Gas can storage

[GPintheMitten]

Like most people I have several plastic containers of various mixtures, straight gasoline, chain saw mix, boat mix, diesel, kerosene and a couple of portable propane tanks for the grill.

My workshop is a barn with steel siding and roof that I insulated and finished off.

I would like to get all this out of my workshop and garage. I thought of measuring all the containers and building a separate little unit with a roof and ventilation and maybe up off the ground a foot or so. I would put it on the concrete pad on the east side of the barn under a 2 foot overhang. I would plan on having plywood sides and doors to keep the sun and weather off the containers but incorporate some ventilation.

Has anybody done something like this?

 

[300UGUY]

I haven't built a seperate shed, but I keep all my fuel locked in a garden shed, away from the main barn. I don't want it in the bigger structure, and it is more secure in the smaller shed. I keep the lawnmower and weedwacker's and such in there. The tractor's are kept in the main barn. My concern is mostly safety, plus I don't want to make it too easy for somebody stupid to burn my place up.

 

[oldballs]

I keep about 20 gallons of gasoline in WWII Jerry Cans....about 20 gallons of diesel in plastic diesel jugs...about 5 gallons of handy gasoline in 2 1/2 gallon gas cans and about 1 gallon of two stroke mix. This is in a three sided shed among the pine/cedar trees outdoors. All are off the ground on shelves or little pallets sitting over a gravel base covered with stall mat. I stay away from concrete because it sweats so much in temperature changes. The shed is only about 6 x 6 x 6 (I'm a short guy), and also houses some hand tools, wheelbarrow etc. The front side of the shed has a sort of door that I move and lean against a cedar tree as needed. This pretty much shields the contents from rain and sun with good ventilation. I never store fuel products in my attached garages and don't have a barn.

 

[grnspot110]

I built a small building/cabinet using treated 2x frame & red metal barn siding with 4 shelves for fuel cans & oil changing supplies. It is marked with a "FLAMABLE" decal from Gemplers. ~~ grnspot

 

[Walkin Horse]

I use an old gang box I got from work to keep some of my cans and waste oil in

 

[DKCDKC]

I built a 4 by 5 building with scrap wood and a metal roof section I had. It has a door, but is loosely built to ventilate. I keep all my fuels, oils and other liquids that can stand the cold or heat. It's about 40 feet from the tractor shed and workshop. But I have friends who just keep multiple cans of fuel and such on the ground out in the weather, and no one has ever mentioned any problems. The plastic cans do eventually deteriorate, but that takes a while. Certainly my own cans are left out sometimes when I'm busy and forget to put them away.

The problem with have the cans is not storage so much as keeping track of the age of the fuels. I tag my gas and diesel for dates. Every few months I dump any unused gas or gas-oil mix into my farm truck and burn it up... And must mix new. Small engines particularly do better on fresh gas.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I keep all my fuels in the shed with my boat and lawnmowers. All cans (1-5gal, 2-3 gal. and a 1 gal for mixed gas) are the new sealed type with valve and they either set on my 100 gallon diesel steel tank or on the shelf directly above it. In summer I keep a window open for ventilation mostly to dissipate the heat from the un-insulated building. I never smell any fuel vapor smell in there. I don't do any work in there either that produces sparks other than start the lawnmower to move in and out of the building.
My shop/garage is where I keep a couple of vehicles and do all my welding work and it is totally isolated from the boat/lawnmower shed.

 

[orezok]

I keep mine in a plastic dock box. It holds 6 or 7 cans and is weatherproof.