With gas prices still rising and the heating season coming on I'm getting worried about the possibility of a gas shortage this winter. Is anyone else thinking along that line? I'm contemplating getting a tank here at home and keeping a reserve supply of gas on hand for the winter. I could have nightmares about getting caught in a several day storm and having no fuel available. I'm not looking to buy cheaper in bulk, just the idea of having a security blanket for at least one serious storm.
Alan: I don't know if there will be a gas shortage this winter or not. I kinda doubt it. Nonetheless, I don't like the idea of storing gas. Todays gasoline does a lousy lob of maintaing its octane. After about a month, its pretty much useless. Second thing to consider is condensation. Gas thats been sitting around in the winter tends to accumulate alot of condensation. Obviously not good. Essentially, your not using fresh gas. My next main concern would be the tank. If your planning to run your plow off this stored gas for a few days, plan on getting a huge tank or a ton of smaller ones. Now you have to find a place to store all this gas. Maybe you have a shop of garage or something. All I can say is you better talk to your fire marshall. I would hate be toned out to a fire involving that much gas w/o its own fire supression system. I'm not sure what the rules would be, but I am sure they are fairly strict and should be followed for your own safety. I'm not trying to shoot down your proposal. These are just some of the issues that might arise. Obviously, it can be done. However, just keep all these things in mind. Eric
If it gets to the point where you as a contractor are unable to obtain fuel, your customers and competition wont either, so as far as Im concerned thats beyond anybodys control so do as I do and just dont sweat it.
I have pumps at the shop, saves me a little money. The trouble is i need, one gas, one regular diesel, and one off road diesel. It takes a few years to see a savings, and the set up isn't cheap. Geoff
I don't feel there will be a shortage, but I have an idea.you could find a gas station and possibly work out a deal with them, most stations need to be plowed, if they don't have their own plow maybe a barter deal could be worked out. at the very least perhaps you could pre purchase gas from him and use his tank as your storage
I'd rather be out of fuel than try to figure out some barter deal with a local fuel supplier. What a nightmare!
We have 24 gas stations that we plow. Most are open all night. IF they have gas - at 3 AM (around here) there arn't any lines.
