Well, I've posted this handy little shop tool in a couple of places on the forum, makes it kinda obscure to find it hidden in a thread somewhere though. So I thought I would start a thread about it so it's easy to locate for someone who would find it useful for them. Problem I had was trying to figure out what section on the forum to post it. Didn't see an appropriate alternative to post it other than in Showtime. :tong Many times when doing repairs, you run across little messes you have to deal with. Could be oil, could be antifreeze, water, diesel fuel, any number of liquids that are giving you a problem and you need to remove it. Sometimes, could use a pile of rags. But even rags cost money, then you have oily or contaminated rags you have to dispose of. Some creative individuals get the thought they have a shop vac. Perfect, problem solved. Well...not quite. Shop vac may get the job done, but now you have a disgusting mess inside your shop vac you have to deal with. Solution? The suck bucket. Take an empty 5 gal oil bucket with lid in place. On opposite side of lid, drill a hole in lid that will snugly fit a piece of 1/2" ID clear vinyl tubing in lid. 1/2" seems to be a good size, moves a good bit of liquid, and any tubing larger in size tends to collapse. You're now ready to tackle those messy tasks. I had to repair a leaking control shaft seal on a Morooka dumper drive pump. Once I removed the control valve, had this nice, small lake of hyd oil lying there saying "ha, ain't gonna let you make a seal with a gasket". "Oh Yeah!" I says to the pump, "watch this!" Place shop vac hose over pour spout of suck bucket, stick vinyl tubing into innards of pump, and sllluuurrrrrrppppp. Oil gone.
Suck up the oil that flowed into bolt holes, finish it up with air nozzle down the holes. Then move hose over surfaces to remove the residual oil. Every thing cleaned up, ready to remove gasket and clean surface with starting fluid and rag, then re-install control valve with new seal. No oil, no mess, no oily rags to dispose, and pour the oil in the suck bucket into the tank for the waste oil heater. Yes...heater fuel!
Here I thought you were going to post pictures of the bucket i pulled apart earlier this year. Atco, you may be the evil genius of mechanics
That is pretty good.
Never thought of something like that. Used to change the valves on fuel oil tanks with oil in them by sealing the end of a shopvac in a top hole of the tank and turning it on.
Great idea,also you could add a piece of copper tube to clean out the bottom of contaminated hydraulic tanks
You are a genius. I might have to make a mess just to clean it up.
I wish that I could say "I thought of that".What an ingenious solution that will probably be used just about every day in the shop.Thanks for sharing and reaffirming what an asset that you are to this board.Ron G
I have used a variation of that for years. With a larger hose than 1/2 you can prime a jet pump without getting your vac wet. Works well for cleaning sink traps also.
Bravo and thanks for sharing...
Yup bill onthehill, the application possiblities are near endless. :yup Thanks for the compliments men, but take it easy calling me a genius fellas, I'm already a legend in my own mind. bah ha ha ha So, here's another task I had recently. Boss wanted me to rebuild injectors in a smoky Kobelco SK480 with a big six Mitsubishi in it. Can't be that hard, right? Ha. Proceeded removing injectors, but had a little difficulty removing injector on number 1 cylinder, she was stuck. After much cussing and fussing, all manner of threats, I finally managed to get it to come out. Aww crap, that wasn't supposed to happen! So that's why it was such a B with an itch! The dang injector nozzle was stuck in the brass injector cup insert that's pressed into the head, pulled brass cup out of head. Grrrrrrrr. To the left is a proper injector, the one on the right is #1 with brass cup insert. Not supposed to happen. Reckon it has something to do with all the silicone some previous meathead applied to the injectors? Grrrrrrr. Ok, so what's this have to do with the suck bucket you ask. Wellllllll...that brass cup goes through the coolant chamber inside the head. Yup, when that cup came out, all I could do was watch this very pretty red colored coolant fill the combustion chamber of #1 cylinder, right down through the injector nozzle hole. Drained coolant from radiator and grabbed the suck bucket. Now, a 1/2" diameter hose ain't gonna go through that injector hole in the head. Sooo, reduce the size with smaller size pieces of vinyl tubing to get to a smaller size piece of hose that will fit through hole. Stick the tube into cylinder, sucked out the coolant sitting on top of the piston. Now, if just getting a new brass nozzle pressed into the head were as easy as using the suck bucket. Me thinks not. Grrrrrrrr. :Banghead
Just love yankee ingenuity. Fast, simple, little to no cost. I bet you pulled the bucket out of the trash. How many times have you sucked the bucket flat? I've used a small version of that to bleed in brake systems. Had a vacuum pump and adapters I used for checking the seal on piston pins for Detroit engines. I took a mason jar and soldered a couple air fittings on the lid. I got the proper hose to fit the bleeder nipple on the wheel cylinder and used the vacuum pump to pull the fluid through the system. I never thought to scale the idea up. You are true genius in action.
Me thinks attco that you have to pull the head to replace cup if im not mistaken!!
Yeah, wouldn't surprise me. Fortunately, got a diesel engine head rebuilder here in town to work with. http://www.dieseldhp.com/
Thats Pretty cool & handy ATCO.I can see allot of uses for it.One question,Does the 1/2 inch hose need to go almost to the bottom of the"suck bucket" Like a drop line in a fuel tank? I was thinking that way there is less chance of the fluid atomizing and partly ending up in the shop vac.I dont know? I'm guessing stay away from any highly fllamible liquids like gasoline etc.
Actually 25c, I only have the hose going a couple of inches in the bucket. I have used it for several years now and I don't see any oil residue in the vac hose. And yes, I stay away from highly flamable stuff, like gasoline, that stuff goes off with a big whoooomp when it's ignited, just don't trust that stuff.
