Fuel tank repair

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SmokinM

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Anybody on here ever repair a poly fuel tank on their tractor with any success. Managed to put a stick thru mine yesterday on my 5325 JD. Down towards the bottom and right at a bend. See alot of repair kits for steel tanks and plastic non fuel tanks. Some videos out there of people welding them but they are hairline crack this is a jagged tear. Trying to find an epoxy that will work but not sure about durability. New tank is @ $900 and at least a week to get unless i overnight it. Thanks for any ideas you have.
 
Sent my cousin a text late last night but haven't heard back yet, will let you know what he says. I did a little reading on it, seems most folk have the greatest success with some sort of plastic welding. The type of material used in these tanks doesn't do well with adhesives from what I read.

When my father in law bought the McCormick from the dealer, it had a spot on top of the plastic tank where something had rubbed a hole in it. They came out and epoxied it if memory serves me correctly. I've noticed now that if I fill it up to the very top of the tank, I'll get a little leak until it goes down a bit. Betting the epoxy is breaking down from exposure to diesel fuel or losing it's grip.

I really appreciate you being the resident guinea pig on these sort of things!
 
I had a plastic (of some kind) of fuel tank on a pressure washer. It developed a leak at the bottom in a place that was not in a smooth part, but had some mounting bracket molded into it.

I removed the tank and had to do some trials to actually see where the crack was. Then took the die grinder and a pointed carbide tip to reach in and rough up the material. Then mixed J-B Weld and filled in the area. I let the tank set for a few days because I didn't need it.

Been holding fine! I did not use the 5 min version of JB.
 
I bought a welding kit from urethane supply company, 10-12 in crack top to bottom on 40 gal TS90 tank,, still got a pinhole but usable, beats a 7-900 $ new tank,
 
You be better off to put a new tank on it . If repaired it will leak sooner or later. Probably when you need it most .
Yep found that out the hard way! New tank is on the way. The repair looked great until i put fuel in it!DEA6F830-4719-49BE-A420-C73BBE7D5520.jpeg
 
Ditto with what has been said. Tried to weld many sprayer and fuel tanks, they always end up leaking again sooner or later. Plastic just sucks to repair.
 
I managed to jab a T-post through mine. I tried the epoxy that says it will work on poly fuel tanks and it held for about a month. Someone told me to go to a place in Greencastle PA that would fix it. I dropped it off and they did it right away, cost $80. Not sure where in VA you are located, but it may be worth the trip. It is called Plastec Profiles.
 
I put epoxy on one many years ago, and it is still holding. The old school epoxy at that. Yaws mileage may vary.
 
You did right, especially if planning on keeping the tractor for a while. Most patches will let you down sooner or latter.
 
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You did right, especially if planning on keeping the tractor for a while. Most patches will let you down sooner or latter (good tax right off). On these tractors it would have been good if they would have put some platting around the tanks, but I guess less tanks would be sold then. When the new battery powered ones are ready at least we want have to worry about diesel tanks.
Yeah i imagine the batteries are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than this tank that can be swapped in 30 mins.😂

It has a good skid pan on the bottom but none on the sides like most. With my precision tractor driving skills i was able to pop the stick up and hold it with the tire long enough for it to hang in that notch and jab a hole in the side. Not sure wether i am lucky or good!😂

Didn't have a lot to lose doing the repair other than time. If it worked it saved me $$$ and time and the man said if it didn't then i didnt owe him anything. His backyard handshake warranty is a lot better than NH's factory one!
 
Cousin backed over a bent over t post and lost a full tank of diesel out the bottom of a cotton pickers fuel tank . He tried everything, finally bought a new tank .
 
I put epoxy on one many years ago, and it is still holding. The old school epoxy at that. Yaws mileage may vary.
The 'old school' epoxy worked much better than the JB weld type stuff of today. Some of the chemicals they used to use are no longer available as they were deemed a carcinogen. 60s-early 70s stuff that was grey when the 2 parts were combined would stick to anything but smelled all to bedamned. I had a qt bottle each of the 2 parts that Humble Oil produced for another company but the jar of hardener broke and I got rid of the other part just last month.
 
I have used JB weld several times and it is a great filler on metal, but I never had any luck bonding cracks holding items together or anything but metal. They make a plastic welder you can melt, add filler and maybe work on some toys, but I don't believe will work much on a fuel tank.
 
I have used JB weld several times and it is a great filler on metal, but I never had any luck bonding cracks holding items together or anything but metal. They make a plastic welder you can melt, add filler and maybe work on some toys, but I don't believe will work much on a fuel tank.
This is the route i tried. The weld looked great really thought we had it but it seeped thru. If it was higher on the tank i think it would be fine.
 
hard to say what will stick to that type of plastic, there should be markings on the tank that say what kind it is, look for that and go from there.. if you use a glue, you'll want something that stays flexible, and JB weld isn't that glue.

I've done some plastic fuel tank repairs on dirt bikes, it is hard to make it stick
 
What about a bolt going through holding a patch either side of a metal disc and neoprene gasket/sealant. I have done this on the steel tank of my D4D where it developed a crack near a mounting bracket and it worked well. I didn't want to take it off and try to weld it, welding fuel tanks frightens me.

Ken
 

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