Oxy gasoline cutting torchs

[yahoo2]

I have been looking around at my options for a big gas axe, someone told me that they have seen a lot of oxy gasoline torches on their travels in Asia and it might be worth a look as an alternative to acetylene for cutting up large scrap and running on a duplicator.

 

From what I can gather there are three sized torches that cut 0-30mm, 30mm - 100mm and 100-300mm with the appropriate nozzles and a profile cutting torch as well. He had some photos and they looked to be very clean cuts with a narrow cut width and they were also cutting stacked bundles of rod and stacked plate.

 

Has anyone seen these in action or tried one themselves?

 

photo from Bizmuth Engineering

[Frosty]

I've heard they work well but have never even seen one in use let alone used one. Get a demo. Tell the guy trying to sell you one you want a demo. A demo is how I ended up buying an Allstates oxy propane torch.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[DSW]

We had one of the Petrogen gasoline torches when I worked for the commercial dive company. Local rescue squad also has one. Neither of us used them much at all. They take a lot of maintenance. Unlike a standard oxy acetylene or oxy propane torch where you can just fire it up, use it, shut it down and put it away for next time, the  gasoline rigs need to get completely torn down and cleaned even if you fill them up and don't run them.

 

 

They are good for specialized uses. They cut thru a lot of stuff standard OA and oxy propane won't cut, but the cuts aren't clean many times. They are good for rescue and salvage work because they cut thru things like air gaps where say two pieces of steel don't touch and are faster when cutting very heavy sections, say over 4".

 

We found that almost 99% of the time it was easier to use the standard cutting torch on regular steel. What we couldn't cut with OA or oxy propane we could cut with exothermic rods. Rescue squad guys tell me pretty much the same thing. Once they got the exothermic torch, they never bother with the Petrogen rig any more. The exothermic rods aren't a good choice for "normal" cutting, but will do much of the specialized cutting that the Petrogen torches would, as well as cut just about anything else you can imagine like concrete as well as nonferrous metals. It's a lot faster from the rescue guys point. Just plug in the rod, strike the arc and start cutting, even underwater which is why we used them at the dive company. When they were done they just put the exothermic rig away, where with the Petrogen torch they could look forward to having to tear down the unit and clean it or it wouldn't work right the next time they needed it.

[jmccustomknives]

I'll agree with DSW, there's a reason these torches never caught on.  For demolition purposes you can't beat the exothermic.  For basic cutting, historically speaking, most of my scrap customers have used propane for the lower cost compared to acetylene.  The exothermic can chew it's way through anything although it's messy.  The only customers I have that use them buy the units for demolition, since they are expensive to operate it would cost a lot compared to propane.

[ianinsa]

Well my $0.02 worth, is those petro torches are 1st class if you are going to scrap a ship or cut up scrap all day every day, cuts fast and cheap. If you are only going to use it occasionally take heed of the comments above. If you are thinking of cutting thin stuff 4mm or less you will end up with some nice scrap. I have a wonderful Arcair exothermic torch, can't think when it was used last, if I need to chop something up I have one, but truthfully it's just an expensive ornament. I switched to oxy-propane many years ago and for cutting it's great. That said my first choice is plasma and as they are so cheap these days(a pak40 is very portable Pac 65/100 not so much) I would recommend that you look at that option too.

 

Good luck

 

Ian

[Rich Hale]

i went to a demo recently of the local Fire departments heavy rescue squad putting one to the test..everything they cut went well and it worked great,,,I know no more about them..next times I visit i will ask about the maintenance on them.

[yahoo2]

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

I have downloaded a petrogen operators manual and they do stress that damaging the mating surfaces where the two piece nozzle, mixer and petrol needle touch the brass head will ruin the machine. I have found that the premium ULP we get here with a little bit of Stabil added, will not degrade or gum for months or even years in blowtorches and petrol starter motors, I am confident I could uncouple and flush a torch and the hose in  less than a minute if I needed and avoid those sort of storage issues. It sounds like most of the cutting problems are with torches run rich and carboning up in the nozzle, they do say that there is some skill needed to get the best out of them. According to the manual ethanol blends are a no no (so no dewatering additive either).

 

I have Oxy propane and a small plasma in the shop and I buy a couple of small acetylene bottles purely for the odd welding job (like cast iron).

Taking two or three full sized acetelyne bottles out in the field is a real pain, from rental, safety, complying with transport laws and just maneuvering them around over rough or soft ground, I would rather not deal with it if I dont have to.

 

I'm probably not going to rush out and buy one tomorrow but it has got me thinking anyway. Christmas is only 9 months away :) and Santa loves this sort of stuff!

[petehdgs]

I had oxy propane an didn't like it because it doesn't get as hot as oxy acetylene. I use the customer owned smaller tanks. They are less expensive in the long run because there is no demurrage charges and they are easy to carry around and load in the truck. I use my rig occasionally and it all works well for me.

We somtimes carry the torch and bottles off the truck and up a flight of stairs to the machines we work on. The smaller bottles are small enough without being too small and running out in the middle of the job.