How to Build a Fuel Truck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jay Honeck
As many of you know, I've been a big proponent of mogas in low compression airplane engines for almost 20 years. I've run over 12,000 gallons of that sweet 87 octane, ethanol-free, unleaded mogas through my O-200, O-320, and O-540-powered aircraft, pumping it from fuel trucks I built.

The first truck ("The Mighty Grape") was a purple '95 Nissan pickup truck. I had a 55-gallon tank fabricated and we installed an electric pump and 20' of hose. It worked great, until the day it literally broke in half as the shop tried to lift it on the hoist. Iowa winters were hard on crappy Japanese steel.

The second truck ("The Green Grape") was a green '95 Toyota T-100. I simply moved the entire rig over to the new truck, wired it up and kept on a-pumping.

When we moved to Texas in 2010, I could not find a reliable or handy source of unpolluted car gas. After a few months, I gave my tank/pump away to a mechanic friend, and ended up trading for an '07 F-150, which I still have. A few months later, I found a reliable source of ethanol-free car gas near the Sam's Club we frequent. It was perfect. But I resisted building another fuel truck, because the 100LL pumps were just so danged handy...

Fast forward to this year. At my condition inspection, I am shocked to learn that two of my cylinders are in the low 70s for compression -- on a 500 hour O-360 that is run every few days. One in particular is BARELY at 70, and we can hear air hissing through the exhaust valve. Bore-scoping shows a cylinder absolutely packed with lead "crud". Argh.

Since then I've been "treating" the engine with Marvel Mystery Oil, leaning the crap out of it, and vowed to get rid of this horrible 100LL fuel -- a fuel that my O-360 was NEVER designed to use.

So, I have built another fuel truck. ("The Might Grape III -- the Burgundy Edition") If you've ever wondered about how to go about doing this, here are the steps:

1. Find a "Tractor Supply Store" in your area. This is SO much easier than the way I did my first tank, which was to find a company that manufactured tanks and have it made to fit my (itty-bitty) Nissan truck bed.

2. Pick a Size. They handle a wide variety of tanks to fit all trucks. The standard 100 gallon tank fits perfectly in the bed of an F-150. Smaller sizes are available, but bigger is better.

Cost of tank: $349.99

3. Buy a 12-volt pump. They have three sizes -- I opted for the middle, 15 gallon-per-minute size.

Cost of pump: $399.99

4. ADD A FILTER. Amazingly, these rigs don't come standard with a fuel filter. I plumbed in a standard BIG fuel filter, which looks just like the oil filters we use on our airplanes.

Cost of filter adaptor and filter: $47.00

5. Miscellaneous stuff (gasoline pipe thread stuff, electrical connectors, etc)

Cost: $12.00

The tank fits perfectly in the bed of your truck. There are four mounting L-plates with 8 holes drilled welded to the tank, but they only provide four mounting bolts. These are inserted through holes you must drill in the bed of your truck.

The tank actually sits up on rubber donuts, not unlike Lord engine mounts. Insert them and tighten everything down. It helps if you have a small wife who can hold the nut under the truck bed while you torque the bolt from above. (It also helps if you have ramps, or another way to get your truck up in the air a bit.)

After that, it's a matter or installing the pump (you need a BIG pipe wrench to torque everything down), the filler cap, and wiring everything up -- which consists of 2 wires running all the way to the battery, with an in-line 25 amp fuse that they provide with the pump.

Total time to install: A leisurely four hours. If you kicked butt, you could do it in an hour.

Optional Items

Back in 2000, we went round and round on rec.aviation about whether or not it was necessary to build a static reel/clip, to ground the truck and the plane. The consensus was that -- although it was probably a waste of time -- it couldn't hurt to do so.

SO, I added a static line on a retractable reel that is grounded to the truck bed, and clips onto the exhaust pipe of the plane -- exactly like the grounding line at the airport.

This is nothing more than a commonly available retractable extension cord, available for about $60. Cut the main end off, and install a ring connector that you can bolt to the bed of the truck. Cut the other end off and install a giant alligator clip.

Cost of grounding cord: $60.00

The Numbers

Total cost (with tax): $935.

Total savings per gallon, currently, mogas vs 100LL: $1.80/gallon.

