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QUESTION:I converted my heating system from oil to natural gas and plan to
remove the oil tank. I called the inspections department and found
out there are no regulations on residential oil tanks. I
could
leave the tank in the ground, but it is close enough to the surface
to interfere with some drain lines I planned to put in as part of a
planned brick patio project. It is also likely that NC will adopt
regulations like NY, MA, NJ, in the future and I would like to
get rid of this potenial problem while there are no regulations.
I am not interested in paying a lot of money in hiring this out.
My plan is to dig around the tank to expose
it and then get someone with a backhoe to pull it out.
Just how big is a 550 gallon oil tank? How heavy? Can you haul
it to the salvage yard in a small pickup?
ANSWER: You'll be taking on a big job and not really saving any money
by digging it out yourself. The biggest cost of getting a backhoe
to do a small job is the flat fee for getting the backhoe to the site.
If you're going to get a backhoe to yank the tank, have them dig it
out as well.
First part of the question is the important part: "Can you haul it
to the salvage yard". In many states were no legislation exists which
mandates the removal of buried tanks there IS legislation in place
about the DISPOSAL of tanks. I'd look very carefully into whether or
not you are allowed to take the tank to a salvage yard first.
Assuming the tank IS empty, a small pickup should be able to handle
the weight, but not necessarily the size. You'll end up having to stand
the tank upright in the truck bed and it'll be extremely unstable. Find
a friend with a full size truck and lay the thing down.
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