I want to be prepared and see the need for a few necessities like chain saw and gasoline generator can i survive with gas in a drum or what fuel will keep indeninately and how long
bostontom
Buying 100% pure gasoline without alcohol should get you a much longer storage life.
Sealed steel drum should help.
Sea Foam.
Should last a couple years no problem. Just filter when you use it.
Sealed steel drum should help.
Sea Foam.
Should last a couple years no problem. Just filter when you use it.
55 gallons? Check your homeowners insurance and local fire regulations. The hose draggers might back off a while as it burns off, then the insurance might not cover you.
https://www.thereadystore.com/survival-tips/3221/how-to-store-fuel-properly/
The American Petroleum Institute recommends that you only store gasoline for up to two years. This recommendation does not include gasoline that has been treated with a stabilizer.
While I have used straight gasoline blends without ethanol that had been stored for years on my chainsaw, lawn mower, snow blower, etc., using "stale" gasoline that has been stored for a long time can have some diverse, adverse effects on your motor.
For automotive use, you can try a fuel stabilizer to help extend storage life. I use STABIL or Seafoam for my old tractors and snow machines which works well, but be aware these additives are NOT approved for aviation use.
Alcohol blends using ethanol and methanol drop out when they become saturated with water. This leaves a non-combustible mixture as well as condensation in the fuel system which may freeze in cold weather, a literal non-starter!
The American Petroleum Institute recommends that you only store gasoline for up to two years. This recommendation does not include gasoline that has been treated with a stabilizer.
While I have used straight gasoline blends without ethanol that had been stored for years on my chainsaw, lawn mower, snow blower, etc., using "stale" gasoline that has been stored for a long time can have some diverse, adverse effects on your motor.
For automotive use, you can try a fuel stabilizer to help extend storage life. I use STABIL or Seafoam for my old tractors and snow machines which works well, but be aware these additives are NOT approved for aviation use.
Alcohol blends using ethanol and methanol drop out when they become saturated with water. This leaves a non-combustible mixture as well as condensation in the fuel system which may freeze in cold weather, a literal non-starter!
I did this. Bought a 55 gal drum put stabilizer in it. I felt great. I had lots of fuel. Way to get it out. I was set. Fire protection in place yea. Wifey and I came home one hot day and the smell of gas was bad really bad. I went to gas stash and holy smolly there was a leak. scramble was on. After can was empty I found a small hole in the bottom of can. So no more large storage anymore.
I bought "30 Gallon Gas Caddy" in 2012. It looks like this:
![Image]()
I use it mostly for lawn mower and tools, one or two times to add couple gallons to the car. I think about 4 times since I filled it in 2012 I added 5 gallon, and also I added fuel stabilizer about a year ago.
No problems so far.
I use it mostly for lawn mower and tools, one or two times to add couple gallons to the car. I think about 4 times since I filled it in 2012 I added 5 gallon, and also I added fuel stabilizer about a year ago.
No problems so far.
Sure. Be sure to store the drum in a SAFE place.. not in your garage attached to your house.. lol.
Anyways... ethanol free gas. Treat it with PRI-G. Keep the drum in a cool area where the drum wont get hot. Seal the drum and implement some form of pressure relief.
Keep in mind, a lot of specialty fuels (race gas, alcohol, nitro-methane, etc..) are all shipped/delivered in 55 gallon drums.
Anyways... ethanol free gas. Treat it with PRI-G. Keep the drum in a cool area where the drum wont get hot. Seal the drum and implement some form of pressure relief.
Keep in mind, a lot of specialty fuels (race gas, alcohol, nitro-methane, etc..) are all shipped/delivered in 55 gallon drums.
The only two things that are going to degrade the gasoline are oxygen and reactions with the container (unless the detergents and such just naturally break down, not sure about that). This is why you need to totally seal the container (maybe purge with nitrogen?) and have it made out of something like stainless steel. Complicated.
I was looking for the footage of Henry Fonda rolling the barrels of gasoline downhill into the attacking German tanks in the movie "Battle of the Bulge"", to show the epic effects. Awesome scene watching the German tank treads ginding in the mud and flames, trying to climb out of the flaming death trap Fonda had sprung on them at a fuel depot.
Alas, the interwebs have failed me.
Alas, the interwebs have failed me.
I applaud your foresight to store fuel before an impending disaster. Sadly, very few attempt this until it's largely or entirely too late to do anything about it.
The key to storing gasoline correctly is simple: keep its container absolutely air tight until you're ready to use the gasoline. I've kept regular ethanol added gasoline like you see everywhere (i.e. E10) stored this way with no stabilizers or additives for over a year on multiple occasions and burned it in multiple engines with no problems whatsoever. Many others have as well. If you were planning on storing it longer than a year, then a stabilizer is a good idea. Stabil is alright, but PRI-G is far superior. It's available at Amazon and other online retailers. Just follow the directions. The only time you would open your gasoline container apart from immediately using it is to add PRI-G once a year.
