Oil & Fuel Diesel Fuel Storage

[Youare]

When I bought my first diesel tractor about 60 tractor hours ago I also considered buying a larger storage tank just for fuel. First I bought a 5 gallon blue can, they didn't have any yellow ones.

Well, I still have the 5 gallon plastic can and found I have only used it half a dozen times or less. I keep the tractor tank at least half full all the time. When the plastic can gets empty or close to it I put it in the back of the pickup and fill it up the the next time I get a chance.

Seems almost everyone else gets by with the same size container, I think you could too. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Randy

 

[Redfisher]

<font color=blue>Every time I lift that 5 gal. can to refuel I think of the pictures Harv posted of the pulley he rigged to lift the can. </font color=blue>

That must be one tall tractor,Or a really weak operator/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[frank_f15]

i just use 3--2 1/2 gallon cans, much lighter with these old arms. never let my tank get much below 1/2 then i pour in one can, when 2 of them are empty i refil them. have this fear of running out of fuel, and being stranded in a snow storm with empty tank/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif also use a very wide funnel.

 

[DDT]

I strarted out with a 30 gal barrel ($20)and a new hand pump ($50). over time I got tiered of refeling every 30 days. I went to a auction that had a 75gal barrel for the back of a pickup truck for $75 and sold the pump off of it. I attached it to the inside of my tractor shed 6' off the ground and plumbed it for gravity feed. I really like this tank. With a tank this big COOP will come to fill it when needed, this is nice.
DDT

 

[EdKing]

If you plan on using your tractor a lot, get a 55 gallon drum and a hand pump. If you will not be putting a lot of time a 5 gallon can works fine. I have a drum with pump. I have emptied it once already in 3 months. I also put over 100 hrs on my tractor in those 3 months.

 

[Jag]

DC, welcome to the board. You might want to do a search on the storage. It has been around awhile. I used a 5 gallon can for years as my Orange 30 hp used less fuel per hour than my dads 8 hp riding mower... It worked great but the leaky nozzel.. I moved up in equipment and broke down and got a 55 gal plastic drum with a hand pump and hose two filters for less than $120. I load it into the truck once a month when I am really working and fill it up, fill up all my equipment and put it back into the garage with the FEL with about 20 gal left for one more fill up before the next trip. This works best for me...

 

[webbmeister]

My 5 gallon yellow can (it's a fancy one - has the word "diesel" molded right into the side!) was $5.88 at Menards. I can think of a lot of other things I could spend that other $400+ on ...

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I think of the pictures Harv posted of the pulley he rigged to lift the can</font color=blue>

Yeah, that picture seems to have dropped off the edge of the TBN archives, so here it is again (attached). I never did get around to installing real pulleys (although somebody who saw this picture did, as I recall), so I just hoist the jug up and hang it on a sling.

<font color=blue>That must be one tall tractor,Or a really weak operator</font color=blue>

Hmmm... nobody who has met me ever called me weak, but I confess that holding that 6 gallon can high enough and long enough to pour into my 'Bota is stretching my limits Maybe I'm just getting old. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Actually, the method you see in the picture is quick and easy enough that I'm not motivated to look for a better way. Total operation is about 2 minutes, and not a drop is spilled.

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya Bird
newer tractors with long oil drain times seem to need low S /low hour drain times high S is ok .i don't realy know what it does in the motor but some of it ends up in ya oil making a acid mix in ya sump this is why i think years ago oil changes were XXX hours or once a year (what ever come frist)now with long drain times the oil is carring carbon etc etc for longer so keeping acid low helps .... ie my last tractor said 500Hr oil changes if low S if high S cut oil changes in 1/2 ie 250 Hr ..
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[Bird]

Yep, JD, I forgot about that. Another good reason to stay with the low sulphur, in my opinion.

 

[Redfisher]

<font color=blue>Hmmm... nobody who has met me ever called me weak, but I confess that holding that 6 gallon can high enough and long enough to pour into my 'Bota is stretching my limits Maybe I'm just getting old. </font color=blue>

Hi Harv.I was just playin with ya./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif (Maybe the fuel is lighter here in Canada)

Catch you on the flip side.

 

[JerryG]

Duane,
That sounds really expensive. I have a 300-gallon overhead tank that I use. It was bought at TSC for about $10 more than small tank you priced. I don’t know how much fuel you are going to use but I would buy another 300 gallon one before I would buy that one. If you can use that much fuel, you can get off road delivered for less money per gallon also.

