In order to get to the oil tank, we had to cut a path through the undergrowth.
And there's the tank. With no mains gas supply in many areas, houses in rural Cornwall mostly burn heating oil (kerosene) in their boilers. It's inefficient, stinky and since it is delivered periodically by a tanker vehicle, requires a large, ugly oil tank to be parked permanently in the garden.
Thankfully we won't be spending any more (cold) winters in that old house (we certainly won't miss running out of oil and having to wait 2 weeks for the next delivery...) so the oil tank can be removed.
Before trying to move the tank, the first step was to make sure it was completely empty. According to the gauge we had almost run out, but frustratingly (since we'd hardly used the heating last winter for fear of running dry) we found the tank still contained well over a hundred litres of fuel. So we'd frozen our bits off for nothing - grrr!
Once the tank had been emptied and the heating oil stashed away safely in dozens of petrol cans and small containers, we could finally disconnect the oil pipes and move the tank. Despite being empty, the thick steel tank was still too heavy for us to lift, but we managed to tip it onto the grass bank behind and then from there flipped it down (with an almighty crash) onto the track below.
Once the tank had been thrown over the bank, it was amazing how much space had been cleared. We even found an old butler's sink nestling in the weeds!
Although we'd managed to grapple the oil tank out of the garden, we still couldn't lift the damn thing and it was stuck there blocking half the track. So to get it moved swiftly out of the way, we attached some straps to it and used the car to drag it down the track. It was an effective way to shift such a heavy weight, but as the photo shows, it scuffed up the track a bit in the process.
In order to dispose of the oil tank, it was clear we'd need to cut it up into smaller, more manageable pieces, but we also had the idea that if we cut it in half, it could serve as a large, strong garden incinerator/brazier. Building a house produces loads of rubbish and we could do with somewhere safe to burn waste timber and packing materials.
The only tiny flaw in this plan was that we'd need to use an angle grinder to cut through the thick steel and the sparks and heat from this, could ignite any residual fuel/fumes left in the tank and cause some kind of explosion. Hmm...
Although kerosene isn't as flammable as petrol, we still decided to play it safe by half-filling the tank with water. This should help prevent any unwanted fireballs once the angle grinder got going (in theory...)
There aren't any guidebooks for this kind of thing, so despite figuring that there is no way it should explode, there's still always that slight nagging doubt...
It worked. With the oil tank cut in two, we were now able to lift each half which will make it much easier when it is time to dispose of them.
For the time being though we still needed a garden incinerator, so after filing down any sharp edges, we drilled a series of ventilation holes along the sides. This was not easy as the steel was so tough and thick (see photo below) that the drill had a hard time getting through the metal.
Once the oil tank had been drilled and mounted on top of some breeze blocks, our homemade incinerator was ready for action. It was just as well, as we had several mountains of rubbish that needed clearing (not to mention over a hundred litres of kerosene that we drained out of the 'empty' tank which could used to help get the fires going).
The incinerator worked a treat, producing a roaring fire but still maintaining control so that none of the established plants got singed.
It'll be very useful to have once we start demolishing the old house, as we'll have tons of timber (mainly rotten, if the roof is anything to go by) that will need to be burnt safely.
No comments :
Post a Comment