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How to safely remove air compressor from pallet
Ken, mine at work are mounted on (bolted to) a steel subframe, a pallet of sorts, it is made of 1/4" angle iron and has two pieces of rectangular tube beneath it for the forks of the lift truck to hoist into position where it is then bolted down by the angle iron.
At home my compressor sounds the same as yours, I left it on the skid but modified it a little. I added two 2"x4" boards down the middle to make 4 'beams' on the skid, then cut out the first couple of 'deck boards' in the center to give me increased clearance to get to the drain at the bottom. The whole skid is then bolted in place using long carriage bolts up on the mezzanine in my shop.
BTW, all my compressors get modified a little to receive two drain valves.
I toss the standard drain cock in the tool box and put a brass T-fitting in it's place. One end of the T gets an auto drain, when the system pressure drops to ~30 psi (weekends) it opens and blows off any accumulated water. This style has a hose barb and we run clear poly tube into a clear container so we can monitor the amount of water coming out.
The other end of the T gets a brass 'toggle drain' like you would find on a truck with air brakes. This has a spring-loaded center pin with a hole in it to receive a pull cord. Moving the pin in any direction causes it to open. The cord from it hangs down beneath the compressor and can be used to bleed off pressure, drain water, or just to check if there is water at all.
Best of luck.
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How to safely remove air compressor from pallet
Aside from the possible problems with the HAZ (heat affected zone) or changing the metallurgy, especially if the weld is close to a seam or joint, it would likely void the warranty, the manufacturers liability if it ruptured, and your household insurance if something ever happened to the tank and caused damage or an injury.
Now, having said that, I've welded onto/into/through pressure vessels lots of times myself. However, I'm both a certified welder and an engineer qualified in 2 disciplines.
I would not recommend it for a novice, especially when there are so many better (IMHO) options.
Ken, if you're concerned about the sling and lines, you can make what's known as a 'tethered basket hitch' using slings. You need two slings minimum, 3 is better. The first sling, or two, goes around the compressor tank and then through it self to form a choker, the second (or third) goes from the loop forming the choker down under the bottom (and stuck there by the legs) and back up to the other side of the choker.
In a pinch (and for lighter loads like this) you can use rope to replace the lower sling.
Basically the bottom piece just acts to prevent the choker from sliding up the tank sides.
Best of luck.
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How to safely remove air compressor from pallet
[QUOTE=earthwrks;168465] Oh come on boys. It's done all the time welding to a tank.
Any good welder can do it. And it wouldn't explode anyway. At the very worst it would leak. My trailer tires take 111 psi, and they don't explode when I get a puncture. [/QUOTE]
Aside from what I've already said, here's a few more points to ponder;
A new steel tank will undoubtedly have a film of oil on the inside to prevent rust since they can't paint the inside. The heat of welding will cause it to vapourize, if it reaches the critical temperature, it's combustion point, while it's within the stoiciometric ratio (a mixture of fuel and air that supports combustion)....... BOOM.
A rule of thumb in engineering is that 40 gallons of compressed air at 100 PSIG, stores the same energy as one stick of straight dynamite. Ken has a 60 gallon tank, 50% bigger. BOOM would be bad.
Now the really scary part. Just for 'giggles' I did a quick thumbnail calculation on what would happen if the compressor did fail.
I don't know if Ken stated how big his shop is, but for my calc. I used an 'average' sized shop that is 20' x 30' x 10' high, basically an over-sized 2 car garage. I also based my calc. on a 40 gallon tank (not 60 like Kens is) was at just 100 PSI, not 125 psi like most compressors use as a shut-off point. If all the doors and windows were closed and the tank suddenly failed, it would raise the interior pressure by 0.1 PSI.
Now 0.1 PSI doesn't sound like much, but on a 20' x 30' ceiling that equates to 8,640 pounds upward pressure. If it had no ceiling and a 6/12 pitch roof, it would be 11,500 pounds of upward force on the roof.
According to the Government 0.2 PSI pressure from a nuclear explosion would reduce a typical wood frame home to toothpicks.
Air pressure is very deceptive, it's amazing how much punch it packs. Just ask anybody who lives in tornado country.
Best of luck.
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How to safely remove air compressor from pallet
Me thinks that's a wise idea!! 
BTW, with sling straps, there are always three ratings given to reflect the "SWL" (safe working load), they are for Vertical, Choker, and Basket. For what you are doing you will be using the "choker" figures. Don't worry too much about it though, a single Type 1, 2" sling is rated at 2,400 pounds as a choker, and that is ~1/7th the MBL (mean breaking load) so it would take 16,800 pounds to snap it.
Best of luck.
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How to safely remove air compressor from pallet
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I have no doubts many many tanks of all kinds have been welding on and possibly worse that to date has not killed anyone.
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I look at the same way as lottery tickets, my chances are really pretty slim, but you always hear about somebody's number coming up.
I just don't like the 'prize' when your number comes up in this one.
Best of luck.
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