Post by kelabar on Oct 14, 2020 12:12:59 GMT 10
This is a copy of a post I put on day to day preppers when we couldn't add pictures to Ausprep. It may use US language like fuel cans and inches, deal with it!
Just some info on my experiences with burying fuel cans.
Four years ago I buried a wooden box. This was to have two 20 litre jerry cans it but I never got around to putting them in. The box was made from old pallet wood and nailed together. After a year I went back and checked it.
The box had been mostly eaten away by termites but the hole itself was still stable. However the termites had created a nest inside the box. It was just a porous, crumbly mass of dirt and termite spit. I abandoned it.
Next I built a plywood box, again just held together by nails. This was buried and two fuel cans (as in the first image) placed in it. They contained 98 octane petrol and Lucas fuel stabilizer was added at the recommended amount.
After a year the cans were dug up. The box was still in good condition. The fuel was used and worked fine. Some condensation was seen on the lid of the box, it was yellowish in color and had dripped onto the cans but had no effect on anything. Possibly either water, a component of the fuel, glue from the plywood or a combination of all three. Not sure.
The cans were reburied with 98 petrol and Lucas fuel stabilizer again.
Similar results in the second year. Box fine, fuel fine, some condensation. I did notice that the level of fuel in the can seemed a bit lower than expected but couldn't be sure how full the can was when buried.
They were dug up again recently.
This time the plywood lid was wet and had been slightly eaten away (2nd image), I assume by termites. The box itself was also damp inside, not just on the lid. Fuel was fine again but the amount in the can had dropped significantly. In the first image a black line from a permanent marker can be seen 1/4 of the way down the side of the can. This was the fuel level when dug up. The can had been filled to the "NOM CAP 20L" writing. So about a quarter of the fuel had evaporated.
This fuel can has a rubber seal on the large cap but the smaller cap is only plastic.These were both done up tightly but either the fuel is leaking from the smaller cap or being forced out through the plastic of the can itself. I think it is the small cap which is not airtight but cannot be sure. I do not recommend this type of can. Plastic cans are good as they don't rust but there must be a rubber seal on every cap. Metal jerry cans (I will try these next) should be fine.
These cans were buried with the top of the box about 6 inches underground. The temperature ranges from around 0C on winter nights to over 40C during summer days. The area is fairly well shaded. Very little rainfall occurred during the first two years. In the last year there had been enough rain to soak into the ground. This would explain the higher level of dampness in the box and lid in the most recent dig-up.
The blue plastic is cut from an old air mattress. Originally to divert rainwater from soaking down into the box, the plastic is very handy to stop dirt from falling into the box when recovering the cans.
The plywood is just some I had laying around. Not great quality but solid throughout.
Initial burying.
I cannot stress how important it is to know exactly where the cache is. It will be completely invisible once buried. Measure, then double check the measurements. It is really frustrating stabbing around in the dirt trying to find a buried cache, damhik!
The box needs to be big enough for the largest jerry cans you will use. These cans are larger than the common metal jerry cans so the box was built to fit two of these. Measure your fuel cans and build a box to size. You can put smaller cans in a larger box but these larger cans won't fit in a box made for metal cans.
There is a lot of dirt to remove. It does weigh a lot but handling is more difficult than weight. Either take a vehicle to cart the dirt away or spread it around the area.
Spreading:
Buckets are really useful for this. Fill a bucket, walk a distance away and spread the dirt so it isn't noticeable. Under bushes is good as it isn't very visible. Another alternative is to carry the dirt a fair way away and dump it. The cache site will be invisible once covered over so as long as the dirt is a fair way away the cache will not be discovered.
Removal:
Dirt spreads out when piled up. A trailer or ute would be the best way to remove the dirt. A car or wagon could be used but there will be a lot of buckets/bags/totes of dirt to move. Don't underestimate the weight or volume needed.
Digging the hole is the hardest part.
Use groundsheets around the hole. The different colored dirt from further down stands out against the normal topsoil color. Easier to spill it on a groundsheet than to try to hide it after. Scrape the leaf litter to one side. Then remove the top couple of inches of dirt and keep it separate. This will usually be a different color to the rest of the dirt from further down. Use this pile as the final layer of dirt when backfilling to help camouflage the cache.
An easy way is to dig four post holes and collapse the remaining dirt into these holes. A shovel/spade can be used but take care not to damage the sides of the hole too much. This makes camouflaging more difficult. A smaller hole means less disturbance so less noticeable.
It is very difficult to remove dirt from a couple feet down. This is full arms reach and difficult as you are bending and stretching down as you near the bottom of the hole. A scoop of some sort will help with this. I have used a large food tin and that worked well.
Once the hole is dug put the box in. Plan to have the top of the box at least 15cm down. This stops any bounce in the lid or hollow sound when walked on.
Backfill the hole to about 5cm below the top of the box. Place the plastic cover over the box and push the plastic down into the 5cm gap. This will stop dirt getting into the box.
