Gasoline and diesel?

How much gas and diesel should I keep on hand?
Will 55 gals of each be enough?
I have two gas tractors,one diesel and a diesel side by side.
Also one gas generator.
Maybe 110 gals each.
Pray for our country.

 

Well, how much do you normally use? An 8N pulling a hay rake uses a lot less than a larger tractor pulling a three bottom plow...ditto with a small inverter genset versus a whole house unit.
Then add in some for your vehicle, too.

 

Seems I remember you running for 4 days last tornado that hit, What did we burn then?

 

I keep 9 drums of diesel and 6 of gasoline and 2 of kerosene at all times, then have a 300gal tank of gasoline and 250 of diesel that get used on a regular basis. I rotate the drums thru the large tanks, putting fresh back in the drums (except the kero) from time to time...try not to let them go over 2-3 years, but sometimes it's longer.....as you can see from the photo below, that drum went in the 300gal tank along with 2 drums from 2016.... the rest being fresh. I use PRI products exclusively for long term storage. Never had a problem.

41hp diesel tractor, use ~200/hrs yr. Diesel garden tiller. Gas engines: Car, truck, chainsaws, lawnmowers, sawmill engine, etc.

The amount to store is a personal decision, but it's like storing food. If you REALLY need to eat on stored food alone, you need to store enough to last at the very minimum how long it would take you to produce more....so likely a year at least. Same with fuel....if you're gonna bother to store any, you might as well look at it from a long term perspective.....yes, maybe you can coble up some alternative source (alcohol, steam, wood gas, etc), but it you ain't producing it today, you better have a cushion of time with stored fuels to figure it out later.

Because in both cases, there is either a very short term outage in which both return in normal amounts and prices (storm, power outage, that kind of thing), OR it's long term SHTF, and capacity to supply either ain't coming back before you die of needing it. If person sleeps well knowing they have a 5 gallon can in the garage...great. I sleep well knowing I have 10-15 years worth of diesel (if I'm conservative) that will help me produce food.

 

I have about 40,45gals of gas and diesel now in smaller cans now. In the four days before electricity came back on I used about twenty to twenty five gallons gas. I’m going to start with another drum gas and one of drum diesel. What is the price of the empty drums if anyone knows? How dangerous would it be to store full sealed drums like in a shed off the car port,or should I build a fuel shack. The reason I ask about were to store would be the crack heads that live across the road. The drums would be sealed in a cool place without danger of damage and not opened until used. In a long term shtf you never would have enough that I know.

 

How do you keep the gas fresh? I had a repair guy that fixed my lawn tractor tell me that new gas is crap and even Stabil won't keep it up...but I have used 'Stabil'ized gas after 6 months with no problems.......

 

My 5 ton Cat uses about 18 to 20 gallons diesel per day with various loads, and my Kobota uses about the same. The Tucker uses about 1.8 gallons per hour, and the diesel pickups varies by use, both average about 19 miles per gallon most loads. Tje gen sets ( both diesel) are about 6 gallons total per 24 hour work period and normal load, and can cut way back on the load and get the burn down to just a little over half.
I keep a mix of Jet-A and #2 in a 2500 gallon tank ( winter blend) and 600 gallons of no ethanol Gasoline. I also keep 400 gallons of LL 100 AV Gas, and will be switching storage tanks between the two gas storage tanks as my gasoline load has grown smaller amd my AV has increased. Lol
All of this is to run a 220 acre ranch at a productive working level. This amount of fuel will last about 6 months mixes use with fueling of wheeled rigs off site at normal fueling stations, so about 6 months worth on diesel is a good figure, no idea what my new and improved gas load will be. AV FUEL will be a challenge, and it's difficult and expensive to have delivered, and it raises questions if I go and pick it up! The new set up can run on Automotive gas, but dosnt like it! Will meed to find a better source if I can!

 

For diesel the sky is the limit.
Get a 256 gallon fuel oil tank, or 3.
For gas just get up to a 1 to 2 year supply.

For me I just picked up my second 250 gallon propane tank at the tractor auction.
I paid for it by selling four 20lb pound cylinders and had $22 change.
That seemed like a good trade.
I figure propane only goes bad if it leaks or when it gets burned.

