Last Friday, I picked up my suburban after having new tires put on the vehicle, I noticed there were no wheel weights and asking the tire guy he told me that after the first of the year, lead wheel weights are banned at the local goodyear. He also said that the Sierra group hammered on goodyear and firestone outlets to eliminate the lead weights.

So for us hunters out here who do some casting, it looks like we are out of luck. One of the biggest problems with our society is we have millions of people who use technology without the slightest grasp of how, or why it works. Along comes Mr. Biologist (or environmentalist groups, Sierra) among many others with the latest envision of a crusade to save the cuddly, cute whatever, and a safe or nationwide "ban" is promoted without the slightest intelligent discussion on the consequences of that ban.

These people don't realize leaded steel is used in countless fasteners in millions of products ranging from wristwatches to automobiles. It is the only type of steel readily available from which these fasteners can be machined. They don't realize that lead is necessary to virtually every automotive, cycle, marine, and industrial battery. They don't realize that lead is necessary for many types of lubricating oils and greases. They don't know that lead is the only thing we can use to shield us from radiation. That circuit boards destined for high flying aircraft (Space Shuttle) must have leaded solder, or they will fail. They don't realize that hunters use lead to kill game because the substitutes environmentalists try to force on us are more likely to maim or injure animals than kill them.

Remember the ozone hole? It eventually closed up on it's own, and scientists discovered from drilling of arctic ice cores, that it is a cyclical occurrence throughout history. The knee-jerk reaction of the environmentalists and uniformed public was to push for a ban on R-12 refrigerant in our car air conditioners. The substitute, R-134 has not been proven to be safer. It is less efficient, and because of this, our autos have to burn more gasoline to keep us cool. So the "fix" foisted on us is actually CONTRIBUTING to more carbon emissions.

Ok, I've rambled enough, I still have about 75lbs of WW, after that I will have to find an alternative.

I hear you OV1!

The law about lead content in toys took small 4-wheelers and motorcycles off the market because kids 13-yr old or younger could use them. When you counted up all the lead used to manufacture the frame and engine, it was over the legal limit. It was a growth industry.

R-134 was used before R-12 but they stopped because it was toxic.

How about all the problems ethanol has caused? Lowers gas mileage about 10% in my vehicles, causes rust in the fuel system, messes up small engines such as lawn mowers and trimmers, and has caused feed and food prices to go up. Using our countries food supply to make fuel is dumb as dirt!

Ammonia, sulfur and methyl chloride based gases were used prior to Freon (R-12 and R-22)

R-134a came about in 90's and yes they are looking for alternatives because it's bad too !!!

Remember, a town in CA considered banning some materials that were made using dihydrogen monoxide...

Hmm, I don't remember that, but do know that CA banned lead WW's last year and looks like NY is next year. Some gut feeling tells me that the price of lead will go up big time. I called a few places in southern Iowa and it already looks like they started over here. Even the bone yards who use to let you head in the yard and take home a 5 gallon bucket a week is gone. Now you pay per pound per market value.

Oh, I don't even want to get started on the ethanol BS there telling us, yes slim, you get less miles per gallon, and one more thing, we have been using bio-diesel fuel here for the last 7 years and since then I have put 11 bosch injector pumps on the OTR trucks. Before we started using bio fuel, we replaced one pump in 5 years. So much for soybeans lubing the pumps..ehh.

Not that I'm in disagreement with you but the bio-diesel injector issue seems to be more about the quality of the fuel !!!

Are you using a home brew or buy from a pump ???

chambered221 wrote:

Not that I'm in disagreement with you but the bio-diesel injector issue seems to be more about the quality of the fuel !!! Are you using a home brew or buy from a pump ???

We are using BP Amoco diesel fuel, no home brew. The problem is the ultra low sulfur content in the fuel required in this area. I even installed a primary and secondary filter system before the pump along with fuel additives such as stanadyne, lucas, etc. Cummins, Detroit Diesel, and Cat all said it's the lack of sulfur in the fuel.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Remember, a town in CA considered banning some materials that were made using dihydrogen monoxide...

I thought it was hydrogen monoxide that was banned?

Dihydrogen monoxide... H2O... The CA "research" found that it could be fatal if inhaled in quantity...

Well after work today, I found out that the local salvage yard sells ww for $1.50lb. Crazy, thats 50 cents higher then the market, ebay has some good deals at 0.96lb for 99% lead. Probably have to go that route since local sources have dried up.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Dihydrogen monoxide... H2O... The CA "research" found that it could be fatal if inhaled in quantity...

Now who would have thought....?

As for the lead issue; it may not help in many areas, but I used to work for a telephone company. As cable improved and became mostly buried, our old lead insulated cable was wrecked out. I salvaged around 400 pounds of lead in the form of splice boots and used it for weights for dragging lawns and etc. I just recently got back into casting and, assuming the lead was close to pure, melted some down to see how much tin would be required to reach close to the Lyman formula. I was startled to find that it casts out at only four grains heavier in the sample bullets than what the Lyman mix would be. This translates as 259 grains for a nominal 255 grain mold. Roughly what I usually get with wheel weights in this area.

With the number of small companies being bought out and outside-plant being rebuilt, it might pay to make friends with your local telephone man. May be a real long shot, but worth the effort if it pays off. I'm just wishing that I had salvaged a few thousand pounds when I had the chance...at the time it had no scrap value at all!

SingleShotLover:

Wish I would have thought about getting to know a local telephone man 5 years ago, all the old (pots) lines went the way of the DODO bird in my area. Just about everything here is fiber optic.

Just made a huge score! Went to our local Auto Value parts store for a thermostate for the Daughters car and was asking if they new of anyone who might have some used wheel weights, The manager said he had some new ones he would give me. We went to the basement and lo and behold, he had 2 pallets of them still in boxes! He even loaded them into my truck for me with there fork lift! About a ton and a half I would say!

Crackshot

Dayum,,,,,,,,excellent for you, guess where i'm headed in 5 minutes.

Thanks for the idea.

Went to the local O'reilly parts store and did manage to score 60lbs of ww for $25. After I told her (owner of shop) what I was using it for she agreed to call me at home if her store or another (100 mile radius) had more supplies and if they did, I could buy them. Like I said earlier in this post I can see lead prices going up.

Once again Crackshot, thanks for the idea of parts stores.