Hi All, I think I will add an on-farm diesel tank. I am exploring different options and thought I would ask here. I am waiting to hear from two co-ops I left messages with. I did speak with an independent fuel dealer. They sell new, electric tanks that start at…wait for it…$7500.00! I’ve only had experience with gravity tanks and they are much less expensive. Does anyone have recommendations or suggestions of tanks to stay away from? Thank you!
We have a gravity fed one. It cost $20 at an auction, and I can pick it up with a chain and the tractor and take it to the gas station secured on the back of my truck (so we don’t have to have the fuel delivery charge), pick it back up and put it back on the stand. I put about 300 liters in it, could probably get more than that, but don’t. I built the stand out of old railway ties which elevates it adequately, with the back end of the tank a bit elevated for drainage. Or, we have been considering another spot for it on a bank with a parking space for fueling below. Paying $7500 for an electric one would negate the reason for using farm fuel, IMO.
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Oh I agree completely re: $7500.00 for a tank. I’d be dead LONG before I’d realize any savings😉. Thank you for the ideas. I am going to look for a used gravity fed one.
Do you set it back on the ground at the gas station? If not that’s pretty risky, as it’s not grounded, no?
Ours is gravity fed and with a 1 time small lease payment ( fuel company owns it) it is here for as long as we want it. Does your fuel provider not offer that?
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That’s a great question! I’ve only heard back from one company so far. It’s a privately held supplier. He is looking for a used tank. He said they’ve been flying off the shelves like hot cakes. I’ll ask about a lease. Thank you.
Not really for diesel. It does not vaporize as easily so it does not explode like gasoline in the presence of a spark. You have to really work at getting it to burn (in an engine, it is under high compression.)
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I purchased a transfer tank for the back of a pickup, then built a skid for it so I can pick it up with forks on the tractor and load it in my pickup, It only holds 90 gallons but that typically lasts me 3 months or so, at least it did when I would fill it all the way up before $6/gallon diesel. I think the tank and pump set me back about $600 several years ago.
Thanks everyone!
It’s absolutely volatile enough to explode. Yes, not as much as gasoline or other light gasses, but it will ignite with a spark in a heartbeat.
It ignites under compression in engines because it’s a poorer quality fuel than gasoline. That’s the octane rating, it’s a measure of knock which is ignition before spark. Diesel is so poor under compression they can’t even give it a true octane rating, it’s cetane.
R+M/2 on all gas pumps is because they couldn’t settle on one method for octane so they average them.
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Wait…are you saying they expect you to purchase the tank? Ha…no, just no.
Our 500 gallon tank is supplied by our fuel supplier at no charge to us. It came with a hand pump that we replaced. Our current pump is powered by battery. I do not recall the exact price, but in the $150-200 range.
You need to phone around.
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Thanks…I have already called around. The ‘spensive guy is the only one who called back so far. As luck would have it, one of my farriers was here today and may have an extra gravity tank he can sell. He also gave me the name of his supplier.
If possible, put your tank in a east-west orientation, to minimize the magnitude of solar heating/cooling cycles it will experience (and resulting condensation).
To miminize the chance that the fuel storage tank will impair the value of your property (even a tank in great condition is generally assumed to have caused soil / groundwater contamination), consider putting it on a concrete pad.
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Our gas and diesel tanks are supplied by the seller and are in the shade of the barn.
Do check with your state and local regulations about where you can put those tanks and if they need to be in a containment well, in case of a spill.
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Thank you for these really good suggestions. I just got off the phone w a supplier. He’s been waiting for gravity tanks for 5 months. He has an order for 50 of them and has no idea when it will be filled. I’m going to look for a used one a little more aggressively.
“Farm Auctions”. Where everything on a farm is being liquidated, and EVERYTHING is being sold off by an auction company. Haven’t seen many of these since covid, but perhaps soon. I don’t know if the one I was at was a “bank repossession” or just that the farm was sold, and they had a lot of stuff that didn’t go with it. But that’s where mine came from.
Thank you-I’m going to start watching for those. I should have done this a long time ago.
A follow up on regulations and containment. I’m very libertarian for the most part, even if I do sit on a local wetlands zoning board; but honestly there is no reason not to have a decent concrete pad with a lip for spill containment. Even if you don’t Have to Have it to satisfy regulations. It may make selling down the road easier, it may save huge amounts of money if there ever is a leak. It also makes for a nicer spot for the tank in general, stable, dry, and solid.
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You can even get metal or plastic ones.
I lived and breathed oil and gas for a long time. It has devastating impacts when not properly contained.
And if you fill it up strapped in the bed of a pickup truck, please put a grounding strap on it!!
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Are dedicated (built for installation to pick up bed) transfer tanks grounded somehow? I’ve always looked at those suckers and thought, yeah, no, I don’t think I’d like to drive around with one of those in my truck bed. But what do I know about these things? Nothing. Hence my question.
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