Sounds good ATCO .I'l have to try the "suck Bucket" Idea.The best part about it Is most of us have all the materials to build it.Thanks for sharing that ATCO:thumbsup
Hey ATCO, you gonna let him get away with calling you a YANKEE?!!
Do you have a diesel tank that you would like to drain the water from the bottom of it, but the drain petcock is FUBAR? Maybe the drain is a pain to get to? Or, maybe it's a pipe thread plug and your not interested in taking a diesel shower. Maybe it has no drain plug at all. No worries, the solution is simple. Take a length of 1/2" vinyl tubing, slip a short piece of steel oil tubing over the end of the vinyl tubing. Then take a small zip tie and zip it on very end of vinyl tubing, this will prevent steel tube from slipping off. Now simply insert the steel tube end of the vinyl hose into the fill neck of your fuel tank and feed it in. The steel tube will sink it to the bottom. Connect the tube to your suck bucket hose. Quick shot from the shop vac and you'll have the water drained from the bottom of your tank in mere moments.
brain storm sometimes one sees a photo and gives an instant memory recall. That slid me back 50yrs ago in high school in science class. Aint that called an aspriator? This will be on my today list. "simple tools work best" good thinking.
I think Mr Atco might want to share some of the credit, perhaps Mr Topsider might like some:beatsme
Mr. Topsider? Is this just one of my dumb days, or do I need to get out my aussie-american dictionary again?:beatsme
http://www.amazon.com/Topside-Oil-Changer/dp/B0000BYMBC
Well I'll be darned...that's the first time of seen one of those Hendrik.
Thats a cool invention I just had a job the other day trying to dab oil out of some threaded bolt holes in a block. I will make me one of those,good old American ingenuity Atcoequip !
You'll find it to be a handy shop tool Autocar. Like when your changing a water pump on an engine, even though you've drained the coolant, there always seems to be a port on the block for pump that keeps dripping some coolant which would foul up the sealant for new pump gasket. Stick the suck bucket hose in that ornery port and suck it dry. No more coolant problem.
I have one of those topsiders and they are a pain in the a??. You have to keep pumping and pumping and did I say pumping? I love Atcos idea. They do make the something like Atcos for drywall sanding. You put water in the bottom of the bucket and the 1/2" hose extends to just above the water. I use for any heavy duty sanding on my boat or wherever to keep it dust free it also keeps most of the dust out of your shop vac. Randy
I know people who have made their own version out of various bits and pieces, with varying success but it seems that the type of tubing used is important. Too small inside diameter and it will take forever, too big outside diameter and you can't get it into the tight spots, if the wall of the tubing is too thin it will collapse with the vacuum, especially if it sucking out hot oil. I tried making one out of a ten liter plastic jerry can but the tubing I used was too small.
I am putting a transom in my Glastron and that dust from the fiberglass is doing a job on my shop vac filter.Wish I had thought of this solution earlier.Ron G
Hey Ron if you do use one for dust change the water often. It depends on how much dust you're making as to the time. I was sanding my bottom paint (mega dust) and had to change it every hour or so. If you don't the dust gets really thick on the surface of the water and incoming dust just bounces off and into the shop vac. You won't believe the amount of dust the water collects. Randy
I am nearly done with the sanding,I have the floor fitted and just need to remove some paint around the perimeter for the resin to bond to.I am trying to figure out a way to do that without sanding. I wonder if the nylon string from a weed wacker would work if I attached it to my Rotozip?I am working outside so I can dodge some of the dust at times.Ron G
I ran across this thread last weekend and decided to put it into action to drain the diesel out of the tank on my Scat Trak mini excavator. (fuel strainer fell off in the tank and the machine was sucking in sludge from the bottom of the tank). It pulled 5 gallons of fuel of of the tank and into the bucket very quickly. I was suprised on how much 'suck' this setup could produce. Made quick work of a dirty project. Another kudos to the members of heavy equipment forum for sharing their experiences!
LoL...and so easy to make one ain't it bro.
Ok, the suck bucket comes in handy once again. Boss wanted me to check out a Cat 963 we've had on the yard for some time, just haven't had a chance to get to it. While checking fluids, I pulled the dipstick for the transmission drive unit (fill pipe on left) and noticed it was overfull. Didn't think a great deal about it at the moment, oil was clean and clear, figured someone overfilled it because you couldn't really see it good on the dipstick. Then I noticed the sight glass on hydrostat drive didn't have any oil showing in sight glass. Proceeded to pour oil into hydrostat unit (fill pipe on right) until it was up to level. Then, I noticed it was slowly going down. What! Tell me it ain't so! Grabbed the suck bucket, stuck hose down the fill pipe for tranny drive unit, sucked out 3 1/2 to 4 gal of oil in moments. Stuck dipstick down tube, noted oil level. Waited a few moments, checked again, oil level had risen on dipstick. Waited a few moments, check again, continued to rise. Did this several times, oil level kept rising in tranny drive unit. Not good. Came to two conclusions; 1) probable shaft seal failure between tranny drive unit and hydrostat drive unit allowing migration of oil between the two, not good, big project, and 2) hey, at least the suck bucket works good!
:notworthy :notworthy You are a Legend ATCO :notworthy :notworthy I don't know how many times I've gone past this thread & never looked .... glad I did this time :thumbsup Maybe there should be a new reference area on homepage for this kind of stuff...... Handy Hints ? Great Ideas ? Tool Tips ? Guru Gadgets ? Workshop Wonders ? :drinkup
Well alrman, I'm confident the "suck bucket" will serve you well as it has been a very useful tool for me. As for the second part, a section for these type of tips, tools, gadgets, ideas, well...as a matter of fact, I've been discussing this with the adminstrators about this very subject. We'll see how it works out.
