Bulk Fuel Tank Repair

[bird dogger]

My 200 gallon fuel tank was in need of touching up and also had one small pin hole that I had temporarily patched with just a screw and rubber washer. Being empty it was time to give it a fresh paint job and a more permanent repair in place of that screw. I also have another older 300 gallon tank and stand that had a few more pin holes all in one small area that had been sitting unused. With fuel prices so low it was time to see if it could also be saved and put back into service.

The grapple and some chains/straps made grabbing and moving it into the shop a breeze. All the steel around the holes was solid as determined by drilling them out banging on them with a chisel and hammer. I decided against setting up to weld them and instead made a cover plate and formed it to fit the tanks curvature. Both mating surfaces were cleaned by rough sanding the area and scratching the areas in a cross-hatch pattern. JB Weld Metal Epoxy was mixed up, applied to the area, and the cover panel held in place with some ratchet straps going around the cover and tank.

A few corroded spots on the outside of the tank were prepped and covered with some fiberglass fabric and resin just for good measure.

Here’s a few pics of the larger tank and its cover panel repair:

 

[bird dogger]

After the resin had cured for a good day the tank was tested by putting a gallon or two of fuel inside and turning the tank to “wet” the repaired area. No sign of any leakage was observed so it was time to clean and prep the outside for primer and paint. A good coat of Rustoleum primer and white paint made them look like new again. They’ll need a little touch up from using the grapple to place them back up on their stands again but that’s a minor inconvenience for the ease of getting them back in place. Since the new paint looked so nice, they begged for some proper labeling.

The bulk fuel delivery person thought they looked pretty good! Both tanks were filled (500 gallons total) at $1.34 per gallon which included delivery and all applicable charges. It sure beats driving into town with 5 gallon cans. I’ll add some diesel additive at least to the larger tank. I’ve also two good neighbors that may draw from the tanks and between us all they should easily get us through a year’s worth of tractor duties.

Here’s pics of the final results:

 

[S-G-R]

Nice job and artwork on the tanks.