Diesel Fuel Transfer Pump Battery

Cat_Driver · Mar 20, 2020

Hope you all are doing fine and staying healthy with all this
stuff going on lately with this virus

I just bought a 50-gallon transfer tank and a fill rite 12V pump kit.
I will build a pallet to lift it on and off the truck for fueling tractors.
The tank will not be mounted on the truck only on the truck to purchase fuel.

Here's my question. Should I just build the pallet bigger to accommodate a 12V
battery? If you have used a 12V battery on a fill rite pump how small of a battery did you use?

I could just leave the tank on the truck and convert something from my trailer electric plug
to the transfer pump but then I must have the truck near the fill-ups. I'd rather have the tank in a
location on my cement pad and just pull up and fill up.

Another option have long enough battery leads to attach to each tractor as it pulls up.

What have you guys done with this setup? Seems I can go several ways I just want to do it once the right way.

As ususal any help would be appreciated.

duffer · Mar 20, 2020

I installed a 12v power point at the rear of my tractor, and use that to plug in the fuel pump that I use in the transfer tank. Depending on how difficult it is for you to install a power point on all your equipment, this may, or may not be appropriate for you.

But it works great for me. Runs off of the tractor battery. Most fuel pumps don't use a bunch of amps, so I would think this would work for you if you think it fits your objective.

Bigfoot62 · Mar 20, 2020

I have a similar fuel unit. I just hook the pump leads to the battery on my UTV. It's a diesel, so I just leave it running when pumping fuel. No problems.

Your idea of leaving it in the truck would work. If you have a towing package, with a 7-wire "camper" plug, you should have a hot wire, as long as the engine is running.

If you decide to mount a deep cycle battery to the pallet, you could use a small solar panel to keep the battery charged.

Peter 315 · Mar 20, 2020

The pump should come with a wire I just put Alligator Clips on it and connect to the battery .

Cataclysm · Mar 20, 2020

I made a gravel pad next to my bumper pull trailer that has a battery/winch on it. Long enough leads to either catch the battery on the trailer (usually) or hook to whatever I am filing.

Wagtail · Mar 20, 2020

duffer said:
I installed a 12v power point at the rear of my tractor, and use that to plug in the fuel pump that I use in the transfer tank. Depending on how difficult it is for you to install a power point on all your equipment, this may, or may not be appropriate for you.

But it works great for me. Runs off of the tractor battery. Most fuel pumps don't use a bunch of amps, so I would think this would work for you if you think it fits your objective.

That's not a bad idea! I've rigged a 12VDC 'cigarette' power point to the rear of the 4105 for the occasional use of a ROPS mounted Amber 'whoop-whoop' beacon. My 50ltr diesel transfer tank has it's own, dedicated, marine 12 volt battery which I top up with a trickle charger... but I have to remember to recharge when it comes to to refuel.

Making up a new 'cigarette' lead/plug would eliminate the dedicated battery. :thumbsup:

Here's my fuelling station:

groundcover · Mar 20, 2020

I put a deep discharge battery right on the pallet with the 100 gallon tank. Put it in a plastic battery box and put a trickle charger on top. Every once in a while I plug it in, works great.

Cat_Driver · Mar 20, 2020

With what you guys added I did a drawing.

Pallet, battery and Tank on a pallet, frame over the tank to hold solar panel.

RjCorazza · Mar 21, 2020

I wired an Anderson plug on my truck for the pump, but if I didn't keep the transfer tank in the truck bed, I would wire an Anderson connector on the tractor.
They are convenient, and I personally do not like dealing with batteries outside of a charging vehicle. If I did use an independent battery setup, I think a dedicated trickle charger would do the trick.

shooterdon · Mar 21, 2020

I use a 12V "power pack". The kind that plugs into 110V outlet and charges up. A full charge lasts a long time and the power pack is handy for other uses.

My transfer tank is also 50 gal and lasts a 3-5 months per fill. Not a big deal to plug the PP in after the last fill out of the TT so it has some time to recharge before being needed again. I have never had the PP run out of charge over 3-4 months.

I paid $50 for the PP and it is 7-8 years old. Doubt a battery will last that long or be as versatile.