Like to see your jumpstart cart in there too, Atco
LoL, that "monster garage booster" gets used quite frequently mitch.
I can see the suck bucket in my future
Here's another application of the suck bucket. I learned a long time ago, as a field mechanic, to try to control/contain my messes. First of all, property owners aren't too keen to find a big oil puddle on their ground. Second, the enviro implications can't get serious now days, don't need someone knocking on my door. But during this time, I've found I don't like to necessarily work in a mess anyway. So, what to do when you have to crack open a hyd line and don't have room to get a catch pan under it. Solution? The suck bucket. :tong What we have here is a Kobelco SK480LC with a cracked seal boot at the center rotary joint. This has allowed rain water, and a lot of it, to get into the slew gear housing under the turntable, not good. If enough rain water is allowed to get in there, it will get into the slew ring bearing, very not good. I don't have to remove the big lines in the center, can uncouple them from the flange connections where the hoses connects to pipes. But that large hose on the side, and the high drive pilot line on opposite side, I have to take them loose and remove the fittings to fit new seal boot. Now that's a good size line on the side, acutally the case drain line for the drive motors. I took it loose at the topside so it wouldn't siphon from tank, but when I pop that fitting loose, it's going to dump some oil. You know, that thing that if you spill a quart of oil on the floor...it actually looks like a gallon! LoL. Can't get any kind of pan under it to catch the oil, so grab the suck bucket. Place the vacuum tube from suck bucket under the fitting, and crack it open, suck up the oil as it drains out. I was in an awkward position, so kinda fumbled the hose fitting when it came loose, spread a little oil. No problem, work the vacuum tube around and suck it up! Once I got the old seal boot off, I emptied the oil from the suck bucket, and proceeded to draw out the water that had collected in the slew gear housing. Pulled about 8 gallons of water out of it in a short time. Hey...beats the heck out of removing that little drain hole plate under the rig and getting drowned in swamp water! Ha! I've even built a little reservoir dam with clay oil dry around an area that a hose is being removed, sucked the oil out of the reservoir, then when finished, used the suck bucket hose to suck up the oily clay oil dry bits.
How did you get the new boot on,is it not one piece?You need to patent this suck bucket idea because there is going to be legislation soon that requires every service man to have one.Good luck with it.Ron G
Yes, the new boot was one piece RonG. Once I removed the case drain line and fitting, and the two speed pilot line and fitting from side of rotary joint, the boot simply slipped up the 4 drive hoses in the center. Simply had to disconnect the drive hoses where they connect to steel pipes with 4 bolt flange fittings, pull the 4 hoses together and tied them together with rope. Slipped the old boot off the hoses, slid a new one in place over the 4 hoses.
Adapt shop vac hose to suck bucket We built & used the suck bucket working on the Grove crane couple weeks ago.It worked great and I was surprised how fast it sucked up hydraulic oil.Only trouble I had was the shop vac hose was bigger than the bucket outlet and was somwhat of a loose fit.Ended up cutting the "pull tabs" off & drilling an 1 1/4 inch hole in the bucket cap.Made for a nice fit in the vac hose.Worked great ATCO.Thanks for sharing the idea.
Dang 25c...that's just too cool!
I'm really annoyed with this whole "suck bucket" thing ATCO. I paid $200 for a vacuum charged fluid evacuator that is slow as molasses...:Banghead
LoL. Tell ya what RobVG, I'll help ya out. Send the molasses can back, get your money back, and send me the 200. I'll build ya a suck bucket and ship it to you, I'll even pay for the shipping. :tong
LMAO! You are so kind...
:lmao:falldownlaugh Well, ya have to be dripping with kindness to yack with the crew at our chatroom. LoL...not!
Bring a big suck bucket when entering the chatroom.:lmao
Yeah, like a 55 gal drum! lol
Now what about a blow bucket?
Well, I never considered that one Hendrik. But here's the latest adventure, just had to share it with everybody. A bit of text to this one because the story is just too good. There's two certain co-workers that I work with that I and another co-worker have nicknamed Thing 1 and Thing 2 (the tornado twins in the book "The Cat in the Hat") for reasons that the nicknames explain. They typically work with our attachments, unloading, processing, loading, etc. Occasionally they get caught up with their tasks and need something to do, so if the boss doesn't have a particular task for one or both of them, he tells me to give them something to do. Well, Thing 1 does things in a bit of a hurry, like everything is done in overdrive plus another gear. That may serve well loading/unloading 52' trailers with attachments, but generally not so good when wrenching. Yesterday, I was working on a customers Bobcat T200 and he asked if there's something he can do on it. Now, me being a bit picky about customers machines, I'm thinking "umm, No". So I looked around the shop, and said, "well, you can do an oil change on our Toyota forklift, the filters are on my bench". I told him he has to get the front wheels on blocks because a drain pan won't go under it. Ok, so Thing 1 now has something to do, and Thing 2 can supervise. Sweet, back to the T200. Now we have a 10 ton overhead crane. It would be just too easy to grab the lifting eyes on the mast of the forklift with the crane, lift it up, and put some blocks under the front wheels. Not Thing 1 and Thing 2. I was working in the engine compartment of the T200 and kept hearing the Toyota diesel rev up. Rrrrrrrrrr......Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I thought "what in the hell are they doing?" Walk across shop to get a view, Thing 1 was trying to drive up on 4" thick blocks by driving up against them and standing on the throttle. Wheels were spinning and gripping at the blocks, forklift bouncing up and down, while Thing 2 watched, I can only shake my head and say "just damn!" Somehow, he got lucky, the forklift launched and planted firmly on the blocks. I let them enjoy their success and went back to the Bobcat, still shaking my head. Things were uneventful after that, it's just an oil change, right? Not with Thing 1 and Thing 2. After the task was finished, Thing 1 came in my office and told me the forklift won't crank, which baffled the hell out of me. I went and hit the keyswitch, sure enough, it wouldn't turn over. What the heck??? Checked the battery, it was good. It was like the engine was locking down. Checked several things, finally put a bar in a hole in convertor housing and tried to bar engine around, it wouldn't go, much head scratching ensued. Now this is a 4 cyl diesel that the oil fill hole is in the valve cover. I looked at the engine and asked Thing 1 why there was oil spilled on the valve cover and running down on the head, I figured surely even he would be smart enough to use a funnel. Well, he did use a funnel, but he replied that he overfilled the valve cover, meaning, he poured it in real fast. Remember...overdrive plus one more gear. That's when it dawned on me what has happened. The front wheels are on blocks, the oil fill is on end of valve cover toward front of machine, and the crankcase vent is on the side of the valve cover about midways, meaning, oil fill was higher than crankcase vent. Crankcase vent hose goes to...you guessed it, the intake manifold. You know where it goes from there. Yep, oil goes right down into the cylinders when they tried to crank it, so it's now hydrolocked. I looked at Thing 1 and said "this is the first time I've seen an engine locked up from doing an oil change". Just damn. Ok, so this morning, I have two tasks. 1) change Thing 1's nickname to "Tazmanian Devil", which seemed more appropriate, and 2) get the engine back to some form of normal order. Relatively simple task, get the oil out of combustion chambers. The question is how. As I see it, there are two options. First option: remove injectors, crank engine, allow the pistons to blast oil out of the injector holes, and make an oily mess all over the machine and shop, which I have no interest in cleaning up such mess as I tend to dislike a mess. Or second option...the suck bucket. Ok, here's the patient, you can see the crankcase vent hose disconnected from the barb on the intake pipe. Nice little oil puddle in the intake. Remove the injectors, here's the holes that we have to work through.
Reduce the size of the vinyl tubing by using smaller diameter pieces of tubing. For the last piece of tubing, I used a more rigid 1/4" ID tubing like you use to hook up ice maker on a refrigerator, easier to keep straight going into a hole into the cylinders. Stick the tubing down the injector holes and evacuate the oil. Spray WD40 down holes, place rags over injector holes, crank engine to reduce the thick oil, continue to evacuate until it's clear enough to install injectors and fire off engine.
That is just plain scarey.I am accused of being difficult to work with because I don't want anybody touching anything that I am responsible for repairing.That was good detective work to troubleshoot the problem. I worked for a guy who would have one employee take something apart and somebody else would have to put it back together such as rebuilding a carburator or something complicated enough that you could not be expected to know how it went together or even where all the parts to it might be. He would have an engine pulled for an exchange and send the core back before we knew what needed to be reused on the old block.Good story.Ron G
RonG. . . a friend used to work at the Chrysler dealership, and he often rebuilt motors (V-6 Mitsubishi, 6 cyl Jeep, etc.) From time to time when I would go by to visit him, I would drop an extra bolt on his parts cart. Just one.
You're gonna pay for that someday!!LOL.Ron G
Saw a little different version of this. Service guy I had come out to a project had a freon tank that he had welded some fittings on to. He then used one of the vacuum ports on his pickup truck ( gasser, in case thing 1 is watching) to create the vacuum. actually worked pretty good. just have to be carefull that u dont suck too much into the motor.( bad things could happen)
Not a bad idea using vacuum ports out on a jobsite BG.
Nice solution Atco. I'm glad the suck bucket topic came up again, as I had to rig up one last week. The maintenance program I'm in sold an old power hacksaw where the coolant tank was built in and it needed to be drained. Problem was, no drain plug, which was odd. So, I copied your idea with a slight twist. I had some 5/8" clear hose with a female garden hose end, so I drilled a hole slightly larger than a 5/8" male end hose barb, and pushed it into the lid. Screwed the female end on and went happily sucked out 12 gals. of coolant. Thanks for the tip.
LoL, that rocks truckfan. You fellas are free to modify the idea as it suits your needs, but there's no doubt the suck bucket is a useful tool no matter how it's arranged. I was talking to another member today about one time one of my grandkids got something stuck in the toilet at home, had to remove toilet. I brought home the suck bucket and used it and shop vac to drain the bowl. Very useful tool. :tong
I'm building one tomorrow!
I have built that works great for oil changes and random suckcking jobs out of a vacume pump out of a fridge and a large 30 gallon tank, i put oil quick connections on my machines that this will hook up to and suck out of, when the tank gets full i hook a air line up to it and push the oil back through and out to the used oil burner tank. Thats where you should go with this one ATCO
Woo Hoo! LoL, a quick, easy, no mess oil change on a jumping bean.
It could have been worse. He could have found another orifice to pour all of the new oil into (or forgot to put the plug back in...) and fired it up.
With Thing 1...anything is possible.
Wow, I can't wait to make a suck bucket. I have at least 4 things I know I can use it for. Very nice and thanks for the insight.
or do like my helper did and pour the oil into the inlet for the airfilter...
LOL, well, you don't even want to know what Thing 1 did with a 2" contractors pump yesterday. Didn't even bother using the suck bucket on that one. :tong
I actually got to use a legit pro suck bucket today. It was air powered and worked like a charm. I was thinking of picking one up till he told me the CFM demands and the price of $350 I think your suck bucket with a shop vac is a much better setup.
