Old Anhydrous Tank Provides Mobile Air Supply

Old Anhydrous Tank Provides Mobile Air Supply FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 15-2-9 A 1,000 gal. converted anhydrous tank makes a nifty mobile air supply for cleaning out combines, powering air tools, and doing other chores around the farm, ac-cording to Fairbury, Ill., farmer Roger Wessels. He says the big tank provides a tremendous volume of air that's especially handy for cleaning out his two combines. He uses 50 to 60-ft. of hydraulic hose as an air hose for climbing all over the combines blowing out dust and chaff. Wessel has found unusual uses for the big air tank. "We used it to power air tools when taking down grain bins that were located a long way from the farm. And once we pulled it behind a semi with a blown engine that we were towing to power the air brakes on the truck." Wessels says the big tank was easy to convert to hold air and he doesn't think safety is a problem since he never puts over 175 psi in the tank and it was designed to handle much more. He fills the tank with a small 2-stage compressor - a process that takes about 11/2 hrs. - using the original anhydrous fittings on the tank. To clean the tank out before he first used it, he opened it up and let it sit exposed to the air for a couple weeks to allow any remaining anhydrous to escape. The only modification to the tank was the mounting of a couple toolboxes and an air compressor on top of it. Wessels says he couldn't weld anything directly to the tank because that could crack it so he had three lengths of 4-in. channel iron rolled to fit the curvature of the tank. He fit them over the top like a saddle and clamped them in place with straps that run underneath. He pulls the big tank around the yard with a garden tractor. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Wessels, Fairbury, Ill. 61739 (ph 815 692-2008).

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