Lead weight help!!!

[crowem87]

so i always wanted lead in my boat because the fat sacs we add just take so long and i would rather be spending that time riding istead of gettin the boat ready--- so i looked around and people told me to ask the local tire shops for some lead tire weights. 1200 pounds and four 17 gallon buckets full of lead weights later, im wondering what do i do with all of this? I have considered melting them down and forming them into bricks. Anyone have any ideas?

[SouthWaker]

That is what most do. Im still collecting from our local tire shop so I haven't got to the melting part yet. My dad knows how so he is gonna help me out on that part. Im gonna be running about 400 lbs of lead though. I do to much towing to have all my weight in lead.

[pooser]

i got two buckets of lead weight and some 4 inch pvc with end caps. cut the pipe to a length that would fit well in a certain locker/storage area, filled it with lead(you can fill it with sand afterwards for extra weight in the empty spaces). its about as easy as it gets. i was too lazy to melt stuff down.

[crowem87]

Ya i wanna melt it but my dad is all worried about how bad it is to melt lead because of the fumes....anyone else have any ideas....and what i could use for a mold? I ended up payin 80$ for all the lead but i saw that as pretty cheap because i coudln't find it new for less than 1.00 a pound

[crowem87]

800 pounds of lead for the rear would take up a lot of pvc and space without being melted

[grapic]

I melted about 350 pounds of tire weights and made bricks. I used a propane "turkey" burner with a large cast iron skillet. Melted 12-15 pounds at a time and poured into a bread pan. Each pan held about 3 meltings. I worked outside where the air took the fumes away. Wear a dust mask to prevent breathing fumes and be very careful pouring the hot lead.

[pooser]

[crowem87]

400 on each side in the rear....we keep it on a lift

[Sbt3]

When I melted mine I did it with a torch which took a long time. If I did it again I would do it with a pan like grapic described. I would also do it outside but get a respirator not a dust mask so you aren't breathing the fumes.

[churchy]

The best thing to do is buy those red plastic gas cans. Fill those things up with shot, lead, etc. It is very clean and easy to move around. You can get different sizes depending on where you want to put it. I know a guy who is quite a bit smaller than the driver. So, when they go, he brings a one gallon one just to equalize their weight when a 3rd is boarding.

[crowem87]

I think i have come to the conclusion that the only thing for me to do is melt all the lead down, because there is too much to just put it in containers, it would sort of defeat the purpose of not using my fat sacs.

[Firefightersmurf]

I concur with grapic, I also melted lead in a cast iron skillet with a turkey fryer. A standard bread pan will hold approx. 45 lbs. of lead. And a good size skillet will hold the same. This will be almost impossible to some without spilling, so use a ladle until you can move the skillet, remember molten lead is 610 F. As far as protective equipment goes, wear safety glasses, fire resistant gloves, and a respirator approved for lead (about $35 at Lowes) Use will also need a slotted spoon to remove the slag and impurities from the molten lead.

[Firefightersmurf]

THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURIES OR ILLNESSES ACQUIRED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE THESE RESULTS.

Ballast Basics 101

I set out on this to increase the wake of my current boat. I have a boat that already has a more than adequate ballast system, but just like everybody else I wanted my wake even bigger. When I started my search for the proper weighting system I had many options to choose from that have been used in the past: water, lead, concrete, etc. I weighed all the positives and negative of each type of system, and have come up with what I believe is best for me.

Water (weight per volume .036 lbs/in3 )
- Positive
- Weight can be put in the boat and taken out of the boat fairly easily, thus saving gas while cruising

- Negatives
- Commercially available weighting systems can be fairly expensive.
- Hardwired pumps that allow the water to be put in and taken out easily can be intimidating for the novice to tackle
- Relative low weight per volume, thus taking up a lot of valuable storage area in the boat

Lead (weight per volume .41 lbs/in3)
- Positive
- Relatively cheap if you can find it
- Very dense material that takes up very small amounts of space.
- Easy to work with, to form to whatever shape you want
- Can be easily moved throughout the boat to fine tune the wake
- Negative
- Fumes while smelting can be toxic if inhaled
- Can be difficult to find in appropriate quantities.
- Always in boat, increasing gas consumption

