Tools
Sawzall or grinder?
Empty. Going to take this out. Should I use a sawzall or grinder? C4 or nuke from space?
Discussion
Former professional fuel oil equipment sales/service/installation guy here, it was a small family owned company, and I did it all. We used to cut open underground oil tanks from the top using a sawzall. Then pump out what we could of the sludge and scrape clean the rest in prep for backfill. Sawzall is the only tool that is safe in my opinion.
That being said, that tank will not be 100% empty and will make a mess on the floor. There will be sludge buildup and sludgy oil in the bottom for sure. You're gonna have to reno that wall, so find a way to take it out whole. They have scented oil absorbent powders that really help with small spills inside, but you spend more on that than the carpentry to pull it out whole if you cut it up inside.
"Empty"
Wall it back up and walk away?
Get out of my house
A vacuum pump.
...I approve lol.... you'll have to pull a solid negative pressure, like, maybe 27in-Hg, might have to hit a good dent into it with a hamme to get it to buckle... but I love the idea, collapse the bitch like the Ocean Gate submarine 🤣
Also, film it please lol
Lul.
Collapse? Does that work?
Potentially.
Damn missed my opportunity 2 years ago.
Or fill it with hot water vapor, seal it up, then slap some ice on the sides.
A quality 2 wheeler (rental?) ratchet strap and 2 capable humans should be able to get that out in one piece
If the stair is really steep maybe put a 2x skid board on it and pull it up with a come-a-along or block & tackle
Then post it free for the hauling and you'll have saved yourself a lot of work
Cast iron or heavy duty metal blade on sawzall.
Grinder makes a lot of mess and smell.
Nuke from space. It’s the only way to be sure.
Response I was actually looking for
Some of us know.
Orbit man. Nuke from orbit! Otherwise it’s … “game over man”
While fuel oil is hardly as explosive as gasoline, you should still excersize caution cutting these tanks. I've personally had a bit of a surprise woosh when cutting one apart with a plasma cutter.
Should be obvious to not start cutting on one without removing all the plugs that can be removed or maybe ideally filling with water.
With that in mind, I'd pick sawzall as there will be less sparks and less heat. But I wouldn't do it indoors, that will be stinky and once it's in the concrete it takes a long time for it to stop smelling.
Whatever you do, don't spill any of the residual fuel on the concrete. It smells strong forever. If you spill onto the concrete, your only option is then to nuke from space.
Tin snip nibbler on a drill.
Old oil tank. Sawzall. And lots of blades
Well, I have taken apart an oil tank with both methods. It was the same tank for both methods since the Sawzall died. I didn't have a choice, it was in a basement with no way to bring it out intact. I think they put it in the basement, then framed the first floor. Started with the Sawzall and melted the brushes in the motor. I guess I was running too slow to keep the motor cool. It wasn't a capacity issue as it was the 15 amp model - it was operator error. Sigh. Switched to an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and finished the job. The angle grinder was far more effective and pleasant. And I hate angle grinders. As noted by others, make sure it is drained, but heating oil is pretty hard to light. Definitely avoid plasma or torches!
It's the only way to be sure.
Diesel does not burn like gasoline.
It got in there in one piece so it can come out in one.
Grindzall
A grinder with sawzalls for a blade? I want to watch.
C4*.. (RDX)
I had HVAC company remove mine. It was filled with gallons of oil they had to carry out of a crawl space. God Bless Them.
Some great replies. Any ideas what this weighs
More than nothing but less than the sun
I'm gonna use that one thanks for posting.
Sawzall. And have extra blades, and extra gloves.
I used a sawzall on mine. I waited until the family was out, put the dogs in the detached garage (with AC), then out on my noise cancelling headphones and went to town. Mine was in a 150 year old stone cellar and I’m not sure how I would have gotten it out on my own with cutting it up. Definitely use a sawzall instead of a grinder. You don’t want sparks.
"
nuke the whole site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. "
Cut ours up with sawzall. Went through 8 blades tho.
I thought no way this fits through the one door in the basement. I re measured things. I think I can carry it out. I’ll chop it up in my yard and see which one of you guys are correct.
Post it on marketplace. “Free, you haul it out.”
Before cutting drain oil out .Then fill with bag of speedy dry the dust from the speedy dry will coat everything in the tank then cut with sawzall less sparks
I knew I could count on Batman for good advice
If you definitely want to cut it : sawzall. Avoid sparks at all costs
I’m a residential oil burner tech. We cut them up in basements all the time to make replacements easier. I would put down a shit load of oil spill pads underneath, pump out remaining oil into a drum or something, and cut away. I typically use sawzall but I see no reason a grinder wouldn’t work as well
Even when empty, these contain a measurable quantity of oily sludge that stinks like sour fuel oil. Also - the sludge is combustible, one spark (let alone thousands from an angle grinder) can ignite the oil, potentially start a fire in the place, and make the interior of the house a permanent oily sooty stinkbox. As others have said, try to get it outside first. You'll need a second set of hands and a strong back.
