Welding on 55 Gal Drum

[dieselscout80]

I want to weld some skids on my 55 gallon drum for diesel fuel. The skids would allow me to put a drain in the bottom so the drain, pipe and valve wouldn’t get damaged.

However, if I weld on the bottom rim will it leak afterwards?

 

[flyerdan]

Will the drum be used upright or on it's side normally? If it's on it's side, I would bend some flat bar and plug weld it to the thin material and tack it pretty good to the rims. Put all your runner supports and tow points on the heavier material. The plug welds will keep you from blowing out the thinner stuff and seal any pinholes. Don't drill too big of plug holes. I just did something similar to this on the Bobcat muffler, it had a couple of holes and that seemed the best way to patch them.

 

[dieselscout80]

It will be vertical always unless there’s an oops and hopefully that won’t happen.

 

[dieselscout80]

Will the drum be used upright or on its side normally? If it's on its side, I would bend some flat bar and plug weld it to the thin material and tack it pretty good to the rims. Put all your runner supports and tow points on the heavier material. The plug welds will keep you from blowing out the thinner stuff and seal any pinholes. Don't drill too big of plug holes. I just did something similar to this on the Bobcat muffler, it had a couple of holes and that seemed the best way to patch them.

I hadn’t thought about plug welding.

Thanks

 

[CliffordK]

I haven't welded on one. However, I'd probably choose to stay away from the rim if at all possible. Otherwise you could be chasing your tail trying to get it sealed.

It might be OK, or it might not be OK.

You could weld angle iron pieces to the side of the barrel, or chunks of bar steel to the bottom away from the rim.

 

[dstig1]

Anything flammable in the drum from before or is it new? You don't want to end up on the news from lighting an arc with flammable vapors there...

 

[dieselscout80]

Just diesel

poof

 

[WranglerX]

Why not build the skid, set drum on it and clamp it with long rods (with turnbuckles) from skid to top of drum... No danger of blowing holes in drum

 

[jyoutz]

Amazon.com

 

[dieselscout80]

Amazon.com

The barrel needs to be vertical for my pump to work.

 

[mrmikey]

Why not build the skid, set drum on it and clamp it with long rods (with turnbuckles) from skid to top of drum... No danger of blowing holes in drum

That'd be my way of doing it. Being a weldor by trade, I'd never weld to a drum because of the possibility of causing leaks, maybe not right away but later caused by flexing of the tank. Good cradle/stand and clamp it.

 

[workinonit]

Plug weld it. I've done it many times on car panels and many other things including drums.

 

[YanmarFever]

I don't know about welding a spigot on the side, drums are pretty thin.
However you might try brazing it on with a torch, I think it would seal better.

However I'm with Mr.mikey on this one, just clamp it to a stand....

 

[jyoutz]

The barrel needs to be vertical for my pump to work.

That dolly holds the barrel in either vertical or horizontal positions.

 

[ericm979]

I would just make a stand that holds a drum up off the ground rather than welding the stand to the drum.

 

[Bansil]

I just use hardwood pallets for storage, I can use forks to load onto truck to refill, a simple hole saw would make a hole for your drain

 

[Renze]

The rim is folded over (thick) enough to weld some rails to it.

The drum itself, when i wanted a burn barrel i used use the stick welder as a thermal lance to burn the endplates out. Thickness of a barrel is really nothing..