15 gallon HDPE barrels

[Hornet]

I have access to free used 15 gallon barrels. These are number 2 high density polyethylene barrels with standard 2" bungs, the bung plug also has an inner 3/4" pipe fitting that is sealed. They had industrial grade soap which is easily washed out. I've used a bunch of these for trash barrels in my shop. My work place has to pay to have them disposed of so if I take them off their hands they're happy. I thought folks on here might have a use for them. I've checked and as long as the barrels are washed out FedEx will ship them. Any one interested let me know. I'm not asking anything for them except shipping costs, or if you're local you can pick them up from me.

[TruckerDon]

I don't know about HDPE, but I have some metal 15 gal barrels that had VP race fuel, and they fit perfectly between the frame and the outer bed skin in front of the rear tire. A couple of these = cheap WVO tanks. The HDPE would probably retain heat even better. What is your business? I'd like to exchange my metal barrels for HDPE if they'd fit.

Don.

[BlueMule]

[ QUOTE ]
and they fit perfectly between the frame and the outer bed skin in front of the rear tire. A couple of these = cheap WVO tanks. The HDPE would probably retain heat even better.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don
Thats a great idea! I'll have to look into that and see if I can make that work for me. What did you use for mounting brackets? Do you have any pictures? If so I'd sure like to see them. Please.
You might check with your local carwash for the plastic 15's, thats where I get mine. Tire dressing and colored wax is what originally comes in them.

[h2odrx]

thats a cool idea and i guess they would make good methoxide tank?

pm headed you way
thanks

[Hornet]

Well I just did a FedEx rate check and to ship to one person was about $10 a barrel.[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] A lot more then I thought it would be so this may not be as great a deal to someone unless you can pick up. The barrels weight 8 pounds and are 14" in diameter by 26" tall.

[bork]

where to ?

[h2odrx]

1100 miles? for 10 bucks each? i guess that nots too bad? i wonder if you got a big box for them would it be cheaper?

[TruckerDon]

Rodney,

I haven't mounted mine yet. I'm still making wound heat exchangers that will fit in the 2" bung opening. I'm hoping to not cut the barrels at all. I would REALLY like to try the HDPE barrels. One on each side would give 30 gallons, and a Excursion tank where the spare goes... well... I could get pretty much anywhere and back on 70 gallons. Especially after I put in the 3.08's.

D.

[Hornet]

It's up to you all. I'm not padding the shipping any, that wasn't my point for this. I just thought someone could get some good use out of them for alternative fuel projects. I work for a hospital, these barrels contain the soap used for the cart washer rooms in our central supply department. So you could probably approach any hospital and find these barrels. At our hospital the person that has to deal with getting rid of them is our "safety officer" so you might try contacting this person. There's nothing hazardess about the soap, it's a mild corrosive but not near as bad as battery acid and we've all dealt with that. Just a thought.

[BlueMule]

Hey Don
Are you mounting these on the 97 or the 99? It must be the 99. I cant get them to fit a 96. The bottom of the body curves in and only leaves 14" of clearance. The plastic barrels are 15.5" and the metal is 15". I cant use the pass side because thats where my stacks go up thru the bed and on the drivers side the brackets for the e-brake cable are in the way.

[TruckerDon]

I'm doing it on the '99. The '97 is dead. Sorry, I forgot to look at your sig. Bend the bedside out of the way a little at the bottom. It might spring back. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[flyingisbest]

Holy cow, I have a few of these and had I thought of this would have tried these instead of making the huge Excursion style tank. Oh well. What are your plans for filling and venting? The 2" bung hole would be for filling I would guess but you have to combine them for one filler neck per side? Can you maybe put 2 in a row, face to face on either side and tee off the 2" bungs for the fill for 60 gallons total? Maybe put the fill on the bottom and the 3/4" bung used for vent. That leaves still a need for an output hole, plus one for a fuel sender if need be. Options there are bulkhead fittings or the old RC plane fuel tank rubber stopper trick. A rubber stopper with hole for the pipe, and bolts passing through the stopper, through metal plates on either side as "squeeze plates". Install the pipe, bolt down the screws and the squeezed rubber stopper seals the tank and holes just perfect. Of course don't use real rubber for veggie or biodiesel :-)

Since I may need to install a weight distributing hitch, I may need to remove my huge 62 gallon Excursion style tank, so this info may be valuable. Would love to see how you plan to plumb things :-)
P.S. If that happes I will have a very sturdy 62 gallon tank for sale.

[TruckerDon]

I'd love to get that Excursion tank. I want to hold as much as possible under the truck. I go on 1100 mile trips monthly. I need to have as much capacity as possible, while keeping my bed open.

I'm probably going to drill and solder all of my lines into the 2"bung. I am thinking of plumbing my 2 tanks in parallel, and I was thinking of T-ing another 1/2" line into the common fuel line for filling. Instead of using gravity to fill, I was going to use about 10psi on this line to fill. I will probably have a hydraulic quick connect above my bumper and below my tailgate. The smaller bung will probably be a vent. I still haven't gotten that far, yet. I need to go buy some soft aluminum tubing for my pickups and my heat exchangers.

[flyingisbest]

Scratch the previous post, I researched weight distributing hitches. All this time for some reason I thought weight distributing hitches mounted to the truck. They don't, so my super sized tank can stay. A side note, if you haven't ever looked at how a weight distributing hitch works, it's pretty cool. THey use leverage on the trailer tongue to essentially lift the truck rear somewhat and push down on the front suspension. You can actually lift the rear tires off the ground by setting the chains too tight.

Anyway, back to the tank. You might consider making up one of these tanks like mine. Mine is made up from steel from a scrapped 275 gallon oil tank so it is quite robust. If I hit something with the tank, the tanks will impart the damage, not the other way around. 62 gallons give or take. Enough to take me from my home in Penna down to Florida I figure, on one tank full. The tank is heavy but installs beautifully, as I welded a couple nuts in 2 places to permit a long bolt to be slid through the 2 nuts, to act as a retainer of the built in spare tire winch cable. The winch lifts the tank in place no sweat. 4 bolted frame brackets welded to the tank keep it in place. Filler neck tube and vent tube snake over the spring shackle on the driver's side to a scrap yard fill neck and cap in the rear wheel well. All in all, this was easier, in hindsigh,t than what you are trying to do, if that helps any. But you won't have to dump the spare tire. Life is full of compromises.

[FTG-05]

Keep in mind that 15 gallon HDPE food grade barrels are available from most bottling plants for as little as $5 each. They are used by the bottling plants for their syrup concentration and are not allowed to reuse them, hence you can buy them cheap.

Just call the local bottling plant (Coke, Pepsi etc.) and ask for the guy that sells the used barrels. 30 gallon barrels go for around $10 and 55 gallon barrels for about $15 each. Wash them out a couple of times to get rid of MOST of the after-taste and you can use them to store potable water also, which is one use I use them for.

Hope this helps.

Al