Storing Gas

[ardorlan]

Anyone here storing gas? I see some 500 Gallon Fuel Tanks selling for $1,500 with trailer, even less if above ground/in ground. Don't know much about this, doesn't gas go bad? I use 345 gallons a year, and only expect gas to go up in price.
Also, I believe gas is seasonal so if I could buy all my gas for the year in feb, that would be great. I should start to see a return in 3 to 5 years, I am thinking.

Anyone doing this?

[fasteddy]

yes and I also store diesel and well stocked in oil and transmission fluid...hurricanes....must be prepared. There was a thread a while back but I think it was on the old RC.

[ardorlan]

Thanks Fasteddy,
Do you live in a city or a more rural location?

[fasteddy]

metropolitan area...6 million people....after hurricane Ike...gas lines were sometimes a mile long due to the lack of electricity..however no lines at the diesel pumps. I have always used Sta-bil now I use the marine version of Sta-bil for all equipment except for the most active vehicles.

[ardorlan]

how big is your tank for non diesel?

[fasteddy]

Two 55 gallon drums...still portable but not that portable...but 350 gallon tank for the diesel...

[Mossy]

Check the laws. In one state, I forget which, the fuel farm would fill you up without saying anything, then call the cops as you left, if you did not have a DOT approved tank. Some towns also throw a fit.

I've used gas several years old, stored in a cool place in the woods, no trouble. Stabilizer is a good idea, anyhow. Alcohol in the gas might be a problem.

[ardorlan]

I am thinking maybe I will just trade oil only. I like the idea of being prepared but my house is within walking distance of everything I need. I also like the idea of saving money on gas, but I am thinking I will buy a diesel SUV when I need one (hopefully not for 2 or 3 years), Once I am burning diesel I will look into storage again

[Engineer]

Be careful storing ethanol blended gas in metal containers or leaving it in your small engines for a long time. The ethanol blends with water, which in turn corrodes metal. Last summer I couldn't get my motorcycle to run, and when I took off the carburetor bowl, the needle valves were covered in rust.

I always try to run small engines out of fuel before putting them into storage, and after seeing what ethanol did to my motorcycle, I only feed them unblended fuel.

I usually keep 20 gallons of gas stored in unvented plastic fuel cans. I rotate them out every year just to keep them fresh, and the gas is still good.

If you don't have any Stabil, adding a little diesel to your tank will help to prevent varnish.

[No82s]

Not sure where you live, but in the northern states there are some big variations in the vapor pressure of the gasoline depending on the season. In the winter it is high so that your car will start in the cold weather. They make it high by adding butane to the gasoline. At the cold temps the butane will stay liquid and not gas off. If this same gasoline were to be used in the summer you would probably lose a lot of that to evaporation. If stored it can bulge storage containers as the temperature increases and depending on the storage container, actually break it open.

[mnymgr1]

I would not store gasoline or diesel for long periods of time. But if you're going to use it in your farm equipment and vehicles during a calendar year, might make sense to do so. Saves you the hassle of visiting a gas station 6-12 times per month too, gotta figure that into your cost savings.
If you're rural and looking to store energy, might want to check into natural gas storage. NG is super cheap right now imho and you can buy a NG generator for emergencies too. If I had a big farm and the money, I'd have several of those super sized cylinders all filled to the top with NG right now.
good luck

[Bluegill]

I store gas. Not because of future rising prices, but for availability. When the power goes out, you can't buy it at any price. When you find a station with back up generators, they ration it. The big power outage in 2003 demonstrated that in full in my area.

I use 5 gallon approved plastic gas cans. 12 of them, gives me 60 gallons, fills my truck twice. Also no problems with filling them at a gas station. I rotate the gas out every 6 months to keep it fresh. As far as I'm aware the northern climates still get seasonal blends. Rotating it helps keep the stored fuel appropriate for the season.

[Mossy]

I bought a gas can recently. It was one of the "! NEW !!! IMPROVED !!! " types. Major pain in the butt.

[franklin]

I have spilled more gas with the last 5 designs of the New and Improved spouts than I ever did as a 14 year old with a lawnmowing service, using the screw-on top 1 gallon cans and a funnel. And I was always in a hurry back then.

[frugalcanuck]

Not sure where you live, but in the northern states there are some big variations in the vapor pressure of the gasoline depending on the season. In the winter it is high so that your car will start in the cold weather. They make it high by adding butane to the gasoline. At the cold temps the butane will stay liquid and not gas off. If this same gasoline were to be used in the summer you would probably lose a lot of that to evaporation. If stored it can bulge storage containers as the temperature increases and depending on the storage container, actually break it open.

I noticed the difference when my jerry cans looked like they were going to eplode from the pressure. Im not going to fill them up untill it warms up a bit. I dont want any issues when storing my gas.

[Copper Catcher]

Another idea might be a pre purchase gas card... i.e. lock in the price now.

I have not looked into this and just found the site myself and starting to read about it:
http://www.mygallons.com/

[Rosco]

Pre purchase Gas Card

I think this shows good intentions but I fear a B Madoff here

[Engineer]

:shock: I think this shows good intentions but I fear a B Madoff here

It looked a little scary to me too, and wouldn't help much if TSHTF.

[justicious]

new gas cans are a pain!