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Storing Gasoline


Catpfish

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I'm thinking of getting a 55 gallon steel drum to store gasoline in just in case we have Snowpocalypse II and I need gas to run generators.  I'll also use the gas for the lawn mowers to keep the gas rotating, probably burn through 10 gallons of gas a month (maybe a little more) during the summer.  Is this a completely stupid idea?  I have a standalone metal building that I can put it in to keep it away from the house.

If I use non-ethanol gas from Quik Trip, do you still need to add fuel stabilizer?

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+1 for keep it outside. I would add stabilizer when filling. Now my question is how are you going to fill it? You'll need to piss ant 5 gallon cans or have a way to carefully lift 350 lbs of flammable liquid. You'll also need a pump to get it out unless you're a real man and want to syphon. I have a pump.

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Do yourself a favor and get transfer tank with a pump instead of a used drum.  Store it outside, away from your residence.  Buy ethanol free fuel and add a good fuel stabilizer.

As an alternative to one large bulk tank, get a number of quality 5 gal cans, filled with ethanol free gas/stabilizer and rotate them out on a monthly basis so you turn your supply every year.  Get 6 cans and every two months dump the oldest one into your car and refill/treat.  

Rotating fuel and water storage like this is a pretty standard prepper strategy.

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44 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

I've just got a siphon pump and can pull from cars as needed since not going anywhere anyway....

Have you tried to get any fuel out of a car recently this way?  Roll over valve can make this very difficult if not impossible.

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59 minutes ago, davidg said:

Have you tried to get any fuel out of a car recently this way?  Roll over valve can make this very difficult if not impossible.

Yeah, definitely harder as you have to use a pretty small tube. I made the mistake first time to buy one of the kits that was a "hand" siphon and after testing it out.. it worked but no way was I going to sit there and do that on more than a gallon or two as would take forever. Definitely need to get an electric one... so would need limited power source for it to run.

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1 hour ago, gyroprotagonist said:

you can also mod your genny to run on LP or NG.  I did it to a Honda2000 and keep a 100lb tank of LP for it.  I did not want to mess with storing gas/rotating it etc...

This right here.  LPG doesn't go bad, and LPG doesn't gum up carbs.  And propane is a WAAAYY safer to store than gasoline. 

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1 minute ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Yeah, definitely harder as you have to use a pretty small tube. I made the mistake first time to buy one of the kits that was a "hand" siphon and after testing it out.. it worked but no way was I going to sit there and do that on more than a gallon or two as would take forever. Definitely need to get an electric one... so would need limited power source for it to run.

12v for the win.  Hook to the car battery. 

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56 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Are you planning to fill the 55 gallon drum going into winter, or wait until a major storm is approaching?

Outside of some process improvements (hopefully) I doubt the industry really did much to improve their equipment since February.

Actually planning on keep it year round and using it for lawnmowers (push and zero-turn) to cycle the gas and then have the tank full for a just in case situation.

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6 hours ago, RPM said:

+1 for keep it outside. I would add stabilizer when filling. Now my question is how are you going to fill it? You'll need to piss ant 5 gallon cans or have a way to carefully lift 350 lbs of flammable liquid. You'll also need a pump to get it out unless you're a real man and want to syphon. I have a pump.

https://4refuel.com/us/mobile-on-site-refueling/

 

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Just now, Nueces River Rat said:

Yeah, You're going to have a hard time getting a distributor to deliver 55 gallons and if they do it's going to expensive. I have a couple 55 gallon drums I store fuel in for my tractors. I strap them in the bed of my F350 and fill them at a farm dealer. 1 barrel fills my big Allis Chalmers with 5 gal left for the small Massey Ferguson. I use the bucket on the AC with a strap to unload the other barrel and pump out of it as needed.

Deadshank has the correct answer. Get a 500 gal tank on a stand.

16 hours ago, deadshank said:

If you’re gonna do it the. Get one of these. 
 

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10 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

After you take that and get it filled how do you lift it up on the stand?

Well, if you fill up some barrels and your pickup bed is decently high, you are part of the way there.  Just need a small pump to get it the rest of the way.

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Edited by atomheartbevo
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On 10/22/2021 at 11:18 AM, Catpfish said:

Actually planning on keep it year round and using it for lawnmowers (push and zero-turn) to cycle the gas and then have the tank full for a just in case situation.

if you use it year round and cycle the gas you should be okay.    if it sits too long (6+ months) it may lose some octane rating but that's about it.   keep the tank as full as possible to avoid having too much condensation develop inside the tank.    

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