55 gal. stand, hose, nozzle?

[raykos]

Have finally gotten tired of lifting & manuvering 5 gal. containers of diesel fuel. So, I've got me a 55 gal. drum and want to make a gravity fed fueling station about 3-4' high, with a on/off spigot, hose & nozzle to fuel my tractor.

Before I start cutting & nailing & cussing, I figure some members have already built the exact same thing. So, if anybody could direct me to some drawings, pictures, threads, etc., or even what phrase to search on, leading to
how to build a 55 gal. fueling station I would be most appreciative?

 

[HCJtractor]

I also grew tired of the 5 gal method and got a 55 gal drum for fuel. But why gravity feed? I use a Tuthill manual pump from Northern (item 109579-2906), which cost $180. Works great! I can pump 15 gallons very quickly with very little effort. I added a fuel filter that removes sediment and water. If you gravity feed, you probably will not be able to filter the fuel. Why build a elevated platform when you can leave the drum on the ground and pump it? Of course a 12 V. pump would also work, but the manual pump is so simple and easy, it works better for me. I leave my drum on a good hand truck and have it secured with straps, so I can move it if I need to.

 

[beenthere]

Or just get two 5 gal cans and fill each half full for half the weight.

Easier to store two cans than to put up with a 55 gal drum. IMO

And how does one get the fuel into the 55 gal. drum? Delivered ? OR loaded on a trailer and then man-handled? Just curious.

I rigged up a 30 gal drum, painted it yellow, added a hose and nozzle to it, and made a cradle for it. I'd trailer it to the station, and then use the FEL to unload it.
Would then lift it with the FEL to a height that gravity would feed the nozzle.
Worked good but was more messing around than using the 5 gal can. When the 5 gal can gets too heavy, I will just not fill it full.

I really like the no-vent plastic cans now that have the handle on the side. No spillage as the spigot valve stays closed until the can is in position.

 

[texasjohn]

Common problem.
I used Craig's List, found an overhead 250 gallon tank, installed it. Also, use the additional tank in bed of my pickup to get 95 gallons of off road diesel and the electric pump to lift it all into the overhead tank. Gravity feed from tank, using filter and nozzle back to tractor when needed. Yes, an expense, some trouble to put together, but in the end, extremely pleasing when diesel is needed in tractor....just fuel up...no sweat, literally:laughing:

 

[MMagis]

I really like the no-vent plastic cans now that have the handle on the side. No spillage as the spigot valve stays closed until the can is in position.

You just may be the first person to ever mutter those words.

 

[beenthere]

I may have mis-named the can I like, as it is listed as "no spill" at Bailey's where I've bought several.

Bailey's - 1457&catID=149

 

[jimgerken]

I built something similar to what was already suggested. I was also sick of five gallon cans, especially due to higher useage needs as I am doing some actual small scale farming, sometimes with borrowed tractor, and wish to return their equipment with fuel added. So I used a 30 gallon barrel, which I bought almost new after it had crop oil in it once. Rinsed it with diesel, painted outside, added a stroke pump and filter with 10 feet of hose, and topped it off with an automatic-off nozzle like the gas stations have. I strapped it all to a 2-wheel box moving cart. To fill it I place it on my trailer and tie it down and drive to the local station, four miles away. For unloading, I back trailer up to dirt ramp in yard and roll it off. Works great. No more lifting, has way more capacity than a couple cans, auto nozzle is mint, even the wife can do it. Pics...

 

[jayste]

I've got one similar to JimGerken's. Mine has a crank pump instead of a stroke pump. I took off the crank handle and made an adapter to replace it so to hook my cordless drill up to it and get with it. No pics here on the computer though.

 

[MF1652]

Jim, I have been considering doing the same thing. I have heard the fuel companies switch their diesel before winter to a treated diesel. Do you have to treat your diesel for winter use? If you do treat it, what do you use? I don't want to make the investment in a large quantity of diesel then have it go to waste come winter if I have any left over. Also it looked like you have a static discharge line on yours. What does it connect to on the tank and tractor? Thanks for any help.

 

[zman007007]

1st of all you can hook an inline filter on a gravity feed with no problem, other than it may slow the flow down some. But then, he ain"t talking about fueling a Nascar race car. MF1652 the static line on most fueling systems like that is when you are pumping fuel that have highly flammable fumes such as gas. The line attaches to the pumping system and then the other end attaches to a good ground on the vehicle you are fueling such as the frame, not to the battery tho as you would already have a ground cable going to the battery if it had an electric pump of some kind. This helps to eliminate static electricity, aka sparks. zman

 

[cspot]

I was going to gravity feed too out of a 55 gal drum, but thought it would be a pain to get the filled drum up high enough especially since I wanted to put it inside the building and the FEL would be hard to get it where I wanted it. I bought a 12v pump off of EBAY for about $120 and bought a inline filter for about $30. I just hook to battery to fill up. I hate cans because it seems like anytime you need to put fuel in they are empty. I think that you get more dirt in the tank dumping from cans than you do from a tank and pump. I only use 2 or 3 drums a year so going every 3 to 5 months to fill the tank 5 miles away isn't too bad.

 

[Big Bri]

instead of building a platform (that you then have to pump fuel UP to) why not put the drum on a pallet and lift it with the FEL use a standard ball valve on the end of a hose to fill your tank. lower the drum when done and store where ever you want. you can also load it in the back of the truck or trailer and fill it your self at the local station. I do this with one of those 20 gallon fuel tanks.
good luck

 

[Paul DFWTX]

I had the same issue filling dozer, tractor and toys on the ranch. After keepin eye out for awhile, bought a 4' x 5' fairly heavy duty but older trailer for $200. Put two 55 gal drums on it, one for diesel one for gas, welded bracing on trailer to which they're held with a tie-down strap. A hand pump for the tanks works great, can fill the 30 gal dozer in a couple of minutes. I thought of just loading and unloading the drums with my FEL but decided the trailer was a better permanant solution, and works well for taking the fuel to where the dozer is vs the other way around.