How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)?

   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #1  

Fallon

Super Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2013
Messages
6,852
Location
Parker, CO
Tractor
Kubota L4060hstc, formerly L3200hst
Picked up my new Kubota L3200 this Saturday & logged just over 8 hours running the rotary cutter. Finished up with a quarter tank to spare (probably 1gal per hour), so it's almost out of commission until I figure out a fueling strategy. Not exactly unexpected, but I just hadn't gotten around to it as it's not particularly urgent & had other stuff to do. My tractor is going to be a weekend warrior, so not getting a lot of work, maybe 10-20 hours a month, maybe.

I have a Shell station under a 2 mile drive away (quarter mile as the crow flies) & they sell off-road diesel. I had been planning on getting a 55 gallon drum ($10-20 for a decent plastic one) & manual or 12v pump, filling it at the local station & schlepping it home in my truck. Unload the barrel & leave it in the shop to fuel the tractor as necessary. Other thoughts were spending $300ish & getting a decent used 200-300gal tank (maybe just a couple 55 gal drums ) & having fuel delivered. My least exciting option would just be driving the tractor to the station to fuel it up.

Is getting delivery going to be price competitive with filling up a few 55gal drums?
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #2  
we have a 100 gal fuel tank that we have filled up.the guy we buy from will come fill it up when he coming out our way.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #3  
I have a couple yellow 5 gallon cans. I take them to work and stop by the station w/ OFD on the way home. 10 gallons seem to go a long way on a 4 cyl 40HP diesel motor.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #4  
i use 5 gallon cans purchased from Northern Tool. and one of those alum 48" benches with folding legs. set the bench up by the back tire (or near the filler) and fill.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #5  
I have a Kubota L2800 and I use this:
Scepter Duramax Flo-n-Go, 14 gal. cap. - Tractor Supply Online Store
Its gravity fed so I strap it to my Front End Loader, pick it up above the hood of the tractor, turn off the tractor, and fuel up. I've had my tractor 3 months and I've gone through three full cans. I got the tractor with 4 hours on the clock and its at about 60 right now.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #6  
Sounds like you need to get a couple 5 gallon diesel containers as per above, just to get you started. This will buy you some time until you figure out your best option. They are heavy to lift however. My 80 year old, 150 lb, 64 inch frame has to grunt to do it. :rolleyes: I filter mine (while pouring) with a special funnel and always add Power Service to each 5 gallons.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #7  
Been using 4 of the 5-gallon old style plastic jugs.

Easy to use, lightweight and no problems with rust/water.

Probably use 60 gallons a year?
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #8  
Too, if you can, see if you can find old stock at a garage sale / surplus store whatever. The current EPA approved type (the ONLY kind you're allowed to sell now), have the stupid "self-venting", non-spilling type nozzles.

First of all, "self-venting" nozzles don't. At least not very well. All of the three types that I've owned do the gluglugluglug....thiithiithiithii....glugluglug.... Sometimes the vacuum gets too high and they have to be turned upright, vented manually, and started again.

Second, the non-spill types all do....spill, that is. One type I have has this convoluted locking mechanism with a sliding lock, and a pivoting valve. The other, even MORE convoluted type has a pivoting lock, a plunger-actuated plug, and a spring-loaded spigot. In both cases, the spout is so complicated, and has so many moving parts, that they leak when you turn them upside down.

Old-school cans had a snap-close vent, and a one-piece spout that didn't have to try to be anything more than a spout. And.....wait for it....they worked. The new environmentally-friendly designs, mandated by law because we, the brainless masses, cannot be trusted to use a regular gas can without spilling it, are now regulated into having to use the diesel-fuel equivalent of the sippy-cup. And, since these diesel sippy cups were designed by lawmakers, rather than engineers, they leak when you turn them upside down.

My first gas can, given to me by my granddad, was the old type, and I didn't spill gas because I didn't want to pour gas all over my equipment, and didn't want to pour hard-earned money out on the ground. But, alas, it was stolen. When I went to buy a replacement, here in the United States of Romper Room, all I could find were the ones that Nancy Hussein Blooberg decided I could be trusted with - all of which spill fuel when you turn them over, and do not vent themselves and therefore have to be vented manually.

I still have two intermediate-design spouts that are self-venting (the lesser of the two evils), but not non-spill. Those two spouts get swapped between the cans (1x gas, and 1x diesel) I am actually pouring from at any given time, and my 8 or 10 other ones have become glorified "lids". I watch those two spouts like a hawk, and have twice drawn down on guys who looked too hard at one of them.

What happens when these two spouts get broken/lost?
Ever seen Falling Down?
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #9  
Take a look at a Gas Caddy. You can find this at Northern Tool "on sale" for over $400. I got mine, exactly the same unit, for $185 on Ebay.

It holds 30 gallons, has a fuel level gauge and a hand pump. Works great.
 
   / How do you fuel your tractor (logistics, not finding the cap to the tank)? #10  
I use 5 gallon plastic "gas cans" (12 of them) that are hauled to the gas station on pallets, filled, and unloaded with the forklift attachment.

Then the fuel transfer is done with a Harbor Freight 12V pump. Only problem is that it doesn't have an automatic shut-off so you have to watch (and listen) carefully. If you decide on the HF pump, wait until it goes on sale or use the 20% or 25% coupon on it.

Diesel Transfer Pump - Save on this 12 Volt Transfer Pump
 
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