I deal with Airgas and as long as you have the money they will set you up with whatever size you want. Your situation is strange for sure.
Thurmond
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I talked to Airgas in gainesville and the biggest tank they will sell is 125 if you want a larger tank you have to rent. I don't have a account with them and that my make a differance.
That is true. Anything over 125 must rent or lease. I lease 4 tanks from them. Better off that way in many respects.
But the bit about "commercial" people doesn't hold water. If you submit a credit app, they will be glad to set you up in most cases. If not keep looking. In any small town there are several welding stores close by.
True, I lease (rent is by the month, lease is by the year) most of the bottles that I use less so I don't have to be worried about having hydro testing done on my bottles when they are due. My local welding shop sells and trades out bottles so you usually never have the same bottle back anyway whether rented or user owned.
I've read all the posts with interest both before I bought a tank and after.
I guess I'm convinced that its all a racket and its tough on somebody that isn't a large account.
I recently bought a 125 cu ft from a local welding supply store. After research on the web I found that there price was comporable to the lowest price I could find on the web. So I got a brand new tank. (he made a big deal about it being new) it had their name on the neck. When I mentioned the name on the neck I was told it didn't matter, it was still mine. So I said "okay, when I bring in my brand new tank, you'll refill it, right?" He said "no, we swap them."
I felt like i had just played a shell game. In the end I realized that I just need to keep the receipt.
A welding shop in the closest "big city" to me 80 miles away will fill your bottle and return the same one rather than swap it out, but it can take some time depending on how busy they are when you drop it off.
Thurmond