I have need for a farm diesel tank. ? Obround tank for outside farm fuel storage?

[Dadnatron]

I should clarify, when I am using the tractor, which is weekends and vacations, I am using 25gal/day, easily. But, there are many days in between when I am actually working to pay for all this, and the tractor is sitting. I suspect that 10+ day supply would actually last me a month minimum and likely 2 months, when all is said and done. Even with a 200gal min delivery requirement, I'd still have a few days available before I was out. If I keep on top of residual, I don't think I will have an issue having the tank filled.

I like your setup. I'd like to eventually have a covered slab like yours for my tanks.

Sometimes, I think I should just bite the bullet, pay Southern States the cash, and have them deliver a tank, pump, etc and fill it all in one go. But that's around $1K for the tank, $150-350 for a pump, and THEN the diesel to go in it. I'd like to minimize the upfront costs at this moment.

Perhaps if my horse wins in a couple of weeks, my finances will ease a bit. But the land purchase, coupled with everything else has me pinching pennies for a while.

 

[daugen]

I think a pair of 275's piped together and elevated as suggested would be a great low cost diesel tank.
Would be good to get some cover for it if possible.
I paid $1.39 gal for my first load and just smiled. Then I dumped a gallon of fuel additive in there and it should
be good to go until next year. Both of my tractors have fuel fills up top and having the pump is seriously helpful for an older guy
with bad arthritis. Lifting those full five gallon containers of diesel up high in the air, and not getting any on me or the tractor has never been easy.

Always easy to find a place to spend money when you are trying to improve things. Pace yourself.
Maybe Santa will bring you a 500 gal diesel tank full of nice red diesel.

 

[LD1]

Not to hijack the OP's threads, but what do you guys use for additives in your farm tanks?

 

[DiskDoctr]

NUMBER ONE THING...to do if you put in a storage tank: Bottom drain!

I know better. I was in a rush. About 14yrs ago, STILL regret not adding one to my new tank before filling it :shocked:

Steel tanks can and do condense, adding moisture to diesel fuel. It will settle to the bottom and can "easily" be drained from time to time...IF you have a bottom drain

A few points of interest.

1. Home heating oil and diesel are NOT always the same. HHO can be #3, where diesel is #2, kero is #1. Diesel CAN be used as HHO, meaning all tanks are filled with the same diesel. This is what I do. Oil boiler is backup for coal boiler, so outdoor tank acts as emergency heat if disaster and boiler tanks act as emergency equipment fuel if emergency. Also "no electricity, no fueling stations open, roads closed" prepper-level fuel source for diesel truck in disaster situations.

2. If outdoors, be sure to treat against gelling in the cold. I use a can of "dope" from the delivery company. Doesn't work on biodiesel, nothing does but kero

3. Delivery times here in PA can be up to 2 weeks (or more!) in the middle of heating season and the trucks are hauling HHO.

4. Get a powered diesel pump for your tank, add plumbing and filter heads for 1) standard filter, and 2) water block filter. Polish your fuel.

5. Use a Mr Funnel any time you are adding fuel from a can.

Hope this helps!

 

[Dadnatron]

How does this 'Mr. Funnel' filter water?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Too bad you didn't live up here. You can find those tanks cheap (or even free) quite often as people convert from heating oil to natural gas. I just gave two away last week to be made into smokers. Do you have a pump? If not I would think about mounting them high enough off the ground so you could just use gravity. As long as you have a solid ladder for the oil guy to get up to the top to fill them it shouldn't be a problem. I use 55 gallon drums with a fillrite pump. The pump is 12 volts so I have to connect it to the battery on my tractor. Not a show stopper but it's one more step. I added some quick disconnects to both the hose and the electrical line so i can remove both when not filling the tractor.

I use a 12v fillrite pump also but decided to just put a small 12v car battery on it with a battery maintainer to keep it charged. It sure beats having to raise the hood on the tractor each time I want to fill up. Sure is worth the cost in ease of use.

 

[Gary Fowler]

How does this 'Mr. Funnel' filter water?

Not sure if this works the same, but a screen wire of fine gauge can allow fuel to pass but traps water. My Dad used one from the 1940s that worked that way so it is not new technology.

 

[rswyan]

Are you using these for diesel? Will they deliver diesel to these totes? That surprises me... I don't know why... I guess they just don't seem 'secure' enough for several hundred gallons of diesel. Although, I see them toting all sorts of hazardous chemicals all over the place, so I guess, there really is no difference.

Actually my fuel supplier (Campbell Oil) is who sold me the tote ... was originally full of Citgo gear oil or hydraulic fluid IIRC.

No problems with them filling it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

What about using IBC totes - good, bad or ugly?

I have one 100 gallon steel tank and one of the IBC Totes that I use to complete my 200 gallon free delivery requirement. It used to be 150 and they allowed me and my brother in law to combine the totals but when they raised it to 200 gallons we couldn't make that requirement with our 2 ea of 100 gallon tanks without being completely out of fuel. I got the TOTE tank for free from a local chemical plant. So far it has keep at least 100 gallons of fuel in it for over 2 years without problems. Recently I put another 150 gallons in it when the price went to $1.68 per gallon. It is a bit of a pain for me to transfer my 12V pump to it to transfer fuel to my smaller tank but that happens only about once a year. I do keep it inside and out of direct sunlight which I do think would deteriorate the white plastic over time if left exposed to the sun.

 

[rswyan]

Not to hijack the OP's threads, but what do you guys use for additives in your farm tanks?

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