Large block of solid fuel in my tank, blocking pickup

ljellio · Nov 28, 2010

Kinda has the color of a piece of foam rubber. Does it smoke alot when burned?

Diamondpilot · Nov 28, 2010

I wonder if its not the result of some bad bio diesel? Maybe a home brew of oil and fuel or used automotive products like some ATF that had a chemical reaction that set up hard as rock.

Chris

beenthere · Nov 28, 2010

Diamondpilot
You might be onto something. Maybe someone just poured in some used vegetable oil, and these are the settlings? Deepfried chitlins or something.

Gary Fowler · Nov 28, 2010

I know plastic is made from oil but it takes more than just a chemical reaction, it takes a lot of heat also to make it transform. I stil say someone poured some type of polymer chemical into the tank either on purpose or for reasons that made sense to them. Perhaps it was some kind of tank liner that you use on rusty steel tanks, who knows. You should be able to saw it into smaller pieces and remove them.

Zephrant · Nov 28, 2010

Some more good suggestions-

Dave- The wire idea is great, but the material is so hard I don't think I could get enough torque on it without breaking the wire. I've have thought about attaching it to a battery and making it a hot wire, but insulating it to prevent a short would not be trivial. I'm also somewhat paranoid about an fire.

Leaving it in there may be the best idea- if I flip the block upside down, it no longer blocks the outlet and might be fine. But I'm too OCD to do that- I could not stand the idea of that block in there, waiting for the best time to strand me on the tractor by plugging the outlet, or breaking off a piece to clog the line.

When it burns it leaves a black carbon residue, a little like charred plastic. It does light pretty easily (about like diesel would), and sustains a smoky flame.

I'm heading out to do battle with it soon- I don't have an air nibbler, but I'm going to try the hammer/screwdriver, pruning shears, and whatever else I can get though the 2.5" neck hole.

dcyrilc · Nov 28, 2010

Zephrant said:
Some more good suggestions-

Dave- The wire idea is great, but the material is so hard I don't think I could get enough torque on it without breaking the wire. I've have thought about attaching it to a battery and making it a hot wire, but insulating it to prevent a short would not be trivial. I'm also somewhat paranoid about an fire.

Leaving it in there may be the best idea- if I flip the block upside down, it no longer blocks the outlet and might be fine. But I'm too OCD to do that- I could not stand the idea of that block in there, waiting for the best time to strand me on the tractor by plugging the outlet, or breaking off a piece to clog the line.

When it burns it leaves a black carbon residue, a little like charred plastic. It does light pretty easily (about like diesel would), and sustains a smoky flame.

I'm heading out to do battle with it soon- I don't have an air nibbler, but I'm going to try the hammer/screwdriver, pruning shears, and whatever else I can get though the 2.5" neck hole.

Keep us posted on how it goes. You certianly have in interesting problem here. I supose the worst thing that could happen is that you puncture the tank and have to buy a new one.

simonds · Nov 28, 2010

Maybe suck it up to the hole with a shop vac. Then nibble at it with pliers or something. Maybe sit bottom (a flat area) of the tank on a peice of solid board then hammer it with a soft metal drift or a wooden stick. If it breaks up dump it out or suck it out with the shop vac.

Diamondpilot · Nov 28, 2010

You said it was a rental I think, need to go back and check. Maybe someone put some crap in the tank so it would show full when they returned it because they were too cheap to buy a few gallons of diesel?

Chris

CurlyDave · Nov 28, 2010

It sort of depends on what a new tank costs, but as a last resort, consider choosing the easiest to repair spot on the tank, say the largest flat spot you can find, and cut it out with a jig saw. Remove the offending mass through this hole and then repair it with sheet metal, a gasket, and lots of small nuts & bolts.

Zephrant · Nov 28, 2010

Well, it turns out that brute force was a workable plan. I was able to use my longest screwdriver and a dead-blow hammer, to whack the snot out of it. It took about an hour to break it up and get it out, then flush the tank with gasoline, then with diesel.

I'm pretty concerned about remaining grunge. I hope the fuel filter protects the engine. I'll get a new filter soon, and have it on-tractor in case I get clogged up.

Thanks all for the help- I still have no idea how it happened, but at least I'm ready for the next snow.