How to move a milk tank?

[danno]

Came across a deal on a 500 gal. Mueler in "like new" condition. I have to move it 10 feet across the barn floor, and then up 3 steps and out a tight entrance. Any suggestions for getting it up those 3 steps? Gotta figure it weighs over 1000 lbs. - it still has the condensor/agitator.

I was thinking of putting a 4x4 post behind the two front legs and winching off the post up aluminum ramps (if the ramps will carry the weight). If not, maybe block the underside of the ramps to help carry the weight. Don't want to bend or tear off the legs.

Any better ideas? Can't tractor/strap it.

Oh yea, once I get it home I've got to raise it up on a two foot platform to feed the RO - and also can't get a tractor in there. Any suggestions for straight lifting a tank. I don't think the rafters above will support a winch. Maybe jack and stack from underneath?

[davey]

with the bigger tanks we build a pallet under them. jack it up a little, run a couple of planks across the legs. We drill a leg size hole through these so the tank doesn't slide around. and then connect those with planks running the length of the tank so that the longer planks are under the width wise planks, as if they were skis on a sled. Add additional bracing to strengthen or stiffen the "pallet". As you build the front of it, put in some sort of framing that you can pull from.

[sapsucker78]

I have seen the milk equipment dealers use about a 4" wide channel iron to make a set of "rails". They will put these under the legs and push, pull or whatever it takes to go up a step or whatever they have to cross.
I moved a 800 gal muller out of a milk house that we had to roll on its side on to a sheet of about 1/8th" plastic and drag it out on its side to fit though the door. We had about 10 guys there and it wasn't as bad as it sounds. These tanks are more bulky then heavy. Syrup makers need lots of friends even in the off season!:) Good luck!

[maple flats]

At 500 gal I doubt it weighs that much. I loaded a 1000 gal Zero and it was under 1000#. However, try some channels like sapsucker78 suggested. Get some help there and a couple of 2x6's to pry with. Use come alongs from any sturdy anchor point.
I have now moved 3 tanks, a 415 Sunset, a 545 Sunset and the 1000 Zero. With each move I estimated too high and planned how to move it and each time it proved to be easier than I envisioned. Just think the move out and a few helpers will do fine.
On my last one, the 1000 zero it loaded fine because it was outdoors and the seller had a BIG payloader. On the unload end I did it with my mini excavator with no problem. The mini weighs 8000# and will lift 2500 2 feet out from the blade. I put straps around the tank and hooked them to the bucket. I then lifted the tank at about 8' out in front and held it while I pulled the trailer out from under it. There is no way it could have weighed over 1000# or the mini would have tipped that far out. Based on that I'll bet your tank weighs about 500-650#. Remove any extra weight you can first. On my sunsets I removed the agitators, lids and paddles. This was before I had the Mini.

[ctjim]

davey has the right idea. i helped my brother move a 1k gal. tank. we bolted 2x8's to the legs then screwed 2 more 2x8's to the ones on the legs like it had skiis, so we could slide it on some pipes to the doorway of the milkhouse then the farmer used his loader and slowly pulled it through the doorway and outside. we then used the pipes again to slide it in position to a tilt bed snowmobile trailer and put some pipes near the back of the trailer and slid the tank up until the trailer closed up flat and then straped it down and once back to where it was going we tilted the trailer and slid it off and using pipes slid it into its new milk room.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

When I put my "new" used tank (800 gallon Mueller) in my milk room, we had to lift it through a window. Four of us handled it and two of us were over 50:) Take the agitator, lids and whatever else you can off. They look a lot heavier than they are.

[brookledge]

When you go to raise it up Just use timbers to build a cribbing jack it up alittle and block it and then jack some more. 2 feet isn't that much to do but make certain that it is stable as you go. The others have pretty much covered your removal issues. Make sure you use the tape measure before to ensure it will fit as you go.
Many times farmers built the milk room around the tank
Good luck
Keith

[farmall h]

Strip everything off the tank and you will be surprised as to how light it is.

[Southtowns27]

The easiest way to move it is to get someone else to do it for you :)

[Amber Gold]

This has been a good post to read because I was thinking of the same thing myself. I will likely be moving my 600 gal tank out from under my shed roof next year. That's a good idea to put some skis on it and pull it and it will be how I remove mine.

Can you jack up directly against the outer shell of the tank? I wasn't sure if the shell would support the weight of the tank.

When you pull the tank, do you put a strap around the front legs? I'm wondering if the legs are strong enough to pull on without breaking.

[TF Maple]

Can you jack up directly against the outer shell of the tank? I wasn't sure if the shell would support the weight of the tank.