 

I track what I use per year and keep 50% of that in reserve in the two 500 gallon bulk tanks. I use a average of 36 gallons of diesel fuel per week over 31 weeks of the year doing business and maybe 2 gallons per week in the over winter off season. Gas I use a average of 15 gallons per week for the generators over the same 31 weeks and pretty much zero gas through the winter other than chain saws and the sawmill. SO I keep and rotate out 500 gallons of diesel fuel in one tank and and 250 gallons of gas in the other. The vulnerable time is when the tanks are getting low before the fuel truck comes to refill them. I do keep two 55 gallon drums of stabilized Diesel in the barn that I rotate out at the end of each year, so even if the bigger bulk tanks go dry I have 110 gallons of untouched back up diesel. I also keep four 55 gallon drums of motor oil, 2 drums of Hydraulic fluid and at least 2 extra belts for everything. And a case of anti freeze, oil and air filters for everything stashed away. Folks often get fixated on the fuel and forget the engine fluids and belts that break at the most opportune times Propane I keep twelve 100 pound cylinders stashed away and have a 1000 pound main tank that I work out of and refill as needed. Also keep a dozen 20 pound propane tanks that I work the grills at market with that I rotate and refill as they empty out. Just easier to haul 4-6 20 pounders around than the 100 pounders.

 

Not all stabilizers are created equally, a lot also depends on how you store it. the cooler you keep it the longer it takes to break down. In ground tanks being ideal but not very practical for most folks. SO in the shade and not out in the full sun is a good option. I will leave stabilizer suggestions to others as everyone seems to have their favorite that they swear by Cough but despite being called a dumb ass by many...... I love seafoam and here is why

 

Hello....did you see the can of PRI-G sitting on that barrel above ?? Stabil is good for about a year, tops. PRI is good for at least 6 years, in my experience, and probably longer. PRI claims it will take bad gas back to new specs.....can't vouch for that, but I can vouch for length of time in drums.

Also, don't store gas with ethanol. Hunt around and find a place that sells GASOLINE.....not the blend.

 

Not suggesting anyone do this, but I mixed Transmission fluid with gas. Was good for a couple years.
I have not tried it on FI systems only carbs. But been doing it since I was a teen .

 

I run BG fuel treatment exclusively for diesel and Jet-A, and i will add strait alcohol to it to pull water and emulsify it so it can be burned! Usually a half gallon per 200 gets it done and dosnt seem to hurt any thing!

 

I left my Camaro with carbed 5L parked for 3 years while I was in japan.
From late 2002 to early 2006.
It started right up with a good battery.
Ran kind of shitty until I put a few gallons of fresh gas in.

My spell check doesn't know what camaro is.

 

Pulled a old IH tractor out of a fence row that had been sitting for 4 years, a gas job that had a full tank when I parked it there. Put a new battery in and it fired right up and as you put it "Ran kind of Shitty" until I drained the tank and flushed the fuel system. Really did not expect it even try to start with that crap gas in the tank. Pulled it out yesterday and sold it this afternoon and one less chunk of iron sitting around that I would never have used again. Now debating on whether to pull the Oliver 1755 in do some work on it and sell it off to. LOL tractors are kind of like guns IMO exactly how many does one person need?............ a question with no correct answer

 

Only one good one of each or so I've heard.

 

I find, its not so much the tractor, its all the attachments! The more you can fit on it, the more work it can do!
Funny thing is, i never had the foggiest idea Just how useful a Cat crawler could be, it will drag any field implements i want, has plenty of power and uses less fuel then a purpos built machine, all the while being a dozer and skidder and any thing else I need it to be! After discovering how useful it is, i cant see a need or use for a traditional tractor!

 

You might when you have to replace the under carriage.

Wear/maintenance/cost on a tracked machine far exceeds a wheel machine per operating hour, not to mention how much slower they move. Which is why most timber skidders have rubber tires. Track machines certainly have their place for certain work....I've owned a couple dozers and have a rubber track excavator at present that is GREAT for some applications, but for most homesteaders, nothing beats a 30-50hp 4x4 tractor with a front end loader.