Wow! And a helluva lot cheaper! :yup
My project for today; removing the swing gearbox from a 320BL. It appears the seal on the output shaft of gearbox is failing and is leaking gear oil inside the rotate bearing housing. This sometimes causes the machine to leach black goo out of the rotation bearing, gear oil washing the grease out of rotation bearing. Ha! You're mine now! Yep, there's a bit of oil standing in the base of the rotate housing. No worries...Suck Bucket!
Do you think it would it work to suck up that big grease pile under the bucket Atco? Maybe I could use it to change the grease out in a swing gear. Oh, any chance of some pics on how you replace the seal?
Well Rob, what it will draw depends on hose size, but a pile of just grease, hmmm, that might be tough. LoL I did suck up some gobs of oily grease inside the rotation housing with no problems. The beauty of it is all this nasty stuff goes in the bucket, none in the shop vac. Replacing the seal; I just might take some pics of the process to give others some idea of what it's like if they're thinking about tearing into theirs.
Well I'm gonna have to build one an see. I guess it could be used around the shop for other things too...
Yup, that's why I'm posting these pics rob, to show others the possible applications.
Very innovative. And almost all of your posts Showing us how you use it could be turned directly into infomercials. Not only are you an innovator you are also a good showcaser. I do believe I will have to utilize this method. I do not have a certain purpose in mind yet. But I will be on the look out for sure.
I made one of these last night. It made the task of changing the chaincase oil in my bobcat much easier. Just a tip for anyone doing the same, jack up the rear of the machine so all the oil runs to the front.
:notworthy. Just one thing to say to you Willie ..... I Love You Man !!!!!:notworthy. You are the suck bucket guru ! Wish I had seen this along tome ago !
needed to remove some contaminated diesel from a tank with no drain plug on bottom. no suck bucket available and no shop vac, so after hunting around in back of van i had a plan. The suck can/van!!!!!!!! using the brake booster vac pump!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdvVacv4mxQ
A couple years ago I had to remove a hydraulic line from a machine at a remote site, no air compressor, nothing to drain oil into. Well if I had been at the shop I have a homemade vacuum device that works off shop air to hold a vacuum on a tank like this, works great. This time the tool was back at the shop and like I said no air compressor. But I did have a source of vacuum kind of like phil46. This was a Ford F-150 with a gas engine. Scrounged around and actually did find some tubing to hook from the hydraulic tank to the intake of the truck. Seemed to be working fine got old hose off and only lost a cup full of oil by the time new hose was hooked up. That's when I noticed the Ford was smoking out the exhaust a little. Seems a little hyd. oil did get sucked into the intake. Lucky as I said this was somewhat of a remote location. So after five or six miles of hard driving the Ford stopped smoking and never gave a problem. Is there a statue of limitations on the EPA pollution laws?
Very nice phil46, welcome to HEF. :drinkup Upper cylinder lubricant, right kshansen?
Yea that's my story and I'm sticking with it! Those old 4.9 sixes are tough old engines. Wish they still made them!
LoL, I drive one to work everyday, my old '85 F-150.
One of my friends burned down his house and garage to the ground about 20 years with one of these pails, so be careful. (Sorry Willie... your idea isn't new by any means... though thanks for sharing!) If you read the warning on a shop vac I'm sure it will say not to suck up anything volatile, flammable, hot, etc. He was using a setup to suck diesel out of a fuel tank in a car. The whole setup went up in flames. They were lucky to get out alive. What happened? The thought was that while the diesel was going in the pail the vacuum was getting a bit of it and the fumes. It was enough to atomize it and sparks from the motor was all it took.
Agree VF, it's one of those things that one could certainly laden with warnings and legal disclaimers. But like pretty much doing anything on machinery, one is wise (and lives long) to keep ones wits about them. I would never attempt to use this method with volatile liquids, such as gasoline, and I would be wary using it for hot diesel fuel as the fumes are far more excitable than stone cold diesel. :yup
Love your the idea Willie. I'm afraid my safety guys would have a fit if the caught me using something like this. I have a recovery 1" recovery pump that works well. Have done the same with the hose tricks. Nothing like servicing a 40 gallon hydraulic tank and not getting a drop of oil on the ground.
I'm thinking instead of using the shop vac maybe I should install my shop air powered vacuum device in the bucket. That way there is no electric motor to cause sparks. I should make up a drawing of this tool and post it unless someone else has done that. It's a simple thing to make, just a small piece of bar stock with a few well placed holes. I was shown how to make it probably close to 40 years ago by a Hough, any one remember them, equipment mechanic. Those had the hydraulic tank mounted high up behind the cab. With the vane type pumps being gravity fed would try to drain all the oil every time you needed to replace an oring or hose. Using this tool you could remove any hyd. hose or component and hardly spill a drop of oil. That is unless someone turned off the shop compressor!
The problem with them around here is the motors last forever but the road salt eats the bodies away from around them. We have had to scrap at least half a dozen in the last 8 years of that vintage that still ran great as the cabs were to the point they were no longer safe. Worse yet is the 97's and up are rusting out even faster!
The sucker works with those small air vacs. We have been using them for a long time. You can use those portable air tanks as a bucket.
if this has been sugested im sorry, put a couple of fitting and a clear hose on the side and you can see you need to dump it before it ends up in the vac.(sight glass of sorts)
Fantastic new member here so I can't start my own post yet search barrel bung for another great tip
second thought a sight glass is too much bs. the suck buckets simplicity is everything it needs
Or a clear / translucent white suck bucket.
When my mum was in the hospital, she was equipped with a clear mini-suck bucket. When I saw it, I had a small chuckle to myself thinking of Willies suck bucket. The nurses didn't quite take to the name unfortunately. =-) (Backup suck bucket when she was in the ICU). Alex.
LoL, and I wager those cost a helluva lot more than mine Axle.
