# Removing an old oil tank from basement?



## edge-of-the-woods (Nov 15, 2016)

Hi folks,

We have an old oil tank in our basement, looks to be 250-275 gallons.  The past owners switched the system over to propane years before we bought the house.

When we bought the place, our home inspector said the tank was empty, and the gauge was just stuck at 1/2 full.  Well, he was an idiot.  It really is half full, and I want it gone before it leaks or worse.

Can I just siphon this out into a proper receptacle, and then cut it up with a sawzall and junk it?  Do I need to get the pipes out too, or can I plug them?  Local companies want around $700 to do the job.  I figure I might was well buy a good sawzall and do it myself.

Thanks!


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## firefighterjake (Nov 15, 2016)

The oil tank in our garage (thank goodness it was there) developed a pin hole leak two summers ago and started leaking making one holy mess (and smell.)

In my case I stopped the leak (a well placed wood screw in the rust-caused hole) and then utilized a small pump to siphon out most of the fuel . . . although there was still several gallons at the very bottom -- most of which I was able to get out by removing the oil line, filter and then emptying the fuel very, very, very slowly. Most of that fuel -- especially the stuff I drained at the end which had some sediment in it -- went to a local guy who was planning on burning it . . . I suspect it went into his outdoor wood boiler for use in starting up the fire. 

A friend helped me load up the tank on to a trailer and I dropped it off with the same guy as he is a metal scrapper and was pretty pleased to have a good chunk of metal. I did not bother doing anything other than removing the fill pipes.


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## edge-of-the-woods (Nov 18, 2016)

Yeah I want to get it the hell out BEFORE it starts to leak....we have enough random issues to deal with in the house!

What did you pump it out into, when you emptied it?


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## velvetfoot (Nov 18, 2016)

I used a couple of 36" long pipe wrenches from Harbour Freight to remove those pipes, and they're still not that easy.
I'd be interested in what kind of pump you used, from an I-hope-it-doesn't-happen-to-me-but-just-in-case viewpoint.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 18, 2016)

The pump I borrowed was a small battery operated pump that slowly pumped out the fuel . . . I'm not sure where my buddy got it from.

I had bought and installed the new oil tank . . . so I was able to pump (and then drain) most of the oil into a pail and then dump it into the new oil tank. The last few gallons that drained from the oil tank were given to the scrapper/guy with the OWB since there was too much visible sediment in it for my liking.


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## johneh (Nov 18, 2016)

Remove the pipes  a friend switched to ng removed the tank and left the fill
pipes . AN oil company got the wrong address and pumped 600 liters of oil
into his finished basement . The family was out of the house 11months and
it cost the oil company's ins. over 700 thousand dollars for the clean up and
repair


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## firefighterjake (Nov 19, 2016)

johneh said:


> Remove the pipes  a friend switched to ng removed the tank and left the fill
> pipes . AN oil company got the wrong address and pumped 600 liters of oil
> into his finished basement . The family was out of the house 11months and
> it cost the oil company's ins. over 700 thousand dollars for the clean up and
> repair



In Bangor where I work we require folks making the switch from oil to natural gas to remove the pipes for that very reason.


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## WES999 (Nov 19, 2016)

When I replaced my oil tank, this is what I did.
Get a couple of 55 gal drums to put the oil into. I disconnected the line at the filter and drained the oil into a large pan
and dumped it into the drum. I did not want to get any sludge or sediment as I was putting the oil into the new tank.
It will take some time to do it this way but the oil will be clean.  
HF has a inexpensive hand crank drum fuel pump that I used to transfer the oil from the drum into the new tank.

Cut an access hole in the tank,  plenty of you tube videos on how to do it.  Remove the sludge at the bottom, 
you will probably have 5-10 gal. Use cat litter to absorb whats left. Use a sawzall the cut the tank into manageable
pieces. 

I put an ad on CL for scrap metal and it was gone in 2 hrs.

Definitely remove the pipes.


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## velvetfoot (Nov 19, 2016)

Just make sure that little oil valve behind the filter still works.


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## peakbagger (Nov 19, 2016)

Drill pumps are cheap and pump fuel oil quite well. Just hook them up to the outlet connection and pump it into a barrel. There will be sludge the bottom which will eventually not pump and plug the suction. The biggest risk is lugging the tank out of the basement as the bottom may be real tender. Most contractors cut hole in the tank and then pump out the sludge.

Definitely remove the fill pipes, too many cases of folks hooking up to pipes that  are no longer hooked up to a tank.


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## edge-of-the-woods (Nov 19, 2016)

Can a sawzall or similar tool cut through the fill pipes easily enough?


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## Mike Fromme (Nov 22, 2016)

Free ad on CL.


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## edge-of-the-woods (Nov 23, 2016)

Thanks everyone!

Mike, Craigslist is actually how I got rid of the oil and the fill and vent pipes.  A guy came out and drained the tank, took out about 120 gallons.  He disconnected the pipes and cut 'em up and took them right out.

I'm going to grab a reciprocating saw, probably the cordless 20v DeWalt saw, and cut up the tank myself and put it out for scrappers.


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## maple1 (Nov 24, 2016)

I left my pipes in place, but I put the wrenches to them outside so they're pointing down now. Haven't ruled out not having oil again some day in the future.


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## Dr.Faustus (Nov 25, 2016)

how far away are you from say danbury? i know I guy who will take the oil and the tank for free.


i just looked it up on mapquest. its quite a ways away. Just put an ad on craigs list. free oil and tank. you remove from basement and haul away.

just make sure they bring a way to empty the tank prior to moving it! they need buckets and an additional tank. if they dont, they can bump the tank, easily break a fitting and next thing you know there is oil all over the basement.


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## rowerwet (Nov 26, 2016)

one of those rotary had pumps works, just find a hose to extend the bottom of the stand pipe so it reaches to the bottom of the tank, and find another hose to run down to the barrels you are pumping into.
I got my first pump at tractor supply, then found a hole in the casting, so had to return it. Best part about these is that you can turn it backwards once it is primed, and it will pump the other way, the best way to clear a hose when changing barrels.


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## edge-of-the-woods (Nov 29, 2016)

rowerwet said:


> one of those rotary had pumps works, just find a hose to extend the bottom of the stand pipe so it reaches to the bottom of the tank, and find another hose to run down to the barrels you are pumping into.
> I got my first pump at tractor supply, then found a hole in the casting, so had to return it. Best part about these is that you can turn it backwards once it is primed, and it will pump the other way, the best way to clear a hose when changing barrels.



That's exactly what the guy used!  It took him a while to crank it all out, and three trips with a 55-gallon drum, but it worked like a charm.


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