Bulk gasoline/fuel at home

[ATCclears]

Has anyone ever investigated (or done) the idea of putting a 200-300 gallon fuel tank at home for personal use? These are some of the unresolved questions in my mind:
- finding a good tank
- possible permits required
- how to get it periodically refilled

Insights appreciated.

Thx,
Peter

Read More

 

[Mark W.]

Permits would depend on your location.

Easy to buy a new tank look on line or talk to a farm store.

As to refilling it you would want to talk to the local fuel oil delievery company or Farm Co-op store.

Where I grew up I think everyone I knew had at least a 500 gallon fuel tank some had 2-3 1000 gallon tanks (the farmers)

They were refilled by the local farm Co-op or someone like Mark Nelson Oil Products a local distributor

We currently use portable tanks mounted on trailers to service our construction business and its the same deal. Open the yellow pages and call your local fuel oil dealer and find out who delieverys gasoline.

That said if your in any city limits good luck.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Don't know about permits and such but my grandpa had a platform that had two 300 gal tanks on skids sitting on it. When one emptied he used a cable and pully powered by the PTO on his tractor to winch the skid on to his truck, drive to town for a refill, drive home and reverse the process. Of course this was back before you had to sell the family Maserati and maybe your first born child to afford 300 gal of gas!

 

[mosinguy]

Just a reminder make sure it is ethanol free gas!! We have been toying with that idea ourself here.

 

[ATCclears]

Is ethanol-free fuel available in a bulk-delivery scenario?

Peter

 

[PBinWA]

If you are a farm then you can say it is for off-road use and probably get ethanol free gas (might be dyed though).

 

[mosinguy]

I know the gas stations at the reservations here is ethanol free.

 

[Redcap]

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

[Uberdillo]

Finding a good tank and learning about every single way water can get into it would be my biggest priority if I was going to attempt this. Watched my family absolutely fail to try and do this long ago. Got the tank and fuel, as it is in Oregon, the tank was outside exposed to the elements. It was only there a few months. The rest of the story involved weeks, maybe months spent filtering water out of the diesel, replacing fuel filters and fuel pumps on the tank and our poor truck. It was a GD catastrophe and that tank sits empty in the barn to this day.

 

[pattersonrob]

You should be able to find a good tank and have it filled by your local heating oil company.You can even lease a tank and they will come out and service it for you at a discount.Hope this helps.

 

[Thebastidge]

One of your main concerns for a large tank is maintaining the temperature. You don't want it in direct sunlight. The heat is going to cause the fuel to break down faster but the main concerns is expansion and contraction of the tank, and this leads to moisture in the fuel. As the air inside heats, expands and is forced out during the heat of the day with direct solar gain from sunlight, then it must be replaced with cooler, moister air in the evenings ads the fuel and tank cool down and cause a lower pressure inside the tank.

Proper relief valves will help, a tank that can sand up to some pressure differential will help, and keeping the tank from getting so hot during the daytime and so much cooler at night will help.

Even a tin roof that keeps the direct sunlight off could help.

 

[Muddslinger12]

Exactly (well part of the reason) Auto manufactures recomend keeping over 1/4 tank of fuel in your vehicle. The more gas the more diluted any water or other contaminents will be in your tank. lol sorry off topic

Back on topic how long does the fuel last? Say i got a 55 gal drum added some stabil. how long would it last? and what mods would I need to do to the barrel to accomodate the fuel. It would be stored in a basement so temp shouldnt be a big issue (usually coolest part of the house even during hot months)

 

[Thebastidge]

Gasoline with stabil in it can easily last two years if moisture is kept out. Again, as others have said- avoid ethanol blends. Alcohol is hygroscopic- meaning it aborbs water. It's one reason why you get dehydrated from drinking alcohol. The alcohol bonds with water molecules and makes them unavailable to your system (one other reason is that hops in beer is a diuretic, but that's not germaine to this conversation.) Ethanol's moisture retaining properties cause water to accumulate, which then adds to rusting in engines and containers.

As the lighter esters evaporate from gasoline, it can start to "gum up" forming a varnish-like substance with what's left behind. Stabil helps with that. There are also some specific anti-gumming compounds which can be added to a complete system (i.e. tank and engine are connected and the gasoline is in the tank and lines for a long time.) In such complete systems, you should run the stabililized gasoline through the engine so that gumming doesn't occur inside fuel injectors, carbeurators, and fuel lines as well as in the tank. There's a product called Seafoam, which is often used in marine motors that sit for a long tme each year. I've tried it in my lawn mower and it helped quite a bit.

Diesel can last for a very long time. Diesel engines are inherently more forgiving of quality of the fuel, for one thing. Diesel stabilizer is really an anti-bacterial agent to keep bacteria from metabolizing the diesel fuel.

 

[lamrith]

One thing to worry about with Gasoline is that it does go bad over time and gums/varnishes things. Diesel from what I have seen has a longer shelf life... Makes investing ins a diesel genset much more attractive..

DOh The bastige beat me to it..

 

[knuckle Head]

Not answer to your question, but it is relevant to the subject being discussed.

I use Seafoam over stabil for fuel storage, I also put about 8 ounce os isopropyl 99% in 5 & 6 gallon cans to absorb moisture, I have done this for many, many years and rotate it every 2 - 2 yrs, an dhave never ever had a problem with the fuel in a small engine or a vehicle.

 

[Thebastidge]

I would personally not put the isopropyl in for storage, because I suspect it'll draw in as much extra moisture as it absorbs from what is already going to get into your gas. But if you were about to use gasoline which had been stored for a while and you weren't sure of its condition, it's probably not a bad idea.

 

[CZTHOR]

Wilcox & Flegel Oil Co.

 

[RVTECH]

I use to have a 150 gallon above ground tank when I I lived In Redmond (OR) with no problems. I had the proper vented fill fitting, replaceable filter, hose and the typical hand-held filler handle. I had it topped off once a month, paid cash for a discount and come to think about it, really miss it. Dang it! now another project - start looking for another tank! (I still have the plumbing and hardware)

 

[Redcap]

Wilcox & Flegel Oil Co.

It is really too bad Hull Distributing is gone. Wilcox and Flegel is a real pain in the arse.

 

[Cortes]

The only safe and acceptable way to store gasoline long term is in 55 gallon drums.

Must be ethanol free

Fill drums to 95%

Treat with PRI-G, better than Stabil or Seafoam

Re-treat it every 12 months

Storage in basement is good as long as the drums are tightly sealed

Use clean ~oil drums, not the drums for $10 on CL that had veggie oil in it. $25 for motor oil drum from bulk oil distributor.