Axle, nothing against your Mum but I'd rather clean willie's suck bucket than your's
I would not wager against you. As for cleaning those; it amounted to throwing the canister away and twisting in a new one. Quite the eye opener to the amount of "disposable" items in a hospital anymore and the frequency at which they are tossed. Alex.
Just joined up today, mainly to say thanks for this idea & some others I've borrowed. I work on refrigeration & air conditioning plant, and one of the perennial problems is blocked condensate drains. Up until my current employer, a 'D' size cylinder of Nitrogen was the normal method. Either blow the blockage (usually sludge mould) out, or suck it out using a Venturi effect. This employer refuses to buy 'D's due to the cost being almost the same as for an 'E' size. So having found this thread courtesy of another forum I made a suck bucket from a 20L paint bucket & a long length of 1/2" garden hose. The long hose enables me to get to those awkward places, like ceiling mounted fan coils, without having to lift & balance awkward equipment up the step ladder. My bucket lid didn't have a pour spout, so I cut a 40mm hole that the end of my vac. hose fits into. The only issue I have found with this is that the vacuum manages to suck the bucket almost flat. I've found by experimentation that the lower I have the vac hose in the bucket, the worse this effect is. However, I can't avoid it happening, just improve how long it takes. Has anyone else come across this & if so, is there a solution?
Please do, it sounds like a great tool.
You are just maintaining too much vacuum in the bucket. Cut another hole in the bucket just to let in more air. Start with a small hole. It might whistle. :beatsme If there is any vacuum in the bucket it should still suck through the hose, especially if you are only sucking water and not thick oil...
What make & model of vacuum are you using? Asking in a good way, sounds like a good one. If the bucket is collapsing, consider making a custom fit wire frame to put inside the bucket like an upside down tomato cage. A few minutes with 3/16 or 1/4 solid mild round stock and a mig welder would solve that problem.
Wow...thanks Willie! I have a '56 Studebaker sitting in the garage. One of the last things I need to do before it hits the road is to make sure there's not too awful much of anything in the gas tank. I'm pretty sure the tank is empty, but the 1/2" drive plug in the bottom is stripped out and I'm too busy (lazy) to drop it. I WAS going to rig up a drill / pump concoction, but the suck bucket sounds way better. I have a couple dozen fuel filters to grab the big chunks. Ha ha!
electric motor + gasolene = BOOM! Suck bucket is a great idea - but I would not use it to do what you want to do .......
Thanks for the warning, but there is no smell of gas, old or new when blowing compressed air back through the hard line. I'm more worried about water sitting in there since the car sat for 20 years with the cap off behind the gas door before I got it (for a days worth of operating, materials paid.) Cool thing is...changed the oil, plugs, rotor/condenser and cap, put a hose in a can of gas, and she fired right up! Blew a few dirt daubers and cobwebs out of the tailpipes though.
Welcome to HEF Freezergeezer. :usa How about that, I do the very same thing. We have a wall mount heat/air unit in our shop bathroom, the condensate drain occasionally clogs. Hook the hose of the suck bucket to the end of the drain and schlurp, here comes a pile of crap. And yes, the vac will suck a bucket flat. I've considered fitting a plumbing gate valve fitted to a hole in the lid of the bucket to provide a vent, thereby be able to adjust how much vac one puts on the bucket and differences in viscosity of fluids being sucked. And I share what Alrman stated, I would never suck flammable liquids, especially gasoline.
Made one to clean out a fuel tank the other day! Worked very well, how ever it would be nice to have a filter or screen in the bucket so u can see what you got out to show customer / warranty pictures..
A VAX 2000. It's a British brand I think. The motor is supposedly sealed so that you can't get water in it. It's ABS plastic, or something similar & very easy to keep clean when I don't bother with the suck bucket. The only down side is that the tank is a little small for larger jobs. If finances ever allow, I'd like to get Milwaukee's wet vac. A mate has one & it's a pretty impressive bit of kit - would be the most ideal tool for those times when I'm crawling around attics & ceiling spaces.
Thanks Willie. Yep, it works a treat when you can access an end of the drain easily. My vac hose has a small adjustable relief port in the handle which I open up. That helps a bit, along with the two or three small holes I've punched in the lid. I didn't want to make too large a hole as I want to keep the lid as close-able as possible. Good idea about the gate valve, I may give that a try. Also been thinking about fitting a snap hose connector to the lid, as I suspect the 3m of hose I fitted doesn't help. that way I could use whatever length of hose suits the job, and it'd be more compact for stowage.
That's a good idea, maybe fit a male 3/4 garden hose fitting on the bucket lid and attach any number of hose combinations.
As of last night there is one more of the "Famous Willie Suck Buckets" in use. Made mine to clean out the lower end of my Sportster engine that had a valve guide slip that in turn damaged a piston. A little bit of aluminimum flakes in the oil. I was trying to clean out the crankcase and thought I had most of the oil out by removing the oil pump. Just to be safe built the Suck Bucket to see if there was much left in there. Not much room to see with the crank flywheels in the way. I probably got a good coffee cup worth of oil out that would not drain out no matter which way I tipped the bike. I may dump some fuel oil or kerosen in then slosh that aroound and re-suck to be safe. I'm just a poor almost retired mechanic or I send Wilie some money, but if he finds his way to central NY I'll give him a ride in the sidecar!
LoL, no need for that kshansen, just glad to hear it did the job for you. Heck, I've even used the suck bucket to pull a toilet, to suck that last little bit of water in the bottom of the bowl so I don't spill water while toting the john through the house to the outside. :drinkup
willie I thought ALL the toilets in tenn was outside!!! why was yours brought inside?? :lmao :lmao
The ladies deserve a warm seat, being a gentleman, Willie warms it inside the house and then totes it out to the little house as needed. What a guy! :notworthy
Willie, Are you comparing my Sportster to toilet? Then again when it is broke down I may refer to it as a piece of.......
