Buying/Renting Tanks

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Well I want to get and Oxy-Fuel welding and cuttin outfit for home.One question... im on quiet a budget with the whole, no job thing.  So is it cheaper to buy and tank and just fill it or to rent one?  Whats the average price to buy a tank, fill it and to rent one..?Sorry for all the questions.. all the shops are closed already here or id just call..That or should i go with a mig welder with just the Argon?  I was gonna do that but with the oxy-fuel i can also cut the metal i need..Im basically starting a new home shop and have nothin besides screwdrivers and hammers.*** ALSO *** I DO know how to use all of this, i know how to bleed, put regulators on, hoses, check for leaks, all that stuff.. just never had to deal witht the money part, always had a shop with everything in it.
Reply:In my experiance,  it  all depends on the amount of cutting your going to do , as you use much more oxy in the cutting process. Leasing a set of tanks sets me back about 120 a year , But I have comercial tanks, the huge ones.. Buying would be cheaper in the long run but the tanks you can actually BUY are smaller in size due to some type of  restriction. The last thing I want , is to run out in the middle of a job , so I lease  the big guys. A decent set will run you about 400 for both. Oh and just so you know, the new shiny pretty painted tank you bought , will be replaced with one that looks like it came from the war when you go to get it filled ,, as most places simply give you a full one and charge the price of the content. Anyway, if you are going to be doing mostly small jobs, I would buy a set.just my 2cents
Reply:It is cheaper, in the short term, to rent.  You dont have the up front out-of-pocket expenses of a few hundred dollars.  Rent is often only a few dollars a month+gas.  This will give you an idea how large you need to buy also.  The thing about renting is that you have to have some reasonably good credit (my old gas supplier did a credit check before renting).  If you rent, you also can get bigger tanks that you might otherwise be able to afford to buy and save money on gas.  In the end, I buy all my tanks, but I did rent for a while before I figured out which tank sizes were right for me.Buying a pretty nice size oxy/ace (not really portable) outfit will set you back maybe 4-5 hundred (maybe more) filled + the cost of the torch.  Those you see at home depot are cheaper ($300 or so) and are very portable, but only have maybe a half hour of use.  You can sometimes get a good price on tanks used, but there are risks involved there with their being rented or out of date.Last edited by smithboy; 11-17-2005 at 12:20 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:SO maybe rent to get a fell for what i need then buy later when i get the cash and an idea on what i want.
Reply:I bought my first oxygen tank, a 160cf or there abouts. I had a lot of B tanks so I used them as they were cheap to fill at the local HVAC supplier. Later I got a great deal to buy someone else's tanks. I got a 330cf oxy, a large Acetylene and a 300+ cf argon plus a complete victor cutting outfit with a 100ft hose all for $125. And all of the bottles were full! It is harder to transfer ownership rights now but is is worth a look around your area to see if anyone wants to sell theirs. If you find some check first with the dealer to make sure you can get clear title to them, but you can find a really good deal sometimes. I see them listed for sale all the time in my local trading post newspaper, and usually for less than half what the dealer charges. Oh, and once you get a couple of tanks on the books at a dealer you can get tanks of somewhat questionable origin filled as well. I once saw dozens of brand new Airco oxygen tanks pushed into a ditch and then abandoned at a large Government contract I was working on. The medium size are the most useful unless you are doing a large amount of work in one location and someone delivers the refills for you. If you keep the tanks for more than 4 years it is cheaper to buy than rent.
Reply:check your local Praxair distributor.We get all our tanks from them (O2, acetylene, C25) and we do it in large bulk orders to save on delivery fees, Hazardous material charges etc. Regarding the financial part of it, you can apply for an account with Praxair, and depending on your credit standing, assuming you are approved, you get about 1-2 months to pay it off before you're sent to collection agency. But that should buy you enough time to bring in revenue and pay the invoice off. Now this applies here in Toronto, Canada. I'm not sure if it is the same policy in the US. And seeing as you're starting your own shop, depending how much you use and how much time you want to spend lugging tanks around and getting them refilled, I'd rather pay a little extra and not deal with the hassle as it cuts into production time which equals money.///e46toronto.caCanada's premier BMW forum
Reply:lo, only 15, dont want anything like that.. i want to pay for it, then get it.
Reply:Dang Dirt,I forgot you were still in high school.  Credit wont matter for you because you can't be held responsible for your debt until you are of legal age.  No one can rent to you until you are 18 years old, cause they cant collect even if you keep the tanks and dont pay.  This might be tough to do any other way but to buy.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Ouch... maybe thats for the best.. -ish...Thanks alot guys!
Reply:Originally Posted by DirtOuch... maybe thats for the best.. -ish...Thanks alot guys!
Reply:That's not a bad idea.  If mom or dad will put a name on the dotted line, you should be able to get your tanks.But, consider this.  You are asking your mom or dad to buy you a big tank of explosive gas.  They might not agree to that.  Just a thought.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Originally Posted by smithboyThat's not a bad idea.  If mom or dad will put a name on the dotted line, you should be able to get your tanks.But, consider this.  You are asking your mom or dad to buy you a big tank of explosive gas.  They might not agree to that.  Just a thought.