Oil & Fuel hole in diesel tank

[jcummins]

Been doing a lot of grapple work clearing out a thicket with a huge amount of deadfall in it that's next to my pond. Several standing dead trees. And very thankful for a good solid canopy.... one widow maker lost its top while i was trying to push it over. No serious damage.... did dent the fender, canopy did its job. I probably would have had some brusies at minimum without that canopy.

This is pretty rough getting tractor to the deadfall and today luck ran out. The diesel tank on this M7040 has a metal protective shield on the bottom but nothing on the front face of the tank. And.... yep... a stck found its way to the tank. Gash is on the top third of the tank.... good size gash. Probably 4 inches long or so. Can it be repaired and how.

 

[Leejohn]

Better watch cutting and pushing on dead trees. It always seems to turn into bad news.

 

[PapaPerk]

New tank.

Be careful. We have to remember farm tractors are not bulldozers. (0:

 

[pmsmechanic]

Here's what I would try.

I have a plastic welder. It's like a pencil type soldering iron with a special tip that lets you push a plastic "rod" through. The plastic melts and you then heat and mix it with the plastic you are trying to repair. My plastic welder is very similar to this one. 80 Watt Iron Plastic Welding Kit TPO TEO PP Rod Mesh Auto Car Welder Repair Kit | eBay

I would drain as much diesel as I could and then get someone to help you hold a rag over the hole and then with air and a rag in the fill hole try a blow the front back to where it should be. Then go to work with the plastic welder. This repair would take me about an hour and it wouldn't leak when I was done. If you have good access to the tear in the tank you don't need to remove it. Just take your time and make sure you get new plastic right to the inside of the tank. Usually I "v" the tear a bit with the an angle grinder but in this case I would be worried about contaminating the fuel in the tank. You could probably trim a grove with a sharp knife.

 

[jcummins]

Pulled tank. It's beyond repair or at least one I could make. New tank coming.

 

[LD1]

Just curious, how much was one of them tanks?

 

[jcummins]

Originally told by two different dealers... $617. But when we got to specific serial numbers on the tractor it came in <$500.....don't remember exact number.

 

[LD1]

Ouch. Not that I am surprised. I had to pay $40 for the fuel cap that broke on my L3400. How many gallons is the tank on that 7040?

 

[jcummins]

Ouch. Not that I am surprised. I had to pay $40 for the fuel cap that broke on my L3400. How many gallons is the tank on that 7040?

18.6 gallon. Yes ouch. I thought hard about doing the repair, but the gash in the tank would need a 'boot' type patch over it. Discussion with dealer we concluded vibration would make any kind of patch problematic in lasting. Also getting the right kind of material to patch it, plus time for repair. I need to get this tractor back in service with winter coming.

I do know, I'm going to fab up some type of protective shield for that area. Happened once could happen again.

 

[LD1]

MY 10 gallon tank would probably be $400 or so then. But never even had any close calls.

Is the tank on that thing in the front? With where mine is located, (between engine and dash), it would be pretty difficult to do what you did.