Plastic wheelweights

[Maxwell-8 4,359]

I hear people referring to plastic WH wheel weigts.

Is the inside lead ? or why is it plastic?

 

 

 

 

Anybody any experience with mercury inside the tires? i hear it's 13 times heavier then water 

[ebinmaine 68,931]

11 minutes ago, Maxwell-8 said:

I hear people referring to plastic WH wheel weigts.

Is the inside lead ? or why is it plastic?

 

 

 

 

Anybody any experience with mercury inside the tires? i hear it's 13 times heavier then water 

Only SLIGHTLY hazardous.  

[Skwerl58 730]

My  wheel weights are plastic with concrete in them. Mercury in the tires would be like using dynamite to move your tractor, sure it would move but?????

[Maxwell-8 4,359]

2 minutes ago, Skwerl58 said:

My  wheel weights are plastic with concrete in them. Mercury in the tires would be like using dynamite to move your tractor, sure it would move but?????

a beadleak and your complete field would be hazardous grounds! 

 

 

Ah concrete, lead would have been heavier but also more expensive and also that the safest

Edited January 8, 2021 by Maxwell-8

[kwalshy 230]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

Only SLIGHTLY hazardous.  

only when digested or absorbed by the skin!  LOL

there was a time in high school chemistry lab when we'd break the mercury thermometers just to watch the 'marbles' of mercury roll across the lab table and then 'flick' them like real marbles....crazy

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by kwalshy

[D_Mac 8,885]

These are the plastic wheel weights. Concrete block covered in plastic. The plastic on mine is tore up from rubbing the curbing.... maybe i should get some curb feelers???

[SPINJIM 1,981]

3 hours ago, kwalshy said:

only when digested or absorbed by the skin!  LOL

 

Mercury is a liquid, and as such evaporates into the air.  The Mercury vapors are poisonous.  

[JohnD 145]

10 minutes ago, D_Mac said:

. maybe i should get some curb feelers???

 

 

Or a wider plow! 

[ebinmaine 68,931]

3 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Or a wider plow! 

Well done John. 

@D_Mac it's time for a 60". 

[Stepney 2,325]

..Actually, not the first instance I heard of mercury bring used in tires. A local scrapper once told me of some old walk behind.. I seem to remember it being a Planet Junior with very small wheels.

Wound up with a massive fine when it was cut up for scrap and the stuff came out of the tires.. and this was at least twenty-thirty years ago I'd guess.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Stepney

[Mickwhitt 4,805]

Crikey, all the medical equipment my wife used to use in nursing had to go because of the Mercury in it. 

Blood pressure gauges thermometers etc.

Didn't they used to float the lens units of light houses on a massive bath of Mercury as it was the most efficient bearing method. If a tiny bit fatal. 

[ebinmaine 68,931]

1 minute ago, Mickwhitt said:

tiny bit fatal

Is there a gradient to "fatal" Mick?

 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,805]

"Its worse that that, he's dead Jim!"

[Mickwhitt 4,805]

I once saw a new report of a seriously fatal car accident, so I guess there could be mildly fatal ones too. 

[Jeff-C175 7,203]

One of my plastic weights cracked.  They had been stored outdoors and the center emblem was missing.  I suspect that water got in and froze.  The stuff that came out looked like concrete with gray/black speckles in it.  I didn't look under microscope but at the the time I guessed the speckles might have been lead.  Perhaps it's a mix of mortar and lead.

I 'fixed' the cracks by drilling stress relief holes at the end of the cracks and filled the rest of the cracks with copious amounts of hot glue then hit it with a heat gun to soften the surrounding area and hopefully consolidate it with the hot glue.  Seems to be holding for a couple years now.

[rjg854 11,584]

I happened to have gotten a set of plastic weights and one of them was light. So I opened it up and whatever is in looks like this

I have no idea of what it is composed of, but need to add something to it to refill it. Any suggestions? ie. concrete, stone, sand, or something else 

[squonk 41,664]

6 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

I happened to have gotten a set of plastic weights and one of them was light. So I opened it up and whatever is in looks like this

I have no idea of what it is composed of, but need to add something to it to refill it. Any suggestions? ie. concrete, stone, sand, or something else 

Concrete

[squonk 41,664]

Back on Topic! 

 

Remember this? 

 

[DennisThornton 4,769]

17 hours ago, SPINJIM said:

 

Mercury is a liquid, and as such evaporates into the air.  The Mercury vapors are poisonous.  

I did NOT know that!

Liquid mercury vaporizes (evaporates) at room temperature causing elevated levels of mercury in indoor air. Mercury vapor is not irritating and has no odor, so people do not know when they are breathing it.

Cleaning Up a Small Mercury Spill

www.health.ny.gov › chemicals › mercury › docs › cleani...

[Handy Don 12,692]

18 hours ago, SPINJIM said:

 

Mercury is a liquid, and as such evaporates into the air.  The Mercury vapors are poisonous.  

Both statements are true.

More info: boiling point is 380C (715+F) and evaporation rate at room temperatures is extremely slow. Mercury vapor is heavier than air and will sink to the floor in still air.

[Mickwhitt 4,805]

Once saw someone on TV hammer a nail into a block of wood with a frozen Mercury hammer which he then thawed out instantly by putting it in a bowl of warm water. Quite an impressive demonstration of doled, liquid, gas.

 

[JohnD 145]

2 hours ago, rjg854 said:

I happened to have gotten a set of plastic weights and one of them was light. So I opened it up and whatever is in looks like this

 

Interesting.  I have a set of 'plastic weights', but they are just blocks of solid concrete with loose plastic covers over them, not with an opening like you have.  I expect these are '83 or newer. 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

23 hours ago, kwalshy said:

only when digested or absorbed by the skin!  LOL

there was a time in high school chemistry lab when we'd break the mercury thermometers just to watch the 'marbles' of mercury roll across the lab table and then 'flick' them like real marbles....crazy

 

 

 

Mercury poisoning is no joke, my buddies wife somehow got mercury poisoning possibly thru something she ate.  They said it's going to take years to get it out of her system

[briankd 817]

20 hours ago, D_Mac said:

These are the plastic wheel weights. Concrete block covered in plastic. The plastic on mine is tore up from rubbing the curbing.... maybe i should get some curb feelers???

 

i have a set like that with cement in them and they are a pain to take off i had to grind some plastic off to help in getting them out of the rims but still have to pry them out with a prybar . i only use them in the winter on my turf tires with chains then take them out and switch over to my ag tires and rims . bought them for 20 bucks the cement was already in them from P.O. and i don't have the center WH cap on mine just a hole 

Edited January 9, 2021 by briankd

[briankd 817]

i used to never run weight or chains for 3 years and never had issue with plowing snow but got theses plastic weights think they go about 45 pound apiece theses turf tires don't have fluid but never got around to loading them . my ag tires are loaded