Cutting up steel CH oil tank

[The Real Doctor]

Folks,

The Scottish autumn is moving in. The nice new plastic tank is in place. The oil company are poised to deliver.

But I need to connect the tank and to do that I need to get the old steel one out of the way. It's a big bugger - 2500 litres - sitting on two breeze block walls in a corner of the house. No possible access for a crane or forklift - it's going to have to come out of there by hand for the 50 yd trip to the roadside where my friendly local council will collect it for free.

So I am thinking about cutting it up. Oxy-acetylene seems like a fairly poor choice in the circumstances, but how about a BFO angle grinder? I can drain what remains out of the tank, but there are bound to be a few puddles of diesel left - discharge a foam fire extinguisher into the tank before cutting?

Ian

[Andrew Mawson]

I had this problem at my old house, and started cutting it with an ancient B&D jig saw. Worked remarkably well, but I was maybe a third of the way round when a flat bed lorry pulled up at the t/lights outside, and the driver wanted to know why I was cutting it up. He ended up taking it away to the scrap yard, free to me and a pint or two from the scrappy for his troubles ! Scrap steel is noe £80 per ton.

If you are worried about the oil vapour and fire, direct a hose from your car exhaust into the tank (make sure car is fully warm first) to fill it with inert gas. If using an angle grinder beware of 'grab'. There will be stresses in the steel that may close the cut and nip the blade, knock wedges in as you go. If you have access to oxy-acetylene and know how to use a cutting torch, then that is the way I'd go.

AWEM

[John]

My Parents had the same dilema about 25 years ago. They ended up hiring an angle grinder, purchased an extra piece of hose and increased my pocket money (for that week) to cut it up..... In todays world they would have probably been reported to the RSPCC !!!

[Merryterry]

For your information: Recently had a large explosion in our village when a bunch of cowboys cut up 2 Main Central Heating Oil Storage Tanks (steel) that used to feed the whole village. They used Oxy Acteylene and Angle Grinders. There was a residue of oil in one of the tanks that vaporised. The whole lot blew up and it is lucky no one was killed. There is, I believe, a Health & Safety prosecution pending.

Dont do it without consulting your local Fire Safety Officer. Do it wrong and you could kill yourself.

[Cicero]

=================================== You could easily and safely cut the tank into manageable pieces using a good cold chisel (about 2" wide blade) and a lump hammer. The danger from sparks would be negligible. Don't under-estimate the value of hand tools for a fast and safe job.

Cic.

[Merryterry]

See this link:

[zikkimalambo]

Is it serviceable?

If so, ebay is your friend (amazing what farmers will buy!)

[The Medway Handyman]

Are you having a laugh? That would take months surely?

[Cicero]

---------------------------------

================================== Not at all. I'm assuming that the tank wall is about 2mm thick and that the tank is about 4' x 4' x 5' - 500 gallons capacity. If my assumptions are correct then a strong, sharp cold chisel and a lump hammer will do the job quite easily. Full dismemberment wouldn't be necessary. Cut out just enough to allow folding of the uncut portion to a size and shape that can be moved easily.

I'm also assuming that the tank is inside the house since the OP says, "..... in a corner of the house." If the tank is outside the house (".......in a corner of the house.") - maybe in an outside alcove, then a couple of planks and two scaffold poles should be enough to roll the tank intact to the require destination.

Even if my assumptions are wildly inaccurate it's still worth testing the hammer and chisel method because it was once the only method available.

In any case burning tanks can be very dangerous. I once saw a chap using oxy-acetylene to prepare oil drums to make a raft. One of the drums exploded and burned him quite badly.

Cic.

[Owain]

Invite the local rugby team round. Provide 15 lump hammers and beer.

Owain

[The Real Doctor]

No, weeping slightly through a corroded bottom. And no farmer would ever want anything which could pollute and despoil the ... oh, hang on, you may have a point ...

Ian

[The Real Doctor]

It's about 6' by 4' by 4' high, so pretty close ...

It's in an exterior angle formed by the back wall of the main house and the side of the kitchen extension. To the side of it there's about

3', then a mill lade. In the other direction are trees, so however it comes out it has to be sideways. It's sitting with its base about 3' in the air, so to move it out by hand I have to slide it sideways 6 or 7 feet and turn it through 90 degrees while lowering it 3 feet. Not impossible, but reducing it to chunks is an attractive alternative.

Now I am wondering about a nice big electric jigsaw ...

Ian

[Cicero]

================================== How thick is it? If it's about the 2mm I suggested AND you definitely want to go the power tool way then you might hire a nibbler. Where appropriate they're quick clean and safe. If I were you, I'd put on the ear muffs and spend a pleasant hour with hammer and chisel.

Cic.

=================================== Using Ubuntu Linux Windows shown the door ===================================

[John Stumbles]

I'd go with a reciprocating saw and a packet of metal cutting blades. Knife, hot, butter; no sparks. All the same I might have the blow end of the vac in there to avoid a build-up of flammable vapours.

[John Rumm]

One forgets that a cold chisel is really a metal working implement, and not just something for wrecking masonry...

(still I doubt any of mine would be ideal - spent too much time being hammered into concrete)

[Cicero]

================================== Precisely! And a few minutes on the grinder and they're as good as new.

Cic.

[John Rumm]

Care and attention that I usually lavish on my SDS chisels, but rarely seem to get round to with their manual brethren. (could be because I rarely use the manual ones these days!)

[Onetap]

I once had to employ some specialist contractors to cut up some commercial steel oil storage tanks, 3/8" welded steel plate with internal angle supports I think. Red Diesel type boiler fuel oil in them.

They cleaned out the insides first, wearing respirators with a compressed air supply from outside. Then they cut the tanks up using chisels in pneumatic hammers; painfully loud. They had was an air extract system to dissipate vapours and maintain the atmosphere while they did it. The ventilation was driven by a venturi/induction device which was powered by compressed air; no sparks from motors and no moving parts. A sharp chisel in an air hammer should shred a domestic job like a coke can.

Don't dump the residue or any oily washings into the drains, it causes a disporoportionate amount of pollution and can be traced back up the drains to the originator. Specialist waste disposal job, I fear.