"George E. Cawthon" wrote in
message
...
: Pop wrote:
: Hi,
:
: What do you folk do for gasoline storage for your generators?
:
: I am in far northern NY with harsh winters and occasional
: multi-day power outages with frequent outages of several
hours in
: the winter. Worst one so far was during the Ice Storm of
'98 - 5
: days without power.
:
: Here's my solution, but I don't like it:
: I simply keep about 30-35 gallons of gas on hand beginning
: about late November through February. They're all in proper
: containers, stored outdoors, in a small open "locker" I made
for
: the purpose, painted red, highly visible from the
road/driveway
: for emergency vehicles, and clearly labelled as gasoline
storage,
: no smoking, all that good stuff. But that's a LOT of gas
sitting
: around in separate containers, some of the plastic, which I
know
: I should get rid of. That locker is about ten feet from the
: garage and near a storage shed behind them, with a wooden
gate
: into the area. Theft is not a problem - very rural, motion
: lites, siren, and someone is home near 24/7, etc..
:
: I wanted a farm tank wiht a pump, but was refused; have to be
a
: business.
: Have two cars, which hold plenty of fuel, but ... no way to
get
: the gas out of them. Siphoning is impossible these days.
:
: My next generator's going to be a diesel! I know how to pump
: fuel oil from my furnaces! But what about right now?
:
: TIA,
:
: Pop
:
:
:
: Do it like most small time farmers/ranchers. Fill
: a 55 gallon drum, that you can roll or raise to a
: convenient height (drum horizontal). You can even
: build a cage with an inner sliding part that
: you raise a foot at a time with a hydraulic car jack.
:
: The drum would have a locking tap on the downside
: opening with the other opening up. Whenever you
: want gas you unscrew the top opening to allow air
: to enter, then fill whatever you want from the
: tap. Add a hose and get the barrel high enough
: and you can fill the vehicles. Probably want to
: use up all the extra gas and empty the empty the
: barrel once a year.
:
: All those proper containers are a hazard. Much
: better and safer to store a large amount
: altogether in an air tight container.

Hmm, I like that actually, if it's allowable here; think I'll
check that out further.

Couple questions:
Why do you say the several containers are a hazard? I don't
want several containers, but curious why they're more hazardous
than a drum?
How do you control moisture inside the tank? Wouldn't it have
to be kep mostly full year 'round to keep moisture from becoming
a problem?
Still thinking about moistu How would one know the drum
they are getting wasn't going to rust inside? Outside you paint
& care for, but regular 55 gal drums are relatively thin metal,
are they not?
If it were you, where would you source the drum from? I have
a few in the cellar that i keep drinking water in, that stay fine
inside, but ... dunno what would happen if they contained
gasoline.

I don't see any problem with gas getting stale; as long as it's
kept in closed containers it'll last 6 months easy, and right now
in the spring I just start using up the winter gas in the lawn
tractor, weed eater, etc etc etc.. So that part doesn't worry me
too much; it's fairly easy to keep a turn-over going. Especially
if I could easily dump it into the car too.

Hmm, I'll bet a propane tank would work too, wouldn't it? Maybe
even two of them. Certainly no problem with tank
expansion/collapse in the changeing temps and all that - and they
could even be lightly pressurized with moisture-free (well,
filtered anyway) compressed air, to act as a pump of sorts. I
keep envisioning a drum collapsing after a heat wave followed by
a few cold nights g. Well, that pressurizing might not be
practical, but the rest bears some thinking about.

Thanks - helps to discuss things with others. Sort of like
brainstorming; brings out new thoughts.

Pop