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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Steel Oil Tank in Basement-How To cut It Up?
- - By eekpod (****) Date 12-22-2014 16:07
Guys,

The 275 gallon oil tank that came with the house developed a leak in the bottom where it rusted out.
I 'm working on getting a new one to replace it.
Apparently the way to cut up the old one is to use sawz all and a bunch of blades to cut it up?
I don't have to worry about sparks since its basically diesel fuel in it?
(I'm letting it run down as low as possible so save time and effort than transfer it from one to another.)

Thanks
Chris
Parent - - By Northweldor (***) Date 12-22-2014 17:59
I would rethink!

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=312825979
Parent - - By J Hall (***) Date 12-25-2014 14:22
Blue flame? I wonder what else was in that tank.
Parent - By Superflux (****) Date 12-25-2014 21:08
Blue flame = sulphur residue?
Parent - By FixaLinc (****) Date 12-26-2014 04:01
The pump was making noise ?   Electric pump on 110 or 220 it doesn't say ?  Poor report.  Yes diesel will burn it's a flammable fuel.
Parent - By Northweldor (***) Date 12-26-2014 12:32 Edited 12-26-2014 12:39
LEL(lower explosive limit) of diesel fuel (per volume of air) is 0.6%.
LEL of gasoline is 1.4%
Without a sniffer, you never know when the right mixture is there, waiting for the ignition source
Steam (cheapest) for 24hrs, or purge with CO2, both while cutting, and you are completely safe.

Many have been fooled by" ...it's just diesel", and the old "match-in the pail" demo.
Parent - By FixaLinc (****) Date 12-26-2014 04:02
Dig down to basement side wall and cut wall out to get it out and put new one in or burn the house down.  :eek:
Parent - - By lo-hi (**) Date 12-26-2014 14:20
Most of those tanks are fairly thin, how about an electric shear or nibbler. Cut an access hole big enough to do a controlled clean up and then chop away. If its an old tank there could be a bunch of sludge in the bottom and its nasty.
Parent - By Stringer (***) Date 12-26-2014 18:05
I would treat any tank as if it were dangerous. I would not skip the purge step. Also, electric cutting tools are a source of ignition and even pnuematic saws can spark. Can you crush it with a come-along and take it whole out a door?
Parent - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 12-31-2014 19:24
After you get all the liquid out of it mix 3-5 gallons of water with Dawn Dishwashing liquid. Slosh it around a bit and let it stand for 2 or 3 days. Drain the liquid off. Using the sawzall with good bi-metal blade, open the ends of the tank. Make a notch on the top and bottom on both ends.
Break it down with a 8 pound sledge hammer. Get some good bi-metal blades for you sawzall and cut it up into 3 pieces. Have a fire extinguisher at hand just in case. Be sure to have some kitty litter handy to put on any liquid that comes out of the tank. If the tank is really old you may be able to roll the thing up with the 8 pound hammer.
Once the ends are off, it is like flattening a 55 gallon drum.
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 01-06-2015 13:38
How about a cold saw, like the Steel Max circular saw? Water hose trickling over blade while you cut or at least wet it down before cutting.
- - By 803056 (*****) Date 12-26-2014 20:54
I had a friend help me carry my old tank up the cellar stairs and out of the house once we drained it as much as possible. It wasn't light and it was a struggle. That's why it is always nice to stay on friendly terms with at least one gorilla sized friend. :grin:

Best regards - Al
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 12-29-2014 19:00
well we re-measured the size of the basement stairs and it looks like if I remove the PVC sewer line, take off the handrail, and remove the bottom portion of the stairs the new tank will fit down, and if it does we will attempt to "carry up" the old tank once it's as empty as possible so I won't have to cut it in the basement.
I spoke to a number of guys up here and they all said the same thing, just use a sawz all to cut it in half but I'd rather struggle to get the old one out in one piece than cut it in the basement.

Thanks
Hope you all have a good New Year.
Chris
Parent - By 803056 (*****) Date 12-29-2014 19:14 Edited 12-29-2014 19:18
There is always some oil left in the sludge. No matter how careful you are, there will be a mess on the floor after cutting the tank.

We used straps looped under the tank so we had something to grip. We tried to keep it as level as possible so the poor SOB on the low end didn't get all the weight of the oil. It will be a heavy beast no matter how much you drain from the tank.

We had no problem with the new tank.

We used a floor jack with wheels to lift the old tank and slide it out of the way. We put the new tank into the proper position and transferred the oil from the old tank to the new tank with a pump. As mentioned in this thread, the transfer pumps can't lift much head and they are a pain to prime. I suppose a foot valve would have been very helpful in the old tank. A pump intended for diesel fuel would work better than the pump we used.

As an after thought, it might have been easier if we had planks that we could have set the tank on and pushed it up the stairs.

Good luck with what ever solution you decide on.

Best regards - Al
- - By Paladin (***) Date 12-30-2014 03:23
Where I'm from no one burns oil for heat or even has basements. So I'm not familiar with basements and their layout.

Lack of knowledge or experience doesn't disqualify one from offering a suggestion here does it?

Al's suggestion of a ramp down the stairs and some type of pulley system (if you have something to attach to) might make the the job a little easier and safer.

If you have any mountain climbing friends you might borrow a couple of prusik pulleys and with two prusik hitches to make this 3:1 pulley system. The prusik hitch will slip against the pulleys but hold if the pulling line is released, I think.
http://www.adventuremotorcycle.com/spotlight/news-archive/19-spotlight/news/600-news-bestrest-motorcycle-recovery-system#.VKIVGDAA

Seems like if the new tank  will fit coming down to the basement, the old one should go up. i would not want to cut it up in basement.

Floyd
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 01-13-2015 11:30
Well, we got it out this past weekend. I played it "safe" by removing the basement stairs, and the waste line to make enough room to have three guys on the bottom basically clean and jerk it up to the last stair that I didn't have to remove and two of us up top pulling it and guiding it. Then creep it up the last two steps, slide it onto cardboard, and drag it on cardboard out the front door.  Definitely cleaner than trying to cut it up in the basement.  Guestimate it weighted 400 lbs as it was the heavier gauge material and had 50 years of sludge in it.  and that was after putting a pump on it to suck out as much as possible.  Still looking for good prices to fill er up though, but at least home heating oil has dropped $2 a gallon since the summer; it was $4.49 in August, it's down to $2.29 now, huge savings.
Thanks
Parent - By 803056 (*****) Date 01-13-2015 17:23
I think you made a good decision to pull it out in one piece.

Best regards - Al
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Steel Oil Tank in Basement-How To cut It Up?

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