Hey, whatever works, right? Lord no, not saying that, just saying it's a tool with many uses.
Bump for a great thread
That is the most kick-ass idea I've seen in a coon's age. I'm not sure how long a coon's age is, but hey...
http://www.ehow.com/about_6774955_raccoon-lifespan.html
Lol
Hey gravel doctor ! You the same ericscher on the M14 Forum ? Not trying to hijack you thread Willie !
If I get nothing else from this site which definitely isn't the case, hats off to the inventor of this handy little device. I have used it to clean out several diesel fuel tanks which I otherwise couldn't get cleaned out.
:drinkup
Well fiddlesticks, oil filled the threaded bolt holes when I pulled that swivel fitting. No worries...suck bucket! Even used it to suck out the brake cleaner used to clean the holes of oil.
Ok, time for an update. When I first made the suck bucket I basically threw it together in a hurry, really basic stuff. Well, it's been in use now for many years and a bunch of times. As we all know clear vinyl tubing has memory, you can't make that stuff stay straight, and oils/fuel will make it get stiff over time. Well, this past week, with the combination of those two things, I was sucking some oil out of a housing and, unknown to me, the vinyl tube with its bend inside the suck bucket was curled and pointing to, you guessed it, the spout where I had the shop vac hose connected. I think y'all can deduct what the result was. Slime-A-Vac! That does it, it's time to upgrade! So here it is, the Suck Bucket 2.0 I fitted a discharge pipe inside the bucket with thin wall 3/4" PVC pipe and a 45 degree elbow at the bottom of the pipe with a tailpiece cut on an angle. I rotated the tailpiece so it's pointing to the side of the bucket. I'm thinking this will help minimize splatter effect inside the bucket as it will direct liquids into a swirl when it enters the bucket and to make oils go straight to the side of the bucket to then flow down to the bottom of the bucket. On the top of the bucket I fitted a ball valve to control how much vacuum is applied to the bucket as too much vacuum can collapse the bucket. 90 degree barb fitting for the tubing will help keep the tubing from getting kinked, and I didn't tighten the threads so it can swivel around. Already have a project lined out tomorrow to try out 2.0
I still need to build one of these, I saved having to build the first edition, maybe I'll get around to the second. By the way, your sticker on the back of your truck gave me my laugh for the day.
Contact Brent Albright at Associated Graphix in Ohio and he'll ship one out to ya. http://www.associatedgraphix.com/
I built one after reading about them, it is still around the shop. Works so good on many different things, thank for sharing your great idea.
Now you're just getting fancy to show off! I even built a 1 gallon version.
Heck yeah dirty4fun, they do work well on many things, I even used it when I went to replace the toilet at my home with a new toilet. That last little bit of water left in the bowl after flush, the suck bucket to care of that in short order so I could pull the old toilet and carry it outside without spilling water through the house.
Showing off??? Naa, necessity is the mother of invention. After my episode of the vinyl tube was pointed right at the bucket spout where I connect the shop vac and totally slimmed my shop vac, that does it, I've got to make this better.
Hope you don't mind, but I've shared this thread to a NZ motoring forum - it's just too good not to!
No worries from me Kiwi-truckwit
Willie59, Just thought I would boost this thread back to the top for any of the new guys and to mention what I used mine for today! Probably one of the smallest job a "Suck Bucket" has ever been used on! Had the little project today of flushing the brake fluid out of my wife's 2013 Vespa scooter. As I did not want to chance dripping brake fluid on the paint work I was looking around for an old turkey baster or syringe of some kind to suck the old fluid out of the master cylinders before putting fresh in. I could have just pumped the old stuff right through but thought starting with a mostly empty master would save some time. Then I hit me why not use the good old "Suck Bucket"? Did not have to worry about over filling the five gallon pail on this job as each master cylinder holds at the most a couple table spoons of fluid. Chalk up one more potentially messy job to a fast and neat one thanks the the "Suck Bucket". Thanks again for sharing, willie59
It is amazing how many projects one finds to use it on. Only thing I avoid is volatile liquids like gasoline, that stuff makes me nervous. I've used it removing oil from threaded holes before re-fitting parts, sucking the fuel and oil that drops on top of pistons when changing HEUI injectors, I've even used it to suck the remaining water from a toilet when removing a toilet or tank from it's mounting. Good to hear it did the task for ya!
glad this post got revived i had not seen it before now , will keep it in my mind now for just the right occasion although i do have a small plastic hose fit to a camlock fitting on my service trucks oil evac diaphram pump, sometimes it dont suck so good .
I would strongly suggest making one of these "Suck Buckets" up just for fun. Takes all of ten minutes to round up the parts and once you have one you are sure to find an application for it. Not sure if I described somewhere up in this thread how for mine I used for the suction hose some 3/8 inch clear hose then to be able to get down in the corners of a small oil tank taped a length of coat hanger to it. Lets me maneuver it all around very accurately.
I have used a similar set-up, a shop vac on a bucket. Cleaning out all the grass & twigs that get down in a skid steers innards (after flipping up the cab). Once they get oil soaked, they really pack down in between all the hydros, and hoses. I keep some 1" pvc, and some smaller pieces around to quickly stuff on the end of the hose, to get in smaller crevices. I have used it to retrieve hardware as well.
Hey Willie, I've just shared the Suck Bucket with a mate of mine who is in the hydraulic game and does alot of work on fishing trawlers. Because he doesn't always have access to mains power to run the vac so I suggested he makes a Venturi and hook to an air compressor. You have come up with a brilliant idea btw.
