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Fuel Storage, A Living Document I've been looking for a fuel tank for one of our off grid locations for some time. What I wanted was something free standing, rugged, with a built in fuel gauge, and an area in the bottom designed to collect any moisture. After looking at everything from a plastic barrel, to a paint can, I drove by the wrecking yard and noticed an old van body with an old Thermo King refer unit still attached. A large fuel tank (40>50 gallons?) was mounted under the trailer body. What was most interesting were the mounts. Two heavy gauge steel straps support the tank as part of the mount. The unit is suspended from two heavy angle iron pieces which bolt through the trailer rails. Remove the unit, loosen the straps, rotate the tank within the straps 180 degrees and you have a free standing tank with feet and hole to bolt it down if you like. This tank could be mounted to your skid or left free standing outside your power shed. Just think how many years thermo King has had to get it right? The bottom of the tank has a small square box build into it, and a plug to drain the water off the bottom of the tank. the fuel pick up comes off the top of the tank through a dip tube. There's a fitting for the return line from the injector(s) and a small vent tube. This could be the perfect tank for an off grid cabin. If you're staying the winter, I would imagine you could use a bigger tank..... May 15, 2002, I cleaned the tank up and re- primered everything, next is a coat of white paint. I think white is the only color to paint a fuel tank... my thinking is based on heating and cooling and the fact that sucked in air contains water that could condense in the tank. White causes less heating and the lesser temp differential reduces the condensate.
Finding things that work without fabrication is the way to go. 8/9/2002
Here you can see the stand made from an old oil barrel stand cut down. Note the frame is Listeriod Green.
Here is the fuel filter and water trap. Note the primer button, this will work nice should I ever run out of fuel. I plan on putting a canister full of silica beads inline with the air vent tube. What I've read so far has convinced me that water in the diesel fuel causes storage problems, and if you have no moisture in your fuel, you can keep diesel for years with no problem. Seems reasonable to take this step, especially if you find a great deal on the proper beads at the surplus store like I did. Here's a link to a page with a Silica Bead FAQ. There's plenty of places to buy it. Here's another link to How Stuff Works for Silica Beads 1/16/03 I've been looking at those neat plastic tanks they sell for out boat motors. We have a 'G.I. JOES' near by that sells a six gallon tank for $19.95, (larger sizes available) they have a neat carrying handle built in. I find it far better than a fixed gas tank on a gen set. If you set them up with the hose, connector, and squeeze bulb, you can easily prime everything right up to the injection pump with ease. Consider making a bracket for this tank, and leave yourself with the option of pulling the tank whenever you want.
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