Has anyone taken a wooden tower tank apart for repair?

[pcowley (RIP)]

hwy8,End grain. I use fence staples when doing buckets.I don't think anyone makes what you would need. It would not take very long to make some larger ones than fence staples out of small rod.Gas,bare welding rod? Cut it to length,sharpen both ends and then bend into a square corner C shape. Sharpen the inside of the staple legs flat. It would then pull the two staves together when driven in.Some woodworkers use something similar but on a larger scale driven into the end grain when gluing two boards together.Do you have one or know someone who does, cut them out of flat stock with a cmc? machine.
Your tank is probably going to leak. I have been told that one should put saw dust in the bottom of the tank and then slowly add water. The sawdust floats out the holes and stops up the leaks long enough to allow the boards to swell.

[windybob]

Maybe try Romex staples. They have a wider stance.

[hwy8]

I love that sawdust idea---It's like the "Stop Leak" for leaking radiators! Just a quick Google look for Romex staples came up with these. If I have to use wider, I'll try to find a wire coat hanger around here and with a couple of bends and hammer-hits, I'll have some custom sized staples. That might be the ticket anyway. My photos show that the wood isn't all sound and that I may have to use staples of varied width to be able to reach solid material. Once I get the tank into the workshop and do a good inspection, I'll determine if this thing will hold water after all. If it doesn't, I might go totally insane and just build a new one! I've been reading about water tank materials and douglas fir is an option and I have some available. Do they still make the connector parts of the rings? Does anyone have some for sale?