We plan on burning 10 gallons per hour, so total savings per hour: $18.00

Flight time to pay for fuel tank: 51.9 hours

Total savings over a 2000 hour engine life: $36,000.

Obviously these numbers vary with the price of avgas and mogas. However, I did this with my O-540, and saved enough to rebuild the engine.

That said, I did NOT do this for the savings. In fact, judging by how awful the inside of this engine looked (compared to the pristine innards of my mogas-powered O-540), it would probably be worth using this fuel even if it cost the same.

Bottom line: 100LL has FOUR TIMES more lead than the 80 octane avgas my engine was designed to use. This extra lead causes problems everywhere, from fouled plugs to dirty oil.

Here are some pix of the new rig.

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The filler for the transfer tank is on the same side as the filler for the truck's gas tank. THIS IS IMPORTANT. I installed this wrong on my previous fuel truck, which meant when I wanted to gas up both tanks I had to stretch the hose to the other side of the truck -- not always possible without moving the truck.

This time, I made certain they were on the same side, and it's much easier to fill.

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My truck is often parked at my hotel -- a very public place. As a result, I have locks on both the filler cap and the spout handle.

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This is a detail of the retractable static line. It works great -- way better than most airport versions -- but could IMHO be eliminated without any loss of safety. Still, I'm a "belt and suspenders" guy, so I added it to the rig.

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Great job Jay......:thumbsup:....

Here is my cheap but effective rig...




I am amazed the airport let's you fuel the plane while it is still inside the hangar :redface:
 

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Is there any problem riding the ferry with the fuel tank?
 
Word of caution to others though...check your state laws. I looked at doing something similar when I lived on the water and had a boat dock. Some states have limits to the total volume of fuel you can have on board a single vehicle and limits on the amount of fuel that can be in a single tank outside of commercial hazmat and agriculture applications. Be sure to do your homework if you wanna do this!

Otherwise great rig!
 
Great job Jay..........

I am amazed the airport let's you fuel the plane while it is still inside the hangar :redface:

Ha! You took my bait so soon! Good job.

I put that picture in the mix purposefully to highlight this issue. It is perfectly safe to fuel a plane in the hangar -- so long as the big door is open.

How can I say that with such certainty? Because I was based in Iowa City, Iowa, where for decades the fueling procedure worked like this:

1. You had a red flip-up flag on your small hangar door.
2. If you needed fuel, all you had to do was flip the flag up...and leave.
3. The FBO guys drove the airport several times each day, looking for red flags. They would open the big door and fuel the plane. (They had keys to all hangars.)
4. They would then put the flag down, close the door, and send you a bill at the end of each month.

It was all so...civilized.

That system went away with the illness and death of E.K. Jones, the FBO owner, in about 2001ish. (The city took over and they wouldn't have been caught dead working that hard to keep customers happy. Since then, the FBO owner has followed suit.)

So, anyway, from WWII to 2001, E.K.'s guys fueled thousands -- perhaps tens of thousands -- of aircraft, without incident, in the hangar.

That's good enough for me.
 
Gee with the bigger truck you actually still have space to do something with the truck.

Good on getting rid of the lead. MMO wasn't the answer anyhow. There were other nastier stuff you could have used but you've got the right answer.
 
Great job Jay......:thumbsup:....

Here is my cheap but effective rig...




I am amazed the airport let's you fuel the plane while it is still inside the hangar :redface:

Not to be critical, but there is no way to "sump" this rig. Fuel contamination is a huge problem with "experimental" fuel systems. How often do you check for contamination?
 
If that tank holds gasoline shouldn't the placard read "FLAMMABLE"?

Ideally the placard should say 1203 or gasoline. I suspect the combustible label comes from the fact that Jay is using a tank that is designed for fuel oil and specifically advises against using it for gasoline. Not that it is an outright prohibition, but the manufacturer states :

"Tanks meet D.O.T. requirements for combustible liquids such as fuel oil. They are not designed for flammable liquids such as gasoline."
 
no placards are required and DOT rules don't apply as long as the tank capacity is 119 gallons or less.
 

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Nice job, Jay! I'm sure it'll serve you well. Just a few observations:

* You might consider bonding the grounding reel directly to the tank instead of the bed of the truck. Yeah, I know the tank is bolted to the bed but it's on rubber mounts and the bolts come into contact with metal that's painted. If it was mine, I'd feel better with a direct bond (and with the paint scraped off in at the bond). You live in an area of high humidity so that helps immensely to eliminate static.

* For those who might consider building a similar rig, some of the "tractor supply" pumps are made only for diesel and shouldn't be used to pump gas. A lot of people get by with using diesel only pumps (don't know what Jay's is) but I personally wouldn't do it.

* Re: fueling in the hangar: I agree with you for the most part, Jay, and have done my share of fueling in a hangar with the door open. 99.9% of the time you'll get by with it. The problem comes in when there is a spill of a significant volume and you haven't kept the electrical system in your hangar code compliant. Or maybe you have but your immediate neighbors haven't. Is there a beer fridge sitting on the hangar floor? If so, you might be screwed if it kicks on right after a spill. Gas fumes are heavier than air and sink. All electrical appliances, outlets and switches should be kept at least 42" above the floor. This includes air compressors. I'm really anal about this and won't even let extension cords that are plugged in lay on the floor. Right now I'm in a stand alone hangar so I don't have to worry about neighbors.

The above concern with keeping electrical systems in hangars code compliant is a universal one and not just a concern if you refuel in a hangar. Airplanes can spring leaks too.
 
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Jay, you'll probably need to drill a pressure relief in your filler cap or your tank may swell after a cool fill up morning turns into a warm day.
 
Not to be critical, but there is no way to "sump" this rig. Fuel contamination is a huge problem with "experimental" fuel systems. How often do you check for contamination?

I "sump " it on every use. I have a 500 gallon tank at home I use to fill various stuff, like the Benford 10,000 snow removal system..:D..

I start each aircraft fill with a completely empty 55 gal barrel, then at the filling station I fill my truck first, then fill the 55 gal barrel.. Since I have the pick up for it at the very bottom ,I stop back at my house.. About 1/2 hour has elapsed for settling purposes... and I pump a few gallons out of it into my 500 gal tank and watch closely at the Clear , Goldenrod filter cannister.. If there is crap, sludge, water etc etc.. .. I will see it BEFORE the plane gets filled....

I also buy from high volume stations, so that also helps in getting fresh and clean gas..... So far I have run several thousand gallons through my "system" and not once have I gotten bad fuel.... YMMV...
 
Not to be critical, but there is no way to "sump" this rig. Fuel contamination is a huge problem with "experimental" fuel systems. How often do you check for contamination?

Sumping is a good point, especially since there's no way of knowing if the source has been sumped. Do they make tanks like this with a sump valve on he bottom?

Otherwise that's a mighty useful setup, particularly for folks flying off of private strips or airports without fuel.
 
Thanks, guys. A few notes in reply:

1. The pump is for gasoline. It says it on the box.
2. The tank is for "fuel". It did not specify what type.
3. The "Combustible" sticker seemed odd to me, too, but it came with the tank so I stuck it on.

Re: The pump. It does 15 GPM, and has an auto shutoff, just like the ones at the gas station. Since we fuel after every flight, and rarely take more than 25 gallons at a time, this is more than adequate.

If you had bigger tanks you might want to spring for the 20 GPM pump.

Re: The hose. I forgot to mention that the pump comes with a 10' hose, which is insufficient. I bought another 14' hose and plumbed them together, giving me a 24' hose. This is perfect.

Re: Grounding. The hose has a metal grounding mesh embedded in the rubber. This means every time you pump gas, the plane and truck are grounded, which is why I am 99% certain that the retractable grounding wire is unneeded. Still, belt and suspenders.

Re: Venting. That cap is a pressure release type. Without that the tank would inflate like a balloon on a hot summer day.

In my old fuel truck, I had a fiberglass cap over the whole rig. (You should have heard the howls about THAT, back in 2001! "You're going to diiiiiiie!" lol) This kept prying eyes out, as well as providing protection against the elements.

The wild card down here is corrosion. What's going to happen to this rig, parked outside in the salt air? I have sprayed all the bare metal (drilled holes in truck bed, the locks) with CorrosionX, but we will see. I also worry about what the intense sun will do to the hose, over time.

