Fuel on hand

[rleonard]

Out of curiosity, how much diesel fuel do you guys typically have on hand? 

I normally go through about 120 gallons/year of straight ODR (off road diesel) for the mowers, generator, tractor, and so on.  With the current political situation I believe that I should have more on hand.  I'll probably get some 55 gal drums, fill, give them a shot of stabilizer and seal them up.   I use more in the truck but that is pump diesel.

For our ORD, we can get either straight or bio diesel.  I always get the straight and do not have to worry about decomposition.

Your thoughts?

Bob

 

[xyzer]

I have a 300 gal. above ground tank I try to keep full plus 250 gal. of stove heating oil I'm sure would run other things but haven't tried it.  I use road diesel in the 300 gal. tank because most of my use is in my Dodge and the red in it could cause lots of trouble. I end up using it also in my generators and tractor with a dash of Hydraulic tranny oil from the tractor in all of my rigs. My way of recycling. I may use 500+ gal. a year not counting the fuel station fill ups. I have had no problems with decomposition and the turnover in the 300gal. road diesel. It is filtered and I somtimes treat it to prevent a problem. Diesel has a good shelf life in my experience.
Dave

[ronmar]

I keep 55-60 gallons(barrel and 5 gallon can).  I draw from that tank regularly for the tractor and purchase ORD, 5 gallons at a time to keep the tank topped off so the fuel gets rotated.  With my backup power scheme that is a couple of weeks emergency/survival runtime...  I have been looking for a deal on a little bit larger storage tank, but havn't came across one yet.  I did pass on a 160 gal Aluminum truck fuel tank a few weeks back. I thought that would be a good robust tank put up on a cast formed concrete base out behind the generator shack.  If/when I do that, i will keep up the same practice of drawing tractor fuel from that tank and maintaining the fuel level with 5 gallons cans of fresh fuel...  Diesel stores a long time, and with some additives, stores a LOOOOONG time:)

[Thob]

I've got a 55 gallon drum that's clean and dry, I've been waiting for the prices to come down to fill it.  I think they're going back up, so I'd better fill it soon.

What additives to you recommend for long term storage?

[mobile_bob]

the little town i live in only has one filling station, and it is hanging on precariously at that.

i got to thinking what if there were some problem in distribution, surely the bigger cities likely would get fuel before we got restocked, so what then?

conceivably we could be out of fuel several more days in such an event, so i have also
been thinking of stockpiling at least 55gallons of diesel, to run my toyo diesel p/u if such an event should come to pass. at least i could get somewhere to restock in that little truck "if" i had the fuel to do so.

lots of folks run around here on "E" and they would be the first to be in deep doodoo should something happen to the one filling station we have. even though we are only 10 miles in two directions from the nearest towns, there is no guarantee that they would be in better shape.

so maybe 55 gallons is my minimum?

as for storage, i have stored untreated diesel (the older stuff) for over 5 years and had no issues with its use in any of my trucks. never even had a fuel filter clog using it. i don't know if the knew ultra low sulpher stuff is worse for storage or not, but there are lots of additives to extend its shelf life out there.

bob g

[Tom]

I use about 60-70 gal of diesel per year. Last year I tried a plastic drum and B100 which was treated with Pri-D. It hasn't all been used yet and still runs and looks fine. I've been watching the cost of crude and the middle east situation too. Price could double overnight. I do also have a drum of K1, RUG, WMO and 2 of WVO so there is plan b,c & d.

Be careful storing drums, I had of one ORD leak once. Went to crack it open and it was empty! The drum was not that old either. Also if storing RUG in drums be very careful with grounding, once had a fire due to static electricity while transferring fuel. Swift action saved the day, but it could have just as easily turned to disaster.

[rleonard]

Good info guys.  What preservative/stabilizer have you had good results with?  A friend recommended a Lucas Oil product but he could not recall the exact name of it.

Bob

[Tom]

I am an extremely happy Pri-D and Pri-G user. Never a problem with stored fuel even after up to 3 years storage.

[contaucreek]

5 gallon jerry can and 200 gallons of red fuel for the furnace in my basement tank where it cant be pinched.

[fabricator]

Well, I make my own BioDiesel, at any given time I have two 330 gallon plastic IBC totes full of finished bio and 2000-3000 gallons of WVO feed stock on hand.
I use it in the 8/1, my tractors and I have an oil furnace in the shop and house, I don't really use any preservatives as it doesn't hang around long, but I do add an ounce of acetone per 10 gallons which may act as a preservative, but I know it helps with surface tension and makes for finer droplets in the spray pattern.

[Horsepoor]

550 gallon above ground tank, I live in an agriculture area, and also have several 55 gallon plastic tanks all filled with old waste jet fuel. Current fuel inventory is about 200 gallons most of which is about 7 years old. Twice a year I pour 16 oz. of Bio Guard Diesel perseverative into the tank, label says it will treat 480 gallons so concentration is good, and then wait a few days for it to kill any fungus. After that and once a year, I get the use of my friends Alfa Laval (centrifuge) to polish the fuel, filter, and remove any water.

I know seven years is a long time for waste jet fuel, someone told me the commercial shelf life can be as high as 5 years (no cites for this claim), but with these procedures I have been lucky so far. During listeroid use, I mix a lubrication product in at 100:1. Unfortunately, the previous source for waste jet fuel has all but dried up as the aviation repair service facility found a buyer for their waste fuel products. I am interested to hear how the rest of you are doing with long term diesel storage in hot climates.