Deal on lead for those in So Cal

For everyone in the LA area I found these on EBAY.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3833091246
25 pound plastic coated plates with handles for $9.99 each. Shipping would have killed me, but if your local check them out.

Nice, almost exactly what we've been looking for... Thanks!

-Blake

Blake if you are in San Diego you should check out "pop products" at Wakesports Unlimited.

40lb lead shot inside a sealed plastic bag which is inside a heavy duty vinyl bag, it has 2 handles and is easy to move around the boat and is very form fitting.

Not sure what they retail for but it will save you a drive and shipping from Canoga Park or where ever this person is selling them from.

You can also try A-1 Alloys in National City, or Industrial Metal Supply in Kearny Mesa, 75lb and 25lb bars of lead for .40lb, just get some plastic dip, and some primer and put 2 coats on the lead.

75lb bars are 4" x 4" x 18"
25lb bars are 4" x 4" x 8"

easy to use, hide and move.........

How do you know it's 9.99 each? The auction looks like it is for the whole lot of them!

gramps-

do you mean .40 cents a pound???

because, i've never been quoted or paid less than .67 cents a pound...

Pete, I bought all my lead from A-1 Alloys in National City and paid 40 cents a pound for it.

I did buy 840 pounds all at once so maybe he gave me a deal based on volume.

Funny thing was the guy right away said "are you using it for ballast"

thats amazing! very cool! i've been buying lead since 1998! and the best price per pound was about .63 cents...

i've never bought less than a thousand pounds....

i've got a thousand up stored up in nor cal and i keep about a thousand down here...thatway i don't have to trailer the weight when i do my house boat trips...

i've bought all my lead @ industrial metal supply in sana ana...

i'll check your sporces for sure! thanks for the info!

Gramps,

Thanks for the heads up, I'm going to check out A-1 tomorrow. Hopefully I can score the same deal you did... the cheapest I've found, so far, is $0.71/lb. Thanks again, looks like you might have saved me from making an long trip for no reason.

-Blake

I called A-1, apparently the good deal you got, was a really good deal, or a heavily discounted large quantity purchase... For us, whom are looking at 350 lbs... the price is $.90/lb. I'll have to try Industrial Metal Supply, maybe they're a little cheaper.

-Blake

Blake, Check with Tyler at Wakesports Unlimited he may give you a price break on the 9 bags or so you would need for the amount of weight you are looking for.

I just picked up 500 pounds - 20 plates. The plates measure 12x8x3/4 of an inch. Good deal and a good size to move around the boat.

I can get a couple different kinds of lead for all you guys. 40lb bags with handles for $30 each. Possibly 65lb plates for market price.

Jeff- whats really goin on? How the hell have you been? Been good with me, getting ready to start riding very soon. Getting fitted for my brace in a couple of days. Had the board on, but no jumping yet, damn I'm out of shape. Gonna have to get together soon. Planning something in Sept. I'll let you boys in on it.
www.westsidewakeboard.com

Sup Brandon,
Glad to hear you are getting back into it. I have been riding with Gid every week, and rode with Skylar on Fri. Getting excited for winter so we can get some decent water. Let me know whats going on in Sept, I am down.

Man ya'll are crazy! I can't believe people spend $$$ on lead. I've posted this a couple times but I must be the only tightwad around. Here's what I did...and the Ford dealership was happy to not have to pay to get rid of the of the stuff! Pick up the used tire weights at a dealership/tire repair center. Don't have to melt them down or anything, I have a couple 2 gallon buckets full of them, plus water to fill in the empty spots. About 70lbs each. Plus I fill little bags with them, wrap'em up in duct tape and more plastic bags until I'm confident they won't break...about 20lbs each. The buckets fit under seats or line'em up in back, bags under the front seats/nose, pile'em in there. I've got about 500lbs of lead for NOTHING! Put the $.40/lb toward gas, you'll enjoy that a whole lot more!

mark,

thats just not enough weight man! but, great idea! thanks!

