How do i repair a hole in a fuel tank?

So i have had my Lovely Cub Cabed for about 8 years. Shes a beaut, But about 4 months ago there was a heat wave and put a hole in my gas tank. I have tryed to patch it up with duct tape but it still doesn't work. I have heard ATLTF gives alot of help and i would not like to buy a brand new tractor, but if any sugestions please reply or if you have a spare gas tank please PM me.

First before you try anything i suggest take the gas tank off the tractor, rinse it out and make sure there is no gas or vapors left.

if its a plastic tank would be use an old soldering iron(or get a piece of metal and keep it hot), then heat the hole up around the gas tank using the soldering iron and try to put a piece of tin on the back side and then add some plastic from another container and bond it with the other gas tank, then take the tin off when its cooled down and test it out with water, its worth a try, i did it to one of my gas tanks after an electrical fire under the hood but the hole was a pin hole.

if its metal try bringing it to a welding shop or try brazing it back together.

Ok, Thank you for the help, i appreacate it. ill let you know if it works

It is not worth getting a new mower over just having a leak in the gas tank. I use j&b weld if I have had a home in mine. Where are you located?

I live in Tallahassee, FL. i need to get this fixed.

Just make sure its clean before you put a heat source near it.

Try RTV gasket material, fixed my gas tank, its bee
n about 4 months.

Who_The_Hecky_Is_That? wrote:

So i have had my Lovely Cub Cabed for about 8 years. Shes a beaut, But about 4 months ago there was a heat wave and put a hole in my gas tank. I have tryed to patch it up with duct tape but it still doesn't work. I have heard ATLTF gives alot of help and i would not like to buy a brand new tractor, but if any sugestions please reply or if you have a spare gas tank please PM me.

Gas eats adhesive, thats why duct tape isnt working.

RTV sealer, JB weld and plastic based epoxies will all work well.

I'm from Orlando I know what the heat does to everything j&b weld should work good

Thanks every one for your help. I park my tractor next to my wood burning furnace that heats my house at night. could that be a problem?

Who_The_Hecky_Is_That? wrote:

That was very harsh, my name is not doug falker also

Sorry dude, he's a smaktard that showed up the other day. I thought we had is IP banned.

oh i hate people who do that.

Who_The_Hecky_Is_That? wrote:

Thanks every one for your help. I park my tractor next to my wood burning furnace that heats my house at night. could that be a problem?

As long as it doesnt get too hot. If its over 100 degrees where you park it I would move it away.

Its about 80 85 degrees. Ill find a new place to park it just incase

It should be fine there. Move it away a foot or two if youre too worried about it. People store their tractors outside all year long and dont have issues so I dont think parking it in an 80-90 degree climate will hurt it none.

Please stop saggy meat spam some other forum im trying to get help

thanks doug

Who_The_Hecky_Is_That? wrote:

Please stop saggy meat spam some other forum im trying to get help

Just ignore him. Its just some shitty troll. Best thing you can do is not do anything. Refer to the Rules and Guidelines forum if you need any help dealing with trolls or anything, me and J* made some pretty good guidelines.

And no problem. Me and everybody else here on the forum are here to help.

Not to worry, We are on it. He's just an immature retard, and I Will Use That Word.

Doug Fackler wrote:

It should be fine there. Move it away a foot or two if youre too worried about it. People store their tractors outside all year long and dont have issues so I dont think parking it in an 80-90 degree climate will hurt it none.

As for the heat, It's not an issue, if you get to 180- 190 Celsius I would worry about your tank melting.

If its steel, clean it thoroughly (steam it out), and either braze it or solder it.

I prefer to purge with inert gas and weld, but not everyone can do that.

If its a pin hole in a steel tank.
The best repair is a simple solder job.

If its a larger hole, put a short screw in the hole and solder it in.

The plus side of soldering a tank..

You can heat a soldering on a remote flame, bring it to the tank, and solder it. If you braze or TIG, you bring the ignition source to the tank. And
as I have learned after working on oilfield equipment for 23 years, steel can absorb volatile vapors, sometimes a simple steam clean isn't enough.

If you really want to be safe. Take your largest spare tire, and let all the air out. take it to a tire shop, and have it filled with nitrogen.

Hook up a hose to the tank, with a valve, and connect it to the fill valve on the tire. Go to a hobby shop and buy an airbrush adapter for tire valves.

Make sure the inlet hole is much smaller than the exit hole. Connect the nitrogen line to the fuel valve and let it vent out the filler hole.

WHen you are ready to weld/braze on the tank, turn on the nitrogen slowly for a minute, and purge the tank, leave the nitrogen on and weld/braze the tank as required.

Nitrogen is an inert gas. Meaning it will not react with a fuel (namely gasoline), meaning that a spark can't set it off. nitrogen displaces oxygen in an atmpsphere. It's what keeps our air from blowing up around us.

Thanks Chopperhed i appreaciate the help. so what do you suggest i clean out the tank with? its very old and rusty.

IF its rusty, be careful, cleaning it too much will cause more holes.
A good steam cleaning will usually suffice followed by a thorough drying with compessed air
You can use rust check or something similar to convert the rust back to steel, but if the rust is bad, it will eat through the tank.
Then youi caun use a tank liner to seal the inside. A lot of guys use Por15 to seal up bike tanks

Can you get a tank cheap that will fit?

I find trying to fix steel tanks is more of a hassle then its worth - ive herd an easy way to clean insides of rusty tanks is to use water and some driveway stone, slosh it around inside and dump it out, keep repeating till the used water comes out clean.


They have steel gas tank repair kits, its possible to braize weld it.

Id probably look into a replacement tank tho.

A replacement tank or tractor?

Who_The_Hecky_Is_That? wrote:

A replacement tank or tractor?

Tank obviously. If the tractor runs or can be used theres no point in scrapping it. Lawn mower gas takes are a dime a dozen, its just finding one to fit.