Advice on bulk tank

[markcasper]

I was informed last night that my uncles 600 gallon round bulk tank breathed its last. It was actively being used in dairying. I'll make a long story short. My dad said he wants $400 for it. It's a surge tank and is not a vacuum tank.

He found a replacement one and they pulled it out of the milkhouse yesterday.

The refrigeration/electrician guy told him that he could get $400 for it by taking it to the salvage yard. He had one go out about 5 years ago (same thing) and he gave that one to me.

I don't really have a use for it at this time, but may in another 5 years or so.

Is it worth this price considering I live in Wisconsin. I know scrap is up, but I would think that in order to get $400 out of scrapping it, it would have to be cut up in smaller pieces. Any thoughts?

[Pete33Vt]

If you have the room get it and store it. You never know. Someday it will come in handy.

[Fred Henderson]

The going price is $1 a gallon.

[Dave Y]

If the tank doesn't leak keep it! Im not so sure about SS for scrap. I had a scrap yard give me sheets of scrap SS. The said it had little or no value. Things may have changed since though. Call a scrap yard and ask if it has value or not.

[Russell Lampron]

$400 is not a bad price for a 600 gallon bulk tank and if you already got one for free split the cost between the two and it is more like $200. If you don't need it and want to sell it you can get that much or more for it.

Russ

[royalmaple]

Local Scrap Prices here are SS about .15/lb, and yes you'd have to cut it up into no larger than 3' sections. or they'd take it but dock you on the overall price. Any copper tubes in the tank if you got them out and separated are about 2.00/lb. You'd have to clean out all the insulation as well. Or if you sold it as one lump, you may get SS price for the total weight since the scrap yard will dock you and have one of the gorilla's cut it open and separate it. So say it weighs 1000 pounds that is 150.00. It does not weigh 2500 pounds.

Not to say 400.00 is too much to pay for the tank, but that is not scrap prices.

[maplehound]

Does it have the compressor with it? If so and it is an old piston type then consider that it would be worht alot for scrap as well. My self though I would offer him a little less and tell him it will save him alot of work cutting it up. I have said before that I haven't paid more than $150 for any of my tanks and most not over $50. But most of those where in the milk house and I had to remove them. This one is outside and that is worth alot right there.

[Maple Valley]

I don't know about your area but where I am you couldn't touch that tank for that price. They might only pay those prices to you when buying from you, but are they much higher if you are buying from them. The copper inside is like free money to the scap yard so they will dock you for not cutting it up but take off your hands as fast as they can. Sounds like a good investment and buy to me that is just my two cents!

[maple flats]

I just bought a 550 gal @ $400 and thought it a decent price, but not as good as $100 I paid for a 415 gal a year and a half ago. If it is saimilar to what I got it might weigh 300-350#. Scrap is not THAT good but it is worth the money to us and could be sold for up to a $ a gal this time of season. Buy it if you can.

[markcasper]

Thanks for all of your input! I am going to call the regional salvage yard in the next few days and ask what they'd pay for it.

I looked in the farm paper from last week "The Country Today" and in there scrap "clean" stainless was priced at $115-$150 per CWT. I'm not sure what their definition of "clean" is, I will find that out.

Maplehound-it does not have the compresser coming with it. I beleieve that he bought this other working tank and compresser as a package. I did not hear anything about the old compresser, as it would be useless as the tank is junk anyway.

[sbmaple]

Im in the scrap metal business.In order sell that as clean you have to strip off any non stainless pieces pipe,wire,screws ,insulation.if that 115 to 150 a ton than your not geting much more than tin price.I'd keep it or sell it as usable tank.

[markcasper]

sb maple, I have always understood CWT to mean 100 pounds. I am probably stupid, but in the dairy business, its always $__.__ per CWT, meaning so much per 100 pounds. Is this what is meant by CWT?? Not to be mistaken for CWD (chronic wasting disease).

I'm guessing the whole tank is somwhere between 4-500 pounds. If you took all of the copper pipe, insulation, etc from it, you'd probably be left with 300 pounds of stainless. Take 300lbs. x $140 dollars per CWT, it would be like $420 total for the tank. And that would have to be cut to under 3 foot each?

Now figure the time to cut it, fuel for the torch and transport, then have to haul it 40 miles one way and you have over a half day invested.

[maple flats]

Mark, clean means just SS and nothing else, no copper, insulation, etc. After my last answer posting I thought of a question that might change whether to buy or not. How far away from you is this tank? Distance alters the price because of the fuel and time to go get it. The 3 tanks I have were about 10mi (415gal/$100), 40 mi (approx 300 gal/free), and 12mi (550gal/$400) with the 2 I bought having good covers and good condition, the free, no covers and fair condition. Good luck
Dave

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Stainless needs to cut with a Plasma or laser/An Acetylene torch literally won't cut it...

[Dave Y]

If my caculations are correct and they my not be, the SS in that tank is worth about 30 bucks. keep it or sell it whole as a usable storage tank.

[markcasper]

I called over to Toy's scrap and Salvage and asked them:

.20 cents per pound brought in the way it is.

$1.20 per pound brought in pieces with all insulation removed.

This srap yard place is about 40 miles from my place and they pay more than anyone in the area. To whomever asked my uncle lives "over the hill", about a half mile.

[Fred Henderson]

I bought nice flat SS 3/16" plate from a scrap yard for inside my arch doors and paid 1 buck a pound.

[sbmaple]

I'm sorry i didn't realize there were places that bought scrap by the 100lbs.Around here scrap bought and sold by the pound or ton.if the tank comes with a valve that has some value to.I had a farmer offer me $50 for the valve off one of my tanks.We use fernco fittings anyway.