[Farmall] Cleaning Rusty Gas Tanks

[jtchall at nc.rr.com]

Check for baffles before you put anything in the tank other than liquid! For 
tanks without baffles I have added gravel and water and then strapped them 
to a large tractor tire. As far as chain, I've heard that too long of a 
piece can manage to tie itself in a knot.  Make sure there isn't a stand 
pipe on the shutoff that can get damaged. I'm pretty certain we have sent 
tanks to radiator shops to be soaked in a cleaning vat, you probably won't 
have any paint left on it though. If its more trash than rust, drain the 
fuel and then flush the tank like crazy with water. I've even filled them 
full of water and stuck a long air nozzle in there to create turbulence and 
break stuff free. As soon as I drained the water, I would blow it dry as 
best as possible and quickly return it to service to prevent flash rust. 
Maybe dump in a pint or so of kerosene or diesel to splash around to prevent 
rust unless you are planning on adding some sort of sealer.

Of course common sense applies when dealing with the fumes and residual fuel 
when beginning the cleaning--especially if you are in a hurry and don't have 
time to let all the fuel evaporate.

Good luck and be safe.

John Hall


-----Original Message----- 
From: South Mountain Pharmacy
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:16 PM
To: Farmall/IHC mailing list
Subject: [Farmall] Cleaning Rusty Gas Tanks

I have a gas tank on my T-5 that is giving problems with clogging up the 
fuel filter with rust particles.  I know this was discussed many years ago 
and think I even cleaned up a few tanks since I still have some Johnson Fuel 
Tank Liner but thats probably 15 years ago and my memory isn't what it used 
to be.  I know some sort of soluition was mixed up and then chain sections 
were placed inside the tank to agitate and scrub the inside of the tank. 
What was the cleaning solution and how do you guys agitate your tank.  I 
remeber some guys strapped them to a tractor rear wheel but I know I never 
did that.  Looking for any ideas that may come to mind as I need to get this 
done ASAP.

Lane Freeman
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