Fuel storage?

[daswolter]

Fuel prices are starting to come down finally and I was thinking of storing some at the lower price. I have 2 plastic 55 gallon drums that were used for flammable liquids before.

My question is does any one know if they should be grounded or not. In Wisconsin you can store fuel with out permit as long as it is under 110 gallons.

[farmertrappe]

I would just recommend you add stabilizer to the fuel and use it up in a reasonable amount of time. I'm in the marine business and fuel going bad over the winter and during extended lay overs during the summer is how I make lots of money. Ethanol has turned fuel to crap. If your storage tanks are vented to the atmosphere (air) moisture will be sucked in to your container. The fuel will separate from the ethanol and the water and layer in the tank. Water, then fuel and ethanol on top. Just my two cents.

[daswolter]

Thanks for the heads up Farmer trapper. These would be sealed tanks.

[bk]

On the farm in the good old days, we stored fuel in 55 gallon steel barrels. Used it up quick enough that if didn't go bad. Ours were never grounded. Don't know how you would ground a plastic barrel. If you won't be using it up very fast, follow Farmertrappe's excellent advice. 

Picked up 4 five gallon cans the other day.  A gentleman pumping fuel next to me asked  what I was going to do with all that gas.  Told him it was cheap now and I was stock piling it in my bathtub for when the prices when back up.  The look on his face was priceless.

[old243]

A neighbour and I were talking about ethanol fuel going bad. His uncle an old tractor buff, told him to add a bit of ATF automatic transmission fluid to the tank, if it was going to be sitting a while. He said it would float on the fuel and keep it from breaking down, by the air affecting it. Has anyone tried this or heard of this. old243

[bk]

I know the fuel with ethanol does break down. Never heard of adding ATF to the tank. Would be real interested in hearing real world experience with that.  A local restorer of old iron won't use any fuel with ethanol, says it burns too hot and dry for the old tractors.  I know fuel without it is EXPENSIVE.

[topper]

Feb 23, 2015 21:35:11 GMT -5 bk said:

On the farm in the good old days, we stored fuel in 55 gallon steel barrels. Used it up quick enough that if didn't go bad. Ours were never grounded. Don't know how you would ground a plastic barrel. If you won't be using it up very fast, follow Farmertrappe's excellent advice. 

Picked up 4 five gallon cans the other day.  A gentleman pumping fuel next to me asked  what I was going to do with all that gas.  Told him it was cheap now and I was stock piling it in my bathtub for when the prices when back up.  The look on his face was priceless.

Was filling some plastic gas cans today. The plastic cans were sitting on the pickup's plastic bedliner. Gas attendent told me to place the cans on the ground to finish filling them. On the ground -- they were then sitting on the gas station's gas & oil soaked concrete pad...

Saw an ad/poster at the local snowmobile dealer, for some stuff that is supposed to counteract the effects of the ethanol???

One thing about Alaska is we do not have ethanol!

The powers that be tried to introduce MTBE some years back. There was such an uproar about the stuff that they discontinued it. Part of the reason may have been that they were concerned with the liability of someone's snowmaching breaking down out in the bush, because of the MTBE, & not making it home alive...