Tank handling and protection structure

A tank handling and protection apparatus, comprising:

• a rectangular frame base including first and second spaced parallel base beams defining a length of said rectangular frame base, a spacing between said beams generally defining a width of said frame base, said width being less than said length;
• first and second mounting racks attached to said base frame, and having first and second generally rectangular full-size tank base locations, defined thereon, respectively, said first and second mounting racks including first and second pairs of parallel mounting rails spanning said width of said frame base between said base beams, said first and second pairs of mounting rails having said first and second tank base locations defined thereon, respectively;
• at least a first and a second tank mounted upon said first and second mounting racks, respectively;
• and
• a protective cage attached to said frame base, said cage being taller than said tanks and surrounding said first and second tank base locations along all four sides of said frame base.

A tank handling and protection apparatus, comprising:

• a rectangular frame base including first and second spaced parallel base beams defining a length of said rectangular frame base, a spacing between said beams generally defining a width of said frame base, said width being less than said length;
• first and second mounting racks attached to said base frame, and having first and second generally rectangular full-size tank base locations, defined thereon, respectively, said first and second mounting racks including first and second pairs of parallel mounting rails spanning said width of said frame base between said base beams, said first and second pairs of mounting rails having said first and second tank base locations defined thereon, respectively;
• at least a first and a second tank mounted upon said first and second mounting racks, respectively;
• a protective cage attached to said frame base, said cage being taller than said tanks and surrounding said first and second tank base locations along all four sides of said frame base;
• said cage having first and second longer sides including first and second pairs of doors defined in said first and second longer sides, respectively, so that one of said doors is located adjacent each of said full-size tank base locations in each of said longer sides of said cage so that said tanks can be placed on or removed from said tank base locations by inserting said tanks through openings formed by opening said doors;
• said cage including an open top having two top openings located above said tank base locations, said top openings being sufficiently large that a full-size tank may pass vertically therethrough;
• said cage having first and second shorter sides including first and second integral ladders, respectively, said ladders providing both lateral protection to said tanks and access to said top openings;
• and
• each of said mounting racks including a plurality of mounting means for selectively mounting any chosen one of four tank base arrangements within each of said full-size tank base locations, said four tank base arrangements being:
• (1) one full-size tank base;
• (2) two half-size tank bases arranged with their lengths parallel to said length of said frame base;
• (3) four quarter-size tank bases with attached pairs thereof aligned parallel to said length of said frame base;
• and
• (4) one half-size and two quarter-size tank bases.