Prepping an unknown tank???

[PJH]

I have a cutting torch in my shop. Everybody for miles around knows that I have a cutting torch in my shop. People show up here with 55 gallon steel barrels that they want to make into trash or burn barrels. They cheerfully ask me to torch the end out of these potentially explosive bombs. These people are my friends and neighbors. They have no ill intent. I don't know what these barrels have had inside them. I refuse to torch them, but I do use a big ball peen hammer and a big chisel to cut the end out for them. Every time that I strike the chisel I wonder if there will be a stray spark that will send us to our demise. I always insist that the "customer" (I do it for free) holds the barrel while I chisel. My last encounter was with our preacher. He smeared some unknown nasty black liquid all over his red tie and white shirt, and he was the immediate victim of his wife's wrath for it. I don't know what a new white shirt and red tie costs, but I imagine that it made the free burn barrel pretty expensive. Preachers expect "free" to be just that - no expense to them.

I have successfully chiseled the end out of dozens of unknown barrels without any mishap. I feel like I am a lucky fool. What are the chances of a hammer/chisel igniting vapors in an old barrel and severely hurting myself and one of my neighbors? Maybe the "I do it for free" needs to change to "I won't do it".

This is kind of a rant, rather than a question. I think I know the answer. . .

 

[Ray,IN]

If you wish to continue this helpful gesture, is recommend you fill the drum with water to within 1" of the top before cutting the top out of the barrel.
If you do not wish to continue this, tell them to buy open-top drums instead of closed head drums.
If they are getting free drums, tell them you can't get to it until next month. You have to buy more Oxy and Act, and it's expensive.(which is true)
It seems some people are takers only.

 

[caterpillar guy]

A hammer and chisel is not that expensive .Let them buy their own. I cut ends out of old oil barrels with no problems. The oil will ignite but no explosion just burns in the bottom. I've welded up diesel fuel tanks with no issue along with cuting holes for water drains. Just don't stop till you are done. If you stop is when the fumes will build up and become explosive. Gas containers I fill with water or have had them from many years empty .If they smell then Fill if not then cut way.

 

[Harold Hubbard]

I wouldn't have bought one, but a friend of mine dropped off one of those giant can openers for deheading barrels. I feel a lot happier using that than any other method.

 

[JohnRowehl]

This isn’t any help to you but the topic brought back memories.
My father used to use the chisel and hammer method.
I’ve got one of those barrels he cut open in my shop that I use for a trash can. ( An old AGWAY DDT drum-shhhhhh!) Despite all the hammering I’ve done, trash bags kept catching on those sharp edges when I pull them out. Finally tried a surface grinder.

 

[Centerplate]

I gave up on old oil drums for burn barrels. I bought a stainless steel burn barrel.

https://www.drpower.com/power-equipment/burncage

I do not remember how long I used this, maybe 10 years, but mine is round not square. Yes, It looks expensive, but not having to replace it every year or so is worth it. With all the holes in it air flows through and the paper burns very nicely and it has a top cover on it to keep embers from flying out.

 

[Pete-IN]

I used to get free barrels on my job. I have sold hundreds of them over the years. I used an air chisel to cut out the tops.

 

[Stan Coryell]

I agree with the sniff test, If it smells flammable, it is. Whither or not it will explode, who knows? I use a sawzall.

Or, buy a de-header...

I have an account with Zoro. If I leave an item in my cart for a day or two, a 20% off coupon shows up. Charge $5 a drum.

https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-manual-drum-deheader-steel-ergonomic-handle-7-lbs-2068-overall-l-272018/i/G3405035/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping%20feed&utm_content=free%20google%20shopping%20clicks&campaignid=21546635186&productid=G3405035&v=&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1K31uLeOiwMV1iKzAB1F2jxvEAQYAiABEgK4kPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[timcasbolt]

You sound like a very generous person. I like to help people too, and it gives me a good feeling when they thank me for helping them. In this case, since you say it comes up fairly often, I would buy a deheader for under $100 and ask the next 10 people for a $10 donation towards the cost. This would virtually eliminate the risks involved.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Your chances of an errant spark causing a Looney-Tunes-esque mushroom cloud explosion are slim to none. Diesel and heavier petroleum products like oils are flammable but not explosive. Lighter stuff that ends in "ine" or "ene" are volatile enough to create that stoichiometric mix that explodes when a spark is introduced but the mix has to be just right. A little too much air, and you won't even get a "foof."

