Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I'm thinking of buying a truck and installing a transfer tank in there strictly for refueling the boat. Has anyone else done this set-up yet on the bed of a pick-up ... and possibly provide some clues of things to consider?!? :cool:

I know the pump needs to be GAS rated for lubrication and the laws could be sticky on transporting the fuel around (I am checking into this). But I am really only going about 1.5 miles down, my 35mph street, to gas station, fueling up, turning around, and 1.5 miles back home. No real danger or risk there IMHO :)
Here's a site I found while searching and see some other posts on OSO using them ... please fire away some feedback! Thanks Chris :drink: :drink:
transferflow tanks

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

My understanding is that DOT restricts the amount of fuel transported to 100 gallons or less. I have a 100 gal tank in the back of my truck because in the past I had access to race fuel, but frankly it always made me a little nervous when you consider becoming toast if some ahole pulls out in front of you, rear-ends you, or tosses a cigarette butt in your direction.

Is it really worth the cost of another vehicle and insurance?

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I just put my (6) 7.5 gallon gas cans in the back of the F-350 and take them to the gas station, SIT them on the ground and fill them up. Then I just lug them down to the dock, and fill the Nordic. Sometimes it takes a couple of trips to fill the 190 gallon tanks on the Nordic, but I try to not let her get too low.
Dean

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I have thougfht about doing this also but I can pull the Cig fill it (180 gals max) and have it back on the lift in about 2 1/2-3 hours. The bullet has two tanks and the station I go to has pumps spaced so I can use two pumps at once.

I decided againt the refueliing rig beause I dont think I could actually save any time on a complete fill up. With a 100 gal tank in the truck I would have to make two trips two station. That would 4 pump cycles fill/tank/fill boat twice if I fill boat at station its one pump cycle (two hoses at once). Also the wear and tear on the lawn backing the truck up to the dock then a long enough hose to get to boat twice the time savings does not add up in fact it would probably be longer. I am thinking of one of thise 25 gal fuel caddys for when I just need a little and dont wnat to pull it out for a fill up.

Plus you have all the fun at the gas station of people wanting to talk about that Cigarette boat. I can explain to them yes it truely is a Cigarette boat lol.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

"Izzat wun nem see-gar boats?"

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Klaw,
My neighbor has one of those 25 gallon gas caddy, BUT it's a PIA to get it out of the truck, and down to the dock, plus his is just gravity feed, so he has to lower his boat down into the water to fill. I know you said you could back your truck down to the dock, but I've tried his gas caddy, and I like my way better. More gas, easier to handle, and I don't have to move my boat on the lift. :D
Good luck,
Dean

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

There was a guy around here who would mix 50/50 race fuel in his boat sometimes. he had a tank in the back of his pick-up.

I've found that the pumps on land are much slower and take way to long to fill anything more than 50 gallons.

A few weeks ago when I had my boat on the trailer I took it over to the local station for 75 gallons. It took me 45 minutes. :eek:

I'll just stick to filling up at the fuel dock. I just don't have the time to run around with a truck anymore. Besides, it's a PITA when you have 21 ft of truck and 40+ ft. of trailer at the local gas station. And the local yocal's asking stupid questions about the boat, I just want to get some gas. :(

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Frank, I'm afraid of 'bad gas' and ruined engines :( :( on the water. I too don't want to lug a 28 gallon caddy around and up and down truck beds. I figured I could get 100' of hose and a 20-30/min pump should do the trick when I back in my driveway.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I looked into this idea myself. The main problem is that no transfer tanks are rated for gasoline. It is not just a DOT restriction, but there is an issue with the venting vapors and flammability of gas.

These diesel & turbine guys may be on to some new/old school. :rolleyes: :drink: :rolleyes:

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

The best set up that I've seen and been involved with is a converted trailer. We took a double jet ski trailer and installed a 150 gollon tank on it with pump and hose. The rig was small enough that it didn't take up much room when not in use and was pretty cheap to build.....

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Chris, my brother and I put a 85 gallon tank into our pull rig (3/4 ton GMC) 20 years ago when we ran avgas for our Formula. We used gravity flow with a long hose to fuel the boat. We'd pull the boat up to the boat ramp dock and pull the truck part way down the ramp. I always worried about all the fuel right behind the cab and probably would go a different route today. Good luck, Jeff

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Hey Tom. the link I provided in the 1st thread has DOT tanks approved, rated, for GAS or DIESEL ... Check it out?! :confused:

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Thx LF, Looking into all options :cool: Truck has appeal for a few reasons ... for my purposes. Sounds like your set up accomplished the task at hand nicely though :)

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I actually just built a fuel trailer, it is a old motorcycle trailer I had and a 120 gallon AL tank off of a Dump truck. I havent filled it up yet because I am still tryingt o deciede if I want to gravity feed it or do a pump?? I will post a pic tomarrow :eek:

WILL

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Yeah here in NJ I'm on a lift, on the water in my backyard, so I can just back into driveway and run a hose. Won't be gravity pump, so that'll run a few $$$$ extra, but should work. Also, have spoke to a 'few' neighbors who would be willing to share the initial expense to get up and running and to be put on the 'fuel stop' list :D :evilb: :drink:

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I used to haul gas in my pickup and fill my 42 Fountain at home. I had a 125 gallon tank with 50' of hose, a digital meter to keep track of the gallons pumped out, and a nozzle similar to the ones at the gas station.