What is nice about these, they are only 3/4 of an inch thick, you can lay them out flat under the sacks in your V-drive. It is an easy way to add an extra 400 pounds to the rear without seeing it. They also have handles and are a manageable weight to move around.

Mark,
I doubt if you're a bigger tightward than me but there are a few drawbacks to what you're saying. The biggest one is just that a bunch of loose tire wieghts doesn't weigh nearly as much as a solid block of lead. I know this beause I've gone the tire weight melting route. The finished product is nice but it's a bit of a pain. So what i'm trying now is just filling up some PVC pipes with the loose weights. Like I said, though, they don't weigh nearly as much as solid bricks. Like you said, though, I didn't want to pay .50 a pound for that stuff.

Lead wheel weights is the way to go. most shops will give them away. If you have a fish fryer, buy a frying pan, and some bread pans. Melt it in the frying pan, and pour into the bread pans, or use a metal pan that is bigger, and flatter. a little agrevation, but a whole lot cheaper. You can even attach some straps for handles.

The other big problem with the bucket full of lead and water is a health issue.

I personally don't want to get lead poisoning from the water that has a heavy concentration of lead in it leaking out of your bucket. Lead poisoning or lead contamination is not something to take lightly. Be smart and handle your extra ballast properly. Seal the lead with plastic coating, and don't let other things get contaminated with the lead, especially if small children are on the boat.

I am using lead bricks from radiation shielding. (Before being exposed to radiation.) They are about 1" x 4" x 12" and have an interlocking herring bone pattern to themag4ever.

I like that fill pvc pipe idea, but how much would a 8ft length x 4" pipe weigh? Putting one on each side of the boat would be sweet!!

Blake, thanks for hooking me up with ThaneDog on the ballast.
For anyone else out there, this is a great way to go. 38 pound shot bags in vynal bag with handles. I will try to post a pic of 350 pounds worth.

Mark,
That's a sweet setup in the background... Oh wait, that's my board! Yeah man, those bags were a great addition to your boat.

ThaneDogg,
Thanks for getting in touch with us. The bags worked out great. Take it easy, we'll have to give you a shout if we're ever up at Lake Elsinore.

-Blake

I picked up 500 lbs of lead plates and may only need half of it.

If anyone needs any let me know if you are in socal.

No problem guys. I'm very glad that you're pleased with the product. That's an excellent picture. Thanks for posting that.

How much smaller is 400lbs of lead as opposed to 400lbs of sand? My wife won't let me spend $200-$300 on weight, otherwise i'd carpet over some lead bricks. I was thinking of getting burlap sandbags but since I only have an 18foot boat space is an issue.

HairbandDude,

Are they the plates from the ebay site above?

-Blake

yes

Hairbanddude ~ How much was the 500lbs and how much for what you what to get rid of?

If you're looking to get rid of 250 lbs., let me know. We originally looked at those plates, but decided not to make the drive. Shoot me an e-mail, let me know how many, how much, and where you're located.

-Blake
blake.hughes@navy.mil

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a while. Actually, with the tireweights in sealed buckets, it works great, they don't leak unless you do 180's with the boat and knock'm over. Plus, 500lbs is enough...when it is all in the nose, there's another 1,000lbs of h2o in the rear (ballast and side sacks), and 400lbs or so in the center ballast...plus 4-6 people everytime out....it rocks. X-Stars (X-2's) throw in my opinion the best wake.

i want to move 200 lbs

For anyone interested in the POP products bags, M2O Marine (SD Correct Craft Dealer) has them in stock!

(858) 488-0100

I will concur with Thane, I was at M2O this afternoon and saw about 30 bags sitting on the floor.

Thane,

How it going? Anyway, who sells them in Orange County or Riverside for that matter. Or should I say do you know who has them in stock and what do they usually run in $$. They each are 40#s per bag? I need to get about 600#s soon.