I would never advise anyone to store gasoline in a 55 gallon drum for two reasons. First, if anything happens to the gasoline in that drum, you now have no fuel, unless of course you're storing multiple 55 gallon drums. Second, once its full, the gasoline alone will weigh 341 lbs. There's no way you can move that anywhere should the need arise (i.e. bugging out, house catches fire).
There are three great and easy ways to store gasoline for extended periods of time. First, the standard red five gallon plastic cans you see are made out of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and store gasoline perfectly well. These are very portable and easily moved by any healthy adult.
Second, you can get 15 gallon HDPE drums to serve the same purpose. These are generally even more durable than the five gallon cans and can be sealed up tighter than just about anything else with a good bung wrench. When full, they weigh about 100 lbs.
Third, you can use military jerry cans. These are metal and are more durable than the five gallon HDPE cans, but they are also much more expensive. If you are going to leave a fuel can in a moving vehicle or any other situation where it may be jostled around (it should be secured well, but still), then this is the best choice.
I personally use both five gallon cans and 15 gallons drums for my gasoline storage.
Forget using the stupid EPA filler tubes. They are a pain to use and can break easily. To get the fuel out is easy and requires no motors or pumping. I just lift the container a couple of feet higher than I what I'm filling and use a siphon hose to siphon the fuel. 3/8" fuel line that can be bought by the foot at your local auto parts store serves this purpose very well. You can get a quality siphon hose bulb from the same store most likely or certainly from a boating store. I like 5-6 foot lengths both above and below the bulb.
For my five gallon cans, I use some simple base caps that I got from a website called EZ Pour. They work very well and make the whole setup more compact and durable.
As noted above, check your local regulations to see if there are limits to how much you can legally store. There are none in my area, and my home insurance agent specifically said that I'm covered even with my stored fuel. I suggest you check on this as well.
The key to storing gasoline correctly is simple: keep its container absolutely air tight until you're ready to use the gasoline. I've kept regular ethanol added gasoline like you see everywhere (i.e. E10) stored this way with no stabilizers or additives for over a year on multiple occasions and burned it in multiple engines with no problems whatsoever. Many others have as well. If you were planning on storing it longer than a year, then a stabilizer is a good idea. Stabil is alright, but PRI-G is far superior. It's available at Amazon and other online retailers. Just follow the directions. The only time you would open your gasoline container apart from immediately using it is to add PRI-G once a year.
I would never advise anyone to store gasoline in a 55 gallon drum for two reasons. First, if anything happens to the gasoline in that drum, you now have no fuel, unless of course you're storing multiple 55 gallon drums. Second, once its full, the gasoline alone will weigh 341 lbs. There's no way you can move that anywhere should the need arise (i.e. bugging out, house catches fire).
There are three great and easy ways to store gasoline for extended periods of time. First, the standard red five gallon plastic cans you see are made out of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and store gasoline perfectly well. These are very portable and easily moved by any healthy adult.
Second, you can get 15 gallon HDPE drums to serve the same purpose. These are generally even more durable than the five gallon cans and can be sealed up tighter than just about anything else with a good bung wrench. When full, they weigh about 100 lbs.
Third, you can use military jerry cans. These are metal and are more durable than the five gallon HDPE cans, but they are also much more expensive. If you are going to leave a fuel can in a moving vehicle or any other situation where it may be jostled around (it should be secured well, but still), then this is the best choice.
I personally use both five gallon cans and 15 gallons drums for my gasoline storage.
Forget using the stupid EPA filler tubes. They are a pain to use and can break easily. To get the fuel out is easy and requires no motors or pumping. I just lift the container a couple of feet higher than I what I'm filling and use a siphon hose to siphon the fuel. 3/8" fuel line that can be bought by the foot at your local auto parts store serves this purpose very well. You can get a quality siphon hose bulb from the same store most likely or certainly from a boating store. I like 5-6 foot lengths both above and below the bulb.
For my five gallon cans, I use some simple base caps that I got from a website called EZ Pour. They work very well and make the whole setup more compact and durable.
As noted above, check your local regulations to see if there are limits to how much you can legally store. There are none in my area, and my home insurance agent specifically said that I'm covered even with my stored fuel. I suggest you check on this as well.
I recently found a couple of gas stations near me that still have real gas (no ethanol) https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp
Like Will i also think smaller containers are an better option. Many 5gal jugs of what ever brand you like. The beauty of 5gal cans is you can pick two up and move them. 55gal drum is almost impossible to move alone even on concrete. I have a 25gal steel barrel that i can just barly move across my lawn alone. Thats reserved for generator diesel.
I too agree that 5gal containers are a better deal for what is really not a large quantity of stored fuel. They allow for easier refilling and dispensing as well as portability should the need arise. Also as has been mentioned, you aren't putting all your eggs in one basket that way.
For the OP and anyone else considering 5gal containers read through this thread in the General Discussion Forum
Portable Gas Cans - What's your favorite
For the OP and anyone else considering 5gal containers read through this thread in the General Discussion Forum
Portable Gas Cans - What's your favorite
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