longtomsilver Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I have a ten litre metal fuel can with ~4litres of unleaded for my lawn mower that is more than a year old. Where do I put it. Long and short is that I have sold my motorcycle which is being collected tomorrow evening and it has a full tank of fuel... not being tight but I'd quite like to siphon 10litres. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
righttoleech Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I have a ten litre metal fuel can with ~4litres of unleaded for my lawn mower that is more than a year old. Where do I put it. Long and short is that I have sold my motorcycle which is being collected tomorrow evening and it has a full tank of fuel... not being tight but I'd quite like to siphon 10litres. Thank you. You need a jerrycan.....(as recommended by th Rt Hon Francis Maude). They hold 20 litres. The year old petrol should be fine, just mix the 14 litres in the jerry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendy Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 drink it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonytramcar Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 You should contact the council for advice, or take the fuel can to the recycling centre and enquire. It might be able to go in the old engine oil tank at the recycling centre, but ask them before you pour it in ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Banner Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Pour it in the lawnmower, it'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Siphon the ten litres from the bike into a temporary storage can. Empty the jerry can into the bike. Then take the petrol from the storage into the jerry can. Be careful what you use as the temporary storage. And yes, you are being tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Hun Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 he year old petrol should be fine, just mix the 14 litres in the jerry. It might not be. Petrol has a shelf life of three months to one year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Stick it in an envelope and post it to one D. Cameron, 10 Downing Street, London. I am led to believe that he knows some people who want to keep some in their garages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbonic Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 It might not be. Petrol has a shelf life of three months to one year. Anyone know the shelf life of diesel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thod Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Anyone know the shelf life of diesel? Longer than petrol since it is less volatile. Every time the temperature rises the vapour must escape to avoid blowing up the can. When it cools it sucks in air and with it water. It's total garbage that petrol has a shelf life less than a year. I mowed the lawn the other day using fuel in a can I filled two years ago. As for disposal, I know you ain't supposed to but I would just bung it down the loo. You could pour it on the garden, killing the grass, but it would eventually break down. Last year there was a wasps nest in a hole in my garden. Poured paraffin down it to gas them, worked a treat and the plants around didn't die. That paraffin is probably converted to fertiliser by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenubracon Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I have a ten litre metal fuel can with ~4litres of unleaded for my lawn mower that is more than a year old. Where do I put it. Long and short is that I have sold my motorcycle which is being collected tomorrow evening and it has a full tank of fuel... not being tight but I'd quite like to siphon 10litres. Thank you. Chuck it on a bonfire. You know you want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloomMonger Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Chuck it on a bonfire. You know you want to. Joking aside, please don't do this. Petrol fumes are highly flammable and you could easily experience a fireball in your face. My father, a retired fireman, regularly attended homes where the victim used petrol to start the bbq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Anyone know the shelf life of diesel? You should be fine for a good long while.. the only problem you get with diesel (as far as I'm aware) is diesel bug, which in itself isn't a problem.. but when it dies it creates gunk that sinks to the bottom of your tank and can block filters if it gets sucked up. If you're going to leave it a long time perhaps stick some diesel-bug additive in and you should be fine. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travisher Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Old unleaded just gets harder to light or start the engine with. A lawnmower will probably work just fine as it isn't a high performance engine. If you are storing diesel make sure that the can isn't likely to go rusty from the outside and make sure it is full so that there isn't an air space of any size. The reason for this is at night the tank cools and suck in air laden with moisture. This condenses on the inside and drips into the diesel, sinking to the bottom. Over time it builds up water inside the tank and rusts out the bottom. This is why old metal heating fuel tanks fail and start leaking out the bottom. My favourite example of this was a half can of creosote in the shed. Condensation formed inside and out for several years until I lifted the can up. The bottom fell out and I ended up creosoting the landlord's shed floor - the biggest maintenance it ever received! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtomsilver Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Thank you all. Really useful (and some silly) advice. My neighbour was happy to accept the fuel for his lawn mower. I managed to off the fuel straight from the bike to my car and only stopped when I saw tiny black specks of who knows what hit the funnel. I sold the bike well below private sale valuation so on balance I'm not a tightfisted git, guy travelling all the way from york to east midlands so obviously worth the effort sans fuel. I put the jerry can to good use and filled with fresh (for my lawn mower) and a van driver gave me a whole load of what for telling me the strikes not until next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Depends on the gardening thing. Brush cutter didn't like the old petrol we had .. Ran fine with new stuff. It kills weeds apparently .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pent Up Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Take it to the local petrol station that is now out of petrol due to the ensuing panic then sell it to a desperate driver for an extortionate mark up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbagepatchkid Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 As for disposal, I know you ain't supposed to but I would just bung it down the loo. Can't be bothered to find a picture but please just imagine a huge facepalm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Can't be bothered to find a picture but please just imagine a huge facepalm. Spoil sport.. I was looking forward to a news report with rolling footage covering the involuntary removal of an entire residential block from their toilet seats by explosive force Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxe Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Unleaded will last a year, more in a properly sealed can (i.e. a proper jerry can). When i say "last", it will do fine in pretty much any normal 4 stroke, it might suffer a bit in something very high performance. Lawn mower would be perfect. 2 strokes - different matter. They are very high performance engines, and you should only use pretty fresh fuel in them. Once you have mixed it with oil, 2 stroke fuel is good for 2 or three months, tops. Diesel? Pretty much lasts forever. I dragged a tractor out of a field - it hadn't moved for 30 years. 3/4 full tank of diesel, so we made sure the filter was good, and just ran it. Worked fine. On bonfires - diesel is good, petrol is only fun if you like losing your eyebrows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I have a ten litre metal fuel can with ~4litres of unleaded for my lawn mower that is more than a year old. Where do I put it. Long and short is that I have sold my motorcycle which is being collected tomorrow evening and it has a full tank of fuel... not being tight but I'd quite like to siphon 10litres. Thank you. Just don't copy this woman.... http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4228514/Total-petrol-panic-as-cops-shut-garages-after-new-Government-bungle.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Politics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Why not put your old fuel in my old car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 2 strokes - different matter. They are very high performance engines, and you should only use pretty fresh fuel in them. Once you have mixed it with oil, 2 stroke fuel is good for 2 or three months, tops. . Well my Mariner 2hp two stroke outboard has run on 5 year old mixture just the same as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash4781 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I'm not sure if it would work (Think it used special fuel) but I had a little model engine from an old aeroplane. We had to spin the propellor to start. The fun was getting the thing started, and then getting it to chug away on fumes. I tihnk may dad may have had the wrong prop' for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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