Diesel fuel storage and condensation

[Gordon Maney]

I live in the country, though I do not farm. I have two diesel tractors and haul the fuel for them in 5 gallon containers, which is a nuisance, as you can guess.

The local fuel distributor has a used 300 gallon barrel and stand that is available for very little money. My concern is that I might only use 100 gallons in a calendar year. If I put 100 to 125 gallons in a 300 gallon tank, it will have a lot of headspace for condensation. I can't legally use this fuel in my truck due to tax differences between road fuel and ag fuel.

I could put some kind of additive in the big tank [recommendations as to a product?], or do you think this big tank thing is just a really bad idea? The alternative is to try to find a smaller tank, or continue using 5 gallon containers and get a transfer pump. Do any of you have good ideas on the transfer pump scenario?

Many of the diesel storage tanks now sit on the ground, such as you would see in a construction setting, but they require some fairly expensive pump accessories.

The big tractor holds about 23 gallons and the small one holds about 8 gallons, to give a sense of scale.

....or any other ideas?

[Charles Talbert]

One suggestion

I have a similar tank at the shop to supply my truck & tractors that we use in the business & so fuel is on hand for initial fills for trucks that get diesel repowers. I use an additive in the fuel at each tank refill that keeps water & bacteria at bay, + raises the cetane rating of the fuel considerably. Also use a filter that absorbs any trace amounts of moisture as fuel is pumped from the tank. Have experienced 0 problems after years of service. You mentioned non taxed fuel for off road equipment, this is 1 alternative, I fill our tank with on highway fuel, tax is paid at purchase time on fuel. I just don't worry about what goes in off road equipment in our case. You can however fill your tank with on highway so you can run it in your trucks & keep a record of what goes in off highway equipment so you can get the highway tax refunded when you file tax at the end of the year. To me the convenience out weighs the trouble. You will have to invest in a pump to make it worthwhile, around $300 for a good one. I'd hate to have to go into town everytime we need fuel, money invested in going to get fuel would be a major yearly expense if we did it that way.

[Hawk]

Another way is to get a pickup box tank. Normally comes in a 150 gal size. You see lots of road crew trucks with these tanks. And they are easy enough to mount even if you dont use it in the back of your truck.

Another way is to watch the paper for a Fuel Oil Tank removed from a house. Lots of these are feebies you haul. These tanks work great also for low fuel use farms.

[JimmieD]

Part of the answer for water in the fuel tank from condensation is to periodically insert a small hard line down to bottom of tank and pump the water out. Various hand or electric pumps are available that are suitable for diesel use. Clear tubing somewhere in the outflow will allow you to tell when it's water or diesel that's coming out.

Might also make a simple floating pickup with a pump so that you always pull nice clean fuel off the top of the tank when you refuel. Not hard to fabricate such a pickup, just making sure that pickup tube inlet is well below fuel level relative to float mechanism. This can work with gravity feed or pump feed, but you already knew that...

[Hobcobble]

Gordon,
Give these guys a try:
www.k100fueltreatment.com
Regards,
John