Moving a 500 gal Propane tank

[LD1]

Just thought I'd share some photos of what the little L3400 can do

I needed to move the propane tank about 3' closer to the house. I had birds nest in the cover, and the dogs (trying to get at them) chewed holes into the soft copper line running to the house.

So I went to town to replace the line, and I needed about 25' or so.

Well, it only comes in 20' and 50' lengths. And it is $$$. Now I know why it was burried only ~1/2" down and why they came up out of the ground too soon and angled it toward the house. (a PITA to mow around).

So my solution was to move it.

500 gallon. 37" diameter with a .248 shell thickness and .210 end thickness. With the valves, cover, and feet, I calcualte roughly 1100lbs.

BUT weight, there is 15% propane. .15 x 500 is 75 gallons @ 4.2lbs/gallon. So another ~315lbs.

~1415lbs at bucket edge. And thats about all it wanted. I have a pressure guage on the lift hose and it was ~2600lbs, and thats about what I have the relief set at. And it lifted SLOOOOWWWWW. But it did it.

 

[Kyle241]

Now that's a load! Surprising what these tractors can do. Like the toothbar. :thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

Now that's a load! Surprising what these tractors can do. Like the toothbar. :thumbsup:

No bar. Its actually just bolt on teeth bolted directly to my cutting edge:thumbsup:

 

[jonyyuma]

No bar. Its actually just bolt on teeth bolted directly to my cutting edge:thumbsup:

Man, those are great photos. would not have believed you could do it. Great balance.

 

[schoolsout]

Here's our MF 1533 doing the same thing...not sure of the size tank, but tractor didn't struggle a bit...I am always amazed by what these things can do

 

[LD1]

Man, those are great photos. would not have believed you could do it. Great balance.

Not too bad out of a camera phone.:thumbsup:

Balance was easy, one long chain over the bucket and through the loops on the end of the tank, as oposed to two chort chains:thumbsup:

And I know my guage is hard to read cause of the condensation, but there may actually be a tad more than 15% in there.

Kinda a bummer how this all happened, cause I normally leave the lid up because of bees. For whatever reason, it was down and birds nested. I would have just kicked them out, but they were robins:confused2: Fortunatally I always shut the valve off after winter and didnt lose all my propane. This actualy happend about a month or so ago. But I wanted to wait til the birds flew the coop before I moved it.

 

[schoolsout]

Not too bad out of a camera phone.:thumbsup:


And I know my guage is hard to read cause of the condensation, but there may actually be a tad more than 15% in there.

dang...I didn't see you had some propane in yours....ours was empty (assuming) as it has been sitting out there for years and years and years!

 

[jonyyuma]

I used to have these problems too with the wasps. I even pulled the copper line into ,one time while mowing by on my Deere. Now I have natural gas and iron pipe to house. Good luck on protecting your copper line. Jy.

 

[ustmd]

LD1,

That certainly took somne stones. I am impressed.:thumbsup:

I gotta ask--did the women know you were doing this? My wife would have had a fit if I suggested this and if I had done it without telling her, I would have gotten a beatin':laughing:

 

[k0ua]

Dang, the LA463 is only rated for about 1000 lbs. I am surprised it lifted it, course your relief is set a little higher than the 2475 ( I think) standard.
Wow, good lift, and nothing bad happened:thumbsup:

James K0UA

 

[LD1]

LD1,

That certainly took somne stones. I am impressed.:thumbsup:

I gotta ask--did the women know you were doing this? My wife would have had a fit if I suggested this and if I had done it without telling her, I would have gotten a beatin':laughing:

Yep. She knew. I told here I was going to do it. She is really clueless about this tractor stuff. And there really was no risk. Straight lift a few inches, and straight forward 3'. I didnt have to manuver or raise too high. I knew it would either lift it or not. If not, I was going to just do one side at a time.

Dang, the LA463 is only rated for about 1000 lbs. I am surprised it lifted it, course your relief is set a little higher than the 2475 ( I think) standard.
Wow, good lift, and nothing bad happened:thumbsup:

James K0UA

The 1000lb rating is at bucket center. It is only ~860lbs at the edge where I am. And yes, I shimmed the relief to get me a 2650psi relief. But that only makes a small difference. It just goes to show you that the LA463 is a tad underrated. And the 700lb blade on the back with loaded tires helped to lift the tank and not the back of the tractor:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

Just a few more shots to showcase what the l3400 is capable of.

Moving the 1100lb Bushhog Model 306 into the shop for work.

Took up 2000psi of my 2650psi avaliable to lift it. I forgot to grab a shot of the guage when moving the tank:confused2:

 

[R_Walter]

You sure that Bushhog weighs 1,100 lbs?

 

[hosspuller]

Did you measure the distance from the house to the tank? NFPA 58 says 50 feet minimum.

 

[LD1]

You sure that Bushhog weighs 1,100 lbs?

Weight is listed on page 8. 1078lbs, so yea, I am sure.:thumbsup:
http://www.opico.com/documents/305-306.pdf

Did you measure the distance from the house to the tank? NFPA 58 says 50 feet minimum.

Never heard of that. Only 10ft away minimum is what I have heard. And considering where it was located before, it as only about 15' away. All I did was make that about 12' now.

 

[hosspuller]

Never heard of that. Only 10ft away minimum is what I have heard. And considering where it was located before, it as only about 15' away. All I did was make that about 12' now.

I rechecked... You are correct for a 500 gal tank.... Sorry about the misinformation :confused2:

 

[LBrown59]

So I went to town to replace the line, and I needed about 25' or so.

Well, it only comes in 20' and 50' lengths.
So my solution was to move it.

I would have bought the footage I needed or bought the 20 footer and a 5 foot section and the fittings needed to connect them toghther.

 

[LD1]

I would have bought the footage I needed or bought the 20 footer and a 5 foot section and the fittings needed to connect them toghther.

That had crossed my mind, but copper is very expensive. AND I didnt want any more fittings than necessary.

Moving it was free, easy, and only took ~15 minutes:thumbsup:

 

[SPYDERLK]

Just a few more shots to showcase what the l3400 is capable of.

Moving the 1100lb Bushhog Model 306 into the shop for work.

Took up 2000psi of my 2650psi avaliable to lift it. I forgot to grab a shot of the guage when moving the tank:confused2:

Good rigging. .. Doesnt that gauge reading bounce a lot when you move with a load? I see its liquid filled but that wouldnt prevent rupturing the bourdon tube from overpressure spikes prevalent in a working loader line. I guess you usually keep the ball valve crossed?
larry

 

[LD1]

Good rigging. .. Doesnt that gauge reading bounce a lot when you move with a load? I see its liquid filled but that wouldnt prevent rupturing the bourdon tube from overpressure spikes prevalent in a working loader line. I guess you usually keep the ball valve crossed?
larry

Suprisingly it doesnt bounce as much as I thought it would. But then again, when I am lifting that much weight, I am not flying around the yard and over bumps either.

But when lowering, if I stop suddenly, I will see a little spike, maybe ~500psi over whatever the static psi was.