What type of fuel caddy?

MF RED in MT · Dec 4, 2009

hey Scotty & L.B.,
Scotty, I have looked at that 15 gallon fuel station and liked it, but I am not sure I want to do the gravitiy type filling?
L.B., I am not interested in complying with auto repair shop regulations, but I do want to be sure that which caddy I purchase is not going to create a big $$$$ cost to me if there was ever a case that the S.H.T.F. Maybe I am just wasting alot of time here looking into the what if problems down the road, but I have alot of time which is free versus $$$$ at a later date if I make the wrong decision on a caddy and have a problem in the future. I do thank you and everyone for all the information provided here. KC

wayne48 · Dec 6, 2009

KC- For what it's worth, I built a fueling station for my MF, from some PT lumber and 2 Fuel Stations from Northern Tool. Pics attached. Built it about 3 years ago and it has held up well. When I need to fill the tanks up, I put the bucket forks on the FEL and lift the pallet that the tanks are attached to off of the trestle and onto my trailer. Quick trip to the gas station to fill them up and then I lift them back onto the trestle. Since the tanks sit higher than my tractor, all I do to fuel up is backup to them and open the shutoff valve. Gravity does the rest. Got the Fuel Stations for about $75 each on sale. All told, cost about $200 to build the whole thing.

Cheap- but its worked for me.

MF RED in MT · Dec 7, 2009

Hey Wayne, that looks like a good setup you have there, whats the height to the bottom of your tanks? I could build that with leftover lumber I have stored under my decking, and I could even put it inside my large shed garage which I only store my little fishing boat in.
B.T.W., I did have a talk with my homeowner insurance agent, and he told me I was good to go with the 25 gallon caddy from Greg Smith Equipment even if it does not have any UL or FM approvals. I am still waiting for a reply from our local fire chief just to bounce this approval thing off of him. Thanks for the new idea, KC.

wayne48 · Dec 9, 2009

Hey Kc- been away for a bit. Hght to bottom of tanks is about 7'. This gives about a foot drop between the tanks and the fill cap on my MF. Probably could have gone a little shorter, but I pretty much was making all this up as I was building it! About the only thing I plan to add in the future is nail some ladder rungs on the side to make it easier to climb up to the tanks and check them.

Wayne

wedge40 · Dec 9, 2009

I'm always amazed when reading these fuel caddy threads that almost everyone assumes that people only use diesel and not GASOLINE. You can cobble up a fairly safe diesel storage system, but there is no way you should use that same system for GAS. I'm still mully over the idea of 30 gal plastic drums for gasoline. My concept at this point would be to build a small block shed, maybe 10x10 with a slot for the gas hose to come through. Nice fire proof door etc. Then if something happens, it should be pretty well contained.
Ya I know doing this I might as well get a couple of gas caddies. There was a place I found that sold them in lots of 2 and I'm kicking my self for not buying them, because they dont carry them anymore.

Wedge

MF RED in MT · Dec 9, 2009

Hey Wayne,
Thanks for the additional information from your caddy support system. I think I am going to go with two tanks for diesel only. I also plan on installing a containment berm using a 2" x 8" wooden framed permiter box sized about 4ft. +- x 3f.t +- and lined with a heavy black plastic liner (should contain about 52 galons), just in case something gives away and that should protect me from diesel flowing into the ground. About plastic drums and plastic caddys, its been -27 degrees here already and the highs -9 and I do not want a plastic frozen plastic container on my property. It might be just me, but I remember plastic and cold is not a great idea? One more question for you, did you connect the tanks together with a tee and use only one filler nozzle and shut off valve, thats what I am thinking of doing? KC

wayne48 · Dec 10, 2009

KC- Agree w/ you on the plastic. It gets down to about 20 below here in the Green Mountains and windy. Always was concerned that a tree limb might fall on and crack a cold plastic tank in that kind of weather. metal tank more likely to dent then crack.
Good idea about the spill containment. Might have to do that myself.
As for the filler hoses and nozzles, each tank came with a shut off valve and nozzle. Originally, I used one tank for diesel and one for gas ( for my riding mower and ATV). So I didn't connect them. But I found that I was using more diesel than gas, so I now use them both for diesel. Haven't found the time or motivation to connect the 2 together so far.
I think your plan is excellent. Functional but won't cost you an arm and a leg.
Good luck with making it happen.

Wayne

MF RED in MT · Dec 10, 2009

Hey Wedge, that sounds like a strong bunker you are thinking of building, it should be a fine fuel station for anyone. KC

Hey Wayne, thanks for the additional information, yep I am sure going to build one similar to yours. B.T.W. I talked to the fire chief today and he told me that I do not need to worry about the tanks having a UL or FM approvals as long as I am not storing 100's of gallons of fuel. He thought I was doing the right thing by pre-planning and asking alot of these questions before I bought my tanks. He has seen alot of after the fire problems for homeowners. He thought the containment permiter was very smart and also it does not cost very much to do. Only thing I need to research now is if there is a better product then black plastic that does not cost alot for the containment. KC

NIdaho · Dec 11, 2009

Hey MF Red,

for your containment you want something that does not tear easily, stand up to the elements and yet will not leak.

Go check out a truck tarp shop -- should be some in the Missoula area as there are several in the Coeur d'Alene area. the material they use for some of the better truck tarps is a rubberized nylon. you could dig an area out, put down a layer of sand or pea gravel as cushioning, then put down the tarp material and then backfill over the tarp with sand or pea gravel (top side cushioning). This way you are not walking directly on the your containment material (which would probably get really slick with any diesel spills)

Just an idea. Stay warm -- they say it is supposed to warm up in the next few days an start snowing.

MF RED in MT · Dec 12, 2009

Hey NIdaho,
Thats a great idea, I think I will use sand and I did some checking on tarps. I found this 6' x 8' waterproof pvc tarp at Northern Tool item # 118507:

Northern Industrial 6ft. x 8ft. Charcoal Gray Waterproof PVC Tarp | Industrial PVC Tarps | Northern Tool + Equipment

Its $25 and I think it should hold up just fine. Thanks for the good idea. KC