Old hand told me to never trust a tape measure past 20 feet on a tank job

Back in 2019, I was fitting a 40 foot diameter storage tank down in Baton Rouge. This grizzled guy named Hank kept saying your tape measure lies after 20 feet if you don't account for sag. I blew him off and cut a ring that was off by almost an inch. Had to torch out the whole seam and start over with a second plate. Has anyone else run into that issue with long measurements on big diameter work?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_carter5d ago

ain't that always the way, the universe punishes shortcuts right when you're most sure of yourself lol

hayden_nelson855d ago

Nah, I'm calling that old wives tale. If your tape's calibrated and you pull it straight with enough tension, sag ain't gonna throw you off by nearly an inch on a 40 foot tank. Sounds like you just pulled a bad measurement or your tape was junk.