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I was able to take one out by cutting it in half horizontally. I cleaned as much oil and muck from the bottom half as possible before moving. I used a sawzall.
This was my method, worked mint. Cut it into more chunks though, had to carry it out by myself. Scraped the sludge into a 5 gallon bucket. Paid a tank guy to dispose and give me the certificate.
Both
Drain well, scope it to make sure baffles are not full, throw pig mats down JIC, sawzall pulls on the cut so any minor sparks bounce on the floor, like someone said, needs more than a small spark or flame to ignite, cut the top off first, good luck 🍀
nuke it from space. If that doesn't work prolly I'd go sawzall. either way its gonna suck. Maybe consider a fan or as much ventilation as you can figure.
If you go with the sawzall method, use a jigsaw instead.
That right there is the beginning of a badass pig cooker.
* Would this work or is that metal too thick?
Put a shop vav on the filler hole and plug any others and beat it flat with a rubber mallot
Don’t add water , cut it up with a sawsall . I done it several times and it never causes a fire . Put down poly and have kitty litter nearby . In half will be enough to get it out . Expect give to ten gallons of unusable sludge that you can put in drywall buckets to be recycled at your next hazardous waste disposal days , adding water will screw in up for recycling
Circular saw + 7-1/4in. x 70-Teeth Steel Demon Carbide-Tipped Saw Blade for Thin Metal
Double eye protection glasses and face shield and hearing protection.
I cut mine in half with a sawzall and 2 carbide Diablo blades. Went way smoother than expecting. Don’t use a grinder, you want to keep sparks to an absolute minimum
I’m an oil burner tech. Remove the studs and take out whole. I had to remove a tank in a situation like this and it was miserable cutting up in 10-15 pieces. Plus that tank is 25+ years old. It’s full of sludge and all kinds of shit.
Sawzall. Grinders throw sparks and you don't want to catch fire to something in the basement. It's always safer it you can accomplish a job without hot work.
I got a used round tank, 25O gallons for $125, cleaned the inside, and been in use for a decade.
Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure
Grinder will get you all the tools you can handle
You should never cut a tank that has contained any sort or oil with anything that generates heat or sparks before chemically cleaning the inside. There was a kid killed in Ottawa a few years ago trying to make a barbeque out of a drum that had previously contained peppermint oil. Take it out in one piece and get it to the scrap yard. It's a serious hazard.
How heavy? What is it? Looks like a storage tank?
If it is attached by the bolts on the bottom, sawzall, all the way. Depending on weight you would want to secure it possibly from falling on you. Ropes, ratchet straps, some thing. This looks like a 2 beer, 2 man job. Will need a 6 pack minimum. Just in case.
Soak your pants in gasoline and use a cutting torch.
Unless you have good insurance, and are getting paid a healthy chunk i wouldn't touch it
8lb hammer of the gods
Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
No have you?
And that’s what I was waiting for.
Sawzall imo. Grinder would take much longer and suck with all the metal shavings and sparks flying everywhere
Remove intact and find a secondhand buyer. Or sell for scrap value.
The tank is worth nothing.
Run some water through it to rinse as much residual oil and sludge out as you can, then pour a few bags of cheap kitty litter in the top. Cut with a sawzall for two hours if you’re lucky and call it a day. Usually these cannot be easily removed in one piece through a finished, furnished house.
Like others have said - take it outside and do not try to cut inside! I cut one up last year, a larger old in ground tank too heavy to handle. For those 275/330 tanks just cut a large square hole in it. Drill a hole to start and cut with sawzall. Its very loudy and messy. Most scrap yards near me will take it with just a big hold cut out. If there’s significant puddle of oil inside toss in some speedy dry or cat litter.
Saw at the joints of each plank and saw though the nails and keep wood for other things
Do not do this. Hire a professional.
DO NOT CUT WITH A GRINDER!!! Fumes +oxygen+spark= 💥💥💥
A grinder to give you somewhere to get the blade inside. Make sure you have a lot of blades and hearing protection
GRINDER + SPARKS = FIRE
Heating oil needs pressure to ignite
Heating oil is basically diesel. Harder to ignite than gasoline but very much flammable at atmospheric pressure. Its often pressurized and sent through a nozzle to get it to atomize so that it burns more efficiently and clean.
