The tractor still needs a fuel tank and I haven’t been able to find something I like that fits. There’s space between the rails in the back but I want to leave that for PTO drive and some other accessories. Since the only other available space is to hang it on the outside of the frame-rail in plain view, I wanted something that didn’t look like a piece of pressed tin.

Here’s the parts I’ve put together:

• 12″ Pipe 20″ long – it’s every bit of 5/16″ thick O  
• 2 – 12″ circles cut from 1/4″ plate (tank sides)
• 2″ NPT short nipple (filler neck)
• 2″ pipe cap (filler cap)
• 4″ x 1/4″ x 12″ flat (drilled for filler neck, sending unit & vent)
• 1/4″ pipe x 2″ & 1/4″ elbow (tank vent) more in picture than actually used
• and an old Chevy sending unit w/ fuel pick-up tube
  
• Flat stock and “J” shapes cut from 1/4″ plate in top picture are for the mounting brackes

Cut a 12″ x 4″ rectangle hole centered in the side of the pipe for the flat connection plate:

Yes Ken, it would’ve been easier to just drill some holes in the pipe for the filler neck & vent and be done with it. It would’ve been even easier to strap a jerry-can to the side of the tractor; but it wouldn’t have been quite the look I was going for. :-)

What an oily mess, but the plate is a good fit and it’s just like what I had in mind.

Test fit the sending unit and pick-up tube assembly:

It looks like it was made to fit. Oh wait! It was.

View of the same check of the sending unit, from the top:

and making sure I’ll be able to get a flare wrench on the fuel fitting once the vent gets attached to the tank:

All that’s really left now is to weld the end plates on each side:

and you have a tank! (The little pieces of angle iron are not attached. They just stop it from rolling off the saw-horses.)

Next up… The brackets that’ll hold this beast.

Tags: Tractor

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