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swohio | Have a number of 55 gal. oil drums that the local recycleing place will take but need tops off or cut in half. Can I take the torch and cut these drums in half, or will I have a fire right now. Was going to burn out the oil after cutting apart. What is the safest way to do this? Thanks. |
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| Use an air chisel. Don't use a torch , I had a friend many years ago try a torch and the barrel blew up and he received third degree burns on his body. A very painful experience for him to go through. |
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NECIL | I use a small angle grinder to cut the tops off of ours. I don't burn the oil out. I just cut the tops off and put a couple slices in the bottoms to drain water and use them to throw scrap steel in. Usually fill them with what's considered prepared steel and take them in when full. Makes a nice container just outside the shop to throw scrap steel, bearing or parts into. |
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just a tish NE of central ND | NO TORCH ON DRUMS, Air chisel is my choice and even then I use caution.....Oil and acetylene torch can make it explode. I know a guy who did that. once.( and only once)Live to tell about it.
Once the top is off so it isn't a closed container anymore , then you can torch it. OIL will still make fire and mixed with oxygen will enhance the oil fire. |
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Sandy Hook, MB | Hello Sj3788
Safest & cleanest way is with a drum deheader. No explosions, sharp edges & head can even be used as a lid.
https://www.acklandsgrainger.com/AGIPortalWeb/WebSource/ProductDisplay/globalProductDetailDisplay.do?item_code=VESD-HEAD1
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Great White North | Never cut a barrel but could you not fill it with water and torch the top off? I'd figure no big boom if its pretty well full of water. |
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North End I-15 | I use a 3lb hammer and a 1" cold chisel , tops come off in less than 3 minutes . Good exercise also :>)
Have used air hammer but it's just as easy for me with the hammer and cold chisel . |
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CT | Back when I was too young to know better, I offered to cut the tops off of a few barrels for a neighbor that had held floor cleaning chemicals. The first few were fine, but on the last one I held the torch on the lid long enough to see the paint start to burn. Everything went into slow motion, and I remember the lid started to bubble up and that was it. No flames, just a big boom. Woke up a few seconds later with my father running from the barn wondering what had happened. The lid cleared a 2-story house, crossed the road, and landed ironically in the neighbor's yard who owned the barrels. I went to the hospital but other than a torn shirt and ringing ears I was ok. The windows blew out in the overhead door behind me.
It was a very stupid thing to do. |
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| i prefer an air hammer and exhaust splitter held with a vice grip to steer it. |
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White Stone, Virginia | Drum deheader. Easy and safe.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200317597_200317597?... |
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| Filling a barrel with water will bring all of the oil to the top right where your cutting. I learned the hard way as a teenager. It didn't blow but I had a heck of a fire. |
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Eastern Colorado | We cut all our oil drums with a cutting torch and never had a problem. Did they take to the plugs out before they started cutting? Might be a stupid question, but not sure how it created pressure if they didn't. I cut a few small holes along the side of the barrel along with taking the plugs out and start cutting. I put a small amount of water in to keep from flaming up. |
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| I've always cut the tops out of oil barrels with a torch. So far no problems but I never stick my head over the drum. I also usually light some paper towel & put it in the drum to burn any oil out before cutting. Remove both bungs as well. Wife use to work for a printing company when we were first married. She got some empty drums from there that had held cleaning fluid. before I cut one I dropped a lighted match in it. As I turned to walk away I heard a loud boom & something hit the ceiling. I took off out of the shed like a bat out of he!!. Came back in to find the top laying on the floor. After that I took them outside & put them around the corner of the building. I would reach around the corner & drop a match in, blowing out the top. Later on I realized that was a dump thing to do but it sure took the work out of removing the tops.
JMO, but I think a grinder or anything else that produces a spark would be just as dangerous as a torch. Even using a chisel will create a chance of an explosion. |
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Mount Vernon, WA | Me too. I've cut open several drums with a torch, never once had a problem. Lots of smoke, but no boom. These were drums that had oil residue in them, not fuel.
