Small acreage fuel storage - 50 gallon drum of diesel or?

[sw99]

Good morning folks.

I have a small acreage (10) property. I generally use my tractor for mowing and dirt rearranging here and there. Getting tired of going into town for diesel when I'm using the tractor a lot. I have looked into the stand alone diesel tanks bit they range from 150-350 gallons. From what I have read, diesel is usually good for a year or so so I think that route is overkill. Anyone have 50 gallon drums of diesel delivered? I would need a decent pump but I have no electricity in my barn so it would need to be a manual pump of some sort.

With the price of oil so low, I am thinking this would be a good way to save some money. Any input? Thanks

 

[davesl708]

How much do you burn in a year? Additives can extend the storage life. Getting deliveries of 50 gallons may not be practical to the supplier and not cost efficient.

 

[streamin]

I have a 100 gal tank that fits in the back of a truck. I fill it 3/4 or so and lasts a good while. It has a hand pump.

 

[kebdvm]

I have a plastic 55 gallon drum with a 12 volt pump on it. I added a water and sediment filter to the output of the pump and a plug that plugs into the tractor. The pump was from tractor supply. I strap the drum to a pallet and put it in the back of my truck to fill. I then use pallet forks to move it when full. I treat the diesel with a stabilizer when the drum is filled. Much better than 5 gallon cans and the resulting mess.

 

[sw99]

If I were to guess, perhaps 30? I bought the new tractor towards the middle of last summer and I have put roughly 40 hours on it since then.

 

[George2615]

Most suppliers in my area require a minimum of 150 gallon order for delivery. They will deliver smaller orders but will charge a delivery fee.

I heat with fuel oil so I have two 275 gallon tanks outside. One is for home heating oil (#2 dyed diesel). When I call to have them fill the HHO tank I have them put another 100 gallon in the 2nd tank for my tractor. This avoids the extra delivery charge since they are already there. I have a 12V pump with hose and nozzle on the 2nd tank. I can power the pump from the truck or tractor battery for quick fill ups.

 

[farmeratheart]

I saw these mentioned on another forum. Roughneck HD UL Listed Fuel Caddy — 30-Gallon Capacity | Fuel Caddies| Northern Tool + Equipment If you can transport this to a filling station and back it might help ???

Good morning folks.

I have a small acreage (10) property. I generally use my tractor for mowing and dirt rearranging here and there. Getting tired of going into town for diesel when I'm using the tractor a lot. I have looked into the stand alone diesel tanks bit they range from 150-350 gallons. From what I have read, diesel is usually good for a year or so so I think that route is overkill. Anyone have 50 gallon drums of diesel delivered? I would need a decent pump but I have no electricity in my barn so it would need to be a manual pump of some sort.

With the price of oil so low, I am thinking this would be a good way to save some money. Any input? Thanks

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a 100 gallon tank that I installed rolling casters on. I found it on Craigslist for $350 with a 15 gpm DC (battery powered)Filrite pump with 20 feet of hose and auto-shutoff nozzle. Later I picked up a 275 gallon TOTE container that I placed beside my 100 gallon semi-portable fueling station. Rather than hooking up cables to the battery on tractor or RTV, I permanently installed a new car sized battery with a permanently attached battery tender. I have been using the 100 gallon for 6 years with no problems. Last year I put in 150 gallons of fuel in the TOTE tank plus filled my 100 gallon. The distributor delivers free for 150 gallons and the price was cheap per gallon (cheap at that time). I finally ran the 100 gallon tank out so I had to remove the pump from that tank and put it in the TOTE tank to refill the 100 gallon tank. That took about 30 minutes to rig up and fill and I still have about half the TOTE tank full. I have a 10 micron filter at the pump that keeps all the particles out including water. I have checked my tank visually and see no sign of water in them which could only be from condensate. Both tanks are sealed from the atmosphere so no exchange of vapors is happening plus they are both inside completely enclosed sheds.

As for storage life, I don't think diesel has a limit on storage time as long as you keep the water out of it. It isn't like gasoline that forms a varnish and the volatiles in it evaporate. I have heard of equipment setting for 20 years and still run on fuel in the tank so now might be the time to stock up if you have the storage capacity. I think I will top off my tanks prior to the price rising again but for now I will hold off for a while to see if the price gets even lower.

 

[sw99]

Some great options here, thanks. If the diesel will last some time, I would jump on getting 150 gallons delivered. If I got a stand alone tank, it would be outside. If on a pallet of some sort, I could store in my barn.

 

[cat fever]

I have been wanting to get a tank for some time now. (500 gal) Oil is so unpredictable lately I'm just not sure when to get it. I was going to wait until next winter but may need to change plans now that OPEC may cut production. You will want to make sure you get winter grade diesel, it'll be good all year. Not so with summer grade diesel.
As mentioned above; keep the water OUT and it will store for years.