Cover the plastic with dirt up to normal ground level using the topsoil as the final layer. Done.
Just some info on my experiences with burying fuel cans.
Four years ago I buried a wooden box. This was to have two 20 litre jerry cans it but I never got around to putting them in. The box was made from old pallet wood and nailed together. After a year I went back and checked it.
The box had been mostly eaten away by termites but the hole itself was still stable. However the termites had created a nest inside the box. It was just a porous, crumbly mass of dirt and termite spit. I abandoned it.
Next I built a plywood box, again just held together by nails. This was buried and two fuel cans (as in the first image) placed in it. They contained 98 octane petrol and Lucas fuel stabilizer was added at the recommended amount.
After a year the cans were dug up. The box was still in good condition. The fuel was used and worked fine. Some condensation was seen on the lid of the box, it was yellowish in color and had dripped onto the cans but had no effect on anything. Possibly either water, a component of the fuel, glue from the plywood or a combination of all three. Not sure.
The cans were reburied with 98 petrol and Lucas fuel stabilizer again.
Similar results in the second year. Box fine, fuel fine, some condensation. I did notice that the level of fuel in the can seemed a bit lower than expected but couldn't be sure how full the can was when buried.
They were dug up again recently.
This time the plywood lid was wet and had been slightly eaten away (2nd image), I assume by termites. The box itself was also damp inside, not just on the lid. Fuel was fine again but the amount in the can had dropped significantly. In the first image a black line from a permanent marker can be seen 1/4 of the way down the side of the can. This was the fuel level when dug up. The can had been filled to the "NOM CAP 20L" writing. So about a quarter of the fuel had evaporated.
This fuel can has a rubber seal on the large cap but the smaller cap is only plastic.These were both done up tightly but either the fuel is leaking from the smaller cap or being forced out through the plastic of the can itself. I think it is the small cap which is not airtight but cannot be sure. I do not recommend this type of can. Plastic cans are good as they don't rust but there must be a rubber seal on every cap. Metal jerry cans (I will try these next) should be fine.
These cans were buried with the top of the box about 6 inches underground. The temperature ranges from around 0C on winter nights to over 40C during summer days. The area is fairly well shaded. Very little rainfall occurred during the first two years. In the last year there had been enough rain to soak into the ground. This would explain the higher level of dampness in the box and lid in the most recent dig-up.
The blue plastic is cut from an old air mattress. Originally to divert rainwater from soaking down into the box, the plastic is very handy to stop dirt from falling into the box when recovering the cans.
The plywood is just some I had laying around. Not great quality but solid throughout.
Initial burying.
I cannot stress how important it is to know exactly where the cache is. It will be completely invisible once buried. Measure, then double check the measurements. It is really frustrating stabbing around in the dirt trying to find a buried cache, damhik!
The box needs to be big enough for the largest jerry cans you will use. These cans are larger than the common metal jerry cans so the box was built to fit two of these. Measure your fuel cans and build a box to size. You can put smaller cans in a larger box but these larger cans won't fit in a box made for metal cans.
There is a lot of dirt to remove. It does weigh a lot but handling is more difficult than weight. Either take a vehicle to cart the dirt away or spread it around the area.
Spreading:
Buckets are really useful for this. Fill a bucket, walk a distance away and spread the dirt so it isn't noticeable. Under bushes is good as it isn't very visible. Another alternative is to carry the dirt a fair way away and dump it. The cache site will be invisible once covered over so as long as the dirt is a fair way away the cache will not be discovered.
Removal:
Dirt spreads out when piled up. A trailer or ute would be the best way to remove the dirt. A car or wagon could be used but there will be a lot of buckets/bags/totes of dirt to move. Don't underestimate the weight or volume needed.
Digging the hole is the hardest part.
Use groundsheets around the hole. The different colored dirt from further down stands out against the normal topsoil color. Easier to spill it on a groundsheet than to try to hide it after. Scrape the leaf litter to one side. Then remove the top couple of inches of dirt and keep it separate. This will usually be a different color to the rest of the dirt from further down. Use this pile as the final layer of dirt when backfilling to help camouflage the cache.
An easy way is to dig four post holes and collapse the remaining dirt into these holes. A shovel/spade can be used but take care not to damage the sides of the hole too much. This makes camouflaging more difficult. A smaller hole means less disturbance so less noticeable.
It is very difficult to remove dirt from a couple feet down. This is full arms reach and difficult as you are bending and stretching down as you near the bottom of the hole. A scoop of some sort will help with this. I have used a large food tin and that worked well.
Once the hole is dug put the box in. Plan to have the top of the box at least 15cm down. This stops any bounce in the lid or hollow sound when walked on.
Backfill the hole to about 5cm below the top of the box. Place the plastic cover over the box and push the plastic down into the 5cm gap. This will stop dirt getting into the box.
Cover the plastic with dirt up to normal ground level using the topsoil as the final layer. Done.