plastic oil tank disposal.

[curious]

The local council requires me to cut my old plastic oil tank in half before they will collect it for disposal. So will a circular saw with a blade for wood cut it or should I use something else.

[Tim Watts]

I'd use a jigsaw...

[Dave Liquorice]

Is it serviceable? Bung it on your local freecycle for collection only. Saves your effort cutting it up and the council "bulky items" fee and tank gets a second life instead of being scrapped.

I should imagine so but take it slowly if the blade gets too hot and softens/melts the plastic it won't cut very well. Personally I'd see how an ordinary handsaw cuts it first rather than faff about running mains etc.

[Michael Chare]

Why are you getting rid of it? I thought they were supposed to last.

An ordinary wood saw might work. With a hack saw the handle is normally thicker than the blade which might make life difficult.

[Davey]

I see them also at our local auction house. You would have to get it there, but you could try e-bay.

[curious]

Daughter bought herself a new place and it was left behind in the back yard where the shed is also full of garbage left by the previous owner.

[RJH]

AIUI her solicitor can advise. In what was looking like a similar situation,mine suggested that if I found myself in the situation, the previous owner was liable, and I had nothing to worry about. Never came to that, fortunately.

[curious]

Daughter doesn't want to stir things up as relatives of previous owner live close by.

[The Natural Philosopher]

being liable and collecting a result are two very different things.

£100k later, and the court awards you £100 for claims against the former owner, but not costs..6 years later, he still hasn't paid the £100...

[Adrian]

Great. Dump it in their garden.

[newshound]

The main thing is to avoid melting the plastic which will tend to bind the blade. All sorts of things will work, though. Pruning saw, coarse tooth panel saw, jigsaw (slow speed and don't push too hard), sabre saw, or even a chainsaw. Although these run relatively fast the big gap between teeth and the fact that they are designed to clear sticky chips out of the way, they are surprisingly effective. I think a circular saw would be my last choice, but no harm giving it a try if it is all you have got: keep it straight and don't push hard. Doing it by hand will be quite hard work.

[fred]

My first one split vertically along the seam. I blamed it on the exposure to sunlight, it faced south, but I heard later there had been problems with these particular tanks.

[news]

Chainsaw is best by far for cutting plastic drums and IBC tanks to stuff them in a skip.

AJH

[curious]

Thanks must chase up a friend who has an electric one.

[news]

Mines petrol powered but the principle should be the same.

Next time I must try it with one of the battery electric climbing saws. AJH

[Iang8784]

Chainsaw cut up my tank easily,it took about two minutes,great advice mate,,

[Tim Streater]

What did you do with the cut-up bits and the plastic sawdust?