Heavy Question

[GGearloose]

I am parting out an old cold molded over planking 39' ketch that someone gave me. I want to turn the 3.5 ton lead keel into manageable (1-200 lb.) pieces. It is 9" x 9" x 16'. I don't want to melt it (I'm in my mid 60's, enjoy my daily ration of red wine, and can't afford to lose too many more brain cells) so I need some other way to get it to the scrap yard. Any good ideas?

[paladin]

Primacord......10 turns, plus 3 turns per inch to cut it loose.....:D

[kc8pql]

Chainsaw

[Thorne]

Sacrificial cheap chainsaw, with lots of replacement chains -

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/photos/02800-02899/02810.gif
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2810

[Gary E]

Cut it in 2 or 3 pieces so it can be hauled away by a rollback car hauler..

Get a big enough truck and you dont need to cut it...

[emichaels]

I am parting out an old cold molded over planking 39' ketch that someone gave me. I want to turn the 3.5 ton lead keel into manageable (1-200 lb.) pieces. It is 9" x 9" x 16'. I don't want to melt it (I'm in my mid 60's, enjoy my daily ration of red wine, and can't afford to lose too many more brain cells) so I need some other way to get it to the scrap yard. Any good ideas?


Where are you located. I will come and get it and pay you slightly better than scrap yard price. Email me and possible this could be really easy for you to get rid of. emichaelsltd@earthlink.net

[donald branscom]

I would not use a chainsaw thats for SURE. Two reasons ...first lead is very sticky and the chain can stick and break. you could get hit. Also little chips of lead would fly everywhere and boy do they sting when they hit you. Just think of all that lead sprayed all over your property.

Many scrap yards will come with a lift gate truck get and the lead for you. i would check that out. Because customers order lead, they need to make deliveries and they can do pick ups too.

200lb chunks are not really reasonble. 60lb bricks are more common.
Also the 3.5 ton keel could be winched onto a flatbed trailer used for hauling heavy equipment.

[Nicholas Scheuer]

I don't much like the cahinsaw idea either. But what WILL work a lot cleaner is a repiprocating saw, like a full-sized SAWSALL (Milwaukee TM, but there are several equals) fitted with a blade long enough to reach through that 9" dimension.

Though cleaner than a chainsaw, I'd still recommend doing the cutting over a poly tarp in order to make it easier to sweep up the chips.

You can easily saw that sucker up in as many pieces you desire in order to make them easier to handle.

Moby Nick

[Bob Cleek]

Well, we know who's sawed up lead ballast before and who hasn't! It's a lot easier said than done. The best option is the chainsaw, with lots of kerosene on the cut for lubrication. Take your time and don't let the chain heat up too much. Don't force it. RENT the chainsaw and a couple of chains. You don't want to use your new Huskie on this job! Lay blue plastic tarping to catch the shavings. You will want to collect the shavings, since there will be a surprising amount of them and they will represent a fair amount of lead. There is no problem with respirators if you are sawing lead.

Another option is to use a wormdrive circular saw with a cheap carbide tipped blade, again well lubed with kerosene. (BTW, the kerosene will smoke off when the lead is melted. No problems with "wet" lead there.) You can use a regular blade (Marathon "throw aways") if you want, but they often dull quickly. This will give you about a 3" deep cut, which you may want to take in a couple or three passes. If you cut 3" deep on each face of the block, all around the thing, you'll be left with a 3" square uncut section in the middle. You should be able to cut through that with a Sawsall (although the bending blade thing is a problem) or even with a coarse toothed handsaw.

Now, I've tried every method known to man to do this job. Some work better than others. I can tell you for sure that a Sawsall won't cut through nine inches of lead without galling the teeth, sticking, and bending the blade over and over again.

OR, call up the recycling outfit and they WILL come and get it. At least, they sure used to be happy picking up keels. It's pretty clean lead and pretty cheap, from their perspective. Another option is to sell it as is where is. Most guys looking for it would be happy to cut and cart it off themselves. However, realize that the cost of lead is really in the handling of it. If you google up the daily price of lead, remember that it is for clean, cast pigs FAS ("Free alongside"). Shipping and handling is extra. With recycled material, it also has to be picked up, cut up, smelted, cleaned and recast, stacked and stored before anybody pays a dime for it. Figure to get a quarter to a half of what the market rate price is for clean lead if you are selling it as scrap, and maybe a whole lot less. I hear some of the recyclers aren't interested in lead anymore because the eco-nazi environmental regulations have pretty much priced all the profit out of it.

BTW, your keel, if dimensioned as you say, weighs about 6372 pounds. That should be no problem for a recycler to pick up in an ordinary truck with appropriate loading equipment. Piece of cake. Probably, they'd be happier to pick it up in one piece than to have it all cut up anyway. Easier for a large smelter to handle.

And, if you are in the SF Bay Area... send me a personal message with your number and we'll be right over! LOL

[Bruce Hooke]

I just read something about the price of lead have skyrocketed recently, so dealers in lead may be even more eager to pick it up than they would have been a few years ago...

[Bob Cleek]

Clean scrap lead is quoted at about 50 cents a pound LTL ("Less than a truck load." i.e. less than 40,000# amounts.) I'd exept you'd see offers around 25 to 35 cents a pound if they have to pick it up. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how well you can haggle. Then again, the average joe haggling with a scrap metal dealer is like me playing golf against Tiger Woods!

[George Ray]

Bob Cleek's advice is spot on!!

[Paul Pless]

Where are you located. I will come and get it and pay you slightly better than scrap yard price. Email me and possible this could be really easy for you to get rid of. emichaelsltd@earthlink.net
GGearloose,This sounds like your best bet.:)

[GGearloose]

Where are you located. I will come and get it and pay you slightly better than scrap yard price. Email me and possible this could be really easy for you to get rid of. emichaelsltd@earthlink.net
Central Coast of California near Morro Bay. Bit of a drive.

[Thorne]

IM Canoeyawl on this forum, he's from that neck o' the woods...may have some good contacts for you.

[emichaels]

Central Coast of California near Morro Bay. Bit of a drive.

Aye it tis. Bummer.

[donald branscom]

I have cut lead with a skill saw and have cut it with a bandsaw using lots of kerosene as lubricant. It does want to clog the teeth of the blade. With the skill saw I wear a welding jacket ,gloves and face shield. You still have to be ready for a kick back occasionally.

I have not used a chain saw........yet.