 

[RoyJackson]

<font color=red>Actually, the method you see in the picture is quick and easy enough that I'm not motivated to look for a better way. Total operation is about 2 minutes, and not a drop is spilled.</font color=red>

Boy, that's a nice rig, Harv!!

Due to a stroke, I don't have full usage of my right arm and hand. Even a five gallon container of fuel is a bit of a hassle.

Mind if I steal your idea, Harv?

 

[dcollie]

It was asked what type of fuels are out there. I have a buddy in the fuel business in Alabama and asked him. Here's what he told me:

****************

Oh boy! Finally sumpin' I really know about and can answer
intelligently!( well, sorta).

Up Narth you-all use different fuels for home heat and other off-road
uses, like farm tractors and backhoes and such. Down here in God's
Country we use the SAME STUFF for all those things. Yep, all high
sulphur diesel is the same. Its what we used to call "diesel" until the
U.S. guvment, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make two different
kinds available, and tax it differently(wait a little while, they are
about to make a third one). Road diesel is low sulphur diesel (we call
it LSD) and it is always taxed, $0.244 per gallon federal excise tax.
Off-road diesel is HSD, or high sulphur diesel, and it what used to pass
for all kinds of diesels before the govment got involved.

We deliver off-road fuel to farmers, home heat accounts, construction
jobs, generator tanks, etc. IT costs around 85 cents a gallon right
now, versus the buck-and-a-quarter and more for the on-road type.

We also have lots of folks who bring drums and tanks into our facility
and fill them up for their own use, including some "gentlemen farmers"
who have expensive toys like Kubotas and Deeres that they play with.
Keep in mind a 55 gallon drum of diesel fuel will weigh around 375
pounds. A good hand pump is a little over $100 and will last a
life-time. Cheaper ones are available but they leak and go bad after a
year or two.

Duane, if you get home heating oil delivered they can probably also fill
up a drum for you, but the fuel may not be the same. Contrary to
popular opinion, Virginia is no longer part of the SOUTH, as the yankees
have taken over. Most home heat delivery trucks just have one big
compartment in the truck and only carry heating oil. Ask your provider
if there is any difference between home heating oil and farm diesel. If
not, you're cool. Otherwise you will have to make other arrangements.

 

[forestcreature]

my 4100 is not a very thirsty deere, and a fill up lasts many weeks if just mowing. i am still using the yellow 5 gallon plastic fuel can.

 

[PaulT]

I, too, use the 55 gal drum method. I have a barrel pump that cost $35 at the local NAPA store. It has a standard garden hose thread on the end, so I bought a 10 ft vinyl garden hose from Sears for about $4. Contrary to what others have said, I have seen ABSOLUTELY NO deterioration of the hose from constant exposure to diesel. Don't buy expensive fuel hose. Since the hose will still have fuel in it after filling the 'bota, I used to "dribble" all over the place /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif, but I have since found a brass cap that fits a garden hose, so now I just cap it off after fueling and no leaks anymore! When I need to fill the drum, it goes on the FEL and up on the pickup to the gas station.

I have a really nice 2x2 pallet to keep it on when my homemade forks are done! Too bad the local dealers won't put me on their delivery run for 55 gallons. Some said they would fill it at off-road prices if I were there early in the AM before the trucks went out. Since the 'bota is a real camel, I don't think the $15-30 per year savings is worth the hassle of trying to meet the guys before they leave.

 

[skent]

Last year I started using a battery operated (two D cells) kerosene pump. I place the 5 gallon can on the loader frame and let the pump do the movin'.

Pump was less than $10 at wal mart.

 

[deepsnow]

Fuel consumption of ~1 gal/hr. 5 gallon containers and a funnel work fine for me. Simple & inexpensive. I have two containers. The empty one gets filled next time I drive into or through town.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>Mind if I steal your idea, Harv?</font color=blue>

Well... I do have several patents pending, of course, and I haven't established a royalty schedule yet, but since you are a TBN'er I shall hereby grant you a single-user permit. First year is free.

 

[MarkV]

Harv, see you are still trying to come up with ways to pay your TBM membership dues. Sure hope I don’t ever make “STAR” status./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkV