Diesel Fuel Transfer Tanks

Smilingreen

Smilingreen

Well-known member
Ok, who all has one and what manufacturers should I stay away from? I am leaning towards an aluminum tank with capacity between 90 gallons and 110 gallons. For you steel tank owners, what kind of issues do you have with rust forming inside of your tank? I have already ruled out the big box stores for purchasing one. I don't want a big plastic one.
 
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Is it a stationary tank or going to be in a truck bed?
Are you going to use a pump from the top or gravity pour from the bottom? Any bung requirements if you're coming in from the top?
Where are you going to keep it? Weather/temp changes treat different tank materials differently. Condensation from temp changes is your enemy, especially with steel tanks. POR-15 is your friend for steel tanks.
I have a gravity fed steel tank with a filter on tank exit. Works without issue.
I have plastic drums. To be honest, my preferred and current storage method.
 
It will be mounted in the bed of my 3/4 ton truck. The ones I have looked at have 2" bungs. I will be putting a 15 gal/minute pump on it with a in-line filter.

For several years, I have been getting my off road diesel in 55 gallon steel drums. It has worked fine. I have a hand pump I use to fill the equipment. But, one of these days, my luck is going to run out. The local police and sheriffs dept won't bother me, but some gung ho rookie, fresh out of the state cops academy might see that and pull me over and by the time the State Police and the State DOT finish writing me tickets for illegal hauling of fuel in non-approved containers, I could probably buy several brand new transfer tanks and pumps for the cost of the tickets.......:confused: That is how I justified the purchase of one to the CFO......it worked.....:cool:
 
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The inter webs are so confusing for trying to select one. You have to read a buttload of reviews, sorting out who has a legitimate complaint and who is just a plain idiot, who can't read manufacturers instructions. Then, you have to read very carefully the manufacturers claims. Some tanks are made for combustibles ONLY. Some are rated for all flammable and combustable fuels. Then, there is one manufacturer out there (DeeZee), whose expensive aluminum transfer tank, you can't put any kind of fuel into it. Not sure what you are going to haul in their 100 gallon aluminum transfer tank......water? Air? Maybe there are some farmer posers out there...... :whistling:
 
Smilingreen said:
It will be mounted in the bed of my 3/4 ton truck.
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OK, I'm bowing out as all my tanks are stationary and don't need DOT requirements or regulations so I really can't advise on a truck tank from experience.

All I can say is that if you're hauling off-road diesel, it better not ever be pumped into your trucks fuel tank. That's taboo around here. If they see red dye in the tank you're talking about, they may detain you until they get test equipment to see if you're using it in your truck. That takes hours.

Do you really need to have the tank kind of permanent in your truck?

Not for diesel, but for gas, I have (20) 5-gallon gas cans. That's what fits in my short-bed truck bed. I go to the station, fill them up then come home and dump all those into the bulk tank. Instead of an expensive tank for your truck, if you don't need to dispense from your truck, can you do something similar and just get the fuel home and then dispense from there? Store the fuel in whatever works for you at home.
 
Yeah, my F250 has a 5.4 gasser in it. No worries there. I didn't need that much diesel fuel in the past with my diesel UTV's and my Deere tractor. But since I just bought the Cat 289D3 CTL, I will be burning a lot more diesel this coming year. Basically every weekend that it doesn't rain cats and dogs this spring, the CTL will be running from sun up till sun down.

I have five, 5 gallon metal Jerry can for my gasoline needs. That usually lasts me a month or so during mowing season.

I want to come home on a Friday evening with a transfer tank full of diesel and still have some diesel left on Sunday night. My son-in-law works for a Cat dealership driving truck for their rental yard. If they don't rent an excavator or dozer out over the weekend, he can bring it home rent free for the weekend. So, last year, we ended up some weekends, with two pieces of equipment at once on the farm. I had to make a couple of runs into town with the 55 gallon drum over each weekend. Now this year, you are possibly talking about fueling 3 pieces of heavy equipment over one weekend. It is much easier to drive the truck with fuel on it, to where ever the equipment is parked and fueling it there, than tracking a piece of equipment all the way across the farm to fuel it at the barn.
 
DAMN! You're going through 100+ gallons of diesel in a weekend?!?!? Scary but impressive. Like you, my diesel UTV and Deere tractor only sip fuel.

The thought that's coming to mind right now is that your heavy equipment operations are temporary, like a year or two. If you have more work then that, start a new thread as you have some massive project going on that we're interested in.

That said, are you about to spend big bucks on a nice solution that works for now but you won't need in the near future? What's your ROI (return on investment)? Use it for 2-3 years but then the tank and components are only worth 50% of what you paid?
 
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Bwahaha........Yep, I always dream big. I was running a Cat 299 CTL and a Cat 313 excavator all weekend long. Both drink diesel at a healthy rate and both have large tanks. I have 12 acres of very dense, mature mixed species trees that I am going to start to thin out. I have the forest floor to clean up. I have a pond to finish excavating out. I have another pond that I am going to excavate. I have a decent sized creek that I am going to straighten it's channels out so it quits eroding the curvy banks out. I have thousands of feet of fence lines that need to have all the mature cedars either cut back or just remove the cedars all together. Eventually, I am removing all of the eastern cedar trees on my farm and just leaving the hard woods in the forest. Most of the cedars are 8-12" in diameter and straight as an arrow, about 60' tall. So yeah, at least a couple of years of weekend warrior work. Lots and lots of diesel fuel.

Then, once I finish my farm, I have neighboring farms on either side of mine that they want me to do work on their portion of the woods. I should be fully retired by then, so I can dedicate full time to working on their farm cleanups.

That, or I die in the middle of doing all of this. Then it becomes my son-in-laws problem....😀
 
Smilingreen said:
Bwahaha........Yep, I always dream big. I was running a Cat 299 CTL and a Cat 313 excavator all weekend long. Both drink diesel at a healthy rate and both have large tanks. I have 12 acres of very dense, mature mixed species trees that I am going to start to thin out. I have the forest floor to clean up. I have a pond to finish excavating out. I have another pond that I am going to excavate. I have a decent sized creek that I am going to straighten it's channels out so it quits eroding the curvy banks out. I have thousands of feet of fence lines that need to have all the mature cedars either cut back or just remove the cedars all together. Eventually, I am removing all of the eastern cedar trees on my farm and just leaving the hard woods in the forest. Most of the cedars are 8-12" in diameter and straight as an arrow, about 60' tall.
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So, what are you going to do after lunch. :)

As for thinning out the trees, are there any in there that a logging company would be interested in? If so, they could come in, remove the trees, pay you for doing so then all you have to do is take care of the tops.
 
Yeah, I thought about a logging company.........for about a 1/4 of a second, and then quickly remembered I tried that route one time about 20 years ago. Complete disaster. They promised me the moon before they came in, how they would clean everything up when they were done, they would smooth everything back out with a dozer and seed it down, they wouldn't damage any fences or gates and if they did, they would replace them, they were environmentally friendly.....blah.....blahh......blah. I wasn't living on the farm at the time. I was living in another town about 10 miles away. Probably a good thing. I would be in prison right for murder of a logging crew :14_6_12:if I had been living on the farm at the time.

They tore my farm completely up without any regard for my fences, gates, creek crossings, service roads, fields, driveway, drainage culverts, etc. They left their garbage and wore out skidder parts where ever they dropped it, dumped diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid everywhere on the ground, rutted up the dirt trails and forest floor so bad, the ruts ended up with a depth in some places of over 2 feet, before the rain erosion made them even deeper. They plowed through 200 year old stacked limestone rock fences. They left logs and branches wherever they dropped them in my fields all over the farm after they skidded them out of the forest. They shoved piles of branches and trees that were in their way into my main creek. Did they fix or clean up any of the stuff they tore up before they abandoned their mess? Nope. Wham, bam, thank you mam...... It took me several years and thousands of dollars in equipment rentals to partially clean up their mess they left with my tractor and rented equipment. I still have some damage left from 20 years ago.

So, yeah.....I'm buying a diesel fuel transfer tank for the back of my truck....:brows:
 
Sounds like your experience was pretty bad. Pretty much every property around me has been logged. With the exception of the tops laying around, there were no issues like you described. Heck, they brought in temporary bridges to cross creeks.
 
This logging company wasn't a big one with lots of money. This was some fly by night, backwoods operator with worn out equipment and sketchy employees here in middle Tennessee. I met the owner at a bonfire party on one of my friends farm and after a few beers, got to talking to the old guy. Down on his luck, needed to clear cut some cedar so he could make payroll, high interest rate lender was going to come repossess his worn out skidders and dozier that was 12 years over due for a complete under carriage replacement, blah, blah, blah. Poor guy couldn't even afford used tires for his skidders to replace the bald ones that leaked down and had no tread left on them. Felt sorry for him, told him I had a few acres he could cut. In his drunken excitement, he made all kinds of verbal promises that he had no ability to keep. So, 1/4 my fault, 3/4 his fault. Once bitten, twice shy..... :cautious:
 
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My truck bed tank is plastic, 65 gallons (I think), came with a 12v pump, hose and nozzle and is made by Enduroplas, I think I got it from Northern Tool but it's sold at other places. It's only used for carrying red diesel. I store my diesel in 55-gallon drums mounted on dollies. The system has always worked well and lasted many years. I believe that they make tanks in various sizes, depending on what you want.
 
Well, I found the tank I wanted. My local Farmers COOP can get a 100 gallon aluminum transfer tank, made for combustible fuels, only. I have no need to haul that much gasoline. Diesel only. Best part about it, they can seem to get the same brand name and model number tank that the online resellers have, but about $300 cheaper and no shipping cost.....(y) Win-win in my book. Thanks COOP. Might venture out in the fresh snow today and go order it.
 
The brother in law bought a metal tank- I think 100g from tractor supply. I don't remember what it cost but its sturdy for what it is. We use it on a pallet and put it in the truck when needed with the skid steer forks.
 
I am going to permanently mount mine in the back of my 3/4 ton. I don't drive the 3/4 ton all that much, but when I do, I don't need an 800 pound unsecured wrecking ball coming through the back window of the truck in case of an accident. :poke:
 
Smilingreen said:
I am going to permanently mount mine in the back of my 3/4 ton. I don't drive the 3/4 ton all that much, but when I do, I don't need an 800 pound unsecured wrecking ball coming through the back window of the truck in case of an accident. :poke:
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That's the truth ! This one is just for use here on the farm and comes out after filling the trac hoe or dozer for the day. Bil doesn't like to leave much weight on the springs in the F150 overnight.
 
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