Oil & Fuel Fuel storage safety

[Doc_Bob]

Now that I own a tractor that has 18 gallons of diesel in it and 4 5gallons diesel plastic cans (another 20 gallons of diesel), and 3 5-gallon gasoline cans, it occurred to me that this is a lot of fuel to have in my small barn. So, the question of is this safe?

I have no heat or source of ignition in the unheated barn. All I have is one large tractor and two smaller lawn tractors (with 5 gallon gasoline fuel tanks in each).

So, with 63 gallons of fuel (diesel and gasoline) in the 900 sq. ft. barn, should I be worried? What would you folks do? I just have the fuel in one corner of the barn, on a dirt floor.
Bob

 

[bamatoolmaker]

I think the safest way to store it would be in a metal cabinet painted yellow.You also may have to map the location and list contents for your fire department.

 

[Glowplug]

Oh no. This has got me thinkin' now!! I usually have 20 gallons of diesel, 20 gal. of gasoline, and whatever fuel is in the lawn tractor and ZD28 in a small enclosed room in my barn. When I get my tractor I was looking to get a diesel tank with a pump set up beside the barn. That's a 300 gal. tank!

I'll be following this thread along with Doc. But I got a sneakin' feeling it may be moved to a different category.

 

[john_bud]

You're fine. Just try and not smoke and toss your butt on the gas tank!

jb

 

[BobRip]

The advice I got from a fireman was to have plenty of ventalation in the storage area. You might check with your insurance company. They may have a limit of how much gasoline you can store in a given building and still collect on the insurance.

I have a 30 gallon roll around can that I keep about 75 feet from my back shed. I have a plastic bucket on top of it to keep rain out.

 

[LarryD]

I think you're fine as long as the ventiliation advice is followed.

My tractor sits in my garage but the fuel cans are stored in a shed (3 sided) along with the mower, splitter, chipper, and about 2 cords of wood. This is about 200' from the house. That's about the best I can do to limit my losses if a fire got started.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I store most of the fuel in an old shad far from the house and barn to play it safe.

But in my shop I have weedwacker and chainsaw with gallon of gas for it.

On similar note, where would you keep your ammo reloading supplies?

 

[972500]

yea i keep it all in the shed and as far as the ammo thing i store it all in the basement. tehres a few thousand loaded rounds down there and enough shells and powder for atealst antoher 10,000. my dad, brother and I all shoot competition matchs so really that isnt that much ammo. and before someone ask, yes the fire department has it all on record about how much powder is there. it must be in the comp or somthing because the last time the police were called here (the garage got broke into) they automaticlly sent hte fire dept. too. so long story short aslong as u keep it ventiled and are makin sparks right next there where u store it u should be fine
Mark

 

[KICK]

NO REASON NOT TO STORE IT SAFELY BUT in reality is it isn't very easy to ignite..

you have to hold a match to the stuff and then it still takes its time turning into a conflagration. LOL.

it doesn't go up in a WHOOSH, like gasoline..

I have a 20 gallon barrel of the stuff in the barn, my biggest concern is my kids pumping it on the ground, so I put a lock on the pump.

 

[Doc_Bob]

On similar note, where would you keep your ammo reloading supplies?

I don't reload, but I do have thousands of rounds in the basement, simply to keep them "fresh". If my house catches on fire, the ammo will not be the cause. It will slow down the fire department when I tell then about the ammo in the basement. Fuel fumes, vapor gets me concerned with spark risk, etc.
Bob