have said, don't trust the handle or the bottom of a full bucket. I would take the deal if steel and zinc weights could be returned.
    Micah 6:8
    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

    "I don't have hobbies - I'm developing a robust post-apocalyptic skill set"
    I may be discharged and retired but I'm sure I did not renounce the oath that I solemnly swore!

  5. #25
    Boolit Master Jim22's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Eastern Washington
    Posts
    590
    I bought a 2 gal bucket of lead wheel weights from my local scrap yard yesterday. He said he had had someone who wanted a couple hundred lbs of wheel weights but had not come to pick them up. He sold me 70 lbs of ingots that he had cast for that customer. No clips, only a bit of regular lead for less than a buck a pound. He was happy and so was I. I'm separating the stuff based on fingernail scratches for pure lead and the pencil test. Looks like I have a lot more ingots of COWW>

  6. #26
    Boolit Master


    David2011's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Baytown Texas
    Posts
    4,106
    When it comes time to melt these weights, start with a cold pot and don’t add any after it starts melting. There could be water trapped between the weight and the steel clip. If there is, you could get a nasty visit from the tinsel fairy.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  7. #27
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    JAX, FL
    Posts
    1,228
    don't know when I will get around to ingoting the wheel weights, but my observations during sorting is there seemed to be vast differences in the hardness of lead wheel weights. Some seemed quite hard while others were amazingly soft. The softest ones were painted the same color as most of the zinc weights and if sorting solely by appearance they could easily be tossed into the zinc pile. Being a newbie, I nip tested everything except those easily identified by an Fe or Zn.

    I presume my experience explains why the content of of antimony in clip on wheel weights seems to be so different in the various alloy calculators.
    “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.” Ronald Reagan


  8. #28
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    NH
    Posts
    3,783
    Way more than I can lift for sure

  9. #29
    Boolit Bub


    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Northwest of Williamsburg, Iowa
    Posts
    40
    Finished sorting my 3 buckets today.
    Started with 412# 407#s after taking off for the weight of the empty buckets.
    Ended up with 26# of Zinc
    131# of Steel and composite stick on's lug nuts etc..
    42# of stick on lead and 209# of clip on lead.
    Still have to remove the clips so maybe 55-60% useable lead when cast from the 407# I started with, still I think it is well worth the effort since I only have $20 invested plus my time sorting and casting. Sorting can be a drag but casting ingots can be rewarding, feels like money in the bank stacking ingots for future casting sessions.
    I will save the zinc for now but the steel will be recycled, 131# filled a 5 gallon bucket to the top.
    I will try to remember to weigh the clips when I get time to melt them down to get an idea on the loss due to clips.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check