250 gallon oil drum arch

[FunnyFarm]

I recently purchased a 3x5 stainless pan and was told that they had it set up on a 250 gallon oil drum. I'm fixing to do the same i was hoping that some of you were using a similar setup and could post some pictures so i could get some ideas. Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks much

[C.Wilcox]

Lots of fuel oil drum arches in use by people on the Trader. There are a number of different opinions on the function and ease of construction regarding the use of fuel oil drums so if you haven't already, do a search for "fuel oil drum" in the search function and you'll come up with a load of info. A number of the guys have posted photos of their setups in those threads. Here are a couple to get you started:

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=7374&highlight=fuel+oil+drum

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=6923&highlight=fuel+oil+drum

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=6931&highlight=fuel+oil+drum

[Gary R]

Most fuel oil tanks are 275gal. When cut the opening is 27"X60". It might be hard to fit your pan. They might have used a 250 gal. round tank. I don't know what size they would be. If you don't have a tank to fit your pan, I would suggest you build an arch. The pan is always the hard thing to find. If you can cut and weld you can make an arch out of angle iron and sheet metal. It will be easies to work with flat surfaces. Good Luck! I hope your building for next season.

[FunnyFarm]

I was thinking to put the drum on its side.. cut a fire door and some vents in the front and a stack out the back. line the bottom with some fire bricks and a grate. i guess my main question is should i attach some angle iron to the top of the drum alongside the hole i cut wide enough to keep the pan in place or should the pan drop down into the drum being held up by the lip of the pan...in which i would then have to cut the drum in a way so that the pan drain and front of the pan was exposed to the front. any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thx much

[PerryW]

I just measured my 250 (275?) gallon oval oil tank. It's about 5 feet long and 3.5' tall, but that is measuring the overall height.

So if you flip it on it's side, you should be able to fit your pan on there but due to the oval shape, you may have a couple inches of your pan hanging over the side.

But with a torch, you may be able to cut part of the seam and bend the curved part out to widen it up a little and weld in some steel to patch the cut area..

A 500 gallon cylindrical tank is 48" dia x 5.5' length, so that would work better. Just be careful with the cutting torch if the tank had gasoline in it.

[FunnyFarm]

Mine is the same measurements. Tank was used to store molasses for quite some time so no worry on blowing up lol

[buxtonboiler]

Check my photobucket. I made this arch this summer. It is a 275 oil tank. That is a 2X4 pan on top.

[Old County Road]

Hi All,

I am also in the "design" process on a oil tank evaporator and right now I'm thinking about the pan (2'x4'). Does anybody have input as to whether it is better to go with two dividers or three dividers in a 2'x4' pan? Two dividers would give you three "runs" of 8" and three dividers would give you four runs of 6" - if you know what I mean. Any advice?

Thanks!

[TessHayden06]

I have a simple question. I have the 275 oil tank arch going and I have some gaps to fill. The oil barrel is radiused on the sides, where the door and the stove pipe are. The top of the barrel is lined with angle iron, but with the radius this is not air tight. I bought some masonry mortar to fill these gaps thinking it would be easier and cheaper than the rope gasket method. If anyone has the same issue with a good fix please let me know...
Thanks. First year tapping trees, have 100 taps but plan on using only 50 to start.

[C.Wilcox]

I have a simple question. I have the 275 oil tank arch going and I have some gaps to fill. The oil barrel is radiused on the sides, where the door and the stove pipe are. The top of the barrel is lined with angle iron, but with the radius this is not air tight. I bought some masonry mortar to fill these gaps thinking it would be easier and cheaper than the rope gasket method. If anyone has the same issue with a good fix please let me know...
Thanks. First year tapping trees, have 100 taps but plan on using only 50 to start.

Not sure I understand how you set your barrel up. Most people cut the barrel in half lengthwise and end up with two pieces of nearly the same size. Both will have a curved bottom and a flat opening where the pan would sit. That flat opening is where you would normally weld in your angle iron to support your pan. You would then put a gasket on this angle before putting your pan on and then it should be basically air tight. The door is typically on the end of the barrel and you should have enough space to keep it from being affected by the curve of the bottom of the barrel. Did you set yours up this way or did you do something different?

[TessHayden06]

Yes, this is how I cut my tank. I have seen pictures of some other tanks and the short sides are flat...mine are not. I will try to post pictures tomorrow. The top, where the angle iron is welded on is curved. A top view looking straight down on the angle iron would look "U" shaped and the angle iron won't cover the entire radius. I hope that makes sense!

[Mac_Muz]

I have a common steel drum stove, but read about wondering if it was a good idea to drop the pan down into the fire box.. It would be a great idea, except that will over heat the sides of the pan, unless there is ALWAYS that much liquid level at all times there is a fire.

The only possible way I could see that is if you built an angle iron frame and into that insulation wool that can stand the heat to hold the insulation.

I would envision this as U channel construction to the pan rests on and against metal and the insulation is contained on 3 sides all the way around.

Buxton, that rig is a work of art! very clean work.

[KenWP]

My tank for the greenhouse has the concave ends on it also. Would make it hard to put a edge around it.