fuel caddy

[Soundguy]

I'm going to try another project this weekend. When i go to shows, I use a 'jump' caddy. It's a cheapy 19$ hand cart with a car battery bunjied to it, with a set of HD jumper cabled mounted tot he battery via regular cable clamps. I added a piece of wood across the caddy frame to attach the clamps to. It makes a great jump start for a weak tractor battery.. I've seen lots of guys use them... saves your back.

Now.. for home, lately I've bene noticing the time it takes me to lug multiple 5g cans of diesel around to my Nh7610s tractor, and then scale the side of it with a fuel can in tow.. then pour it in without 'washing' the side of the tractor down.

I picked up a cheap barell rotary hand pump from the chinese store.. 19$.. I checked it.. and it pumps diesel fine.. self primes in a couple turns.. etc. I got some fuel hose and an open nozzle end ( non-sparking) and have messed around pumping right out of a fuel can.. works ok.. but it is still a 2 hand operatin holding the pump steady while spinning it.

Yesterday I raided the 'surplus' pile behind the shop I work for and found a bunch of 35g grease kegs.. they look like mini oil drums .. etc. I chose one that had a top that had a 2" bung in it, same as my barrel pump threads.

Now.. the keg is plastig bad lined.. Ilifted the empty greasy bag out to reveal a 100% rust free shiny can, with a bit of liquified grease and an occasional sticky patch of grease where there was an imperfection in the bag. I've cleaned it with mineral spirits so that there is no grease 'visible'. if you run your finger or a white rag downt he side of the barell.. there is a minor residue.

Question.. is it now suitable to pour my 5-10 g's of diesel in, so I can strap it to my hand cart for easier re-fueling of my tractors? Or is there some important issue I'm missing.

Invisible grease residue cause a problem? i havn't filled it yet.. so if I need more prep.. I'm ready..

Soundguy

 

[gmsssi]

Where'd ya get the cheap barrel rotary hand pump?

 

[EddieWalker]

I wouldn't worrry about the grease anymore. You got it clean enough, probably more then you needed to.

Water is a bigger issue then grease. Can you add a filter to the pump before the hose?

Sounds like you got a winner.

Eddie

 

[Soundguy]

I found a chinese tool store names.. um... direct freight or somthing liek that. Looks all the world like the same exact stuff you see at harbor freight.

They had 2 barell pumps.. a rotary one for 19$ and a lever pump for 35$.. they were out of the lever pump so i took a chance onthe rotary one.

Took me a few minutes to figure out they had assembled it upside down.. had the short exhaust nozzle screwed into the inlet, and the suction tube screwd into the outlet, as both ports are the same thread... I reversed the connections and it pumps diesel thru a 1" ID hose pretty darn quick.

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I wouldn't worrry about the grease anymore. You got it clean enough, probably more then you needed to.
)</font>

Cool.. I was figuring that microscopic grease residue wouldn't hurt diesel oil at all.. but figured I would ask.

I was glad this drum was a plastic lined one. It made it super easy to clean. I lifted the old grease bag out and had nothing more than the oily grease residue, and some sticky spots.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Water is a bigger issue then grease. Can you add a filter to the pump before the hose? )</font>

I doubt it. This pump doesn't have much suction head, nor does it pump with much psi.. Id be concerned about it being able to suck thru or pump thru even a hi-flow filter.

The keg lid has a big oring, and I'll be storeing it indoors, inthe barn, and will be filling it via 5g cans. I figure i can use a filter in my funnel ( mrfilter? ) and try to keep the trash out of the system that way. As it is.. I'm going straight from diesel can to tractor.. but with a 21g tank.. I am tired and smelly by the time I get her full as the tank is on top of the hood, forward of the dash... The operators platform is a nice size.. but the placement of the steps and the gas tank make you kind of have to cling to the side of the tractor, or lean way over and balance the can onthe hood to fill her up.. neither of which Ilike to do.. I'm hoping this solves the problem.. I plan on finishing it this weekend. I'll probably paint the can yellow and then get a diesel plaque from our fuel dealer just to make it a tad more 'official'.. in the even the fire dept ever has to come to the barn.. at least they will see a properly marked and color coded fuel container etc. and know there is diesel in it.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sounds like you got a winner.
)</font>

i hope so. I walked around behind the shop at the GC I work for at lunch today and found the best condition keg ( a new one ) .. no rust or dents... and then found a newish lid with the bung hole and threads.. most of the other lids had no bung. I thought I was gonna have to torch one out of a 55g barell and then weld it in on a regular keg lid .. glad I found a pre-made one. I'll post pics when finished.

Soundguy

 

[have_blue]

Well, you are lucky you got a rotary barrel pump from the Chinese store. I got 1 from HF, and it worked, but it was "sticky" as all get out. It would lurch and cause me to skin my knuckles. When my barrel got low on fuel and the pump would stick, the barrel would turn over. Grrrrr! Not fun in a 110 Deg. tractor shed! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I finally got fed up and slung it out in the field. Naturally,,, I forgot about it and over ran it with my bush hog. It split like a coconut, and I never did find all the cast iron shrapnel.

I usually win with my HF tools, but I ordered that one sight unseen. It was just too rough, although I worked it, greased it, and worked it some more. It just refused to break in. Maybe I just got a bad example on that one.

I now use 2 or 3 pounds of compressed air to push the fuel from a 55 gal. plastic drum through a 1" hose. Works just great, and fills my 13 gallon tank in ~2 minutes.