Anyone? - Hack A Treadmill To Make A Tank Tumbler?

[walkonmars]

Just wondering if anyone has hacked a treadmill to make a tank tumbler?
I realize a treadmill alone can be used as a tank tumbler (put it on it and add two bumper wheels to keep it in place.).
I just don't have the space to keep a full size treadmill.
My idea is to shorten the platform length a lot and put the rollers closer together. Maybe remove rubber belt and cover rollers with bicycle inner tube rubber.
Then cut out the hand rests and move the control panel down to floor level. This makes the whole deal easy to store and can be pushed under the garage weld table or stood up on its side and leaned against the wall when not in use. I have welding equipment and can use the handrest tubing to make additional supports.
I have 12 tanks in various shape but want a better and easier way to oxygen clean them. I'm not tumbling to remove corrosion since the tanks always pass vis inspection (fingers crossed).
Are there units with weak motors I need to watch out for?

Thanks to all you practical people for contributing this great idea, in the first place.

 

[WarrenZ]

Not sure about shortening the belt I would probally use the motor to drive a couple of rubber wheels and let them roll the tank.

Here is what I do ugly but effective:

 

[walkonmars]

Thanks, that doesn't look bad. Just simple and to the point.
I'm finding posts of people using even simpler methods such as hacked electric drill motors.
No rush to get one set up but I have been muddling the idea for a year or so and getting impatient.
I need to gather parts and put it all together.

 

[Peter69_56]

Yep I need a tank tumbler as well. 12 tanks to clean is far too much doing it by hand

 

[tbone1004]

have you looked at the treadmills that fold up vertically? They get fairly compact... The problem with electrical drills is that they are not designed for 100% duty cycle so you will burn the motors up fairly quickly. You can do what Warren does with 2-4 tanks which works just as well and you have a usable treadmill

 

[walkonmars]

Yes, I looked online for many weeks and seemed to have found a motor that is 100% duty cycle but realize this is overkill (the motor costs was $150 and I still need to buy rollers, bearings, frame, tubes and rods. I figure I will run the motor 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off and 15 minutes on again using a timer for many hours if needed to avoid the heat issue. Also, I'll bet if I ran a fan blowing on the drill motor constantly, it will be cool enough to run for several hours at a time. The drill motors are old relics given to me by friends that upgraded to better units. That is plan "A".
Plan "B" is ... buy a treadmill and viola...you are 90% there. Just get old skateboard wheels and mount them against tank and the tank tumble is finished, ready to go.
Yes, also considered the fold up treadmill but I still don't and shouldn't make that kind of room for it.
Even upright, a treadmill takes up 2.5ft x 1ft of footprint space that vertically 4ft high. This means every time I want to get something else out or use an item in the garage, I need to take the treadmill thing I use twice a year out to get it out of my way to use my welding table, bandsaw, grinder, milling machine, shop vise, etc. Sorry, I got problems with space.

 

[tbone1004]

you don't want to do 15 on 15 off, depending on the tanks, I've seen them have to run for 6 hours or more. Keep in mind that traditional tank tumblers are about those same dimensions, usually a bit shorter, but 2.5'x1'x3' is not abnormal for a tank tumbler. They need to be big and heavy enough to support around 200lbs while rotating without the tanks walking off of the rollers. You get the other advantage of actually be able to use said treadmill for exercise should you so choose.

 

[walkonmars]

2.5 x 1 x 3 is the size of the treadmill after folding it up and storing it standing up. Actually, it is likely 4 feet tall.
15 minutes on and off for a total of several hours of tumbling time is what I meant. They will be on a timer and I set it, then walk away and come back after it is done. Anyway, I wont need to run it for 6 hours since this is oxygen cleaning and not corrosion tumbling. I will never use a treadmill for the intended purpose since I can go outside and our weather here is never bad enough to keep us from doing that here.