Personally, I wouldn't jack against the tank side without a board between the jack and tank. Spreads the weight and pressure out a little and the jack won't scratch the tank. Plus it would be a little less likely to slip off.

[davey]

We have always pulled on the pallet/cribbing that we built. This prevents damage to the tank as then it is just a passenger and not being pulled upon directly. Any strapping to the tank should be just to ensure it stays on the framework you built.

[maple flats]

I have jacked with a board under the point of contact and jacked at the very front and rear where the end and bottom meet. It is strongest there. However I just do that to walk a tank into final position or for final leveling. When I am moving a tank I have always used nylon straps around the tank or around each leg to lift. I have never dented a tank. But realize, any minor denting will be cosmetic, the inner tank and outer shell are separated by insulation of some type. If you can lift with straps on the legs, do it, if you must lift from under, just pad it and lift, use a jack or even a plank and folcrum. Just spread the weight some and pick the strongest point to lift. I happen to have some sling loops made of 12,000lb rated nylon and also have 4, 27' ratchet binders that are the same weight straping that work too.

[maple flats]

danno, one other thing. I have jacked my complete evaporator with steel cables and a homemade winch system to pour concrete. I used a 1" pipe over the ceiling joists the full length of the rig with 1/4" cable attached in 3 places. I then put a tee on one end and a 30" pipe in each end of the tee for handles to wind the cable up. I had one of these on each side. To lift I wound one and used a board to hold the handle, then would the other a turn or 2 and held. I repeated this, winding one side then the other until the evaporator, brick and all, was up where I could work under it. Then for safety I nailed a 2x6 from the joist near each cable and nailed a cross support 2x4 from side to side. My joists are 2' on center and the long pipe laid on 5 joists for support, and I used a couple of conduit straps on each pipe to hold it from walking as I wound the cable.
You could lift the same way on the tank to get it into it's final location if needed. This might be a last resort but it will work if other methods don't pan out. It took some pipe and cable but only took a few minutes to install and use.

[afretired]

I had a 500 gallon Mueler gave to me and I went to pick it up this afternoon. It wasn't any big deal. Me and my son-in-law wrestled it around to get it in shape to put on the trailer. I tipped it up and he slipped the ramps in under the front two legs. I then took a come-a-long and drug it onto the trailer. The biggest problem is, it is so slick and smooth, you can't get a grip on it. If it had handles on it, four guys could load it on a trailer without any problem. The agitator had already been removed so that made it a little lighter. Anyway, I've got it home, just waiting on building my sugar shack in a few months.

Also went by a recycling center today on the way home and bought four 55 gallon plastic barrels for $5 each. Two of them had apple cider in them and the other to had soy sauce. Now I just need a tank to go on my truck to run the taps.

Dave

[CTSap4Maple]

I'm moving a storage-only 800 gal. dairy tank a couple hundred miles on a trailer (looks like an older Surge or Sunset). Should the tank be laid on its side on the trailer to avoid stress on the legs during transport?

[n8hutch]

I would think the legs should be fine, surely they have a lot more stress on them when they are filled vs empty on a trailer, o would just strap it down good and tight and haul it, that's how I transported my 600 gallon surge.

[maple flats]

I agree, the legs are designed to hold the tank right side up, they are not as strong in any other position.

[BreezyHill]

The tank came to the farm on its leg. Send it to the new home on its legs.

The covering over the insulation is not a strong as it looks it will wrinkle and bend under the stress of its own weight on a trailer. Even when put into a 8" wide cradle with chaffing material. Been there done that.

Ben

[maple flats]

My first milk tank was a Sunset 415 gal tank. 4 of us lifted it and loaded it on a trailer by hand. I used 2 nylon 2" wide straps, slung the tank and had a 2x6 on each side, going lengthwise along the side of the tank. The 2x6's were about 3-4' longer than the tank so about 1.5-2' stuck out each end. With the straps holding the 2x6's together with the straps slung under the tank we lifted and carried the tank. It had to be carried about 30', from under a shed roof out to where we could get the trailer to. If I was doing it again by hand I'd only change 1 thing. It would have helped if a 3rd strap had gone around the tank a ratcheted tight to better hold the 2 2x6's on edge and tight against the tank.
A 500 might weigh more but not likely 20% more, each has cooling parts in between the inner and outer tanks, while that component would be heavier not likely by 20%, so most of the extra weight would just be the extra SS.
Once I got that tank to my sugarhouse I used the loader bucket on my tractor to lift it up onto my elevated platform for use as a head tank. That tractor can only lift 800# at midpoint in the bucket and I lifted it out front with 2 legs on the edge of the bucket and a inventive way to extend the lift out over the tank by 4' to lift the outer edge. I'd have slung it under the bucket but couldn't lift that high.