Finally (fuel pump)

[John K Jordan]

After years of “thinking about it”, I finally broke down and bought an electric fuel pump for a 100 gal tank a friend gave me. I’ve been buying diesel fuel at the gas station and hauling it in 5gal cans, about 25 gallons at a time. Besides the extra cost of on-road diesel, just lifting and juggling the cans and funnels was a pain. (I have seven off-road diesel powered machines here.)

Yesterday I loaded the tank in the truck, drove to the co-op with off-road diesel (dyed red), set the tank on a concrete pad that’s been waiting patiently for three years, installed the pump, and topped off sime equipment.

The pump is such an improvement! Just pull up to the tank and fill with the nozzle, just like civilized people. Now I’d hate to go back to the cans!

480061

Around here off-road diesel is about 60 cents or so cheaper per gallon.

The co-op will deliver but there’s a fee, not worth it for 100 gal. I have a friend who has a 500 gal tank on his farm - that size tank would be less practical to haul and handle.

JKJ

[Malcolm McLeod]

...one of those 'how-did-I-live-without-it moments' I bet.:cool:

But just a quick foray to the 'how-can-this-go-wrong-moments' - - plan some anti-theft measures.:mad:

BIL has a construction company (buried utilities) w/ BIG thirsty equipment on various sites. Last year, he had a 3000gal fuel tank on a site, and had a tanker fill it one day. That night, someone cut the lock and stole it all. They most assuredly knew it was full, so conclusion was that the perpetrator was either an employee or the guy who delivered it. Sheriff never found the 'saint' responsible, or recovered the fuel.

[Tom M King]

Same here. I need to get another one for gas.

I don't have a concrete pad for it though. I built a pallet out of 4x treated lumber with chains that go under the whole thing so I can pick it up with anything that has a chain hook. I just set it where it will be needed the most.

Just by dumb luck, I filled mine up before off road diesel went sky high along with other fuels. I filled up everything, and decided to go fill the tank back up while I had it in the truck.

My pump is 12v, so I can use it away from electricity. I have an SAE plug on the battery of anything that burns diesel, so I don't have to fiddle with alligator clips.

It's 23 years old, and even though it's spent most of its life under a shed, the outside is getting a little rusty. sorry about upside down picture.

[Ronald Blue]

John the other issue with larger is you have to be placarded for the fuel. 119 gallon and larger require placards. If you browse fuel tanks for pickups they are usually 110 gallon capacity to stay under this regulation. When I was growing up on the farm we had overhead gravity flow tanks that held 500 gallons. Of course they were filled by the bulk truck. Dyed off road diesel should be minus road taxes everywhere. The convenience of the tank will be worth it. I probably would have left it in the truck until everything was full filled it again and then unloaded it. Maybe that's what you did. Enjoy.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

The problem with off road is storage. If you don’t use it mold and sludge builds and plugs up filters. There are additives that you can use and also doubling up on the transfer filters might help some too. For me it’s ezr to just pay the tax

I have 100 gallon gas and diesel tanks and fill the diesel maybe twice a year. I keep my wife’s car filled with gas so she doesn’t have to.

[John K Jordan]

Mine may be 110 gal, there was still space with 100 gal.

We used the skid steer to unload it full, no prob.


John the other issue with larger is you have to be placarded for the fuel. 119 gallon and larger require placards. If you browse fuel tanks for pickups they are usually 110 gallon capacity to stay under this regulation. When I was growing up on the farm we had overhead gravity flow tanks that held 500 gallons. Of course they were filled by the bulk truck. Dyed off road diesel should be minus road taxes everywhere. The convenience of the tank will be worth it. I probably would have left it in the truck until everything was full filled it again and then unloaded it. Maybe that's what you did. Enjoy.

[Alex Zeller]

About 20 or so years ago the nat gas company decided to add to their pipelines to serve more customers. All of a sudden there was people all around here with tanks half full of heating oil/ off road diesel that had no idea what to do with it. So I bought a pump and got my hands on some clean 55 gallon drums and emptied a few out. With a long hose I could just feed it down the hole for the tanks fill pipe making easy to get the fuel out of a basement. I could even leave the drums in the back of my truck. Of course back then fuel was well under $2 a gallon. I did it for free and would remove the tank once empty as long as it wasn't too hard.