Having said that, I am not advocating this method. |
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| Sawzall works fine for me. Just cut in at the larger bung and go around the circle. Those deheaders look pretty slick if you were going to do very many, though. I just open one up when I need a new container to put shop scrap in. |
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west central illinois | 8 years ago my best friend since kindergarten cut a drum with a torch.
I was on the call and it completely filled his face with shrapnel, broke all the bones in his right hand, blew his ear drum and burnt his chest. The torch was bent in a V. He still has metal in his face today. I was so upset I couldn't hardly work the call. Please try a different method.
I don't know to this day how he isn't blind. It destroyed his glasses. |
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just a tish NE of central ND | TheHillbilly - 9/10/2013 12:40
Never cut a barrel but could you not fill it with water and torch the top off? I'd figure no big boom if its pretty well full of water.
I still wouldn't trust it. I would guess it would be quite a bit safer, but it would also not cut worth a darn if the lid was wet with water touching it.
Edited by School Of Hard Knock 9/10/2013 16:28
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| Steam expands too.
Gerald J. |
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audrain county missouri | Why dont you try to sell them.....they are hard to find around here since our oil comes in plastic drums now. Lots of people still use them for trash barrels but cant find many any more. |
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Great White North | Steam isn't going to expand fast enough to blow out a barrel if the plugs are out using a torch. I could see, as said above, that you could get a good fire going if you get a decent pool of oil on top of the water. |
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Wallis, TX | My wife lost an Uncle who was welding on a barrel full of water. Something he had done many times before. All it takes is once for something to go wrong. |
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Ohio | Plasma cutter here. |
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Kingdom of Callaway - Fulton, Mo 65251 | I use a electric drum deheader. Slick and easy!
Before I bought one, I rented one at a rental store. I think it was United Rentals. You might rent one if you won't do many in the future. |
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Texas/New Mexico Stateline | http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200317597_200317597
These work surprisingly well, only takes a minute or so. Take more little bites and it will leave a smooth finish. You can't use the top for a lid like other deheading tools, but we use it for trash barrels so it is fine.
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NE IL | I must say......I've successfully torched the lids off many drums before reading posts like this on agtalk. Never again! Not sure how ill start doing it.....sawz all??? |
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Saginaw Valley | I use a short barrel air chisel to cut the top out. First install ear plugs, next unscrew the large bung, start cutting next to rim 8 inches from large bung, when nearly finished put fingers in bung to keep lid from falling in barrel. Do another barrel and dump oil/dregs from one barrel into the other. When open barrel is empty, set upside down on cardboard (catches drips) to remove bottom. Last thing is to crush flat with heavy object (backhoe). smooth |
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WC MN | Wow! I quess I learned something today. Been torching drums for burning barrels forever. Think I'm going to get one of them tools. Thanks, KAD |
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s nd | .
Edited by ndred 9/10/2013 19:52
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South Central Kansas | We use a plasma cutter here. Can you smash them like a beer can with a front end loader. |
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Eastern Colorado | How much oil is in the barrel of these guys that blow the top off? If you have holes for the gas to escape, I can't see how the top blows off. I have had a fire going in the bottom but never was I concerned that the top would blow. |
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Western Iowa | There have been some good suggestions on cutting the tops out. I will add I know a guy that about bought the farm cutting lids off with a torch.
If I was just going to recycle it I would just smash it flat with whatever I had that was big enough to do it. Why waste the time taking the lid out? |
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Shaftsbury, Vermont (SW VT) | Me, too. I've got a 2" mason chisel that is sharpened up, and it doesn't take long to dehead a drum. We had a regular deheader, like a can opener, at the ready-mix company. |
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Dearfield Co. | find a different place to recycle them |
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What is the best way to cut old oil drums apart to recycle?
