No fluid in them for 20 plus years. I just need the ends removed so they can be crushed.
Cutting up large tanks!
- Thread starter 930dreamer
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cvairwerks
Well-known member
What was in them? Buried or above ground? Static pressure or pressurized?.
OP
Diesel, inground, static for two of them , third one unknown fluid.
Cut up an old oil tank with a carbide recipe blade, like warm butter with a hot knife.
Cut up another one with metal cutting recipe blades, still like warmish butter. Save money and get a 10pk of standard metal cutting blades.
Cut up another one with metal cutting recipe blades, still like warmish butter. Save money and get a 10pk of standard metal cutting blades.
OP
cvairwerks
Well-known member
Think I would rent a backhoe for a day and use the bucket to pound on them....Shouldn't take much to beat them down pretty flat.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
Fill the tanks with water and then cut them with a recip saw.
redmondjp
Well-known member
You would have to also have oxygen in the tank at the right level for there to be any combustion. And old gas has long since lost its volatiles (meaning you can hold a match to it and it may not even light) unless it was in a completely sealed container. It's not that big of a danger as people make it out to be.
As stated in another post - fill it with water to displace any vapor, and bonus, the water will also keep the cutting blade cooler.
OP
There are enough holes that it won't hold water but it will be wet.
bamawildcat
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Well then, you say it didn't.
OP
Three tanks total= # 2 diesel, off road diesel, gasoline?
That would kinda work. Still need to remove end caps to get reasonably flat though.
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neophyte
Well-known member
To avoid spark issues, Nibblers and strip shears are routinely used for cutting up old fuel tanks.
The only major issue is cost.
The Nibblers and shears you might want to use, can easily cost $1000-$2000.
A reciprocating Saw or decent jigsaw would be the next best option, but there’s more of a chance of sparks.
An Angle Grinder with cutting blades, whether bonded abrasive or “permanent” diamond, would be the next option, but there would be a lot of sparks.
The only major issue is cost.
The Nibblers and shears you might want to use, can easily cost $1000-$2000.
A reciprocating Saw or decent jigsaw would be the next best option, but there’s more of a chance of sparks.
An Angle Grinder with cutting blades, whether bonded abrasive or “permanent” diamond, would be the next option, but there would be a lot of sparks.
65ranchero
Well-known member
Reciprocating saw as others have mentioned I would think that any gasoline is past expiration /leaked out.
Not wanting to hijack the thread but that reminds me of pulling the tank
Did a UST 1000G heating oil tank that I had abandoned at my other house on the 80's, At the time it was legal to cut a big hole in the top and fill with sand and leave it buried.
My wife found about grants to pull the tank and remediate the soil so we had it pulled and ground was test bored and such the grant saved us 20K
Not wanting to hijack the thread but that reminds me of pulling the tank
Did a UST 1000G heating oil tank that I had abandoned at my other house on the 80's, At the time it was legal to cut a big hole in the top and fill with sand and leave it buried.
My wife found about grants to pull the tank and remediate the soil so we had it pulled and ground was test bored and such the grant saved us 20K
matt_i
Well-known member
How much less do you get in scrap if you don't cut them up?
I'd look at it as an hourly cost of your time. IOW I'd see about the scrap yard taking them as-is, they handle ungainly metal objects on a daily basis.
If you spend 5 hours of time and $50 in blades to gain another $100 in scrap you got paid about $10/hr....my numbers are a pure guess so put in your own to check.
I'd look at it as an hourly cost of your time. IOW I'd see about the scrap yard taking them as-is, they handle ungainly metal objects on a daily basis.
If you spend 5 hours of time and $50 in blades to gain another $100 in scrap you got paid about $10/hr....my numbers are a pure guess so put in your own to check.
DocsMachine
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Friend of mine was killed cutting up "old, empty" oil tanks.
I filled a 500-gallon fuel-oil tank with water. Hadn't been used in at least a decade by that point, and had been stored with the bungs open. As I was cutting it, the gunk floating on the water caught fire several times.
Be careful.
Doc.
I filled a 500-gallon fuel-oil tank with water. Hadn't been used in at least a decade by that point, and had been stored with the bungs open. As I was cutting it, the gunk floating on the water caught fire several times.
Be careful.
Doc.
bargainhuntingking
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Was that in Bakersfield about 10 years ago? I used to drive by the site where a similar fatality happen. Enormous tension on those big tanks. My condolences.
DocsMachine
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No, Alaska 23 years ago. Left behind two kids like 5 and 7, and no mother. Always wondered what happened to them.
Doc.
Doc.
SeisMec
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Was the guy named Ron DeVilbis. (Not sure I've spelled the last name correctly.) If so, I worked with him in California.
Ricky Joe
Well-known member
I’ve got a Bug-O system I’ll sell cheap. It is how the professionals cut them up.
doctordirt
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Bug O system, please elaborate on this never heard of it.
OP
That’s what I’ve done also but I really like the results the OP got!
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dkroth
Well-known member
OP
I haven’t had my bin picked up lately but last time steel was only a round one cent a pound. $20 /ton
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macgee
Well-known member
I know this is post problem as OP got it done but what about shooting fire extinguisher foam into a questionable tank, coating the inside walls before cutting? That would seem way easier than filling 500 gallons of water?
yeah, a plasma would have made short work of that . saw a guy weld up a gas tank once,I thought he was going sideways on us, had his truck exhaust running into his shop with a hose... it was going into the gas tank to fill it with C/O ( no oxygen)
there he was brazing up a leak with an open flame !
there he was brazing up a leak with an open flame !
OP
I'm at the point where if someone will come haul all my metal away they can have it.
I have done that, works good.... You can use any internal combustion engine... Lawn mower or whatever you have handy....
LynnW
DocsMachine
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If you have a Kegerator, you can use CO2, too. I did that once to TIG up a car gas tank. (Emptied, rinsed, blown dry, left to sit a week inside with an open cap, dumped a ton of CO2 from a 20-pound tank in there, left a small regulated hose running while I rand the bead. No issues.)
On the other hand, I know a guy that was literally blown through the wall of his shop welding up an aluminum fuel tank- he survived. Pic of the tank showed it peeled open like a banana.
Doc.
On the other hand, I know a guy that was literally blown through the wall of his shop welding up an aluminum fuel tank- he survived. Pic of the tank showed it peeled open like a banana.
Doc.
Toxictom
Well-known member
Around here I believe you just have to cut a big hole in the ends and not remove the entire end.
I once worked with a guy who was blown to smithereens welding on a tank. I'd seen him working on the tank about an hour before it happened and he asked me about the alignment of a piece he was welding onto the tank. As a previous poster mentioned we've had several of these type accidents in Alaska.
I once worked with a guy who was blown to smithereens welding on a tank. I'd seen him working on the tank about an hour before it happened and he asked me about the alignment of a piece he was welding onto the tank. As a previous poster mentioned we've had several of these type accidents in Alaska.
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For better or worse, Alaska is still pretty much the wild west. Things are lax enough you can do as you please but you damn well better know what you are doing.
Al Borland
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FYI you can inert the tank with dry ice. Tape over any holes except one at the top. Once a visible "Fog" is coming out the top hole you left open, all the air (oxygen) has been pushed out. CO2 is denser than air, and will push the air out the top. A little water with the dry ice speeds the inerting process.
marinusdees
Well-known member
This is the way they "inert" tanks before they can be transported on the road.
Very cool, some Bill Nye stuff there