Found these on an old farm today - Any ideas?

[angifogg]

Heavy cylinder type metal containers, any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[Moonrover]

Is there a fuse/detonator in the plugged end?

 

[angifogg]

No just hollow end

 

[NOLA_Ken]

They look like the pressure tanks from a flamethrower, but I doubt that's what they really were.

 

[duggap]

Those look like oxygen bottles from navy ships.

 

[angifogg]

Thanks for your ideas, I am still stumped after trying to Google it :/

 

[doc-d]

Old tanks for oxy/acetylene torch??

 

[HAPPYCAMPER]

Kinda look like scuba tanks?

 

[BosnMate]

I'll throw in that Mercury is/was shipped in round metal containers called "flasks."
This is a found flask from a ship wreck.
After the Korean War I visited a mercury mine that produced several flasks a day. The cinnabar ore was so rich that liquid mercury bled out of the rock. I think each flask weighed 75 lbs when full. This is not the only type of container that mercury was shipped in, but it's one option for you to research your find.

 

[Mekong Mike]

looks like the old steel scuba tanks before aluminum became popular.

 

[clovis97]

Oxygen tanks from a WWII era bomber??

B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26??

If so, they could have been sold to the public via government surplus sales.

Were the O2 tanks on these planes steel or aluminum?

 

[FeS2]

They look chubby for mercury. Full they'd weigh a lot more than 75 lbs. (I remember in chem class when Prof. Mason carried in a metal flask of Hg, his biceps flexing. Red painted cylinder skinnier than these.)

How was butane packaged for farm use pre WWII? Was it ever stored in small tanks?

A clue may be in the fittings at the top of these bottles. One bottle has a long sort of nozzle. Do any have a valve allowing attachment to a gas line?

 

[FeS2]

Oh, and do remember that if sealed these tanks may still be under serious pressure. And who knows what was in them. Maybe you found a cache of nerve gas from Ft. Dietrich.

 

[FeS2]

duplicate post deleted

 

[angifogg]

I will take detailed pictures of them when I go back and post them. Thanks everyone for your input