Alas, nothing is permanent. Still, my old rig (the one I gave to my car mechanic when I couldn't find ethanol-free gas) is still going strong, after 14 years.

BTW: although this rig may be unusual for pilots, it is common on the road here and in Iowa. Every oil company, contractor, or farm truck seems to have this exact set up in the back. It is incredibly useful, not just for airplane use. Refueling lawn mowers and other lawn tools (or stranded motorists who have run out of gas -- been there, done that) is a snap.

My only regret so far? I didn't install a meter, so I don't have a good handle on how much I've pumped. We use the fuel totalizer in the plane to determine what we have pumped, and I keep a log in the truck's glovebox to record usage, so we don't end up running out unexpectedly.

I installed a flow meter on my last rig, and it was nice. I may still install one.
 
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Sumping is a good point, especially since there's no way of knowing if the source has been sumped. Do they make tanks like this with a sump valve on he bottom?

Otherwise that's a mighty useful setup, particularly for folks flying off of private strips or airports without fuel.
I have not seen a transfer tank with a sump. I wouldn't have any way to get at the bottom of the tank, anyway.

They do make "sumpable" fuel filters, with a little water drain on it, but that's not the same. I used these filters on my last rig, and never -- not once -- drained any water. I installed a filter in this new rig, but it doesn't have that drain.

I suppose, over time, you might get some crud in the bottom of the tank, but that's what the filter is for.
 
Jay,

What is the octane of the fuel you are using?
 
2. The tank is for "fuel". It did not specify what type.
3. The "Combustible" sticker seemed odd to me, too, but it came with the tank so I stuck it on.

Jay,

Every transfer tank (both aluminum and steel) that I looked at this morning on Tractor Supply's website states in the fine print:

Tanks meet D.O.T. requirements for combustible liquids. They are not designed for flammable liquids such as gasoline.

What's the difference? I have no ID. I doubt it's anything to worry about but again...I have no ID. I'd bet that there are hundreds of thousands of them running around the country on farm trucks with gas in them and I've never heard of one exploding.

I did a google search but failed to have enough patience to wade through the reams of D.O.T. regs to find it and edumacate myself.

Maybe someone here knows what the difference is and if it's impotent.
 
I have not seen a transfer tank with a sump. I wouldn't have any way to get at the bottom of the tank, anyway.

They do make "sumpable" fuel filters, with a little water drain on it, but that's not the same. I used these filters on my last rig, and never -- not once -- drained any water. I installed a filter in this new rig, but it doesn't have that drain.

I suppose, over time, you might get some crud in the bottom of the tank, but that's what the filter is for.

The 400gal tanks on the trucks and trailers that we used to fuel the crop dusters may have had a sump, but we never used them. We had the drainable fuel filters like you mention. They are pretty pricey, though, and unless someone left a fuel cap off overnight in a rain storm, rarely caught enough to amount to anything. And this was after pumping literally thousands of gallons of fuel through them over the course of a summer.
 
If I could just find pure gas within a reasonable distance, I'm ready to go! :yes:


 
Jay,

Every transfer tank (both aluminum and steel) that I looked at this morning on Tractor Supply's website states in the fine print:



What's the difference? I have no ID. I doubt it's anything to worry about but again...I have no ID. I'd bet that there are hundreds of thousands of them running around the country on farm trucks with gas in them and I've never heard of one exploding.

I did a google search but failed to have enough patience to wade through the reams of D.O.T. regs to find it and edumacate myself.

Maybe someone here knows what the difference is and if it's impotent.

First guess would be the tank manufacturer's liability. aka CYA.
 
Just a tad off topic, but back in my days as a young lineboy, when we had both 80/87 and 100/130 octane, I thought the 180 horsepower Lycoming O360 used the green 100/130. The Lycoming O540 at 235 horsepower used red 80/87.

Jay, are you sure your O360 will be happy on the 87 octane?

Scott
 
Would the gas tank from a junked truck work? Install it in the truck's bed? A Ford F-350 tank holds 35 gallons. It is intended for gasoline.
 
Would the gas tank from a junked truck work? Install it in the truck's bed? A Ford F-350 tank holds 35 gallons. It is intended for gasoline.

