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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Pull the Plug or Leave it?

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Dan

02-06-2004 12:09:26




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Have an old Case loader that has sat with gas in the tanks for a long time. There are two tanks,
welded into the frame, with recessed pipe plug drains at the bottom of the tanks.
The first plug came right out, along with the
old gas and a LOT of rust and gunk.
The recessed hex on the second plug is torn up from someone trying to get the plug out. It is more of a 3/8 square now than a hex; there is some metal left to work with but not much. Tried turning the plug with a 3/8 extension, but it starts to cam out when I try to turn it.
Any ideas on how to get that plug out?

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sod

02-08-2004 08:39:44




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
I have seen a motorcycle tank welded successfully. The guy put some water in with some DRY ICE (solid carbon dioxide) when the fog started coming out of the top of the tank, the oxygen was displaced. No problem.
good luck
sod



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Lil-Farmer

02-07-2004 20:08:50




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
It must be a 1/2" or bigger pipe thread to have a 3/8" square drive in it. I would try drilling it with a 37/64 bit in an air motor drill and then tapping to 3/8 pipe thread.

If you are concerned about heat and fumes, use a hose from another vehicle exhaust to fill the tank with non explosive fumes.



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Dan

02-07-2004 19:51:19




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
Thank you to all who responded, good advice and
much wisdom.
I PB blasted the threads a number of times.
Then I ground down an old half inch extension
to fit the hole and hammered it in. Attached
a breaker bar and went to turn it out. No luck.
The inside corners of the plug turned up and
out. I think someone in the past just way
overtightened this thing.
I would like to mig weld an impact extension in to the recess. But I'm thinking my hands might be
shaking too bad to get a decent weld.
My neighbor said: "Go on, weld it! It ain't
gonna make but one bang!"

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Harrison

02-07-2004 16:48:30




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
Try a blunt flat chisel in the direction to remove but almost strait on.And use a good heavy hammer. If nothing else it will help get your penetrate in for other steps.



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Dave - Illinois

02-07-2004 12:24:04




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
When not messin with old tractors I'm a commercial cleaning contractor.

If it was mine I would clean the interior of the tank, of course you would need to suck out the water and sludge. Tank probably needs to be cleaned up anyway. Use a sniffer to check for fumes.

When clean fix it anyway you want!

Dave Olson - East-Central Illinois

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Dave, Sherburne, NY

02-07-2004 08:10:37




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
Use the right size drill, drill thru the plug and tap the plug in place , to next smaller size.



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Dan

02-07-2004 20:20:11




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 Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dave, Sherburne, NY, 02-07-2004 08:10:37  
Beautiful. I believe this is what engineers
call an "elegant" solution.



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done it

02-06-2004 20:04:55




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
Dan,Just weld a bolt onto the plug and it will come right out. (If you can weld an 8ooo gal gas tank) I have seen it done, you can weld a loader tank. As long as there are no fumes(vaper)there can be no fire,fill it up with water since you are going to drain it anyway. lol



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buck

02-06-2004 20:32:55




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 Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to done it, 02-06-2004 20:04:55  

Have seen that done but I ain't doin it. Fellow I knew comes by my shop one day and wants to use my ox/act. outfit to braz a pin hole in the bottom of a 5 gal gas can. My first response was get a new one but he felt confident in what he was doin so I said have at it. He filled the can with water,turned it over and went to work. Bet he jumped 5' straight up when that can popped up like a baloon. Anyway for information purposes only.

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fixerupper

02-06-2004 19:53:11




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
If all else fails you can drill it out just far enough that you don't touch the threads with the drill and then grind down a hack saw blade so it will fit up in the drilled out hole. You cut with the teeth pointing down so you are pulling down to make the cut. Make two slots in the plug opposite each other but quit when the saw just touches the threads and then try to chisel on what is left of the plug to collapse and loosen it. Sounds like a lot of work and it is. It's not especially fun to do but it will work if nothing else does and it will save the threads in the tank. My gut instinct tells me you will end up trying this stunt.

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Chris Brown

02-06-2004 19:35:48




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
I bought an air drill $35 harbor freight ,to drill out a drain plug on a truck tank. Those cheap air drills have alot more torque than you'd think.I used it to screw down the siding on a building I built. Anyway with the air theres no sparkie armature and brushes to light the thing up for you.



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MT Pockets

02-07-2004 07:41:23




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 Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Chris Brown, 02-06-2004 19:35:48  
Dan,listen to Chris.Use an air powered drillmotor for the reasons he stated.Then get a good quality quarter inch pipe tap and pilot drill for same. Leave that old plug alone. Move over to the side of it and drill a new hole. Then flush the tank out. Now tap that hole and install a new plug with recessed hex. If you've never tapped for pipe plugs before, it's kind of trial and error. The tap is tapered and you don't to make the hole so big that the plug might not tighten up before it goes in too deep. Here's another tip for taps. Find a regular hex nut that is too small to go over the square drive of the tap.Measure the square drive diagonally and this will usually be the size nut you will need.Open your vice up enough to accept the tap lengthwise with the nut placed flat on the square. Now carefully close the vice and press the nut onto the tap. You now have a tap that a socket will fit and you can add extensions to get out of a tight place, plus, you can now use a ratchet instead of a tap handle or wrench. I hope this helps somebody. Steve.

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old

02-06-2004 19:10:18




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
I'd go with Rusty and drill out the center and then use an easy out to remove it. But don't go with one of them cheap ones go with one that sort of looks like a left hand screw, they work better but do cost a little more



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Ben in KY

02-06-2004 12:14:04




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 Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Dan, 02-06-2004 12:09:26  
I guess using a blue wrench is out :)

I would try grinding and filing a large bolt to custom fit in the boogered up plug. Of course spray down with PB Blaster or the like, and maybe siphon out the fuel/crud and put some PB like stuff on the inside too if possible.
Best of luck to ya.



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rustyfarmall

02-06-2004 12:28:58




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 Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to Ben in KY, 02-06-2004 12:14:04  
Heres another idea, how about just drilling straight through the plug, letting all the crud drain out, and then go about repairing it.



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bob

02-06-2004 19:12:38




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 Re: Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to rustyfarmall, 02-06-2004 12:28:58  
hunh-uh



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steveormary

02-06-2004 19:25:27




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to bob, 02-06-2004 19:12:38  
Dan,if you can turn it some put PB blaster on where you can and work it back and forth. You may be able to get it out that way.



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MPK

02-06-2004 21:29:24




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to steveormary, 02-06-2004 19:25:27  
If you have enough left sticking out you could try grinding or filing two sides flat so that you could clamp on a vice grip wrench good and tight. If that doesn't work you might have to use the drill.



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CH

02-07-2004 04:30:13




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pull the Plug or Leave it? in reply to MPK, 02-06-2004 21:29:24  
If you've got metric sockets, try driving a metric just smaller than the 3/8's on the plug and see if you can get a good grip. Use the PB Blaster first.

Good luck

Charlie



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