Why arent you guys running sacks instead of the lead weight? Arent sacks
a) easier to store
b) put less strain on your engine while you are driving out to your.

Just Curious.

duuuuude, you gotta fill 'em and empty 'em.....what a pain!

The 9 bags (340 lbs.) that we run, only eat up about 3 minutes, we generally put them in the boat while waiting at the ramp.

One bag weighs 38 lbs., the above picture is 9 bags. The area consumed with 340 lbs. of these bags is much smaller than a 340 lb. sac. filled with water. It's also easier to re-lay the bags to clean up your wake.

We're completely satisfied, I'd recommend them to anyone.

-Blake

(Message edited by blake_hughes on August 26, 2004)

Yeah I am going to use them to replace the 600# sac in the bow walkway that is always in the way and a pain to fill. We only tow a mile or so at a time and less then that from launch to riding spot. Next I might even get another batch 800# to split in the back two storage ares. Then no sacs unless I really want to get silly!! LOL

Silly? All that weight sounds like FUN to me. That'd be a huge wake.

-Blake

How much weight is too much, as far as your boat is concerned? I ask because on my old '85 Baretta the U.S. coast guard limit is like 1050lbs or 7 people and gear. Is this number smaller than the weight limit on the newer boats, or do you guys just ignore the warnings? I use 400lbs in my boat when we don't have 4 people or more with us.

Do you guys add weights because the standard ballast isnt enough or is it because the weights work better, If some could fill me in it would be nice.

Alex ~ It's kinda like this.....

Wakeboard boat no weight = nice wake

Wakeboard boat w/ stock ballast = sweet wake

Wakeboard boat w/ stock ballast and 800lbs more = did you see that wake

Wakeboard boat w/ stock ballast and 1500lbs more = that was the sickest wake I have ever seen

Hope this helps.

(Message edited by antbug on August 26, 2004)

ok I get it now, thanks for the explanation Ant Bug, I'm trying what will be good for when I get my boat next season.

Hey everyone,
Just for the record I would like to thank everyone for weight ideas. I just weighted my boat with 1500 lbs and only spent 3.00.
Bags - Free from any oirfield supply store
Lead - free from local shooting range
duct tape - 3 rolls for $3
The wake produced from all this weight...
PRICELESS!

Thanks everyone!
Jase

Jason, dude, FINALLY a brotha speaking with reason!!!! I am deeply distressed while reading most of the above comments about "purchasing" weight! As Joe Dirt would say...DANG! Nick Cruz, YES, they are better, depending on the situation. I have two side sacks that I fill and drain everyday because most people (beginners and intermediates) generally ride worse with a gigantasour wake and all that does is burn more gas which is $2.00 per freakin' gallon ladies and gents! Save your dough, buy side sacks or a big daddy for about a hundie, and a 1100 gal/hr pump for $40 plus shipping on ebay. If you got extra left over at the end of the day, let me know and you can make a donation in my name, I'll send an address for checks! lol

Interesting, it's been almost 3 weeks since I started this thread and it's still getting played. What I ended up doing was the tire lead route. One 2 hour trip and I gathered about 450 Lbs of lead. Melted it down on a camp stove (w/goggles, respirator, and fan blowing) and poured it into cake pans from the dollar store. 2 40 pounders and 2 60 pounders for each side of the rear of the boat. 1 75 Lb block for the front, might need one more in the front. All sprayed with liquid plastic. Out of sight out of mind!! About 6 hours of work and $18 worth material. Couldn't be happier

I just picked up 250 lbs for 100 bucks from the guy selling on ebay (the first post). I dorve out to chatsworth/canoga park to pick it all up. 40 cents a pound, and plastic coated. He said he has more to sell.

Michael, spend another six hours and $18 on materials, sell'em on ebay to those spending .40/lb. Hey, I'll low ball you, .30/lb on buckets filled with regular old plain tire wieghts! I need some gas $$, how bout you? :P