Jeff Lamb

REMOVING FUEL FROM THE BARRELS -> For those of you who transport your race fuel to the track in 55 gallon barrels, what method do you use to get the remaining few gallons out of the barrel? I use a siphon pump on my barrels, however, there are a couple of things I am noticing:

1. When the barrel gets down to the last 10 to 15 gallons or so, the fuel volume moving through the siphon pump really slows down and then stops. To get gravity back into play, I then have to move the barrel over to the side door of my trailer and then set my 5 gallon jug down on the ground so that my 5 gallon jug that I am transferring the fuel into is lower than the bottom of the 55 gallon source barrel. Do any of you use any other techniques?

2. Even when I have siphoned out as much fuel as I can from the 55 gallon barrel, there is still some left in the bottom. Do any of you have any techniques you use to get that remaining fuel out of the barrel?

MOVING THE BARRELS -> What techniques and/or equipment do you use to move your full barrels around? These things are close to 400 pounds when they are full and right now I either: a) tilt them and roll them on the corner of the barrel, or b) I actually lay them down on their side and roll them like a log . . . but then I have to stand them back upright and that is pretty tough. I only weigh 150 pounds so the fuel barrels win when it comes to comparing their mass versus mine. Even just tilting the barrels is tough.

TRANSPORTING THE BARRELS -> Do any of you happen to know the regulations that apply to transporting fuel? If so, I am currently carrying two 55 gallon barrels of fuel on my trailer, however, I don't know if there are certain regulatory things I need such as licenses, permits or other?

Thanks,
Jeff

Jim @ EuroWerks

Alot of guys have a lift in their trailer that they pick them up ( pick it up from the top) . Then you'll fab a cart to set it in . As far as getting the last out they Commoly just refill the one thats in the cart so you don't have to take them in and out of the cart . Refilling from the pump , or from a new drum . Also using a pneumatic pump so ofcourse there is now chance of spark . By refilling the drum each time , you never have to worry about leaving some in because eventually you'll use it anyway .

Bull

Years ago we bought Methanol in 55 gal. drums for inboard hydroplanes we raced. I recall that our manual pumps seemed to evacuate all but a very small amount of the fuel. As for moving them, we used hand trucks, sweat (we were young and stronger then!), and a proper amount of profanity (to talk them into place).

amondc

If I recall you dont really want the last part of the fuel in the drum out there is usually a bunch of junk down in the bottom. In our 00 cup car we thought we had lost a fuel pump but it turned out that there was just a bunch of junk from the bottom of the fuel drums cloged in the pickup.

Professor Helmüt Tester

Been using one of these for over a decade:

http://www2.northerntool.com/product/200129224.htm

It'll suck all but the last 1-2 gallons out of the drum, and then the drum will be light enough so that you can easily pick it up, turn it upside down and pour the remaining fuel into a fuel jug.

Clean your fuel barrels out regularly. I will pull the bungs out, stick a garden hose and nozzle in and rinse them with water. Leave them out in the sun on a hot and sunny day, and they will dry out (which is why I paint my drums a dark color)...if you're nervous about it, stick the exhaust of a shop-vac in one hole and blow the vapors out for an hour or so, once the drum has gotten hot.

Gotten screwed by crud in the bottom of the drums before. A little regular maintenance will fix that.

Edit (forgot to address 2nd and 3rd question):

Go to Graingers or some other industrial supply and buy a sturdy hand-truck meant for moving drums. Wrap a tie-down strap around the top of the barrel and hand-truck, and you can then get it tilted back on its wheels by yourself...otherwise it takes 2 people to horse a drum around.

Don't get caught trailering around 2 drums of fuel unless your properly "placarded" on the exterior of the trailer, and properly permitted by whatever state you're in. IIRC, USDOT rules allow a SINGLE container of up to 55 gallons, but it's been a while since I checked the laws on this. If you need to move this much fuel, lock the trailer and tell any curious cops that your race buddy has the keys and you can't get in there. Fines for getting nailed with something like this are SIGNIFICANT.

A930Rocket

What about these drum dollies: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...uct%5Fid=12725

Jeff Lamb

Jim, Bull, amondc, Professor Helmut Tester and A930Rocket -> Thanks for all of your replies. Your feedback is very helpful . . . especially the warning about transporting two 55 gallon barrels!!! I will need to do some research ASAP to find out what the requirements are. I don't really need to haul two barrels at a time, it just has been more convenient that way. At the beginning of the season, I actually hauled 4 barrels on one of my trailers . . . yikes.

Regarding the dollies shown in the A930Rocket reply, the problem for me would be getting the heavy barrels lifted onto and off the dollies. I might need to look into the lift that Jim is talking about . . .

Jeff

A930Rocket

Place the empty barrel on the dolly and then fill it with gas...

Jeff Lamb

Good thought . . . although, once I would roll the full barrel onto the trailer, I am thinking that I might need to lift the barrel off the dolly to strap it down. This is because I don't think I would want to transport the barrel sitting on top of the dolly.

The reason why I am thinking this is that I like the additional stability of the barrel sitting directly on the floor of my trailer. If I left the barrel on top of the dolly, it would place a lot more stress on my tie-down straps and e track in the event of an emergency stop situation. This might actually be fine, though. I'll need to think about this a bit more . . .

Jeff

A930Rocket

You could make a dolly that has locking wheels or maybe change the wheels over to locking on the web site model. I would say if they are strapped to the wall with E track, they aren't going anywhere, but then I'm not driving...

Jeff Lamb

This has actually gotten me thinking a bit. What I would really like to have is a barrel dolly that allows me to raise and lower the barrel with a foot operated lever. Something like the foot operated dollies that you can use to lift your car wheels off the ground in the garage and then you can roll your car around. Here is one example:

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...c+car+lifts.do

If I had something like the above, I could raise up the barrel for moving it around and then set it down in my trailer for secure strapping and towing security.

The dolly would also have to be designed so that when I set the barrel down on the trailer floor that it can be done with the barrel sitting flush against the wall of my trailer. In other words, I don't want a design that makes the barrel sit a few inches away from the trailer wall because then I wouldn't be able to strap the barrel(s) against the wall properly. Or, I would have to fabricate some "wall cradles" that fill in the space . . . if you know what I mean?

Jeff