Cylinder Transport Rack

[PA Weldor]

Got tired of picking those heavy cylinders off the bed of my PU. Not only is it illegal to haul compressed gas cylinders laying down,it's also dangerous. Here's a rack I made to haul them to my LWS. I lower my gate, back up to the dock, and load full tanks. The rack has 1 1/2" square tubing to fit in the rear pocket holes on the bed. Clamp in place. Secure cylinders to the rack with bungee cord, chain, etc. Close gate, and cylinders are secure.

[MMW]

Got tired of picking those heavy cylinders off the bed of my PU. Not only is it illegal to haul compressed gas cylinders laying down,it's also dangerous. Here's a rack I made to haul them to my LWS. I lower my gate, back up to the dock, and load full tanks. The rack has 1 1/2" square tubing to fit in the rear pocket holes on the bed. Clamp in place. Secure cylinders to the rack with bungee cord, chain, etc. Close gate, and cylinders are secure.

Cylinders are not secure as you say if the only thing holding them is vise grips clamping the rack down & bungee cords holding the cylinders. The rack should be bolted down & the cylinders secured with a ratchet strap or some sort of clamping arrangement that will hold the cylinders in case of an accident.

[Daniel]

What secures them on the base? You shouldn't rely on the door.

[JTMcC]

[QUOTE=PA Weldor;281474] Not only is it illegal to haul compressed gas cylinders laying downQUOTE]




Shoot us some specifics please. Illegal according to who? In what quantity? In what jourisdiction?
I carry the statutes in my glove box and I dissagree with the blanket statement.

J

[PA Weldor]

I normally C-clamp the rack to the bed rail. Didn't do it this time. My bad. As for the statute regarding transporting cylinders laying down, it varies by state. It's also super dangerous to transport an acetylene cylinder laying down. If the valve just happens to be cracked a little and the acetone stabilizer leaks out, and IF there is any acetylene left in the porous material inside, you've got a potential bomb (acetylene in a free state is unstable). As for my gate unlatching, I have double straps on each cylinder. If the gate comes open, I'll stop and re-rig the transport.

Think it's safe transporting laying down? I'll argue all the way to the bank on that one. BTW, it's also law to transport with gauges removed and caps in place, UNLESS you have those safety gizzmos installed.

DOT sat outside our LWS one day and stopped every truck leaving. If the cylinders were laying down, $300 fine PER cylinder.

[MMW]

Quote -- DOT sat outside our LWS one day and stopped every truck leaving. If the cylinders were laying down, $300 fine PER cylinder.

Was this because they were just laying in a pickup bed unsecured?

I have seen many rigs with their oxygen cylinders laying down but they are well secured in mounting brackets. I have never heard of anyone ticketed if their bottles are properly secured, either vertical or horizontal.

[PA Weldor]

Quote -- DOT sat outside our LWS one day and stopped every truck leaving. If the cylinders were laying down, $300 fine PER cylinder.

Was this because they were just laying in a pickup bed unsecured?

I have seen many rigs with their oxygen cylinders laying down but they are well secured in mounting brackets. I have never heard of anyone ticketed if their bottles are properly secured, either vertical or horizontal.

Flat bed stake body truck. LWS folks told me about it.

[go2building]

I don't trust tanks strapped 1/3 rd to bottom of tank. I always check my tank valves before I leave the weld supplier, I have had occasion when the tank was empty. My weld shop sells rubber horizontal tank holders, with straps, that you put in the bed of your truck . To the best of my knowledge DOT states tank must be secured.Lots of weld rigs I've seen run their oxygen tanks horizontally and acetylene tanks vertically, saves on hight. Not for nothing to me your tanks are not secure the rack needs to be taller and bolted to the rails and bed of truck, one accident and all those tanks are flying.

[JTMcC]

I normally C-clamp the rack to the bed rail. Didn't do it this time. My bad. As for the statute regarding transporting cylinders laying down, it varies by state. It's also super dangerous to transport an acetylene cylinder laying down. If the valve just happens to be cracked a little and the acetone stabilizer leaks out, and IF there is any acetylene left in the porous material inside, you've got a potential bomb (acetylene in a free state is unstable). As for my gate unlatching, I have double straps on each cylinder. If the gate comes open, I'll stop and re-rig the transport.

Think it's safe transporting laying down? I'll argue all the way to the bank on that one. BTW, it's also law to transport with gauges removed and caps in place, UNLESS you have those safety gizzmos installed.

DOT sat outside our LWS one day and stopped every truck leaving. If the cylinders were laying down, $300 fine PER cylinder.

Well it's a lot more complicated than that.
Most states adopt fed dot regs, some will add or modify a bit. So it really doesn't vary state to atate.
But fed dot is fairly plain. Under 600 lb product can be horizontal, over 600 lb product has to be transported upright. Product weight doesn't include cylinder.

For at least 30 years, different states have been writing those tickets to people who have way less than the 600 lb of product on board. I've seen the fines as high as $2000. Those tickets won't hold up but they make quite a bit of income before it all shakes out.

Cylinders can go down the highway, legaly, with gages on. They just have to have a cover or be in a cabinet. MSHA will let you drive with gages if you have a cover.

But dot is only one agency to take into account. OSHA and MSHA will both fine for horizontal cylinders. So even if you're legal on the road you can get hit on site. There are quite a few sets of rule$ to take into account.
Most large GC's have their own hid deep in the safety manual, a lot of project owners have their own. Those can differ from both dot/msha/osha.

J

I'd agree that the rack in the pictures would bring you all kinds of grief in a roadside visit with a dot cop.

[csedan510]

In theory, I like the concept but those taller bottles I would want to support from higher up too.
It is also a bit scary in the event of a rear ender...