New Tractor owner in search of Diesel gas containers

[Steve1300]

Going the 55-gal drum and hand pump myself. Much cheaper, and since I have forks, not really a problem.

 

[Threepoint]

Well, I'm not as young as I use to be, waiting several minutes holding a can full of diesel up, while it gurgles away for what seems like forever, isn't something I like to do!

This is why I'm "mostly" using my old 2-1/2 gallon Rotella oil jugs for fuel these days. They last a LONG time, are pretty much FREE, don't leak and pour as fast as I want...

SR

SR, I may have missed it, if you said. Do you fill the 2-1/2 gal Rotella jugs at retail station pumps?

Attendants in our area would probably come running out, waving their arms if I tried it! :laughing:

 

[Threepoint]

Going the 55-gal drum and hand pump myself. Much cheaper, and since I have forks, not really a problem.

Steve, how will you go about this logistically? E.g., load the drum in a pickup bed with the forks, then drive to the station? Around here, stations warn not to fill any portable fuel cans while still on the vehicle because of risk of static discharge. They don't distinguish between diesel and gasoline containers.

 

[4570Man]

I've never been given any trouble for filling a 55 gallon barrel on the back of the truck. I even filled a pressure washer in the back of the truck as the attendant watched.

 

[Threepoint]

I've never been given any trouble for filling a 55 gallon barrel on the back of the truck. I even filled a pressure washer in the back of the truck as the attendant watched.

Haven't looked into this much, but I just happened on this interesting Snopes.com article.
Static and Refueling Fires : snopes.com

Lots written on the subject. Most all of it discussing gasoline as the fuel. Here's a paper that seems particularly well-researched:
http://www.nciaai.com/articles-of-interest/8-static-electricity/file

Regarding handling diesel fuel in particular, here's something from Prairie Farmer three years ago:
Be aware of diesel refueling static charge risks

 

[pete86a]

Try northern tool fuel caddy

 

[Threepoint]

Try northern tool fuel caddy

Pete, which one do you mean? The diesel fuel caddy at NT is very interesting, at $310 right now, on sale. Price looks good, as it has a 25 gal capacity. But it still can't (shouldn't) be filled in the bed of a truck/SUV. And filled with diesel at 7.1 lbs/gal is 175 lbs, to get it's full benefit. That's in addition to the net weight of the unit itself, which I'm guessing is around 10 or 15 lbs. Humping it up into the bed after filling, then back down to the ground at home is way more than I'd care to do, even when I was 25 yrs old. Even the 14 gal gasoline model is plenty heavy filled.

How do folks actually fill and use these things, in practice?

Whoa, just looked at the shipping weight. 42 lbs! So probably around 210 lbs filled with diesel.

 

[pete86a]

Jeesh they went up in price, was thinking 100 or so. Maybe amazon? Id leave it in a truck bed just not permanently

 

[not2old]

I see that the plastic cans with a vent are back. I guess that they finally learned that spilling some creates more pollution that the evaporation.

 

[Steve1300]

Steve, how will you go about this logistically? E.g., load the drum in a pickup bed with the forks, then drive to the station? Around here, stations warn not to fill any portable fuel cans while still on the vehicle because of risk of static discharge. They don't distinguish between diesel and gasoline containers.

Filling containers on the back of trucks is common around here. There are many work trucks with transfer tanks and such. It is a matter of bonding the container to the truck. Plastic jugs are taken out of the trucks, but barrels are a different story; or at least, they always have been. We'll see.