Man Killed while making BBQ out of Oil Drum.....!!!!!

[brin]

I have done this myself....I cut a vent hole in the side of a metal 55 gal. drum a couple of times to use as a burn barrel and I used a grinder with a cutting blade...but I made sure the steel drums had been used for something other than flammables..in my case they were used for pickles...Here is the article...Be Careful...

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Man, 48, killed in explosion sparked when he sawed an oil drum in half to make a DIY BBQ | Mail Online

 

[Localmotion]

That's terrible... I've made a few bbq's out of oil drums myself - although never been used for anything other than oil before. But will definately be careful in future!

 

[Deere Dude]

Wow, that sucks. It sounds like the thing that killed him was the fall.
I have been getting 55 gallon drums from a fiberglass repair shop and that stuff is very flammable. For burning barrels, I always used a chisel to cut the top off and it worked well. One time a few years ago I had one that was sitting around for years and had the bung out already so I thought I would just use the welder to cut the lid off. I heard a big whoof from the hole. I tried it again and got another whoof, so I quit using that method. I then commenced to chisel it off like I always had.

 

[creekbend]

Sad story indeed. I have a question. The article stated that there was an explosion due to sparks igniting "left over gasoline". We all are aware that gasoline fumes are highly volatile. If the barrel hadn't contained left over gasoline, and had only oil residue in it, would the oil residue, in itself, be volatile enough to cause such an explosion?

 

[brin]

Sad story indeed. I have a question. The article stated that there was an explosion due to sparks igniting "left over gasoline". We all are aware that gasoline fumes are highly volatile. If the barrel hadn't contained left over gasoline, and had only oil residue in it, would the oil residue, in itself, be volatile enough to cause such an explosion?

I know someone will know the answer but I would only ad....We all need to be careful since no matter what the person we buy the barrel from says was in there...Who knows...maybe there was gasoline for years and then oil storage...so we cut into it and boom ! Best to fill it with water before doing any cutting....I think that eliminates the risk but, again, I am not sure....

 

[creekbend]

I know someone will know the answer but I would only ad....We all need to be careful since no matter what the person we buy the barrel from says was in there...Who knows...maybe there was gasoline for years and then oil storage...so we cut into it and boom ! Best to fill it with water before doing any cutting....I think that eliminates the risk but, again, I am not sure....

Thanks for your reply. I, most definitely agree, that we all should take all precautions and measures. As you previously stated, we can't really be sure of the original or last contents of the container.

 

[LazySusanFarms]

These 55 gallon barrels are so plentiful from companies that use them for food storage. Why would someone buy a barrel that they didn't know the contents. Feel sorry for the guy but......

 

[KWentling]

Sad story indeed. I have a question. The article stated that there was an explosion due to sparks igniting "left over gasoline". We all are aware that gasoline fumes are highly volatile. If the barrel hadn't contained left over gasoline, and had only oil residue in it, would the oil residue, in itself, be volatile enough to cause such an explosion?

The fuel/air mixture has to be in a certain range to be explosive, but, yes, oil residue can be explosive. Had a coworker that was cutting the tops off of 55 gallon drums to make trash cans and had one blow up. Fortunately he wasn't leaning over it. When they blow they blow "up". It just put a severe bulge in it but it went several feet in the air, and scared the crap out of everybody. I don't remember what product had been in the barrel. That was about 28 years ago. You can run car exhaust, CO2, anything that removes the oxygen and cut them with a torch.

Kim

 

[tungularafishcamp]

We were tendering on the Ak penn. 30 some years ago and decided to make a banya(sauna) on the beach. Picked up a old rusty 55 gal drum off the beach with no bung cap and rusty sea water inside to make a stove. Put it on the deck of the boat and was gonna cut a hole for a door and one for the stack with a cutting torch. On a whim I passed the torch past the bung hole, whoosh it took off 30' across the deck and slammed into the bulwarks and bowed out both top and bottom of the drum. That was a eye opener!!

 

[CurlyDave]

Around here, burn barrels go for $15, with one end already cut off.

Now, this won't make a barbecue, but it is a much safer way to get a burn barrel. Plus, I can look at the inside of the barrel and see whatever residue is in there. Some kind of syrup-looking stuff, probably from high-fructose corn syrup, is pretty common.