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LEE'S WEB SITE
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Date: 9-26-2009
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Number of Hours: 2.50
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Elevator Counterweight Part 1
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The Quest for Lead
There are several ways to get lead to make counterweights for the elevators. One way is to buy the lead; another way is to scrounge the lead. After unsuccessful attempts at a couple of local places I thought might sell it, I decided to go the scrounge route. I then went to several tire stores to see if I could get the lead weights that they were discarding. Fortunately for the earth and mankind, unfortunately for toxic lead scroungers, I found that all the tire stores recycle their lead. They would not even sell to me because of the agreements they have with the battery companies which take their lead. So, I headed out to an auto recycler (formerly known as a “junk yard”) to see if I could get the lead weights off of tires. After I made my request for the lead and told them what I needed it for, I got the typical non-aviation raised eyebrow. But, the good folks down at Meridian Auto Wreckers hooked me up. Armed with my five lb coffee can, a hammer and a small pry bar, I began to harvest the lead. One thing I didn’t think about was that all of the tires are, more or less, down at ground level. This meant to check the tires I had to do one squat per tire. At the end of the day, that was a whole lot of squats!
As I was making my way through the first row of cars, I noticed there were some areas where the “picked over carcasses” were removed and there were not yet “new” cars to be put in their place. One nice thing about the way this yard displays their cars is that all of the cars sit on a sort-of “jack stand.” These jack stands are made by welding two steel wheels at right angles to each other, one laying flat on the ground and the other stands vertically to support the chassis of the car. I saw that it was far easier to get the weights off the “jack stands” without cars on them than from those with cars on them. After a little more than an hour my coffee can runneth over.
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Bucket-o-led with steel clips removed
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