I've seen it done. You get the benefit of having a fuel level sensor of some sort. Sometimes the odd shape can be a detriment. Sometimes they can be a bit thin skinned if the fuel tank was internal to the body (like an old style pick-up tank which was directly behind the seat). Securing an odd shaped tank can be a problem but steel straps can usually be fashioned one way or another.
 
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Just a tad off topic, but back in my days as a young lineboy, when we had both 80/87 and 100/130 octane, I thought the 180 horsepower Lycoming O360 used the green 100/130. The Lycoming O540 at 235 horsepower used red 80/87.

Jay, are you sure your O360 will be happy on the 87 octane?

Scott

I was going to post something similar. The 235 hp engine had 7.2:1 compression. The 180 hp engines have 8.5:1. Given that he lives in a very hot climate and at sea level, he's in the worst possible situation for damaging his engine using low octane fuel. If I was Jay, I'd religiously mix in at least 25% 100 LL to help with the octane issue. TEL is a tremendous octane booster and at that concentration might provide enough octane to keep his engine happy over the long term. (Also, it might not.)

RVP is another issue. I'd check it regularly to preclude vapor lock. Again, Jay is more at risk for vapor lock than many others because of the hot climate and his dark colored fuel tanks, which (compared to white tanks) will absorb more heat on a sunny ramp. Vapor lock is most likely following a quick turn-around on a hot day.

Saving $2/gallon is great when there is no downside. There are downsides in Jay's situation.
 
I've seen it done. You get the benefit of having a fuel level sensor of some sort. Sometimes the odd shape can be a detriment. Sometimes they can be a bit thin skinned if the fuel tank was internal to the body (like an old style pick-up tank which was directly behind the seat). Securing an odd shaped tank can be a problem but steel straps can usually be fashioned one way or another.


Saddle fuel tanks from a Semi-tractor work well, and they usually have a bottom drain.
 
Jay,

Every transfer tank (both aluminum and steel) that I looked at this morning on Tractor Supply's website states in the fine print:



What's the difference? I have no ID. I doubt it's anything to worry about but again...I have no ID. I'd bet that there are hundreds of thousands of them running around the country on farm trucks with gas in them and I've never heard of one exploding.

I did a google search but failed to have enough patience to wade through the reams of D.O.T. regs to find it and edumacate myself.


Maybe someone here knows what the difference is and if it's impotent.

This is my rig that I just now installed. 95 gallons. Avgas is real high at my airport so I tanker it from cheaper airports nearby. I save $200 every time I fill up. As you can see, my tank is plackarded for flammable, not combustable. This permit is only available with tanks from ATI. MyTractor Supply would not get the tank for me. I had to order it online and have it shipped. Does it make a difference? Only if the lawyers ever get involved. Plus, my airport is kinda a stickler for the rules so I didnot want any issues from them. Also, the airport that I buy from had a sign requiring approved containers. I thought about it long and hard. In the end the proper permit only added about $100 to the total cost. The meter/filter (p/n FM-100) works great.
 

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Just a word of caution.

I had a friend who got rear ended by a truck while he was pulling a gooseneck with a tool-and-tank with gasoline in it. The gooseneck broke loose and rammed into the tank and it was bye-bye friend. This is why I like diesel so much for transport. But that's another subject.

Point is, I wouldn't use my gas (fuel) truck as a family hauler ... especially pulling a gooseneck unless the buddy tank were empty and vented. :redface:
 
Just a word of caution.

I had a friend who got rear ended by a truck while he was pulling a gooseneck with a tool-and-tank with gasoline in it. The gooseneck broke loose and rammed into the tank and it was bye-bye friend. This is why I like diesel so much for transport. But that's another subject.

Point is, I wouldn't use my gas (fuel) truck as a family hauler ... especially pulling a gooseneck unless the buddy tank were empty and vented. :redface:

That is exactly why my drum is easiely loaded into my truck.. Fuel is transferred and then the drum is back in my storage shed till next time...
 
it sounds like goosenecks are dangerous!

re: sumping? I've yet to see a tank that doesn't have a small drain bung in the bottom edge. Mine does. But in 20 years I've never needed to deal with water contaminating my gas in my tank. I have a Goldenrod particle filter with a clear drain bowl followed by a Go-No Go filter that stops the fuel flow if water reaches that filter. No water problem after all these years.
 
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