Removing crud from tractor gas tank

stevecl · Dec 5, 2010

Hi: How does one remove the crud from gas tank that has set for yrs. with some gas in it. The crud keeps breaking loose & plugs up everything. Is there a chemical one can put in tank to clean tank up? Thank you.

Ken-Pa · Dec 5, 2010

The best way is to remove the tank , dump the gas . Then put a chain or stones inside it & adgitate it alot . Then once you think its been adgitated enough , dump contents , rinse it out good & blow dry . let it sit so excess water can drain & the inside is dry .There's a chemical available ? something 15 ? that you can dump inside & shake around so it will coat the inside good when dry . There are a couple other brands of tank liner but my memory isn't good . I do hope this helps some . God bless

Rusty wheel · Dec 5, 2010

I used 22 shell casings in a tank off an A. Chained it to the back wheel of my 40, jacked up the 40 and tumbled the tank in low gear. Worked really good

huntingreen2day · Dec 5, 2010

Rocks, chain, some sand, find a way to rotate it. Rotate in several different positions if you can. rotate as slow as possible so chain etc does not fall from one to the other without rubbing the tank. Wash out with hot water and you can rinse with acetone (being careful). Purchase a product called Red Coat or something similar. can see choices on ebay just to see what is out there.

PJH · Dec 5, 2010

Gonna remember that one.

Paul

rustyfarmall · Dec 5, 2010

(quoted from post at 08:52:12 12/05/10) Hi: How does one remove the crud from gas tank that has set for yrs. with some gas in it. The crud keeps breaking loose & plugs up everything. Is there a chemical one can put in tank to clean tank up? Thank you.

Remove the tank from the tractor. Either take it to a radiator shop and have it chemically cleaned, or do it yourself using muriatic acid. Chains, rocks, hardware, or any other type of foriegn objects DO NOT belong in a gas tank.

If you geta the tank clean enough, you do not need, or want, the red-cote in there either.

bill mart · Dec 5, 2010

If you decide to put objects inside a gas tank I would make sure they are magnetic,that way you can remove them with a magnet.As far as i know they havent come up with a magnet that picks up brass,rocks,or sand yet. Bill M.

old · Dec 5, 2010

If you try the chain or rocks or nuts be sure to count how many pieces you put in so you can then be sure you get them all back out. Over the years I have heard all sorts of ways to clean tanks and none ever seem to work 100% but probably the closes is the radiator shop way

Brian G. NY · Dec 5, 2010

Rusty, I did the same thing (strapped to wheel) except I used a bunch of sharp edged 3/8" size crushed stone. Cleaned it out nicely. Never did anything to it since (about 10 yrs) and haven"t had a problem. As long as the tank is full most of the time and no water gets in the cap, there shouldn"t be a problem. JMHO

JMS/.MN · Dec 5, 2010

I use nuts inside the tank, mount it on a cement mixer drum with an extra bracket, and let it run. Magnet will get all the nuts out. Don"t bother counting- only takes one to rattle. To check inside, I lower a small lite- like an H3? used on planter monitors, hooked to a battery. Illuminates the inside better than any flashlight.

rustyfarmall · Dec 5, 2010

(quoted from post at 11:45:34 12/05/10) Rusty, I did the same thing (strapped to wheel) except I used a bunch of sharp edged 3/8" size crushed stone. Cleaned it out nicely. Never did anything to it since (about 10 yrs) and haven"t had a problem. As long as the tank is full most of the time and no water gets in the cap, there shouldn"t be a problem. JMHO

I tried that method on the very first tank I cleaned. Several of those rocks got wedged underneath the baffle. 12 years later, they are still there, and for what it's worth, the rocks and assorted hardware will do nothing to remove the varnish and gum.

heavy hauler too · Dec 5, 2010

e85 will clean it out, just make sure you dump it out afer the gas. It will take a while.

flying belgian · Dec 5, 2010

Best way is to take the tank off-----------throw it away and put on a new tank. Seriously, I use the chain method mentioned above. One thing that has not been mentioned is to wire last link of chain to opening to keep it from falling in. That way when you are done agitating you can just pull chain out by grabbing end.

willys53allis · Dec 5, 2010

took my CA gas tank to a radiator shop and paided them $20 bucks to clean it out, clean as a whistle when i got it back

Aaron Ford · Dec 5, 2010

I had good luck with laquer thinner. Paint thinner, kero, acetone did nothing. I have to agree with the radiator shop advise though. Would have saved me a lot of time, agravation, and money...

Aaron

Bob Bancroft · Dec 5, 2010

Friends 4010 gas tank had a bunch of gunk in the bottom, kept screwing things up. I took my pressure washer to it. Did a fine job.

DownSouth · Dec 5, 2010

Easy way is to pull it and take it to your local radiator shop.
Last gas tank I cleaned, I pulled the tank and tossed in some chain and nuts and poured in some muratic acid. Came out clean as a whistle, as did the chain and nuts. Use great caution with muratic acid, produces a lovely take your breath away greenish color smoke.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 5, 2010

Take it off, poor a gallon of carb cleaner in it and let it sit a couple days,drain and rinse.

blackangus · Dec 5, 2010

I pressurewashed out, then took about a1/2 in piece of copper tubing and inserted it into sediment bowl kept the floating stuf out

hayray · Dec 6, 2010

I did the same thing but after the muratic acid I also rinse the tank with MEK, then coat the inside of the tank with Red Kote. I have done a few tanks this way on older tractors.

Geo-TH,In · Dec 6, 2010

I agree with the flying belgian. I gave up on mine, threw it away and bought a new one for around $200 from YT. Spend half that amount at a radiator shop.
George

Removing crud from tractor gas tank

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