what do you do for fuel storage?

[igpoobah]

I have (4) 5 gallon jugs that I rotate and try to keep all filled and stabilized so I don't have to make any emergency runs to town.

 

[zing]

I have A 55 gallon set up.
I never have to haul it anywhere to fill it as it is self filling.

Can you explain what you mean when you say your tank is self-filling? If that means what it sounds like it means I think you would be very popular with your friends.

 

[zing]

In my area there are a lot of folks filling transfer type containers and I have never heard of or seen any station operator ever look at or comment on containers. I have even seen guys and gals filling glass gallon jugs. The law is very clear though that all such containers have to be approved. I doubt even patrolling police bother unless it is obvious that the container is not secured or stopping for some other moving violation. I was involved in an incident several years ago; a guy had two old rusty 55 gal drums in the back of his pickup, not secured, and he was just completing filling them when I drove up to an adjacent pump. I asked the station attendendant why he was allowed to do this as 55 Gal drums are not an approved transfer container in WA unless sold and transported by a licensed dealer. His statement to me was why don't you mind your own business, I want that big 100 GL sale and I do not care as I am not the gas police. I watched the guy pull away with a jerk and both drums slammed into the tailgate and almost popped the latch and bent it up badly. I jotted down his licensce # and called the fire marshalls office. They confirmed what the guy was doing was driving a huge bomb around. They investigated, fined the guy, confiscated the drums and gas. They called me back and thanked me as they saw that if he slammed the drums back one more time they would have been rolling down the street.

Moral: No matter what you use, secure it when moving.

A steel or plastic drum in the back of a pickup is SOP around here to get fuel for fishing boats. Walk the drum off the truck, roll it to the end of the wharf, screw in a valve and hose, lie it back down, put the hose end in the boat fuel tank, open the valve and let gravity do the rest. Bigger boats can go a week or more on a tank so they can get a home heating truck to deliver their fuel straight to the boat, but many boats don't have a big enough tank so they need to fill it every day or two. You won't get a truck to deliver that often.

I'd have quite the cell phone bill if I called somebody every time I saw a truck rolling along with a barrel of diesel in the back. Most people will have the sense to tie them in place with a piece of rope though.

 

[tmc_31]

About 12 years ago I needed a fuel tender for my small single engine airplane as I was burning auto gas in it which they didn't keep at the airport. A friend gave me a 100 gallon aluminum diesel tank off of a semi tractor. I went to Payless Cashways (local lumber yard at the time) and bought a small single axle trailer kit for $99.00. Another friend tig welded a small sump in the bottom the tank with a drain valve and some 4X4 aluminum square tubing runners so I could mount the tank to the trailer. He also welded in a 2" bung hole in the top of the tank for the electric pump. I bought a 12V fil-rite pump and gallon meter for the rig. I mounted a battery box on the trailer tongue. I put a water filter and a particulate filter in line at the discharge side of the meter.

I used this rig for my plane for about 5 or 6 years until I overhauled the engine on the plane, upped the compression and had to switch back to 100LL AV gas. So the fuel tender has been relegated to hauling diesel for my tractor and skid loader. It works very well as long as you don't hook up the battery leads backwards. Don't ask how I know this.

all the best,

Tim

 

[ultrarunner]

A project like yours deserves a couple of pictures... ;-)

About 12 years ago I needed a fuel tender for my small single engine airplane as I was burning auto gas in it which they didn't keep at the airport. A friend gave me a 100 gallon aluminum diesel tank off of a semi tractor. I went to Payless Cashways (local lumber yard at the time) and bought a small single axle trailer kit for $99.00. Another friend tig welded a small sump in the bottom the tank with a drain valve and some 4X4 aluminum square tubing runners so I could mount the tank to the trailer. He also welded in a 2" bung hole in the top of the tank for the electric pump. I bought a 12V fil-rite pump and gallon meter for the rig. I mounted a battery box on the trailer tongue. I put a water filter and a particulate filter in line at the discharge side of the meter.

I used this rig for my plane for about 5 or 6 years until I overhauled the engine on the plane, upped the compression and had to switch back to 100LL AV gas. So the fuel tender has been relegated to hauling diesel for my tractor and skid loader. It works very well as long as you don't hook up the battery leads backwards. Don't ask how I know this.

all the best,

Tim

 

[tmc_31]

A project like yours deserves a couple of pictures... ;-)

Thanks Ultra, I'll see if I can get some pictures for you

Tim

 

[LBrown59]

Thanks Ultra, I'll see if I can get some pictures for you

Tim

Whars them pctures?

 

[tmc_31]

Sorry guys, I finally got the field today and got some pictures. This is the first time I have tried to upload pictures and I am not having much luck. It seems that the pictures display upside down, How come?

Tim

 

[Redneck in training]

Must be aerobatic fuel tank. There is one possibility. Some picture browsers don't alter pictures. They just attach a "recipe" to them. The recipe contains all editing that was done to the picture while leaving the original unchanged. So if the original was taken up side down you see it rotated in picture browser but when posted it comes as original.

 

[FredH]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/oil-fuel-lubricants/103041-how-do-you-store-your-6.html

Above is a thread along similar lines I replied to several years ago showing my tank . Added another 100 gallons to the 60 or so that was remaining in it last summer . Bottle of stabilizer every year and still no issue's with water , algae , etc.....




Fred H.