Storage of bulk fuel?

Quick question for all of you with bulk fuel tanks...

I recently picked up a 175 gallon fuel tank to try and buy some gasoline in bulk while its down in price. Do you treat it with something like Sta-Bil when you put it in a bulk tank like this?

I would hate to have all this gas go bad on me and end up just throwing the money away...

Keeping it cool greatly extends storage life.

How soon are you going to use it up? Will you refill early to mid sumemr? If so, nothing needs to be done.

Fuel bought now will or could be winter blend depending on where you live. Might be more prone to vapor lock in summer high heat.

I guess I should have put more information in my original post.

I need to paint up the tank still, so its not full yet, and I havent pre-purchased any gasoline. The bottom is sound, but there are a few surface rust bubbles on it, and I didnt want the weight of the gas to get in the way of me moving the tank to prep and paint it properly.

I only have a few tractors, and I use them only every once in a while during the summer mostly. I just hate dumping in five gallons at a time into my Farmall H or M so it never gets full. Plus my family would use it to fill up the lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc.

But I would imagine that it would take me at least a year, if not more to use up the whole tank. It will most likely be summer blend by the time I get it filled.

While it would be a lot for me to type to explain all the ramifications of storing bulk gas on your place let me ask a few questions.

Do you know the rules of storing and placards on hazardous materials.

Do you know the difference of buying different RVP gas.

Do you realize gas evaporates when stored in above ground tanks and how to prevent it.

Do you have a jobber that will deliver in such small quantities as 150 gallons since you are not suppose to fill a tank over 90% full. Will the price difference be that great to justify storing gas at your site.

Do you have a suitable concrete enclosure pad to put this tank on to prevent soil contamination and/or you willing to assume that risk.

Or have you even considered any of the above.

Not trying to be a a$$ but gasoiline is a class II flammable so it is nothing to play around with.

Ag use of fuels is mostly exempt from the DOT and SARA title 3 stuff, so far anyway. Something like a Farmall M dosen't care what the vapor pressure of the gasoline is. In fact cars don't either. The various formulations of gasoline are all about air emissions. I am not sure secondary containment is required either, and know it dosen't have to be concrete. Gasoline spilled from an above ground tank usually evaporates, it is the leaks in underground tanks that make it to the ground water. When I am at my farm I run around with 2 X 125 gallon service tanks in the back of a 3/4 ton pickup. My local jobber never hits me with a minimum fee when I say, "on your next trip by fill up every thing".

I wouldn't even worry about any of the downsides that anybody mentions. It'll keep. Just make sure the tank is on solid footing so one side or another doesn't sink in to the ground. Put a shut off on it that you can lock.

In my area of New York, anyone can keep up to 1000 gallons in total with no special permits if above ground.

If you add a fuel preservative, like Stabil, the fuel will easily keep for two years. I've kept some five, used it, and it still worked fine, but that is a stretch.

If you want to help keep the gas cool you can paint it with aluminum or silver colored paint. Then make sure you put placards on the ends the says gasoline. Check with your fire insurance (building) some want fuel tanks a certain number of feet from any building.

With such small amount you will be wondering where it all went ? in short order.

I don't think you'll have any problems storing it. We've had gas stored in a tank for about a year without any problems. We normally use up 150 gallons every couple months as our loader tractor is a gas and one other tractor is a gas. Don't use it too much, but we use it to plant and on the blower.

I think our tank is about the same size as yours. Painted aluminum in color, put a placard sticker on it because I found it in our ditch one day. Silver is Gas, Gold is deisel. I forget which is red and which is green though... Must be gas is red because the small cans are red for gas and deisel cans are yellow (gold). As long as the tank is painted the right color, the fire fighters etc.. shouldn't have any troubles with that because they look at the color and they know what's in the tank.

Donovan from Wisconsin

i have 300 gallon gravity tanks for gas, painted white (they were fs tanks). get the locking vented cap for the top, then the locking valve on the delivery side of the tank. i use spin on filters after the valve. get the fuel nozzle for a gravity tank. i put sta-bil in my tanks just before they are filled. sometimes i'll toss a jug of marvel mystery oil in the tank too. dunno why, pa said it was good to run some thru every now and again. be sure to get the filter that has the little moisture drain petcock on the bottom of it, then drain some every now and then to check for water. see if yuor neighbors buy bulk fuel, and have yours delivered at the same time. may save you a little delivery costs.

I appreciate your concern John, and you bring up some good points.

My friends father works for a bulk fuel hauler, and his truck follows him home some evenings. He is happy to drop off a small tank load of fuel on the way home, since its not an extra trip.

I have all the placards for storage, along with necessary signage. Our farm used to have a bulk tank when my grandfather ran the place, but since he passed we havent kept up on the gas delivery, just diesel.

I do know gas evaporates, but I only know of one farmer in my area that uses a below ground tank due to the issues that arise with leaks, double wall containment, water in the fuel, etc. The intention is to paint the tank white to try and keep evaporation to a minimum.

In regards to an enclosure pad, Im not worried about the tank leaking, as its very sound. I know that once you get over a certain size tank you run into spill containment issues, but Im well below the limit. Its also a few hundred feet away from any buildings, so there should be no issues there.

