Cost of 250 gallon tank & pump/meter system.

[LBrown59]

I was thinking about making something similar out of a 55 gallon poly drum. The drum originally contained the wiper fluid I loaded my tires with. Any one know it this type of drum would work to hold diesel? The drum is rated to hold the flammable wiper fluid, so I figured it would work with diesel.

I'm setting up a 30 gallon drum with an elect pump as we discuss this .
Shouldn't be any problem to do it with a 55 gallon drum either.
== L B ==

 

[RalphVa]

I use on road diesel in both the car and tractor and would continue to do so. In new 50 state diesel cars, you'd be stupid not to use on road diesel, because off road would ruin the catalytic converter.

Ralph

 

[patrick_g]

I have had bouts with the "BLACK DEATH" (algae in diesel) before in marine venues as well as just accidentally buying contaminated fuel.

I recommend the use of Biobor or similar algicide product sold expressly for treating diesel fuel. I have been using it for years in my diesel truck with the aftermarket 65 gal tank as the fuel sits for a while sometimes.

Stabil (check the label) for diesel fuel stored for more than a couple months is also a good idea.

With a 39 HP Kubota I don't go through a 300 gal tank of diesel very fast but with Stabil and Biobor I have never had a problem with stored diesel, even when it takes 2-3 years to use it up.

I do not add fuel to the tank between major fillings. I use it till it is empty and then get a delivery. As it is a gravity system with the tank overhead on a stand, any condensation or water from any source pools at the bottom where the fuel exits through the filter to get to the hose. Any water is drained from the tank each time fuel is removed. Any water drained is visible in the clear filter holder and there is a petcock to drain it.

Water is required to grow algae in your tank. No water, no algae. Unfortunately the pickup tube used to get fuel from a standard automotive type fuel tank does not feed from the absolutely lowest part of the tank and a little water can stay there out of sight and out of mind supporting algae growth if you get a little fuel with a touch of algae in it.

Having once suffered with algae problems in one of my trucks, I avoid that supreme hassle by using Biobor or equivalent in the tanks. Just to be cautious I use it in the overhead storage tank too. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You have no idea how much hassle is involved with algae contamination in a diesel rig if you haven't experienced it. Believe me, you don't want to know and also believe that prevention (use an algicide) is super preferable to all the hoops you will have to jump through to rid yourself of an infestation. It isn't simple or easy.

Pat

 

[Builder]

I do know what's involved and you're right, it's a real PITA. I went through a case of fuel filters in a month or 2 on my F-450 it had critters so bad.

 

[LBrown59]

I use on road diesel in both the car and tractor and would continue to do so. In new 50 state diesel cars, you'd be stupid not to use on road diesel, because off road would ruin the catalytic converter.

Ralph

Diesel's all the same here so it don't matter which one you run in yout car.

 

[MDM]

I'm setting up a 30 gallon drum with an elect pump as we discuss this .
Shouldn't be any problem to do it with a 55 gallon drum either.
== L B ==

55 gallons is all I would use in a years time. Would you mind sharing your set up with me as far as parts go? I'd like to do it as cheap as possible. I think I will keep the tank in my garage. I guess I would just need a hand cranked transfer pump and some fuel line.

 

[patrick_g]

55 gallons is all I would use in a years time. Would you mind sharing your set up with me as far as parts go? I'd like to do it as cheap as possible. I think I will keep the tank in my garage. I guess I would just need a hand cranked transfer pump and some fuel line.

MDM, if you build a platform in your garage to hold the drum up above the height of your tractor fuel cap, then with the drum on its side you can just use a valve placed in the bung closest to the rim to gravity fuel down a hose into your tractor.

This assumes you have a FEL or other means of placing a full drum in place. You don't lose any precious floor space as you can make the space under the drum into shelves or just storage space. No hand pumping, no expense of an electric pump and just about nothing to go wrong until some politicians repeal the law of gravity.

Pat

 

[EastTexFrank]

Here are the prices quoted to me by my Exxon dealer just a few of months ago.

300 gallon tank: $500 with stand, $425 without stand
Hose kit: $100
Float for use on raised tank - at cost

He also had a 300 gallon minimum delivery amount.

In the end I bought two 55 gallon drums, a drum lifter from Harbor Freight, two drum dollies from Northern Tool, a 120v pump from Northern tool and a waterblock filter from TSC. The pump and filter were the expensive items but I was too lazy to hand crank 15 gallons into the tractor or 36 gallons into the truck. A 12v pump would have been cheaper but again I got the 120v for ease of use. So with the 2 drums, the 30 gallon fuel caddy and four 5 gallon cans I have about 150 gallons on hand when everything is full. Extra capacity just means buying more drums for about $8 each.

So now, all I do is run the two drums to whoever has the cheapest diesel on any particular day and fill them up. When I get home I use the drum lifter and FEL to unload them out of the truck and put them on the drum dollies and then I can move them around anywhere I need. The drum dollies work good on concrete on any hard, flat surface but the wheels are too small for rough surfaces.

The cheapest way to store fuel is definitely in 55 gallon drums. How elaborate (or expensive) it gets after that is up to you.

 

[LBrown59]

1*Would you mind sharing your set up with me as far as parts go? I'd like to do it as cheap as possible.
2*I guess I would just need a hand cranked transfer pump and some fuel line.

1*The main parts I used are the Elect 12 volt pump
30 gallon drum
nozzle
water blocking fuel filter
Hoses
and the necessary pipe fittings to hook it all up.
2*The big draw back of a hand pump is you can't keep an eye on the tank to make sure that you don't run it over.
It's hard to be at the tractor watching the tank and 4 to 10 feet away operating the pump at the same time.
My set up only cost me about 20 or 25 bucks more than a hand cranked pump set up but an elect pumped system would have been worth a $100 more as far as I'm concerned.

 

[LBrown59]

MDM, if you build a platform in your garage to hold the drum up above the height of your tractor fuel cap, then with the drum on its side you can just use a valve placed in the bung closest to the rim to gravity fuel down a hose into your tractor.

This assumes you have a FEL or other means of placing a full drum in place. You don't lose any precious floor space as you can make the space under the drum into shelves or just storage space. No hand pumping, no expense of an electric pump and just about nothing to go wrong until some politicians repeal the law of gravity.

Pat

I didn't go with a gravity system for 2 reasons.
Not enough room in garage to maneuver A tractor so as to lift the drum up onto a shelf.
Didn't want to have to drag out the tractor and install the forks every time I needed to fill the drum.