transporting welding tank

[juddspaintballs]

My dad gave me his Hobart mig welder but kept his 20 cu ft tank. I'm seriously considering buying my own 80 cu ft tank since I live a lot further out from a welding shop or gas supplier than he does. The problem with any tank, is that I own a station wagon and two SUV's. I don't have a pickup truck and probably won't for a while. I have a utility trailer. What's the best way to transport the tank? I know I can't put it in the vehicle with me. I have a hitch carrier for the SUV's but that seems unsafe. Both SUV's have roof racks, but that also seems unsafe. Will I really have to hitch up my trailer and drag it 30 miles just to transport a single gas tank?

 

[Looking4new]

The safest way is to stand it upright and anchor it good.

 

[aczlan]

I would make a "collar" to sit on your trailer or hitch carrier and hold the bottom still, then use 4 heavy straps to hold the tank down and keep it from moving.
Alternatively, you could make an upright that you could tie the tank to in several places.

Aaron Z

 

[Reverser]

However you decide to do it, you might first check with the gas supplier and make sure that how you want to do it is ok with them. They may have rules about how the customer transports the bottles.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I think that it is illegal to transport it in the SUV, but the gas suppliers refuse to let you put it in the vehicle anyways so it's a moot point. Roof, hitch carrier, or trailer (or motorcycle )

 

[Stick895]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't access to a pickup in WV, rent or borrow.

 

[CNC Dan]

I just put my 80cf tank of C25 in the back seat floor area. With the passenger seat all the way back there is little room for it to move around. If you get a LWS that gives you a hard time, just park down the street and walk in with the tank over your shoulder. If it was a fuel gas, I would drive with the windows down and unload it as soon as I could.

With the safty cap on, they're quite safe. Only risk is a small leak that could fill a small space over time. Or getting hit by loose tank if you were in an accident.

 

[haveissues]

I try to grab them with my pickup but have used my hatchback occasionally. Here the welding shop puts them on the loading dock. What you do next is your business.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I went to the LWS and purchased a 80 cu ft tank already filled for $225. It doesn't have the company name stamped on the neck, just a sticker on the tank. Getting it "filled" is in the form of a tank exchange, but with the neck not stamped, I can take it to any gas supplier. I have the invoice that says I purchased it too.

They put it on the loading dock for me and let me do with it what I pleased. I put it in the back cargo area of my Volvo wagon and secured it up against the back seats. No issues :thumbsup:

 

[jim_wilson]

In the past - I've been transporting the 40cf and 80cf tanks I've been using by just putting them int the trunk of my car and putting milk crates around them so they don't roll around.

But I've seen a couple of good deals on 125cf tanks lately on Craigslist - so now I'm thinking of picking up some bigger tanks. I thought I remember reading somewhere that tanks are *supposed to be* transported upright. I could do that with the 80cf tanks - because I can just put them in the back of the Suburban. But there's no hope of that with a 125 cf tank. Can the cylinders be transported laying down? I could transport larger tanks by putting them into my utility trailer - but even there I'd have to lay them down - the sides just aren't tall enough to support standing up a cylinder. I'd build a "cage" for them if I had to - so there was something there protecting them and to make it easier to handle and transport them.