Diesel fueling made easy (easier, anyway)

[dfkrug]

DF,

I do it exactly the same way as you, but use a 55g plastic drum. I can fill my 13g tank in 2 or 3 minutes.

Wow, I take a few weeks to go abroad, and look at all the controversy!

Have-Blue, I have a PEX drum I considered (about 20 gal), but I did not
want to lift a full one. I am sure there are others who do it this way.....
it has turned out even more convenient than I thought it would.

I have considered moving to a pressure vessel (prob an air cyl) only so
I can get a bit more capacity and attach wheels, a handle and a large
hydraulic-style QA connector for the filler hose. HF has an Aluminum
7-gal tank on sale (#94801, $49) that would require adding a filler bung
and dipper tube.

 

[hill]

I notice that HF is very circumspect about instructions on flammable liquids (even diesel, which is just a little more volatile than peanut butter). When there are gray areas or potential danger, they don't want to talk about it.

In this they're anything but circumspect.

The manual is available in the link supplied, needs acrobat reader.

The manual states in no uncertain terms and in boldfaced type that the pump is not designed for transfer of any volatile material and specifically is not designed for fuel transfer.

 

[ragkar]

What's the problem? I use a yellow 5 gallon blitz can and a kerosene battery powered pump. The pumps may be a bit difficult to find right now as they are seasonal. And then be patient. It'll take about a gallon a minute.

 

[kude]

This is an interesting thread, there are days it would nice to fill the 3520 without hoisting the 5 gallon container.

My dealer rigged up a plug , cord and switch for the 12 volt recepticle in my Gator for use with a 25 gallon sprayer. I guess another small 12 volt pump could be found on the internet and rigged to fill a fuel tank from the container. It could have a hand valve that could stop the flow until you shut the pump off.

 

[have_blue]

Have-Blue, I have a PEX drum I considered (about 20 gal), but I did not want to lift a full one. I am sure there are others who do it this way.....it has turned out even more convenient than I thought it would.

I move my drum around on a cheap little drum dolly. When the drum is empty, I load it in my pickup by hand. I fill it up at a gas station, and and hoist it off the truck using my FEL and a nylon strap. Piece of cake.

The ultimate would be to use a safety pop off valve that pops at around 1 psi. Much more than that, and my 1" filler hose would have considerable recoil and wouldn't stay put in the fuel tank. I can't imagine how much recoil "real" air pressure would create.

 

[3RRL]

I move my drum around on a cheap little drum dolly. When the drum is empty, I load it in my pickup by hand. I fill it up at a gas station, and and hoist it off the truck using my FEL and a nylon strap. Piece of cake.

Yeah, that is exactly what I do with my 30 gallon drum. It's kinda heavy to dolly around, but I manage. Then pump it into the tractor with a rotary hand fuel pump. Takes about 2 or 3 minutes.

 

[GuglioLS]

Dave,

Your home made Air Powered Jerry Can is a cool idea, no doubt it must fuel up in a jiffy and it works for you.

Like Rob, I use and like the H/F Hand Crank Pump it works surprisingly well in any container. The benefit of this arrangement is you can control the speed and not overfill. When your done fueling, crank it back-wards so the remaining fuel in the line gets pumped back into the container, plus no air is needed. Now I suppose this will create a controversy over "back wash"
It fills the tank on my tractor & dozer in no time at all. When not in use, it's stored upright in an empty 55 gallon drum to keep it clean.

Like you, I have a rubber heater hose attached, and for sure it's starting to get a "little" spongy. I am thinking of replacing it with some double walled braided polyethylene tubing or something like that.


Larry

 

[have_blue]

Dave,

Like Rob, I use and like the H/F Hand Crank Pump it works surprisingly well in any container.

Coincidentally, that HF pump was my inspiration for making the air arrangement I presently use. It took forever to prime, was very rough and jerky to crank. I soon tired of the aerobic exercise, and after banging my hand several times cranking it in cold weather, I finally threw it away.

