Extra fuel

[aintskeered]

I am considering building a extra fuel tank with a transfer pump to the main tank. I am thinking about putting this tank in the walk through section of the bow and toping it off with a filler cushion? So it would be as a playpen with seat backs on the bow and the cockpit side. Rough estimates are aprox 60 gal of extra fuel. 60 gal @ 6 lbs gal = 360 lbs. This would set on top of the ski locker which would render it usless as far as storage as dose the bow fat sac now. Most of the time the fuel tank would be empty.

However on Powell trips we are 1.5 hours one way from the fuel docks which only leaves 1/2 - 2/3 a tank for the week of playing. refills last year were 4$ a gallon as compared to 2.90 at home so savings could come in pretty quick. Instead of every other day a trip to the marina perhaps just 1 fuel trip. Any one tryed this or something simular. I am wondering about the 360 lbs plus people up front is this going to be too much? I also think the play pen seating up fron would be nice.

[qb12]

if it were me i would look at the todd gas buddy that is on wheels and you can roll it down to your boat. it holds 28 gallons and you can buy the fuel at a regular station instead of filling the boat on the lake. (boaters world carries them for 299.00)

i have a 20 gallon one right now and i use it on all my long trips away from our normal lake. trust me it saves a lot of money of fuel. (paid 115 from boaters world)

plus these boats are built a certain way and i am pretty sure adding one would void your hull warranty.

db

[smokedog2]

It would work but if you are going that long is there a pontoon boat involved? What about a car parked closer than 1.5 hours with a tote tank? Pick up the driver and really cut your run time.

I would use a few 10 gal. tanks that can be off loaded.

I may still get the playpen myself. I put it off last year but some folks said they did not use it much.


SD2

[qb12]

sd2,

the real playpen is only avil onthe big brother

not to thread jack but, sd2, skiatook is 12 feet low and corp of engineers have closed all ramps as of yesterday.

[lowdrag]

Sounds like a pretty risky proposition to me. 60 gallons of fuel on the deck of the boat just sounds like a recipe for disaster. You'll need to vent it properly and without cutting a line through the storage compartment to the exterior the vent will be right in the interior. You also mentioned adding a pump. I'd think you'd have to non-electric hand pump. Boats have the fuel pumps located remotely for a reason. About the only exception was either MC or Nautique (can't remember which) which had a vapor lock proplem that was overcome by putting a low pressure pump in the tank to feed the regular pump near the motor. To do that they had to jump through a bunch of hoops with the USCG to get approval. Bottom line is that it sounds danger outweighs the benefits and you could pretty much be assured a fine or worse if your boat were to be inspected.

[aintskeered]

Lowdrag who dose the inspections? park service? I would be suprised if they could tell it was a fuel tank. The 360 lbs would be 14"wide by about 65" which would be about .4 lbs per square inch. way les than a person walking around in there. The venting and pressurization are a couple of Q's that I am not sure about. I was thinking about running a small line around the driverside and tying it back into the maine fuel fill line and let it vent there. We do take other boats with us on these long trips. A house boat usually a pontoon boat and another ski boat. It takes 4.5 hours to move the house boat up there.

[zabooda]

I take my boat camping in some real remote places with the boat ride back to the vehicle is 1.5 hours plus plus another hour to get to a town. I carry six 6 gallon cans of gas and unload the cans on shore when you want to go skiing or stopping for the day. We optimize the trips so that we don't burn up all the gas right away. We tend to leave the ski boats back for skiing and pile into the I/Os for sightseeing. I don't like carrying the cans but the cans come out when we stop for awhile and I put a can in the boat tank when the space allows which means less full cans to move.

[gotmyboat]

I have a DD Outback with a 28 gal tank. I have 5 plastic gas cans (6 gal) that I bought at Walmart. I fill them with 5 gallons each so that they don't weep from expansion. I bought long rubber floormat made for the 3rd seat in an SUV, and put that on the floor of my boat to protect the carpet. The cans ride in the boat to and from the lake, and when camping are locked up under the motorhome. I can easily carry a couple of cans down in the morning to top off the tank. I did two more things to make life easier. One was to buy a long rigid plastic funnel (also at Wallyworld) that fits inside the filler tube. This makes filling much easier and keeps drips away from the baot. The second was to modify the gas cans to vent properly. The ones that they sell out in the West don't have a separate vent, and are supposed to vent through the spout. This makes for a very slow fill (and tired arms). I used a self-tapping screw at the upper rear of the can to make a hole. The screw stays in until it is time to pour, then it comes out (hand tight) to open the vent.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[Wolf-]

The second was to modify the gas cans to vent properly. The ones that they sell out in the West don't have a separate vent, and are supposed to vent through the spout. This makes for a very slow fill (and tired arms). I used a self-tapping screw at the upper rear of the can to make a hole. The screw stays in until it is time to pour, then it comes out (hand tight) to open the vent.

Ditto. I added a small flat rubber washer under the self tapper to keep any fuel from leaking out. Of the tanks I have, only one thought it would enjoy trying to make a mess.

[BensonWdby]

I spent countless thousands on a lake place so my gals-to-ski-site is 0. But refilling my gas buddy takes a 3 mile car ride and lugging the gas down a small hill.

It's all about trade-offs you know ....
Dave