Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion maybe ot, new here w/ Tokheim gas meter questions

I like old gas pumps, but I've not run into one I could afford...yet. However, we moved 3 years ago to a largely undisturbed 1920's farmstead among my wife's farmer-ancestors' wheat farms. In the old 26x100' shop is a 250 gallon elevated gas tank which was used for tractors and vehicles here. Still has the old Tokheim model 727 gallon-meter on it. Ancient nozzle too. So maybe this is as close to an old gas pump as I'll have....for now.

I've rinsed the tank a bit, and today poured in 2 gallons of diesel and 6 gallons of gas into it as a, "wash mix." Turned on the gate valve ahead of the meter...no fluid. So I may still need more gas in the tank to reach the outlet, or the meter mechanism is dry and unable to move whatever rotor or vane that's inside. I am advised by local Grange/Cenex folks, that this meter probably has no filter, being on a no-pressure gravity tank like this. And there is, indeed, no sign of one. For the sake of preventing fuel problems in machinery, I want to install a spin-on filter with water drain petcock. I'm told a filter in addition to the meter would probably result in such a slow flow I'd hate the system. They might be right. But I'd like to retain the Tokheim.

Which brings me to my question: where can I find advice and/or a little information on a Tokheim 727? And some comments on gravity tank systems? Lastly, a comment on reviving the meter?

I've got a 43 year old Oliver tractor here I like, along with a good 1949 GMC 1.5 ton truck. And a couple railroad speeders. I have the potential of having a nice old-time operation here including gas fuel items with a little luck.

Comments? Thanks for reading all the way through this.

Dennis in E. WA state wheatlands

First of all, welcome to the best darn petro site on the web.
As far as the speeders.... Just send them to me. I'll take care of them for you. LOL.

Some of those old tanks, just fill up with crud. Dirt, and rust, and what ever else gets in there. So, you just might want to disassemble the whole thing, to clean it out. I have, an old gravity fill tank here, and it works just fine. Of course, thats after replacing a few filters that were clogged because of all the crud that gets into those systems. If they aren't used continuosly,(sp?) they get ugly. A filter, shoulndt have much affect on the flow. And if it does, that just allows more time to enjoy living on an old farmstead.

I'm sure that Jack Sim, can provide a few answers for you about the old Tokheim.

And about that old GMC ton & a half.... I'll show you mine, if you show us yours....



BTW. Welcome to the madness....

Thanks for the welcome. As far as taking my fuel tank apart, it's a 250 gallon, oval welded steel tank. Nothing that can be taken apart. Since last summer, I've been kicking around what to do with it....if I do nothing, it will never get any better and just take up space. This is a very dry climate, and, being inside, I might have been lucky on condensation. Locals think with a filter, I won't get contamination into one of our vehicles, still, maintaining it as a working tank means regular fill-ups and using what is in it.

I think I'll take a poll on comments.

Nice Dodge you have. I'll try to figure out how to post photos. I have an old photo of my truck on a CD somewhere.

Dennis

Being that it's an OVAL, might have been on old fuel delivery truck tank.

Dennis you might disconnect the pump from the gate valve and then open it to see if you get any flow. Your gate valve may be plugged. If you get your diesel through the gate valve then take some and pour in you pump so it can work through your system. It might work then. I don't know anything about your particular pump but there might be a pump rebuilder in Spokane. If you put your filter between your gate valve and your pump you shouldn't reduce your flow that much. years ago we had an above ground tank with filter that we used to gravity flow our vehicles with, took time but it always worked. Richard

ThunderII: I'm still trying to deal with getting a truck picture posted. Also found that storage tank isn't that bad, but the blockage is in the Tokheim flow meter. Will put up separate post now.

Dennis