The price is only part of the reason for getting it in bulk, its also nice to be able to pull up next to it and fill a 22 gallon fuel tank on a tractor rather than carrying around multiple 2.5 or 5 gallon plastic cans, especially now that all the new ones come with the goofy self-venting spouts.

I honestly feel like the multiple trips to and from a gas station with multiple cans, and then dumping those cans into the tractor would result in more chances for spillage, evaporation, fire, and general mishap.

That said, Im just wondering if doubling the normal dose of Sta-bil will keep it fresh until its gone.

I know its not much in the big scheme of things for lots of you guys, but for us that are really just considered a hobby farmer right now, that should last me a few summers at least.

Actually the tank came with an older Gasboy rotamaster hand pump that has a lockable handle. Its also got the lockable fill cap on it that Im pretty sure is vented.

I picked up a Goldenrod waterblock filter and the housing that screws on right after the pump and before the hose. (It also has a new hose, old gravity nozzle on it). I just need to get the 3/4" to 1" bushings to get it all to mate up and I should be OK. Do you think the Goldenrod filters are OK?

Clarkbug;
Like I said I was not trying to start anything I just wanted to make you aware of some possible problems.

While DOT governs transportation and SARA title 3 deals with Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act your tank is to small to enter into problems this big.
BUT hazardous materials must be labeled and no one is exempt. Gasoline starts at 8 gallons and diesel starts at 119 gallons. The Un # for gas is 1203 and diesel is 1993.

It is great that you have some one that will deliver small quantities. Wish I could find the same.

Most people do not realize how much gas can be lost from evaporation. They make special vent caps for gas storage tanks that do not allow full venting so evaporation can be curved. Painting the tank white and maybe even adding a tin cover over it so it is shaded will help a lot. Also buying gas in the summer (Middle of June to Sept) will allow you to get a lower RVP gas. While this is a emission standard it is gas that does not evaporate as easy in the summer heat. By the way below ground tanks are pretty much out of the question any more because of new regulations.

While a enclosure pad is not a must on a small tank it is a good idea. Up to you as the risk is yours. As long as you do not have a over fill situation or a leak it is never needed; but if it is ever needed you can find out real fast how it pays for itself. EPA guys are no fun when it come to a fuel spill.

While a good dose of Sta-bil should keep the gas fresh enough to use I would be just as concerned about water from condensation. Make sure your drawing point is not in the bottom of the tank and a good filter may be advisable.

I hope it works out for you.

It can be done safely if the rules are followed. It can even be done if the rules are not followed as you can tell from some of the other post. I just hope no one here finds out why these rules are in place.

White...... Regular gas
Blue........Mid grade gas
Red.........Premium gas
Yellow......Diesel
Green.......Off road diesel
Brown.......Kero

Just a suggestion. Pay the road tax (included in the delivery price) and then use it in your pickup or older vehicles as well as the tractors. By paying the road tax, you can legally use it for any purpose you want. I do know that the gas in our 275 gal above ground tank does degrade in quality within 6 months. But if you are using your purchased amount in that time, you should have no problem. I do sense a greater deterioration of gasoline with ethanol in it, as the ethanol draws water vapor from the air on humid days, and in the daily heat/cool cycling. This gas/ethanol/water mix does not fire as readily for starting, but will burn if the engine starts. We have had bulk gas delivered here for more than 25 years, and the only storage problems have been since the ethanol mandate. Occasionally we can get our fuel delivery to be straight gasoline with no ethanol if we pay a higher price and the delivery guy has enough other customers demanding straight gas that he can make a load.

Because of storage problems with some degradation of gas, I will no longer use our bulk tank gas in chainsaws, weed whippers, lawn mowers/lawn tractors, snowmobiles. I am just plain tired of taking carbs apart to clean the bad stinky, sticky gas "shellac" out of the carbs, and finding the tell-tale green sediment that is caused by the brass parts being eaten by the organic acid created by the ethanol/water. The green is the copper being leached out of the brass. I have found some needle valves half eaten through by the acid, and brass carb floats deeply etched by the acid. A gas station about 5 miles from us has the premium/non-ethanol gas available, and that is what I use for the small engines with virtually no problems in the carbs.

I am not happy with the quality of most of our gas or diesel fuel now mandated.

Paul in MN

Hi John.

I know you werent trying to start anything, and I appreciate your knowledge on the subject. I just wanted to try and show that I had thought some of this through before deciding to just grab a tank and fill it with gas.

The color code is also very helpful to have, as Im hoping that everyone can use that as a future reference.

I definitely value your, and everyone else that responded, input on this (and all the other stuff I ask). If I didnt want to hear the words of wisdom and warning, then I wouldnt ask the questions

So again, thanks for the feedback, and the helpful information!

I'm not sure about in your area, but in ours they don't even bother putting dye in gas anymore, so there isn't anyway to tell if it's taxed or not around here. Only with deisel.

I have been tempted at times to take one of our extra bulk tanks in back (one is a 250 gallon tank out of my brother's basement) and set it up w/a pump and fill it with farm gas and fill my car/truck with it. I could use up 2 or 3 250 gallon tanks in a year just by myself- not to mention my mom, dad, and brother. Could save a lot on taxes that way.

Haven't yet, but sometimes I think I still might...

Donovan from Wisconsin