how to chop up an old steel oil tank?

breadbin

i have an old steel oil tank which I have to get rid of only its too big to bring through the house and i have no access to the back yard for it. i haven't emptied it yet but going to soon and then i was thinking of hacking it up bit by bit. don't care how long it takes but is it good enough to empty it or do i need to spray some stuff in there so that it won't ignite. i was thinking of drilling holes close together and hammering the crap out of it. then use hacksaw. such thing as a metal cutting jigsaw?

CJhaughey

Standard practice to weld fuel tanks is to run an exhaust from a car into it for a while, this works with petrol which is less volatile than Kero.
However I think using an angle grinder will be the only reasonable way of cutting the tank up.
Maybe using a garden hose on fine mist and sticking it into the tank while you cut away with a biggish grinder.
You can get metal jigsaw blades but that would be awfully hard work for you and the jigsaw.
Consaw with metal blade probably the fastest solution.

puss

I know someone that cut one up with an angle grinder and then brought the pieces to his local recycling centre.

Diabhal_Glas

breadbin wrote: »

i have an old steel oil tank which I have to get rid of only its too big to bring through the house and i have no access to the back yard for it. i haven't emptied it yet but going to soon and then i was thinking of hacking it up bit by bit. don't care how long it takes but is it good enough to empty it or do i need to spray some stuff in there so that it won't ignite. i was thinking of drilling holes close together and hammering the crap out of it. then use hacksaw. such thing as a metal cutting jigsaw?[/QUOTE

Im not even sure if the oil would ignite? Maybe syphon most of the oil out firstly.

Then fill the bottom half with water,

Get a consaw goggles and ear protection and let the sparks fly..

Micky Dolenz

To be honest, if you have never operated a con saw before or any type of power tool that cuts metal, do not do this. Ask around for some who knows, if you are confident you can do it, I suggest the following.


Let it dry out for a few weeks, then chop it up with a con saw. You will have debris at the bottom of the tank, even when dry, this will have absorbed enough fuel over the years to possiblely ignite., beware of this and have water nearby just incase, it won't expolde, it would be a little flame.

Wear eye protection, a metal shread in the eye is a balls.
Wear gloves when handling cut up metal, it will cut the hands off you.

DublinDilbert

A con saw would be complete over kill for the metal in a tank like that. Not to mention all the sparks with the fuel reside.

I've cut these up before with a normal jig saw with a metal cutting bit. Takes a bit of time but works grand. Also you'll find you won't need to cut all the welds once your break the basic cube shape, you'll be able to snap some of them too.

breadbin

DublinDilbert wrote: »

A con saw would be complete over kill for the metal in a tank like that. Not to mention all the sparks with the fuel reside.

I've cut these up before with a normal jig saw with a metal cutting bit. Takes a bit of time but works grand. Also you'll find you won't need to cut all the welds once your break the basic cube shape, you'll be able to snap some of them too.

yeah thats what i was thinking, i don't mind how long it takes plus i had to put the new tank right beside the old one so less sparks the better;) so i can get a metal cutting bit for a jigsaw? thats great cos i was gonna buy a jigsaw anyway. i'll give it a go anway. empty it first and then fill with water should do it.