Ya never know, your buddy may come up with something just as creative. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
We built several of these after finding your thread a while back. I must say thank you from all my friends and myself, !!!!!!!!!
Wow, that cheers me typ4, glad it's been a help to you. I've used my improved suck bucket 2.0 several times now and I really like it
Thank you willie and whomever brought this thread back up to life. here's another use for the suckbucket...Is your fuel line clogged from your tank, (maybe), well disconnect it at the pump and " suckitup.
Yes, just avoid doing this to a gasoline line, that stuff scares me. I've also used it to pull water from the bottom of a fuel tank that either doesn't have a drain petcock or is difficult to get to by putting a length of straight copper tubing on the end of my vinyl tubing, stick it to the bottom of the tank and suck up the water until fuel flows through tubing.
I've super sized this idea with a 55gal drum. Used it to pull rear gearcase/trans oil from a dozer as I didnt want to drain 40gal bucket by bucket. Not a drop spilled and I was productave taking it apart.
I had thought about doing something like that but never had the need or opportunity while still at the quarry. Now days not really anything around the house that would even come close to filling the five gallon version! If you have a clean empty drum handy it would be a great way to save the oil for reuse it it had not been contaminated from a failure.
The Suck Bucket and Fluid Film, two ancient history posts that have been so very useful.
This idea sucks. Really. So glad I saved an oil bucket. Thanks for sharing!
Had to add the following inquiry to the concept; Yes indeed, the idea for liquids is quite sound and is a valued tool in me shop; have shown the idea to many whilst crediting the forum. Here is the issue: have been enlisted (drafted?) to assist in a project involving a piece of heavy equipment disassembly and bearing (aluminum bronze) rebuild etc. The piece is indeed heavy but doesnt move much dirt. Has gearboxes filled with 'tacky' grease. Any tricks that will help the suck bucket cope with this task? Or just get bags of rags, and get to wiping.
You might be able to fill the gearboxes with diesel, it will dilute the grease and make it come off easier. I don't know that the suck bucket will be able to pick it up. But it will come off everything easier with the diesel.
The suck bucket won't do heavy oils very well, and the bigger the vinyl tubing the better. The problem is the vacuum required to move heavy fluids simply implodes the plastic bucket. Works best with water, diesel fuel and light oils.
I made a 5 gal suck bucket out of a 5 gal plastic pail several years ago to evacuate the oil from the wave runners. I used a vacuum pump from the lab which imploded the pail. I hate to admit it but the solution was a metal tank for that purpose found at HF. It also has a large hole on top for dumping. I think it was less than $50.00
Hey, I'm all good with inquisitive folks coming up with improved variations of the concept.
A steel air compressor tank, or propane tank will stand the heavier vacuum, you could try a water heater, but that's iffy. A vacuum cleaner will not develop much suction, but any gas engine is a good source for higher vacuum, even some diesel pickups will have a vacuum pump for the brakes. Or a refrigeration service vacuum pump, intake of air compressor, junk fridge compressor. Not much volume is needed, as you're not pumping air , you're only building the vacuum and then the volume of grease is relatively low. The next part would be a hose that could stand the vacuum, spiral PVC suction hoses, wire reinforced hoses, possibly hydraulic hose? If the gearbox has seals on the shafts, it may be possible to pressurize it with air to pump the grease out. In that case the hose wouldn't have to stand vacuum, or very much pressure either, 10-20 psi would be more than the force of vacuum. Either way, heat would help a lot.
If using a steel tank, you could always build or buy an air-vac transducer like the one pictured below, uses compressed air flow to create a vacuum on the p- port. Cat PN: 5P-0306
I’ve been experimenting with one using a tee fitting to generate the vacuum. Still fine tuning it in my spare moments. First shot imploded the bucket immediately
I’ve got a home made one around somewhere. I’ll see if I can find it and post.
A empty refrigerant bottle should work. Already has handles on it.
if its huge putty knife and a box to put grease in if its just big enough for a hand to get in probably rags, once majority is gone maybe wash it out with diesel and a cleaning brush then suck bucket the resulting residue
I've used the "Suck Bucket" concept a number of times. I also use one built from a glass olive or pickle jar for doing brake bleeding because it will hold a higher vacuum provided by a vacuum pump. But, recently, needing to do a transmission service on a Ford transmission, I ran across this Vevor Transmission 2 way dispenser/collector. Basically a "Suck Bucket" that works on the air venturi priciple but it can also be pressurized to deliver fluids. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099N7KHLQ?ref_=ppx_hzod_title_dt_b_fed_asin_title_0_0&th=1 For about $75, it came with a large number of pipes, hoses and fittings for multiple applications. This thing works great! Some of the included tubes are small enough to fit down an oil dipstick tube. That made extracting a couple quarts out of a Deere 862B oil pan a breeze with no mess and no need to drop the belly pans just to drain an overfilled pan. For bleeding brakes, I still use a glass jar ahead of this catch jug so that I don't contaminate the Vevor container with brake fluid. For loading transmission fluid on my truck with a very long dipstick tube, I use a pipe marked so that it sits below where the dipstick level needs to be. This way, I don't have a sloppy dip tube that gives false readings on the stick due to slow falling oil. It was well worth the cost - it has been quite useful and saves a lot of potential mess at times.
Boy howdy I know what you mean. I can't recall the machine as it's been years ago, maybe a Bell articulated truck, but you had to add tranny fluid down the dipstick pipe, and there was a length of pipe that was just slightly less than horizontal. What a PITA! Add some fluid to the pipe, try to run the dipstick down and all you get is an oil covered dipstick with no clear reading. Nice find treemuncher.