It also will explode in a tank like this at the 1st spark if you are unlucky. 🙄
I warned my boss about this . I told him to drain and flush it out with Vingar (5 gallons on a spinning sprayer) .. then water .
Boss laugh at me .
Boss ruptured his ear drum when the tank burst 💥
Boss now gets the “you understand sign language yet ?🖕🖖”
He was sooooo lucky. The metal cut through a few 2x4s
I tried fixing a diesel tank with braze once. It was removed from the truck and drained. Got a few nice "poompfs" from it. I can see how a larger tank with more residual could be very scary
I just love how all these idiots keep down voting people who have actually seen them explode before.
No, it doesn't. But it needs to be turned into a vapor at high temperature to burn. This is how a furnace works. You are thinking of diesel engine
Definitely doesn't need any pressure. You can easily light heating oil with a torch, it's pretty much the same as diesel. It just takes more heat to light than gasoline, it also doesn't make a bunch of extremely flammable /explosive vapors.
Diesel and #2 Fuel Oil are the exact same thing except for tax status, hence #2 is dyed red. You can run fuel oil in your diesel vehicle and vice-versa (except the former is illegal and big fines if caught).
I know. Saying pretty much the same was easier.
It require heat ,vapor , and oxygen.
A 17yr old kid was killed torching the lids off of drums that had previously held spearmint oil at a trade school in Ontario, Canada. School purchases their garbage cans now.
To your point heating oil ,diesel fuel are atomized to allow easy ignition and an very high temperature combustion. By comparison when an oil is heated, expels vapor , in a confined area the result is a powerful as any explosion from coal dust when the flash point, and proportions of air and fuel are met.
Any spark could ignite that thing will burn down ur house
Diesel absolutely does not ignite that easily
You are going to regret cutting that apart inside the building. Take it out in one piece if at all possible. The smell of furnace oil isn’t easy to get rid of and you’ll have lots of that smell if you cut it apart inside.
Yeah don't disassemble in place. Someone might buy it even for scrap. And if you accidentally light it up it will start an unquenchable fire. How do I know? I used to torch cut in a junkyard. Cut one of these up once. There was enough oil gunked on the sides that it burned for a day or more
That’s why you use a Sawzall to cut it up.
Won't help the smell though. And people in this area sell these for $100+ intact. Farmers like them among others. OP Might as well get something for it if he can.
Good point.. or ...just free if the people wanting it will remove it.
I see that offered a lot too. An inside one is nice also. Outside ones get rusted and fail sooner and a new one is @ $750-1000 last time I checked
That’s assuming you have the ability to remove it from the building in one piece.
I cut up my oil tank in the basement of my old house because that was the only way to feasibly get it out of the house. The basement steps were narrow and the previous owner had built a deck over the Bilco doors.
The smell wasn’t bad at all, but I was able to fully drain the tank prior to cutting it up. I tossed the pieces through the basement window rather than carrying them through my kitchen.
yep, house from 1700's here. same experience
smell lasted a day tops.
mine was drained down and cut up in the basement with the bulk head open. smell was gone in a day tops.
I could see how a messy crew could make it worse if they spill and are sloppy,
We started a fuel tank on fire with a saws all before. I wouldent cut it with anything inside a houses
Was your blade dull af and creating a lot of heat?
Naw. Brand new blade. Really old tank, fully of shit stuck to the walls. Would have been a disaster in a house.
Fuel tank and oil tank arent the same.
2 different animals and flashpoints.
Except metal on metal (blades on sheet metal) can still quite easily create sparks….
A spark will not ignite heating oil. You can throw a lit cigarette into a gallon of heating oil. The oil will extinguish the cigarette
I cut up my old outdoor tank with an angle grinder, that bitch caught fire multiple times and I put it out with a hose (don't tell my wife lol)
Point being, the residue will absolutely catch fire with enough heat and sparks.
An angle grinder puts a LOT more heat into the metal than a saw blade, plus it generates tons of sparks.
You likely vaporized some heating oil and the sparks ignited the vapor.
yep, mine came out with a sawzall.
drain it down. cut a hatch in the top and then get the sludge from the bottom, then cut er up
Fill with water first.
You can throw a lit cigarette / sparks into home heating oil. Its basically diesel fuel just a different blend and doesn't ignite like gas does.
Yeah, I’m going to take this out in one piece. I measured and it’ll fit through barely
Oh thank god. I was about to say don't cut into the tank. I have removed several home heating oil tanks like this one. They are never completely empty, and true heating oil is not flammable, but sometimes the vapors that build up inside ARE. The scrapyard may make you punch a hole in it before they take it, so be careful.
This for sure. Home heating oil is just diesel. It stinks for a long time on whatever it touches.