New Uses For Old Fuel Oil Tanks

2014 - Volume #38, Issue #5, Page #10

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FARM SHOW subscriber Richard Connell of Holland Center, Ont., reports there’s a surplus of expired home heating oil tanks in his area. “I decided to make a couple into feeders and a portable burn tank.”
  Connell made 2 feeders from 5 by 4-ft. tanks. One of the feeders he uses to feed creep rations to young calves, and the other one he uses as a salt and mineral feeder. He cut another tank apart and made a portable burn tank that rests above ground on legs and skids so it doesn’t kill the grass underneath it.
  To make the feeders, Connell first emptied the tanks, flushed them out and made sure that the filling cap and drain plug were open. “I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any danger of starting a fire, even though the tanks had been used for fuel oil,” Connell says. Then he cut a square hole measuring 3 1/2 by 2 ft. in one side of the tanks.
  “I used a reciprocating saw rather than a circle grinder or a torch,” Connell says. “That way there wasn’t going to be a lot of sparks and heat to start a fire if there was some fuel left in the tank.” After cutting the opening he used a pressure washer to thoroughly clean the inside of the tanks with a soap solution, then rinsed them with clean water. He drilled drain holes in the side opposite of the cutout so moisture can drain out and not spoil the feed or mineral. To protect cattle from the sharp metal edges on the cutout he lined the hole with 1-in. plastic tubing.
  Connell built a U-shaped barrier about 6 ft. sq. around the creep feeder tank so calves can reach the feed but older cattle are kept out. “It takes some labor to fill the feeder with bags of feed,” Connell says, “but I didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars for a factory-built feeder.”
  Connell made the creep feeder and burn containers portable by adding ski-type skids on the bottom.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Connell, R.R. 1, Holland Centre, Ont., Canada N0H 1R0 (ph 519 794-4649).

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New Uses For Old Fuel Oil Tanks LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment FARM SHOW subscriber Richard Connell of Holland Center Ont reports there’s a surplus of expired home heating oil tanks in his area “I decided to make a couple into feeders and a portable burn tank ” Connell made 2 feeders from 5 by 4-ft tanks One of the feeders he uses to feed creep rations to young calves and the other one he uses as a salt and mineral feeder He cut another tank apart and made a portable burn tank that rests above ground on legs and skids so it doesn’t kill the grass underneath it To make the feeders Connell first emptied the tanks flushed them out and made sure that the filling cap and drain plug were open “I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any danger of starting a fire even though the tanks had been used for fuel oil ” Connell says Then he cut a square hole measuring 3 1/2 by 2 ft in one side of the tanks “I used a reciprocating saw rather than a circle grinder or a torch ” Connell says “That way there wasn’t going to be a lot of sparks and heat to start a fire if there was some fuel left in the tank ” After cutting the opening he used a pressure washer to thoroughly clean the inside of the tanks with a soap solution then rinsed them with clean water He drilled drain holes in the side opposite of the cutout so moisture can drain out and not spoil the feed or mineral To protect cattle from the sharp metal edges on the cutout he lined the hole with 1-in plastic tubing Connell built a U-shaped barrier about 6 ft sq around the creep feeder tank so calves can reach the feed but older cattle are kept out “It takes some labor to fill the feeder with bags of feed ” Connell says “but I didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars for a factory-built feeder ” Connell made the creep feeder and burn containers portable by adding ski-type skids on the bottom Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Richard Connell R R 1 Holland Centre Ont Canada N0H 1R0 ph 519 794-4649

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