I can remember one guy who wanted me to pay for the fuel. With so many people giving it away I said no thank you. 3 years or so later his insurance company found out the tank was still down there full of fuel and were going to drop him unless he removed it. By then the fuel was questionable and he had to pay a company to remove and dispose of it. I think it was over a grand. Now I keep the pump on a 55 gallon drum. Several places sell ORD/HHO. I can't imagine using 5 gallon cans to fill a tractor.

[Bill Dufour]

In California it would be a good idea to make a concrete tub the tank sits inside of. To catch any leaks. Not sure what the EPA says about leaking fuel into the ground water. Here it is big fines. A gas station with a history of a leaking tank costs more to clean up then the property is worth unless it is in a good sized town.
When a station is sold the tanks are pulled, regardless of age. The soil is tested to prove all contamination is gone then new vacuum encased tanks get installed with.
Bill D

[Tom M King]

I'm thinking about getting a 50 gallon one with a crank aluminum pump for non-ethanol gas. I burn about ten gallons a week during grass cutting season, if I'm not cutting for anywhere else. I'm thinking I'd rather spin a crank handle than worry about sparks around gasoline. 5 gallon jugs have already gotten aggravating for a mower that holds 15 gallons.

The mower I needed was not available with a diesel.

[Ronald Blue]

I'm thinking about getting a 50 gallon one with a crank aluminum pump for non-ethanol gas. I burn about ten gallons a week during grass cutting season, if I'm not cutting for anywhere else. I'm thinking I'd rather spin a crank handle than worry about sparks around gasoline. 5 gallon jugs have already gotten aggravating for a mower that holds 15 gallons.

The mower I needed was not available with a diesel.

Those hand cranks actually work pretty well. Certainly easier than muscling cans all summer.

[John K Jordan]

I have a 55 gal drum with a hand-operated pimp I used to use for diesel. I prefer a lever pump to a crank: in my experience the force of pulling down is easier than cranking.

I quit using the drum since I never added a means to quickly tie it down and lift it off the truck with the tractor - I rigged straps each time. 55 gallons didn’t last long so I quit using it when I got the 100 gal tank. (That tank is easy to tie and lift) Unfortunately my “temporary” solution of hauling in cans was extended when I started rebuilding an old electric pump instead of just buying a new one!

When we moved to this place I mowed an area by the house I designated as “yard” with a riding mower. Then I bought a 42” gas zero turn - could mow in 1/4th the time. Then I got a 60” diesel zero turn and cut that time by more than half (and used alot less fuel). These days I more about 3-4 acres unless I mow the pastures, then it’s more like 8 to 12 acres. I use 2 diesel zero turns, one reserved for rough areas, more like bush hogging.




I'm thinking about getting a 50 gallon one with a crank aluminum pump for non-ethanol gas. I burn about ten gallons a week during grass cutting season, if I'm not cutting for anywhere else. I'm thinking I'd rather spin a crank handle than worry about sparks around gasoline. 5 gallon jugs have already gotten aggravating for a mower that holds 15 gallons.

The mower I needed was not available with a diesel.

[Tom M King]

The only reason I haven't gotten one is trying to decide between push and pull (we had one of those when I was growing up), and a crank.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Fuel tanks are a very hot commodity right now. Our neighbor just brought in a Semi load.

[Tom M King]

I think this is the exact same model we had in the 1950's. I remember it being really hard to operate, but I was little then. 25 oz. per stroke sounds pretty good. Better than 100 cranks per 10 gallons.

https://www.fillrite.com/piston-hand-pump-spout-suction-pipe-and-hose-included-fr152

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Same here. I need to get another one for gas.

I don't have a concrete pad for it though. I built a pallet out of 4x treated lumber with chains that go under the whole thing so I can pick it up with anything that has a chain hook. I just set it where it will be needed the most.

Just by dumb luck, I filled mine up before off road diesel went sky high along with other fuels. I filled up everything, and decided to go fill the tank back up while I had it in the truck.

My pump is 12v, so I can use it away from electricity. I have an SAE plug on the battery of anything that burns diesel, so I don't have to fiddle with alligator clips.

It's 23 years old, and even though it's spent most of its life under a shed, the outside is getting a little rusty. sorry about upside down picture.

