Gravity Farm Diesel Tank, is it worth getting one.

[Reddogs]

i was thinking of getting a Farm Diesel tank for the tractors, so would not have to drive all the way to town for diesel. Is it worth it and what accessories do you need to buy to go along with it?

 

[MotorSeven]

Yes

Pump or drain the condensation water out of it once a year, or it can rust from the inside out where water sits on the bottom and does not make it to the water separator filter.

 

[deserteagle71]

How many gallons of diesel do you use a year? That's the main question of whether this would be worthwhile.

 

[Deere Dude]

They work fine provided it is filtered and you have a way to get it up high enough.

 

[sea2summit]

FWIW I grew up in bush Alaska. I don’t know anyone that trusted gravity feed. On loose fitting, a little condensation freezing and expanding just enough to crack anything, or just a bad nozzle and your precious resource is gone. Only exception was small 55 gallon tanks set up to gravity feed heaters and generators but that was out of necessity and wasn’t anywhere close to your whole stash.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

How many gallons of diesel do you use a year? That's the main question of whether this would be worthwhile.

Locally we have two providers who will provide you with a tank, and fill it on demand. One of them lets you buy a years worth. You pay 40%, then5% or so monthly for the rest of the year. Upside your price is locked. Downside if you don’t take possession you forfeit..

I don’t use enough in a year for it to make sense. You can by red fuel, by going into the cashier, and prepaying on the off road pumps. If you have an account, they can see you from the till, and talk to you on the intercom, so you don’t need to prepay, they will just charge your account.

 

[jaxs]

Only down side to gravity feed is slower fill rate and that isn't normally an issue. Same as any storage you need to manage water.

 

[Fxfymn413]

For what its worth gravity tanks are forbidden by the fire code since there is no way to stop the fuel if a leak and fire occurs.

I have a farm tank and I stopped using it since I just don't use enough fuel to make it worthwhile. Now I use the transfer tank in my pick up.

 

[mo1]

i was thinking of getting a Farm Diesel tank for the tractors, so would not have to drive all the way to town for diesel. Is it worth it and what accessories do you need to buy to go along with it?

It depends mostly on how much fuel you go through per year. Around here the fuel suppliers will not deliver less than 200 gallons at a time, so farm tanks are 250+ gallons, the one you linked is 525 gallons. In general you want to go through at least one tankful per year, else your fuel will end up getting stale, have issues with water due to condensation, and algae growth due to the water. Also note that you will get whatever blend of diesel is currently being sold at the pump when your tank gets filled, so if you get it filled in the winter, you will get winter blend diesel, and if it is filled in the summer, summer blend diesel. This may or may not be a big issue depending on your climate and how quickly you go through fuel.

I see in your profile that you have a couple of compacts with about 30 HP in your profile. If you got a 250 gallon tank, which is the smallest widely used (at least around here), you will probably need to run your tractors for at a minimum 200 hours per year (and in typical usage, probably 300-400 hours/year) to empty the tank in a year.

You would need to buy a shutoff ball valve, filter/water separator, hose, nozzle, and a couple of padlocks- one for the fill cap and one for the ball valve.

 

[deserteagle71]

It depends mostly on how much fuel you go through per year. Around here the fuel suppliers will not deliver less than 200 gallons at a time, so farm tanks are 250+ gallons, the one you linked is 525 gallons. In general you want to go through at least one tankful per year, else your fuel will end up getting stale, have issues with water due to condensation, and algae growth due to the water.

I see in your profile that you have a couple of compacts with about 30 HP in your profile. If you got a 250 gallon tank, which is the smallest widely used (at least around here), you will probably need to run your tractors for at a minimum 200 hours per year (and in typical usage, probably 300-400 hours/year) to empty the tank in a year.

^This.

I have 2 pretty good sized tractors and despite my best efforts I use only about 100 gallons of diesel per year.