Fuel stations on one's property?

[mlts22]

A local fuel distributor, provided one has some rural property, can install up to a 1100 gallon above-ground tank and a fuel pump. If under that many gallons and non-commercial, this exempts the tanks for a lot of Texas and Federal regulations.

In the next few years, I'm looking to buy some rural land mainly as a staging area for long trips, and part retreat. Having gasoline (E0 reg unleaded) and propane delivered might be a nice thing. No need to worry about finding a gas station, nor a propane filler because both would be available on site (although it would take a DOT training course for the propane pump.)

Has anyone considered putting non-commercial fuel pumps in on their property? This is an interesting idea because it would help make a very nice staging area for long trips possible. It also would help in a long power outage.

[Davydd]

Rural property and tanks as a staging area. Have you figured out the amortization cost and how much you would have to use it of such a venture for that tax savings? The liability? Theft? That gives you what, a range of about 300 miles from your property? Makes no sense to me. Oops! Make that about 150 miles if you have to return to fill up.

[booster]

Originally Posted by mlts22

A local fuel distributor, provided one has some rural property, can install up to a 1100 gallon above-ground tank and a fuel pump. If under that many gallons and non-commercial, this exempts the tanks for a lot of Texas and Federal regulations.

In the next few years, I'm looking to buy some rural land mainly as a staging area for long trips, and part retreat. Having gasoline (E0 reg unleaded) and propane delivered might be a nice thing. No need to worry about finding a gas station, nor a propane filler because both would be available on site (although it would take a DOT training course for the propane pump.)

Has anyone considered putting non-commercial fuel pumps in on their property? This is an interesting idea because it would help make a very nice staging area for long trips possible. It also would help in a long power outage.

Farm tanks here in Minnesota are exempt from road taxes and such, as they are considered a business expense of farming and the use does not impact roads. That said, they monitor them pretty closely, as there were lots of abuse situations with farm tanks filling friends and family cars and trucks that were road driven. You can agree or disagree with taxes and their justification, but either way, it is still illegal to avoid them intentionally. Plus, fuel does not store very well, especially in above ground tanks where they see big temperature swings. IMO, false economy, and probably illegal if you skip the taxes.

[Rok]

Not everyone wants to rip off the government or save money. Some people just want to have the security of knowing where the fuel is in times of stress in our economy. The last time that happened with gasoline, was about 1979. There was also rationing in 1973. That is twice in my lifetime. Gas was rationed in the 1940's as well. So, it is a once in 25-35 year occurance.

A lot of people feel that we're heading for another crisis soon. Those who poo-poo the idea might want to read up on the term "peak oil", or take Chris Martenson's "Crash Course" at http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse . While I am not entirely in agreement with everything Chris says, I think it is a great start to understanding our economic world.

The bottom line is that if we are approaching some sort of crisis, having a small supply of fuel might be a good thing. It wouldn't last long, and it probably wouldn't be worth the investment, but some people are sold on the concept that we might enter a world more akin to that of Mad Max than what we've experienced in the past.

I will offer that during the crises in the 1970's, the singer John Denver kept a private fuel supply on his property in Colorado, and his neighbors were acutely aware of it and didn't approve.

Enough said on the topic. If you are producing your own biodiesel or ethanol, having such a storage tank might be warranted, but as mentioned in the other responses, fuel goes bad faster than one might think, and there isn't much economic incentive to do this.

........Rocky

[mlts22]

The advice here is very good. I like the thought of having gas/diesel (since this is for non-commercial use, the road tax is paid, of course... no red stuff), but there is the issue of storage. I can see diesel being stored for a while, but gas at most would last 1-2 years. However, a smaller tank of 250-500 gallons would be cycled out frequently enough to make it worth having, especially if the place is used for storage.

For a trip, it would be used as a place to start... plenty of gas stations up on the other routes, so I'm not worried about 150-300 miles, as it won't be the only fuel station.

I'm looking at the land as a long term investment. Central Texas is booming, and there isn't any more being made, so having a place as a retreat can't hurt. If someone steals fuel, that's life.

An above ground gasoline tank may or may not be useful, but if the property uses propane for heating, might as well have a pump and a fill station attached.