Underground Gas Tank Made Into Watch Tower

Underground Gas Tank Made Into Watch Tower AG WORLD Ag World 19-4-22 When friends dug up an old underground gas tank, Donald Bickel, Ridgeville, Ind., decided to mount it upright in his yard and convert it into a just-for-fun "watch tower", complete with a spiral stairway inside and an observation deck on top. The 22-ft. tank stands about 75 ft. from a nearby highway. "People can hardly believe their eyes when they see it and want to know what I use it for," says Bickel, who put the tank up one year ago. "I tell them I just built it for fun." Bickel hauled the tank on a trailer to his yard, then had a crane set it upright. He cut a hole in the top end of the tank and cut an opening for a hinged door near the bottom. He welded "steps" in a spiral to the inside of the tank, adding a hand rail that runs all the way up the center. The stairway has two landings on the way up and another at the top, where there are fluorescent lights. A short steel ladder runs from the top landing up to the observation deck, which has a 5-ft. high safety railing around it. "I can feel it move a little when it's real windy, but it isn't anchored," says Bickel, noting that he took care to ensure that the tank was thoroughly flushed out before cutting into it. "I plan to sandblast the tank and paint it inside and out and also add a small window at each landing so I can see outside." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Donald Bickel, Rt. 2, Box 251, Ridgeville, Ind. 47380 (ph 317 857-2167).

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