Concrete (weight per volume .087lb/in3)
- Positives
- Density better that water, but not as good as lead
- Easy to form to whatever shape in needed
- Cheap
- Negatives
- Poured in the hull can reduce resell value of your boat
- Always in boat, increasing gas consumption

I have chosen to use lead (and in the future fat sacks) for my application, and I will discuss what I have done to acquire my material and to form it into what I would like. There are several places you can acquire scrap lead like scrap metal yards, and used wheel weights from tire stores (avoid the large national chains, they won’t give you the lead). After you get the lead you have to make it into a manageable medium. Some option that would suit most needs would be to place the small pieces of scrap into small heavy-duty bags, or to cast ingots. I have chosen to cast ingots. I wanted ingots that were about 50 pounds, small enough to be moved easily yet large enough to be effective. Following my chart above you will need a mold about 122in3 to be about 50 pounds. While searching for an appropriate mold I found that a standard bread mold in almost perfectly 122in3. For the entire smelting process common everyday pots and pans can be used because lead melts a relatively low temperature (327C). DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT WILL BE USED FOR FOOD. Go to goodwill or the dollar store to get your smelting pot. The lead toxins can enter the pours of the pots and will be leached into any food that is cooked in these pots no matter how good you think you have cleaned them. While actually doing the smelting it is highly suggested to do this activity outside with an approved respirator, safety glasses, fire resistant gloves, and a fire extinguisher. I have used a “turkey fryer” to smelt the lead it gets hot enough quick enough to melt about 50 pounds in 10 minutes. Picking up 50 pounds of molten lead in a cast iron pan can be a little sketchy, so I found that it was easier to use a ladle to move most of the lead to the mold, then dump the rest from the pan into the mold. After the lead in formed, you have to decide how to “finish” the ingots, or if you want to finish them at all. You can spray paint them, you can coat them in a rubber coating (trade name Plasti-Dip), or you can coat them in a rhino liner type coating.

THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURIES OR ILLNESSES ACQUIRED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE THESE RESULTS.

[Bambamski]

Firefighter you sound like you know your lead.

I've got a question for you. I went to a local metal scrap yard and picked up some blocks of lead. I think I paid about 30 cents per pound. Blocks ranged from 25 lbs to 75 bls. I didn't want just raw lead laying around so I thought I would cover them in a rubber coating, kind of like a truck liner. Well nobody really wanted to do that so I ended up wrapping about 4 rolls of duct tape around them. Probably has about 6-7 layers of tape around them. In your opinion are they safe to handle by hand? We don't move them ever. They sit in the bow, and the back engine compartment. I move them once a year maybe. Is that ok, or should i get something else over them?

[Firefightersmurf]

Well thank you.

I did use the plasti-dip with moderate success, but in the end I decided to go with just raw lead ingots. Even this should be fine, especially since you move the lead only once a year. As far as the truck liner goes, I know there is companies that with "rhino-line" them, but they will charge you a premium. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. Currently I have 6 45 lb ingots, and about 200 lbs of wheel weights ready to be smelted.

[mneal]

I too agree with what firefighter says. I used a turkewy fryer and a old cast iron pot I bought a a thrift store for cheap. I bought a cast iron laddle because once you get 50-60lb klead melted it is faster to keep adding weights. I bought a cheapo stainless spoon with holes for fishing the slag out. I get my lead weights from a couple local tire stores I too use bread pans fo forms. I also bend up "U" shaped 0.25 aluminum round stock and put them in to the lead as it solidifies for handles. Makes moviong the 40 lb bricks easer. I flatten the ends to make them harder to put out of the soft lead. I move the lead in and out of boat offen and no issues. Ditto on the the gloves, fumes etc.

[deepcove]

I also collected lead tire weights. As I really did not want to mess around with melting something so toxic i also collected some used anti freeze containers and filled them up with the lead weights. then I poured sand in to fill a the remaing air space. Turms out each container is 48 lbs and has a handle. I hide these under my bow cushions and it really isn't a worry cause I keep my boat moored. When ever I have to pull my boat out i just remove the containers and leave them on my dock.

[jmm769]

What i did is i melted down lead and put it into this plastic container i bought that is supposed to go underneith the back seat in my 98 prostar.
It fits in there snug and weighs alot. We also have a 400 lb fat sac in fornt of the back seat, a couple of 40 lb lead weights on the side and a 500 lb fat sac in the font.