Semi Trailer Refrigeration Tanks Used To Haul Diesel
Leroy Keens found a simple way to refuel his farm equipment by converting a pair of 50-gal. aluminum diesel fuel tanks out of semi refrigerator trailers. The tanks are fitted with hand-cranked pumps and mounted on homemade forklift brackets, making them easy to move around.
“They work great to fuel up our tractors in the field. They’re safe and simple to operate, and I didn’t have to spend a lot of money,” says Keens.
He got the tanks from a local trucking dealer. The tanks were originally designed to hang about halfway back underneath a refrigerated semi trailer and came with U-shaped steel mounting brackets.
Keens turned the mounting brackets upside down and then welded on short lengths of channel iron to make mounting brackets for forklift spears. He also welded a 2-in. fitting on top of the tank and then screwed the hand-cranked pump, equipped with a 15-ft. hose, onto it.
“We use them mostly for emergency purposes. We don’t need electricity to operate the pumps so we can use them anywhere,” says Keens. “The tanks don’t hold a lot of fuel, but they’re all we need for our 2 tractors. We fill the tanks up every now and then from a gas station that’s 2 miles from our farm. For example, if a truck runs out of fuel somewhere we can quickly load the tank into our pickup and drive out to it. Each tank came with a mechanical fuel gauge on it. Our only real expense was for the pumps, which cost about $140 apiece.
“We had been using big 500-gal. tanks, but they no longer conform to new codes that require a double-walled containment structure. You can get old refrigerated trailer fuel tanks at most trucking dealerships for anywhere from nothing to $50.”
Keens adds that refrigerant fuel tanks should only be used for diesel fuel and not gas, which is much more flammable.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leroy Keens, 245 Mountain Rd., Denver, Penn. 17517 (ph 717 336-1671; cell ph 717 278-0503; Raykeens@gmail.com).
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Semi Trailer Refrigeration Tanks Used To Haul Diesel ENERGY Miscellaneous Leroy Keens found a simple way to refuel his farm equipment by converting a pair of 50-gal aluminum diesel fuel tanks out of semi refrigerator trailers The tanks are fitted with hand-cranked pumps and mounted on homemade forklift brackets making them easy to move around “They work great to fuel up our tractors in the field They’re safe and simple to operate and I didn’t have to spend a lot of money ” says Keens He got the tanks from a local trucking dealer The tanks were originally designed to hang about halfway back underneath a refrigerated semi trailer and came with U-shaped steel mounting brackets Keens turned the mounting brackets upside down and then welded on short lengths of channel iron to make mounting brackets for forklift spears He also welded a 2-in fitting on top of the tank and then screwed the hand-cranked pump equipped with a 15-ft hose onto it “We use them mostly for emergency purposes We don’t need electricity to operate the pumps so we can use them anywhere ” says Keens “The tanks don’t hold a lot of fuel but they’re all we need for our 2 tractors We fill the tanks up every now and then from a gas station that’s 2 miles from our farm For example if a truck runs out of fuel somewhere we can quickly load the tank into our pickup and drive out to it Each tank came with a mechanical fuel gauge on it Our only real expense was for the pumps which cost about $140 apiece “We had been using big 500-gal tanks but they no longer conform to new codes that require a double-walled containment structure You can get old refrigerated trailer fuel tanks at most trucking dealerships for anywhere from nothing to $50 ” Keens adds that refrigerant fuel tanks should only be used for diesel fuel and not gas which is much more flammable Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Leroy Keens 245 Mountain Rd Denver Penn 17517 ph 717 336-1671; cell ph 717 278-0503; Raykeens@gmail com
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