Rather than a chisel, use an old axe or hatchet. Even a dull axe will make the job go quicker.

 

[farmersamm]

Yeah, you could throw a spark.

I suppose the greatest danger is when starting the cutting process. You only have the bung hole to relieve any pressure caused by ignition. Further you progress, the more hinge area you create, and the more relief from ignition pressures.

Speaking of wich............K'kins got a burn barrel from her boss. I have to go pick it up, and cut the lid off. I guess I'll be able to report back with first hand experience. ROFLMAO

 

[PJH]

I used to get free barrels on my job. I have sold hundreds of them over the years. I used an air chisel to cut out the tops.

That shows you how dense I am - I've never thought of using an air chisel. Duhh Most of the people that I do this for couldn't hit a chisel with a hammer to save their life - in fact, the preacher was amazed that I didn't hit my hand even once while working on his barrel.

 

[farmersamm]

Your chances of an errant spark causing a Looney-Tunes-esque mushroom cloud explosion are slim to none. Diesel and heavier petroleum products like oils are flammable but not explosive. Lighter stuff that ends in "ine" or "ene" are volatile enough to create that stoichiometric mix that explodes when a spark is introduced but the mix has to be just right. A little too much air, and you won't even get a "foof."

Rather than a chisel, use an old axe or hatchet. Even a dull axe will make the job go quicker.

Oil tankers carrying heavy crude explode when the fumes in the tanks ignite. "Burning" is actually a sort of explosion. The faster the burn rate, and the more perfect the containment, the stronger the explosion.

 

[PJH]

This isn’t any help to you but the topic brought back memories.
My father used to use the chisel and hammer method.
I’ve got one of those barrels he cut open in my shop that I use for a trash can. ( An old AGWAY DDT drum-shhhhhh!) Despite all the hammering I’ve done, trash bags kept catching on those sharp edges when I pull them out. Finally tried a surface grinder.

Yeah, I go around them with two hammers to flatten the sharp edges, but the bags still catch here and there. I'm not gonna offer to grind them, ha. I've seen trash barrels that have a slit piece of garden hose around the top, but I've never been there when the bag was changed.

 

[PJH]

Yeah, you could throw a spark.

I suppose the greatest danger is when starting the cutting process. You only have the bung hole to relieve any pressure caused by ignition. Further you progress, the more hinge area you create, and the more relief from ignition pressures.

Speaking of wich............K'kins got a burn barrel from her boss. I have to go pick it up, and cut the lid off. I guess I'll be able to report back with first hand experience. ROFLMAO

Good luck!

Some of the stuff that you see on YouTube is pretty spooky. One guy had a badly dented barrel and tried to make it round again by pitching a match into the bung hole. In addition to making it round, it pooched both ends out. I don't like surprises.

 

[PJH]

Your chances of an errant spark causing a Looney-Tunes-esque mushroom cloud explosion are slim to none. Diesel and heavier petroleum products like oils are flammable but not explosive. Lighter stuff that ends in "ine" or "ene" are volatile enough to create that stoichiometric mix that explodes when a spark is introduced but the mix has to be just right. A little too much air, and you won't even get a "foof."

Rather than a chisel, use an old axe or hatchet. Even a dull axe will make the job go quicker.

Looney-Tunes. . . Good one!

I always think of the Roadrunner with singed fur and blackened face.

 

[Sprint 6]

I have a customer with a glass eye due to torch cutting an unknown barrel.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Oil tankers carrying heavy crude explode when the fumes in the tanks ignite. "Burning" is actually a sort of explosion. The faster the burn rate, and the more perfect the containment, the stronger the explosion.

True but that's CRUDE oil, which contains all the volatile "ines" and "enes" that I mentioned. Diesel, engine oil, hydraulic oil, gear oil, etc, has nearly all of that refined out of it.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Looney-Tunes. . . Good one!

I always think of the Roadrunner with singed fur and blackened face.

 

[cjunrau]

That shows you how dense I am - I've never thought of using an air chisel. Duhh Most of the people that I do this for couldn't hit a chisel with a hammer to save their life - in fact, the preacher was amazed that I didn't hit my hand even once while working on his barrel.

I use an air chisel as well. I use the one that has a V shaped tip. I even sharpen the one side that does the cutting and the other side I leave dull and it helps to keep from slipping into the barrel all the time. Very fast and it almost smooths out the edge at the same time.