480095 Right side up. It suits Green. : ) A 2030? it looks like dads.

[Ronald Blue]

Output is half the piston style but I preferred the crank but it's personal preference.

https://www.fillrite.com/rotary-hand-pumps-series-rotary-hand-pumps

[Jim Becker]

John, with all your machinery, having a reasonable size tank with a convenient pump on your property makes a whole lot of sense. I even toyed with the idea a little at our previous property but never did anything. And While I'm burning up a bunch of diesel with my site prep for the new shop building here, that's not going to be "normal" going forward, so taking the 5 gallon containers to Wawa for diesel like I did today ($6.19 a gallon, down ten cents from the last time) will remain my method. It would be nice to be able to tap into the heating oil tank, but I suspect there are, um...issues...with that kind of idea. LOL

[John K Jordan]

Tom,

I think the one that's still on the 55gal drum is just like that. If you get over this way sometime (near Knoxville) I'll gladly give it to you.

JKJ


I think this is the exact same model we had in the 1950's. I remember it being really hard to operate, but I was little then. 25 oz. per stroke sounds pretty good. Better than 100 cranks per 10 gallons.

https://www.fillrite.com/piston-hand-pump-spout-suction-pipe-and-hose-included-fr152

[Ron Selzer]

so taking the 5 gallon containers to Wawa for diesel like I did today ($6.19 a gallon, down ten cents from the last time) will remain my method. It would be nice to be able to tap into the heating oil tank, but I suspect there are, um...issues...with that kind of idea. LOL

$5.49 advertised price today here
Should not be any problems with running heating oil AS LONG AS IT IS USED FOR OFF ROAD
Ron

[Tom M King]

John, I appreciate the offer, but I'm tied up here looking after my 106 year old Mother. We almost never go anywhere having to look after this place, and all the animals anyway.

Maurice, It's a 2640. 1979 70hp category 2. I bought it in 1991, and with all I've done to it, it's about like a new one now, other than the way it looks.

[Jim Becker]

$5.49 advertised price today here
Should not be any problems with running heating oil AS LONG AS IT IS USED FOR OFF ROAD
Ron
It's not the use that's the potential issue as #2 fuel oil is pretty much the same as diesel...it's the tapping into/pumping up from a tank that's inside of the house. Not even worth pursuing.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

.....I bought it in 1991, and with all I've done to it, it's about like a new one now, other than the way it looks.

I bought this new in 2002. I thought about selling a few times lately cuz its getting harder to use and get my body n and out of it. But like your JD... put some lipstick on it and its like new. :D


480123

[Tom M King]

I pulled a huge cast iron oil burning furnace out of the basement of one of the old houses I worked on. The fuel tank was above ground outside. The guy that lived across the road drove a Diesel Rabbit. He burned the fuel out of that tank for several years after the owners gave him the tank if he moved it.

[Alex Zeller]

It's not the use that's the potential issue as #2 fuel oil is pretty much the same as diesel...it's the tapping into/pumping up from a tank that's inside of the house. Not even worth pursuing.

That and some of us have to worry about diesel gelling. Heating oil normally from a pump at a station will have anti-gel in it while fuel delivered for heating a house that has a tank in the basement doesn't.

[Jim Becker]

That and some of us have to worry about diesel gelling. Heating oil normally from a pump at a station will have anti-gel in it while fuel delivered for heating a house that has a tank in the basement doesn't.
True, especially in the colder months, one would likely need to add treatment to the #2 fuel oil to use it for diesel fuel. The "stuff" that goes in is the primary difference between them.

[Brice Rogers]

Tom M. King, you commented on your concern for sparks.

A few years ago, I had to replace an automobile in-tank fuel pump. You probably wouldn't have guessed it, but it sucked the gas THROUGH the pump, including the DC motor brushes. That surprised me. I would not have thought that it would be safe. The gas apparently cooled the electric motor parts. But even though there were carbon brushes in contact with the gas, there is no oxygen in the pump, so nothing can combust. But it made me wonder what would happen if you ran the think dry and kept trying.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Fuel tanks are a very hot commodity right now. Our neighbor just brought in a Semi load.

The neighbors got the full tanks unloaded and set up. Two 8 foot diameter x 20 foot tall tanks. they are in a hurry to get everything ready and have them filled because they have not used up all that was purchased on last years contract. I hope they get it done. Some weeks they burn over 1500 gallons.