# Storing gasoline



## Twoewes (Oct 1, 2008)

Can anyone tell me EXACTLY how to store gasoline & what NOT to do? I have several 55gal. plastic drums (unknown history) that I'm thinking of filling with gas & stabil. What about cleaning, reactions, fumes (expansion) etc.? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks


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## zito (Dec 21, 2006)

I would really advise against storing the fuel in those plastic barrels. Back when I worked at an auto wrecking yard, we thought we would use those to store stale gas (we burned most of the "good" gas in our own vehicles) until we could get it hauled. They sat around for a couple of weeks until it warmed up, at which point several of them promptly blew the bungs out. You could possibly avoid that by leaving a fair bit of headroom for expansion, but again I would strongly advise against it.

Perhaps an option for you would be to purchase a couple of the used slip tanks that ride around in the beds of pickups. In some areas, new legislation requiring dual-walled tanks is being put in place, so you can often find the old tanks for next to nothing, and still in excellent shape. As well, you can often find those same slip tanks or even the round tanks on stands at farm auctions for a really reasonable price. If you get one of the smaller round tanks on stands, like 150-250 gallons, they are fairly easy to conceal (without the stand) in a small shed or lean-to if that's a concern for you.

If those drums are your only option, I would wash them out thoroughly (take them to a car wash, or use your own pressure washer, whatever) and then rinse them out with a bit of gas. Use the Stabil as per directions, and I myself wouldn't fill them more than about 3/4 full. Keep them out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources obviously. Cold isn't an issue. As well, keep in mind those suckers are HEAVY when full, so figure out where they will work best for you and place them there before you fill them. Once you've filled them, vent them every so often until the barrel and fuel are as warm as it's going to get. Once the hottest day(s) of summer has passed, you don't need to vent them anymore, and should keep the drums sealed tight until you use the fuel.

One last thing; when you're checking your drums, make sure the threads in the bung holes are in good condition to hold a barrel pump if that's the kind of pump you're going to use. Otherwise, you might have problems getting the pump to thread in, or it might rip out of damaged threads while using it.


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## Catshooter (May 11, 2009)

Most plastics, even plastic fuel containers that are somewhat transparent to some of the compounds in gasoline. They will pass through the plastic walls, never to seen or heard from again.

I used to use plastic fuel cans and would loose about 20% of the gas over the course of a year.

I would also be very wary of drums of an unknown history. Gas can melt some plastics nicely.

I use steel now, and only steel. No leaks, no losses, no worries.


Cat


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## BamaSpek (Aug 15, 2008)

I know someone who stores fuel in the blue 15 gal water/syrup containers and has been doing so on his farm for years. Not sure this is wise or best case, but in a shtf situation.....might be worth looking into. Easy enough to move around and cheap.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

I wouldn't do it...I'd rather go without gas. I will use the 1 and 2 gallon plastic gas cans for push mowers and such, but anything over 5 gallons I will only store in steel. Honestly I don't remember exactly why, but I worked my way through college as a Grounds Dept Mechanic - I picked that up from them - 20 yrs ago I could have told you why!


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## Twoewes (Oct 1, 2008)

That's Plastic - 0: Safety - 3; safety wins!! Thanks for the advice!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Get 50 gallon drums from a tractor supply/feed store type-place. They use these drums to store the stuff they fill tractor tires with. They just gave them to us. Don't use stabil - use Pri-G. We are rotating though 3 yr old gas right now and it is still great gas.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Twoewes said:


> Can anyone tell me EXACTLY how to store gasoline & what NOT to do? I have several 55gal. plastic drums (unknown history) that I'm thinking of filling with gas & stabil. What about cleaning, reactions, fumes (expansion) etc.? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks


The advise is DONT... First is may be against your insurance policy, second its not safe if your not using the proper containers.

2nd Gas is only good for a year even with stabil. Yes it will work afterwards but you loose a lot of power in older gas. 55gal inst all that much and you would need some way to get the gas to it as no delivery service will fill an unapproved containers.


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

I'd only store gas in steel drums. They're stronger. I'd store on a steel rack that can be grounded. I'd keep them protected from direct sun but make sure there is adequate ventilation to prevent fumes from collecting. I'm not certain how much you use so I'd say rotate it just as you would other provisions. If you're going to go to the effort of maintaining a fuel dump you might want to keep oil, filters and grease as well.


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## longshot38 (Dec 19, 2006)

if you are setting up a POL, petro, oil, and lubricants, point please make sure you have the tools and supplies incase there is a spill. even a couple of onces of petrochemicals will contaminate hundreds or thousands of gallons of water.


dean


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

longshot38 said:


> if you are setting up a POL, petro, oil, and lubricants, point please make sure you have the tools and supplies incase there is a spill. even a couple of onces of petrochemicals will contaminate hundreds or thousands of gallons of water.
> 
> 
> dean


Good call. A concrete slab with a curb around it would keep your dirt happy and give you a nice base for an overhead cover. An extinguisher would make me happy also.


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