Diesel fueling made easy (easier, anyway)

[sandman2234]

The way I see it, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
Or in other words, although a seemingly great way of fueling your tractor, it really isn't a good idea to do it this way. Worse yet is when somebody decides that since it works with diesel, why not gas?
Believe me, if it were safe, you could find one at Harbor Freight for $9.95...
David from jax

 

[Defective]

Actually...

Blowing yourself to **** via Harbor Freight will apparently cost you $59.99...

CLICK!

No, I'm not disagreeing with the dangers of pressurizing non-pressure vessels. Just pointing out that dumb is available at a price.

 

[pycoed]

Am I missing something? The Jerry can is not pressurized, the air is pumped into the can with only enough pressure to force the fuel out and the walls of the can do not have any pressure on them to speak of in my interpretation.

Absolutely correct, & in the pictures shown the outlet hose is just pushed onto a stub, not even a jubilee clip to hold it. The chances of a pressure buildup are absolutely minimal.
Looking for dangers in this, when as soon as you've got the juice into the tractor, you are going to whirl around a piece of hardened steel 6 feet long & bash it into undergrowth is a bit like complaining a shotgun is dangerous 'cos it weighs 7 lbs & you might drop it on your toe!

 

[DTCOOPER]

Look,
I would be willing to bet that the can is rated for AT LEAST as much pressure as he's using. That can is rated for expansion due to ambient air temp increases.. When fuel gets hot, it expands, which in turn causes pressure insde the can. Rest assured that he is not using that much pressure...
As someone said, you can find enough negatives about using toilet paper too, but you still use it to wipe your arse..

Excellent fueling IDEA.. I thik I will try to make me one.

 

[have_blue]

I don't buy a lot of fuel, but I learned years ago that I hate to
lift fuel cans and pour then into the filler on my tractors. I have
seen several threads about this and how tractor users preferred
to do it.

DF,

I do it exactly the same way as you, but use a 55g plastic drum. I can fill my 13g tank in 2 or 3 minutes.

 

[have_blue]

Actually...

Blowing yourself to **** via Harbor Freight will apparently cost you $59.99...

CLICK!

No, I'm not disagreeing with the dangers of pressurizing non-pressure vessels. Just pointing out that dumb is available at a price.

Are you saying that HF pump is dangerous?

Air-powered pumps are (theoretically) safer than electric pumps. The only down-side to them is they require a big compressor.

 

[Defective]

Take another look at that HF pump. It's not an "air powered pump" it's a barrel pressurizer. 3 good indicators:

1) That little block where the air goes in is not big enough to house a pump. Note that the pipe goes through the block. Where do they put the mechanicals for pumping?
2) It calls for max 10 lbs pressure. Most air driven pumps run the same pressures as other air tools.
3) The spec says "static" pressure. Static pressure won't drive anything. CFM is the spec that tells you how fast an air-motor will go & static means 0 CFM.

I've worked with air powered transfer pumps. Given the choice, that's all I'd use for ANY potentially flammable fluid. They work well & they are safe.

 

[RonMar]

That HF barrel pump has 3 things the typical home grown pressurizer dosn't.

1. On/OFF valve.
2. Input pressure regulator.
3. Safety relief valve(just visible on the left, opposite the reg and valve).

It also dosn't appear to have any provision for extending the outlet into a fuel hose, only the curved pipe for filling another container from a bulk drum.

I wonder what the instructions say about pumping volatile substances?

 

[Defective]

The on/off valve...not hard to put on a home-built unit

The pressure regulator...see above

The relief valve...hhhmmm...is it set lower than the burst pressure of the barrel? How do you know?

The curved pipe...Any container that setup is convenient for could probably be filled just as easily with a simple crank type pump.

According to the manual, about the only thing the manufacturer seems to think it's suitable for might be water...

 

[have_blue]

That HF barrel pump has 3 things the typical home grown pressurizer dosn't.

1. On/OFF valve.
2. Input pressure regulator.
3. Safety relief valve(just visible on the left, opposite the reg and valve).

It also dosn't appear to have any provision for extending the outlet into a fuel hose, only the curved pipe for filling another container from a bulk drum.

I wonder what the instructions say about pumping volatile substances?

Mine has an on/off valve, and a pressure regulator, FWIW. I set my regulator to the minimum, which is 2 Lbs. Since it only needs a few Oz. per Sq. In. of air pressure, I turn the valve until I hear a slight hiss. The regulator gage needle never moves. FYI, I can blow into the barrel with my mouth and push fuel out. I don't really call that "pressure", as we usually think of it.

Mine doesn't have a true pressure relief valve, but I think my 55gal plastic drum will hold about 10psi before it splits, and makes a real mess in my tractor shed. Pouring from a can, I used to make a mess just about every time!

Since I get fewer spills, get less on my clothes, and don't have to hoist a heavy can up high, I feel alot safer with my "almost pressureized" filler drum.

I notice that HF is very circumspect about instructions on flammable liquids (even diesel, which is just a little more volatile than peanut butter). When there are gray areas or potential danger, they don't want to talk about it.