I had it sitting in the front of the bed and I had a topper on the truck so you couldn't see the ugly thing. I had a marine fuel-fill mounted on the side of the topper and also a marine vent to keep the fumes outside.

I kept the pump in the "on" position all the time and had a switch mounted at the rear of the bed to turn it on and off.

It was kind of a pain to do all this, it would take 20-30 min to fill at the gas station and 45-60 min to fill the boat, but the Fountain had two fuel fills on each side and manuvering at the gas station was not easy to do.

When I got the 47 I decided to just fill up on the water, so I removed the tank from the truck. Now with gas being so high, probably $1 - $2 more on the water, I may start doing it again. I trailer the boat, but at 70' long, it's very difficult to find a gas station that I can fit into without blocking the driveways.

As for safety, I always unloaded the gas as soon as possible. I never had more than a few gallons in the tank unless I was ready to fill the boat. By keeping track of the fuel used, I was pretty good at buying just the right amount so as to keep the tank empty during regular use of the truck.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

they've slowed the gasoline pumps down so damn much on land...because of the price

at the old faster pump speeds, in the time it takes to give a good ogling to the hottie on the next pump...you're at $50!!! :D :p

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Most people in this thread have tried what works for them. I to have done the same for these reasons. 1) the marinas at my lake have kids working the gas docks and don't take care not to spill gas on the side of the boat (twice, with twin tanks) :eek: :mad: . 2) the marina gas is about 30-40 cents higher and only 91 octane.

I picked up a 115 gallon transfer tank (aluminum tank w/baffles) at the tractor supply store. Had them special order a 200', 3/4" gas hose with digital flow gauge and auto cut of gas nozzle. Pump runs on a 12v battery so I just keep a spare 12v battery around. Put all this on a golf cart/atv trailor. Found a local station w/93 octane, and about 4-5 credit card transactions, my tank is full.

Takes me about 30-45 minutes to put 55 gallons in each tank. I have a private dock for the boat, so its a simple task I do durning the week. :cool: :D

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Oh, yea. Forgot to say, I did try the tank in the truck thing.

When the tank was very full and the truck was parked on an unlevel surface with the gas fill at the lowest point, as soon as it got hot outside and the gas inside the tank expanded, I would have gas overflowing the fill and in the bed of the truck. :eek: :eek: Talk about fumes inside and outside the truck! Wow.

So I went the trailor route. Has been working well for me the last 10 years.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

NJGR8, sorry missed your link there. I was checking through all my construction suppliers...shows what they know :D

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I used to have a 150 gallon tank in the back of a 1 ton,scared me to death driving it around.Had a very good friend burn to death in a truck with a similar setup that was involved in a minor accident.Go for the trailer setup.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

It may be a smart idea for us in the Richmond area to build a community refueling trailer. Some of our counties are doing this mandatory Ethanol thing, and personally, I plan to avoid the counties that have it mandated when it comes to fueling my boat, and I unfortunately live in one. We have a local fueling expert, and he may chime in.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Brian, Hopefully I will have mine down at teh lake next weekend and you can look at it, to get some ideas :drink:

WILL

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

We use a setup kinda like this for jetski rentals..its a trailer with a tank on it, but instead of hauling it around it has a privacy fence around it and a 12v battery there to power it. Once a week the guy from the local fuel co. comes and fills it up, and the price is a few cents cheaper than the gas station on the corner. His truck has a nice long hose so the tank can be a good distance from the street and because its a portable tank it avoids most permitting issues. Just a thought, if your town has a fuel co. that delivers.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

The ag. and commercial guys have been using transfer tanks for decades. I'd think a person would be able to run a similar set up for fueling the boat.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

few points
1- a fuel tank is safer full then empty, somebody mentioned that they left there's empty for safty reasons.
2- I have fuel delivered to my property 500 gallons at a time. I can have the fuel delivered for LESS than I pay on the street. I have a holding tank and a pump.

RT

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Brian, exactly what I'm hoping to do here in NJ :) Hope to get a few guys interested. Who's your local fueling expert?

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

That's an option worth looking into too. Then again, friends and neighbors would be pulling up at my dock to fuel up then :eek: :eek: wifey will just love that :rolleyes: :D :evilb:

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Good points RBT :drink: Thanks bud.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Maybe Point Bay Fuel can come fill up the tank on your property?

Get the boat in the water yet?

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

Linster might have a few tips. He builds gas stations for a living.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I'll have to check that out.

Hopefully the end of this week ... or next.

Re: Thinking of buying a beater truck and installing a RE-fueling tank.
 

I assume your tank is above ground? What size is it? Did you have to go through a bunch of permitting?