Moving Oil tank

gears

I'm considering moving my oil tank to a new location and was wondering what to use as a base. I do have a number of paving slabs, which were being dumped by the local council which I'm thinking of using. These are quite large3' X 2' X 3" (approx) and if these were set on a firm level base would these be ok or do I need a cast concrete base. Just another piece of info the new location for the tank will be slightly uphill so I'm not planning on stacking these slabs just using them as a firm base. Thanks

JamesM

Usually you have concrete foundations with a wall at each end of the tank and 3 or 4 lintels to support the base of the tank - presuming that it is plastic. You should have the tank level or sloping slightly away from the outlet pipe. The outlet should be, at least at the burner level. The further away the tank is, the higher it should be. Taking all that into account, you want the tank as low as possible, because windage on an almost empty tank can knock it over.
If you have enough of those slabs to give the support I mention above, then they should be OK - you must support the whole base of a plastic tank.
Jim.

gears

I'm moving the tank so it fits between a doublehedge which also has some trees along its length so windage shouldnt be a problem, also it will be about 30M or so away from the boiler. I do have enough of the slabs for a couple of complete 6' X 4' rows so by the sounds of it I'll be ok. Thanks for the reply.

JamesM

At 3" thick, 2 or more of those slabs on top of each other should be enough to support a full tank of oil. When you move it, If you don't have the tank much higher than the burner, and if you need to push the air out of the pipe, make sure you fill it to the top, and that pressure will clear any airlock.
Jim.

gears

Will do, thanks again for the info