jj3500

anyone do this already?
i live in an agricultural zoned residence. so which means i can have tractors and farming equipment outside in my yard, which i don't have. anyway, what i'm getting at is this. i want to store a small fuel tank ,200 gal., at my home for fuel for my CTD. this fuel is not stained and also not taxed. i can fuel up in my own yard. of course this means that i use my CTD for my farm which i don't have. the fuel that will be dropped of for this tank is fuel for my rig.

one thing that concerns me is how to keep this fuel safe when it gets to the winter.


thanks for the input

infidel

I've had above ground fuel tanks for 40 years, only one time with a winter problem when it hit -5° in late Sept, too early to even think of adding anti-gel. Gelled the tank and all the diesels right up. Luckily it warmed back up and I was able to get some additive in.

You need to find out what your supplier does for winter. Most will automatically switch you to blended winter fuel once the weather cools. I used to get blend but prefer to stick with straight #2 year round, better power and mpgs, cheaper also. Some fuel suppliers don't use blend but rather use additive and straight #2. I went that route for a few years, the fuel deliverer would add the correct amount of additive according to the fuel added with each delivery. I'm running a 1000 gal tank now so just add 4 gallons of Power Service myself to my late fall tank fill up and ask that they don't fill the tank on a route but rather wait till I call. Since fuel use on the farm goes way down in winter 1000 gallons easily makes it till warm weather.

Another tip for your own tank.
My tanks are high and gravity feed but were slow, you would end up trying to do something else while filling and inadvertently overflow the rig's tank. Auto shutoff nozzles need a little pressure to work. What I did is plumb a 1/4'' copper line into the top of the tank with a valve and pressure regulator set at 5 psi and hooked up to the air compressor. Pressurize the tank when you fill up. Now I can use an auto shutoff nozzle (about $40 from Northern Tools) and the fuel really flows, about 15 gal/min. I later ended up plumbing the air ball valve so it's handle when open blocks the spot where the nozzle hangs in storage. Did this after the air was accidentally left on after filling a few times.

Sure beats waiting around or a hand pump. Depending on the tank's proximity to compressed air this method will be much cheaper than a hand or electric pump.

Forrest Nearing

just letting you know that law enforcement agents read this board... you might want to edit your post.

Pop-Pop

Since I live in a warm area (tidewater Virginia) I don't have a problem storing diesel. I have a boat with a 125 gallon tank that is always topped off (see member photos). Plus, I usually keep about 50 gallons of diesel in 5 gallon cans to use in keeping the boat topped off. Only that fuel in the boat's tank has additives to prevent gelling and retard bacteria. Of course all this diesel is colored red and costs about 20 cents less per gallon than on-road diesel.

infidel

Think there might be a typo, I understood jj to say his fuel wouldn't be dyed.

Patrick Campbell

how on earth do you get NON dyed NON taxed fuel?

i would say mix a healthy mixture of PowerService arctic anti-gel and you will be good to go.

zulusafari

If you make your own, it isn't dyed. Of course, if the DOT inspectors ever hear about it, they will prosecute for back taxes and fines.

Forrest Nearing

he also said it wasn't taxed...

if you buy offroad diesel in bulk, you can opt for dyed or non-dyed fuel.

why wouldn't you just ask about storing diesel over the winter instead of talking openly about tax evasion that carries a $10k+ fine?

infidel

Don't know about elsewhere but in Montana you have to buy 10,000 gallons minimum at a shot to get undyed offroad.

natstayl

I do have a diesel tractor. For 10 years we were using fuel from the furnace tank to fill the tractor using a siphon from the top, not the drain in the bottom. The furnace tank is a 275er in the basement, no change in temp, so no additives. Two Decembers ago after filling the tractor, I noticed my fuel can had a skim of black sludge in the bottom of it after it set for 8 or 10 weeks while the tractor was offline during an engine rebuild. Of course I posted some questions here and also mentioned it to my fuel-oil distributor. Some loads of fuel get more dirt along the transfer to the consumer than others I was told, so now I use highway fuel only (in the tractor), but I only use 45-50 gallons a year. Guys that deliver it tell me it all comes from the same freight tanker and there's no difference unless detergent gets added at the service station. I've noticed one of the stations where I do biz has a filter on the pump, whether or not it makes a difference I can only hope. I'm curious how long a tank of fuel has to sit for all the trash to go to the bottom.

rattle_rattle

I have a tank in my yard. No problems with storage. I add Power Service in the white bottle every time it gets delivered.