Making A Lead Anchor

[Kasilofchrisn]

So last fall I lost my 40# lead pyramid anchor on the Kasilof River.

Hung it up bad and lost it.

This river is primarily drift only and the lower portion does not allow motor use while fishing.

It is relatively shallow river with lots of cobble on the bottom.

It has lots of Salmon and trout as well as a small steelhead run.

We typically run it with Driftboats and mine is a 16' Koffler flatbottom aluminum boat.

I had intentions of making a new anchor and this spring had a mold made at a local aluminum welding shop.

I was thinking this mold would be good for an anchor up to 50# but I think it may be 45# max.

Should have had my niece do the math I guess. That and every alloy blend is a bit different in density. 

Anyway I was casting jigs today and figured I would make the new anchor.

I weighed out enough ingots and added them to the pot.

My current stock of lead is pure so I added some Superhard from Rotometals for the antimony and added touch of tin.

I didn't want it to soft.

I fluxed it good and skimmed a bit of dross.

Came out close to target at 39.7#.

I used a SS U bolt with the nuts and connector plate left on so it shouldn't pull out.

I had to cast it twice as the first one didn't turn out right.

These anchors run over $100 in the store locally so I figured with the cost of the mold I came out about the same and still have a working mold for future use.

The red on the end is some RTV I used in the corners hoping to prevent the lead from sticking into the seam but some of it came off with the casting.

The second pic shows the anchor next to the mold.

What an interesting casting as I have never cast anything this large before.

But it should work well for me.

 

 

[cadman]

Very cool Chris. So how did you cast all 39 lbs of lead at one time? Please tell us your secret.

[Apdriver]

Nicely done, Chris. Just got back from the Nush and my outfitter was trying to use a sand anchor in all that cobble and gravel. It doesn't work too well. Lots of places it wouldn't hold. Was wishing I had something like yours.

[Kasilofchrisn]

A technique I've seen used in smaller waters with smaller boats for a drift anchor or to slow the drift is a long length of regular link chain on a rope.  For a kayak, canoe, or jon boat the chain works well, and rarely hangs up.  I know guys who use them all the time in kayaks and jon boats in the lower river here between Laguna Dam and Morelos Dam. 

 

Looking at your anchor I am not sure if that's the way its used, but I thought I'd mention it as a quick and dirty method used by some. 

This anchor works well on the Kasilof but the Kenai has too much water flow.

For that I have a locally made Kenai river anchor which is a single fluke type but does require a short length of chain.This doesn't work well with my anchor davit.

Another common anchor is called an animal anchor.It is a short length of XX heavy wall 3" pipe with several short pieces of 3/4" round stock sticking out from it. 1/2 a chain link is welded in the center to hook your anchor rope to. I'm not sure if they fill them with lead or sand or ....

But we just have too much river current for plain old chain to work well even for a kayak or canoe let alone my drift boat.

[Kasilofchrisn]

Very cool Chris. So how did you cast all 39 lbs of lead at one time? Please tell us your secret.

I use a 60,000 Btu turkey fryer burner.

I have a 50# capacity lead pot with a pour spout and stout handle. 

I used an old winter lined leather glove as a hot pad to tip the pot along with my welding gloves.

I placed the mold in a bucket of sandy gravel before casting.

In reality it wasn't that bad and I have some people interested in me casting an anchor or two for them in different weights.

Just have to weigh out the correct amount of ingots and they should turn out fine.