Thanks for all the help some of you gave me a week ago. Just wanted
you to know that I got the job done.

A professional co. quoted me a price of $2000 which I thought was high
for a few hours work. I asked my brother if he wanted to do it for
$1000 and he agreed but I think I wish I hadn't.

We drove his pick-up from here in Scranton to Schenectady NY with 3
empty jet fuel 55-gallon drums that he bummed off his boss (who races
cars), hoses, tools and an electric pump. When we got there he told me
he had forgotten the pump. We couldn't find a rental company that had
them, but I phoned a friend who has a junkyard and he had a hand pump
that goes inside a drum.

Well, about 3000 hand turnings later the tank was almost dry. Then
through the basement window I noticed leakage out of the back of his
truck parked outsided. Yikes. The hose had popped out of the drum and
fuel oil was leaking on the ground. Fortunately it was on my property,
not the neighbor's and most of it was contained in his truck bedliner.
It took about 10 rolls of paper towels to get it all up and into black
plastic bags.

We used a sawzall to cut the tank in half, but it was tough job
because the tank wanted to mis-shape itself. We finally put a cinder
block under the middle and it kinked in half and we cut it through.
The detritus stayed inside each half so I didn't get any spillage in
the basement (whew!).

Getting those two halves out the basement was very tough for 2 guys.
Surprising how heavy they were. But we did it! Hauled the 2 halves to
the junkyard where the owner accepted them because he needed two large
oil drain containers when he drained oil from the cars that came in
there.

We drove the drums back to my brother's boss's shop where he burns
waste oil in his shop heater.

Very very dirty job, and it came close to a disaster. If I had to do
it all over again, I would have had the pros do the job.

My 2 cents.