Nothing against HF tools, but this one was awful. Maybe it's been improved. It couldn't have been worse.

 

[3RRL]

That is the exact pump I have.
Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
It is hard to prime but I turn the crank super fast and it catches. Fills quickly because the flow is huge. I now know the number of cranks necessary to fill my tank so it doesn't gush over.

I bought a length of low pressure hydraulic hose from Discount Hydraulics to fit the pump nozzle.

 

[jimmer2880]

Instead of worrying about using rubber hose on your cans, go to Lowes & buy some plastic hose. They sell it by the foot. I have 6 jerry-cans for my boat gas. 2 of them have caps with hoses on. Been using them for years & never had a problem with the hoses deteriating. I can't believe Diesel would be harder on a hose than Gas.

FWIW - I love the pressurized system.

Also - I keep 36, 55gal plastic drums pressurized between 8-10 PSI year round. Never had one "explode like a balloon" yet. And yes, I have had gouges, etc. I regularly take the bongs off without de-pressurizing. My 4 year old has enough strength to handle the amt of force holding the bong on.

 

[JimWalch]

And what in the world do you keep 36, 55gal plastic drums pressurized between 8-10 PSI year round for?

 

[jimmer2880]

I have a floating dock that lifts my ski boat out of the water. The barrels are pressurized to keep them from colapsing (some of the barrels are supporting additional barrels under themselves), and so I can visually inspect which ones might have a leak.

the dock is pulled out of the water every fall, stored in a field, and returned to the water each spring.

Aren't you sorry you asked

BTW - When I found this forum, I told my wife that I found where I now belong. She was less than thrilled to learn that I found a place where people make cup holders strong enough to lift the tractor

 

[dfkrug]

Like you, I have a rubber heater hose attached, and for sure it's starting to get a "little" spongy. I am thinking of replacing it with some double walled braided polyethylene tubing or something like that.

I just replaced my heater hose with 5/8" EDPA oil-safe hose from my
local hyd hose store. Over $2/ft. I also considered the vinyl hose they
have at the hardware store, but they did not have 5/8"

Speaking of HF hand pumps, I DO use one of those lever-handle oil pumps
that replaces the lid on a 5-gal plastic bkt. I use it for hyd oil and it
works great. It takes a lot of pumps to do 5-gal, but it has a clear vinyl
hose and a steel hook-shaped end that is very convenient to access the
tractor's oil fill hole. I tried to find it on the HF site a few days ago, but
no dice.

 

[LBrown59]

When the drum is empty, I load it in my pickup by hand. I fill it up at a gas station, and and
1*hoist it off the truck using my FEL and a nylon strap.
2** Piece of cake.

1*I unload my 55 drum off the truck like so.
2** Bigger piece of cake with more icing!

 

[LBrown59]

Dave,

Like you, I have a rubber heater hose attached, and for sure it's starting to get a "little" spongy. I am thinking of replacing it with some double walled braided polyethylene tubing or something like that.
Larry

I used automotive fuel line hose from an auto parts store on my pump and drum set up.

 

[LBrown59]

1*I generally get two 55 gallon drums filled and then transfer to a 2 1/2 gal can to fill the tank.
2*I just have a simple crank pump for transfer.

1*With getting two 55 gal. drums filled why don't you just hook up a 12 Volt pump to one of them and get home delivery ???
2*why not pump the fuel rite out of the 55 gal drum directly into your tractor with the pump and skip the 2.5 gal can altogether ?????

 

[LBrown59]

I did not build this but it does work well 29 gal gas caddy sold at northern

This thing at 400 dollars cost 100 bucks more than my drum and 12 volt pump set up did.

You still have to hand pump the fuel and the caddy won't unload drums of fuel off a truck.

 

[LBrown59]

Ideally, I would want a large
II D fuel hose .

My 12 Volt Elect. pump has 3/4 ID fittings.
I Wanted to use 1/2 inch i d hoses so i installed a 3/4 x 1/2 bushing on the inlet and outllet of the pump.