How to make a 58-1/2 gallon oil drum (learn from my mistakes)

OUCH! Being on fire ain't fun!
Good luck to you and may your recovery be quick!

 

You know the commercial where the guy says "Dude" a bunch? I think you get three or four. Glad you're gonna be ok- toasted nipple and all.

 

Damn! Sure glad you're going to be fine. Like the others said, thanks for the warnings.

Put Aloe on that, cools the burn and keeps it moist. You don't want it to dry out or get infected.

Don't take the term "Grenade inspector" quite so literally next time!

 

I bet that drum had seen some gasoline....nasty. Thank God it wasnt full in the face!, Get well soon man.

 

I wouln't bet on it.

 

Yeah,same story,never use a torch near a drum no matter what was inside. A old guy had his leg blown off by using a torch on a steel drum.Use a dedicated drum opener or some sort of cutting tool that won't spark.Steel chisels can make sparks.

 

A few years back my uncle who owned a salvage yard for 30 years was cutting a lid off like he had done at least 1000 times before. Needless to say that was his first helicopter ride. He walked away but he lost part of his hand and was burnt pretty bad.

 

Smokey Yunick had the same "problem",but he was a little luckier than you.

 

the Lord was with you . hope you don't lose too much work time. Prayers.

 

Props to you for posting this. I am going to share it with our employees who deal with flammable liquids and steel drums every day.

PS: I checked out an oil manufacturer MSDS (material safety data sheet) out of curiousity (Havoline Motor Oil). Under "Handling and Storage" it clearly said the following:

"Empty containers retain product residue (solid,liquid and/or vapor) and can be dangerous. Do not pressurize, cut, weld, braze, solder, drill, grind or expose such containers to heat, flame, sparks, static electricity, or other sources of ignition. They may explode and cause injury or death."

I would say someone was watching over you. Get well soon!

 

Your mom must be cool if she is in need of burn barrels. Glad you are OK - that looks like it stung!

 

Dude, you are VERY,VERY lucky, maybe you should buy a lottery ticket. If the end of that barrel would have come loose it could have taken your head off. Whenever I am working with a drum or tank that MAY have something flamable in it I pump ehahust gas in to prevent an explosion. Hope you heal quickly and thaks for the lesson.

 

Glad you are alive and hope you heal up soon. We had a junkyard owner that got killed cutting a top off a barrel here many years ago. His wife said that he torched them off on a regular basis and that was the first one that ever blew on him. I torched somewhere around ten of them off myself. Since that accident I started burning in an old freezer with an old mattress spring on top now.

 

man i have to say that looks like it really really hurts!! get well soon

 

Holy crap. I wonder if it was kerosene or something.

 

This post makes my butt pucker!!!

 

Damn...reminds me of when I was about 5...dad had a service station in Garden city kansas. He had a 55 gal. drum up on the lift and had me holding it steady so he could cut it in half with a torch (building a BBQ barrel I think) I don't remember much after getting knocked on my ass except he yelled at me to get across the street (which I was never allowed to do by myself at that age) Turns out when it exploded it caught the bay on fire and his Texaco fireproof jacket melted to his arm when it caught fire, didn't burn down the station as he got his jacket off and found a hose...anyways...glad you survived!

 

wow, looks painful but, I am glad you made it.
thanks for the heads up.
take care.

 

BIG OUCH DUDE! i had similar experince when a dust collection house sucked in a spark and fucking blew apart sending me 20+ feet(300lb dude) into a metal building.i woke up with everthing but me on fire. when the guys i worked with saw me finally open my eyes they couldn't help but laugh because they said i looked like al joleson in "black face!" felt like i had been puched by george forman.

 

My god man you are one luck guy. Thankfully you weren't hurt any worse then you are. You have taught us all a very valuable lesson here. Take care of yourself...joe

Hope you don't mind but I gotta post this on another forum so others can learn & see what might happen to them if they ever try to do this.

 

Hope your healing well, been tempted to do the same more than once but always thought What if?
At work we have a big can opener to do the drums, leaves a nasty edge you have to beat down but I think Ill stick with that method.

 

shit!!..sorry that happend. hope you heal up ok. DAMN IT

 

There might be more oxygen coming off a Plasma than off a O/A Torch.
Or at least, it would be more diluted with burnt gasses on a O/A set...

 

I am glad you are out of the burn unit. I got blown up once and was in the burn unit for a while. It sucks in the burn unit.
take care
Wil
www.sakowskimotors.com

 

Joe (and all), please do so. I can't change what happened to me, but if eating a little humble pie will help to prevent someone else from going through the same thing (or worse), then this little lesson has served its purpose. Thanks for all the well wishes.

 

damn! no shit! good luck with the recovery.

 

One of the maintenance welders at work did the exact same thing last year, fortunately he was standing to the side of the barrel and only got knocked on his butt and had ringing in his ears for a few hours. It took the end out of the barrel and knocked the glass out of a couple nearby windows. Sad part is he's the Union safety rep...................

 

Wow.

Man I'm glad you're still with us and wish you a speedy recovery. We all make mistakes, but it takes a big man to admit them. Thanks for helping others avoid the same accident!

 

Damn, that's about all I can say. My dad had a friend who was killed by shrapnel from an exploding barrel, he wasn't even the one cutting it. The guy cutting it died to though, lost a lot of blood out of his chest where a piece of metal got him.

On the lighter side of things, are you gonna do any shaping on that chest hair to make it even?

good luck in getting that burn taken care of.

 

Last fall we had an Oil pressure sending unit fail and squirt Oil on a hot header. went up just like gasoline- no spark at all.

I don't care who says what. in My experience, motor oil is fuckin-A-Flammable.

and before anybody asks- this was initial start up on a fresh motor with fresh oil. and yes, it was a BIG fire.