Gravity Fuel Transfer Tank

[Barely Smokin']

I needed a cheap/easy way to get fuel to my tractor, dozer, house, etc. and thought I'd fab something up. Don't want to pay any serious money for an electric pump, so I've tried to keep it simple.

Started with this thing that I bought at auction. I've stripped it of its hydraulic and electrical components for other projects, but I had a 30 gallon hydraulic reservoir left over....hmmm.......what to do?

Only significant fab job was a replacement plate for the top of the reservoir. The old one had a 3-phase motor and provisions for a hydraulic filter, etc.

Old school oxy-acetylene. Angle iron as a guide piece for cutting and grinding:

Drilling new holes....

Recycling the bung in case I ever want to add a 12v pump...nothing fancy about this fitting, other than cutting it out this way would make a nice flange for welding it to the new plate.

The finished plate.

Moving the tank inside to do a little night welding. Tight fit.

The skid, made from recycled pallets.

Mocking it up---all the steel is recycled from other projects, hence the crazy fit at this stage:

Coming together:

Voila:

Gulp!

:thumbsup:

Haven't tried it yet but I did fill the tank today...no leaks so far

 

[beenthere]

Looking good. A little ingenuity and now you have it easy.
:cool2:

 

[dstig1]

Cool! Just make sure you don't run out of fuel in that tractor before you lift it up!:laughing:

 

[Barely Smokin']

Cool! Just make sure you don't run out of fuel in that tractor before you lift it up!:laughing:

Yep, I admit there's a fatal flaw....it'd be real hard to refuel if I was already out of gas....

 

[BHD]

this is the type of gravity transfer system I use,

 

[Mechanos]

How do you vent a gravity feed transfer tank without letting moisture in?

I'm thinking about making an elevated tranfer tank out of a 55 gal. drum. I suppose I could just draw from a point a little above the bottom of the tank. A separate drain valve installed at the lowest point of the tank could be used to periodically to drain off any water accumulated in the tank.

For those of you that use an elevated tank, do you add an algecide to the tank when you fill it up?

I'd like to make the tank skid mounted that sits on top of an elevated platform. When it's time to refill the tank, I'd use pallet forks on the loader to pick the tank up off the platform and set it in the back of my truck to run it into town and fill it up. Very silimar to what Barely Smokin' has made.... only a little bigger.

 

[George2615]

""Yep, I admit there's a fatal flaw....it'd be real hard to refuel if I was already out of gas....""



You don't need to shell out a lot of money for a pump. I use a universal fuel pump, a trailer brake battery, some hose, wire and a toggle switch to refill my tractor. I wired my trailer emergency brake switch into the battery I use for my winch and hydraulic tilt motor so the small trailer brake battery wasn't needed until I decided to use it to power a cheapy 12V fuel pump. I think I have under $50 invested.

 

[LBrown59]

1*How do you vent a gravity feed transfer tank without letting moisture in?
2*For those of you that use an elevated tank, do you add an algecide to the tank when you fill it up?

1*I would say the same way as any other tank or drum .
2*Again I think it would be the same as any other drum or tank .

You don't need to shell out a lot of money for a pump.
3* I use a universal fuel pump to refill my tractor.
I decided to use it to power a cheapy 12V fuel pump.

How many GPM is your cheap pump and how much do they cost.?

 

[George2615]

How many GPM is your cheap pump and how much do they cost.?

Don't know the actual GPM. Pump is a universal inline automotive 12V fuel pump bought at Advance Auto Parts for about $40. It uses 3/8" hose in/out and fills my 8 gallon tractor tank in about 3 minutes or less so I guess that's about 2.6 GPM?
I know that holding a hose in my tank and flipping a switch sure beats holding up a 5 gallon diesel can on my shoulder to fill the tank.