Oil & Fuel Diesel Storage

[mikester]

Does anyone use old 55 gallon plastic oil barrels for diesel fuel storage?

 

[DK35vince]

I've been using a 55 gal plastic drum with a hand pump for years, never an issue.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Only issue with plastic is you need to avoid direct sunlight which will destroy white plastic quickly. Colored barrels will last longer but still need to keep them out of direct light in order to keep them flexible for longer time.
I keep my extra diesel in a gray plastic TOTE TANK which is just inside my boat shed which is dark unless I open the garage door. It has been in service for about 8 years now with still no issues. I just use it for excess storage, I keep my pump installed in my 100 gallon steel tank. I swap out the pump when the steel tank runs low and top it off.

Around here, TOTE TANKs are free from a local chemical user (they have a bit of left over polymer resin in them that has to be cleaned out-gasoline works great)

 

[old and tired]

Neighbor needed to empty his home heating oil, turned out to be about 40 gallons, I put it in a 55 gal. drum. Worked fine all the way around. My plan is, once diesel prices bottom out, I plan to refill it again.

 

[BrokenTrack]

We used to as kids, as when the heating oil driver showed up, we just had him top off a 55 gallon drum. But now that minisplits are in vogue, and oil furnaces are being removed from homes, there are plenty of used 275 gallon oil tanks around. I got (3) unused ones now.

There is nothing wrong with using a 55 gallon drum, but as mentioned, used oil tanks might be around too.

 

[Hay Dude]

There’s a very financially challenged older gentleman I see all the time at the truck fuel stop and he has a IBC style big tote strapped into his old rusty pickup bed. I chat with him once in a while and he said it’s basically his “tanker truck” and he claims the totes work great.

 

[Peter 315]

This is my setup in my garage....

 

[bglegal1]

I do. I store it inside. Couple of years, no problems.

 

[Tomtint]

We used to as kids, as when the heating oil driver showed up, we just had him top off a 55 gallon drum. But now that minisplits are in vogue, and oil furnaces are being removed from homes, there are plenty of used 275 gallon oil tanks around. I got (3) unused ones now.

There is nothing wrong with using a 55 gallon drum, but as mentioned, used oil tanks might be around too.

I would love to get a heating oil tank for off road fuel.. I would need to keep it outside, and the oil company I use won't fill it unless its in a basement or somehow indoors. There is also some restriction for filling a tank that is not used for heating purposes on residential properties. ...So I'm stuck with my little 40 gallon transfer tank on my trailer.

___

 

[TractorGuy]

Been using a couple of metal 55 gallon drums for 3 years.

 

[chim]

I have a blue 55 gallon plastic drum in the one shed with a 12V Harbor Freight pump and a cord to plug into the tractor.

I go for fuel using 5 gallon jugs and dump them into the drum when I get home. It may seem like a goofy arrangement, but it eliminates balancing on the front tractor tire juggling a 5 gallon can. I can still do it if I have to, but when it's wet or snowy I'd rather not.

 

[keljan11]

I致e been using a 100 gal steel tidy tank on a 6 ft stand for years. (Think we paid $50 15 years ago). Works fantastic, our fuel distributor fills it when we call, as we still use an oil furnace, so theyæ±*e here often enough. If your hauler won稚 fill an exposed tank, just build a small wood cover around it. 3 sheets of plywood, a few 2x4ç—´, and your done. Built one for our heating oil tank in about 3 hrs. Not pretty but distributors are happy. They don稚 seem to be concerned about my tank for the tractor fuel.

 

[Diggin It]

Only issue with plastic is you need to avoid direct sunlight which will destroy white plastic quickly. Colored barrels will last longer but still need to keep them out of direct light in order to keep them flexible for longer time.

I'm not sure that's consistent. I've had several milk/white/translucent ones. I used them on downspouts to collect rain water. They all sat out in full Sun all year, and had water that froze in Winter. Some have crazed to the point of leaking, others haven't. I'm not sure why that is, maybe their age, maybe what they originally contained, maybe who made them. But I had also drilled holes in those for hoses to use for watering. Two of them are still in use many years later with no crazing.

When I got the tractor and wanted to store fuel, I first used a blue one. I found that was annoying to use a dip stick to check the level, so I went and got another 'new' to me white one so I could see the level. I keep that one inside the shed out of direct Sunlight. It's on a small pallet so I can put it on my trailer, and to keep it off direct ground contact. I am a bit concerned about aging and potentially cracking from the vibration while on the trailer and the potentially really, really bad day I'd have if it happened while filled.

.

 

[BrokenTrack]

My father has a nice tractor fuel set-up.

On the inside of his garage, he has (2) 275 gallon oil tanks for his boiler to heat his house and domestic hot water. But on the outside of the house he has one for tractor. He then plumbed the three together so that when they fill the two inside tanks, it also fills the outside tank.

He never runs out of fuel for his tractor because my Mom always wants to be warm, and she is the one paying the heating bill. :thumbsup:

 

[chim]

.............................................I found that was annoying to use a dip stick to check the level, so I went and got another 'new' to me white one so I could see the level..................................................

Unless I'm still in my jammies, I ALWAYS have a Streamlight Microstream in my left pocket. To check the level in the blue barrel it's a simple matter of twisting the 2" bung plug out of the barrel, looking in, and shining the light at the barrel from the outside.

 

[Troysie]

This is my reserve tank, it holds 25 gallons which seems to be the volume that best fits my needs, has a 12 volt pump and is stored outside.

Troy

 

[fidowanttobe]

X2 ! Only my choice is the Stylus. Excellent quality flashlight, I've had it for years.

Unless I'm still in my jammies, I ALWAYS have a Streamlight Microstream in my left pocket. To check the level in the blue barrel it's a simple matter of twisting the 2" bung plug out of the barrel, looking in, and shining the light at the barrel from the outside.

 

[Fallon]

I upgraded from my white semi-translucent 55 gallon drum to a 300 gallon tank on a stand. It worked decently strapped to a pallet. But I needed more capacity. I still keep the drum as backup & get it filled with the other tank.

Gravity long the big tank on the stand is nicer than yanking on the lever on the manual pump I have on the drum. Being a plastic tank the top flexes more than I'd like. I try to hold the pump head stable with one hand & work the lever with the other.

I'm sure sun degradation would be an issue, especially being semi-translucent, but i keep it inside the barn.

The pallet & pallet forks meant it was reasonably easy to load & unload into the truck for fuel runs. I now have a 36 gallon aluminum transfer tank & 12v pump now that I'm doing tractoring as a side gig. Safer & legal to use for field usage, although I don't feel it was unsafe for the occasional short fuel runs.