Trojan Boat Forum

I'm starting to think about replacing my 30 gallon galvanized steel fuel tanks and was wondering how much they weighed? Is it possible to move them and lift them with two reasonably strong men? Thanks for any info.

As long as they are empty first or almost empty.

I just removed one of my 27 gal. steel tanks. I was able to remove it myself.

vabeach1234 wrote:I just removed one of my 27 gal. steel tanks. I was able to remove it myself.

Were you able to remove it without removing the engine? I think there is enough room to remove it if I remove the exhaust system.

Yes. You can remove the tanks with the engine in place on the 71 and 72 year F26's with V-drives. You just need to remove the exhaust hose from the elbow to the transom. I used a 4" rubber cap to plug up the thru exhaust seeing it's at the water line. I did all this while in the water. Be careful on the selection of the new tanks you choose to install. There isn't much room. The clearance for the fill hose to fuel fill at the tank is the issue. If you could get a tank with an angled fill or horizontal fill that would help. I had to cut the fuel fill on the tank down some just to get the hose on. Oh and the fuel fill hose I had to order was about $13.00 a foot. It was the 1 1/2" vetus flexible fuel fill hose. I still haven't put fuel in the new tank yet. Still have a few outstanding things that need to be done.

Thanks for the information. Is it necessary to support the Vetus fuel hose? With the galvanized pipe it is self-supporting, but I'm not sure if the hose can traverse that distance without support.

It would be a good time to install a check valve in the vent system to prevent fuel spills when filling up . I use the Racor LG-100 ( work gas or diesel ) no more fuel spills . The racor LG-50 is also highly rated .

I made a bracket out of a scrap 2x4 to support the hose. I used a hole saw to make a nice round edge and then sanded any remaining sharp edges. Then with brackets I attached it to the stiffeners of the cockpit floor. I holds it pretty tight to the underside of the cockpit floor. I'll try to get some pictures.

In hindsight, I should have bought a more expensive tank or had one custom made. That vetus hose alone was $181 for 12 feet of it because I had to get it in 6 foot increments. Sure enough I needed 6-1/2 feet so I can't use the remaining for the starboard tank. Live and Learn. The key is to get some really short tanks with angled or horizontal fuel fill fittings at the tank. The original tanks had galvanized fittings at the fill and were pretty tight to the cockpit floor. In fact one of the cockpit floor was trimmed to get it in there.

FYI. My old galvanized tank weighs 52 lbs empty.

Thanks for the information. 52 lbs. should be easy enough for two reasonably strong men to move about. Sticking to the KISS principle, I plan on having aluminum tanks with an epoxy coating made to the identical dimensions of the galvanized tanks. The vent and pickup will have copper fittings to match up to what's currently there. The fill pipe will be horizontal to address the space concerns. The only modification I'll need to worry about is the fill hose from the transom to the tank since I won't be able to use the galvanized pipe that's currently there.

I removed my two galvaniced tanks a couple of weeks ago but haven't had time to mess with them since. Two or three people can pull them out with no major problem. Here is a link to some pictures. http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu27 ... 958644.jpg.

What are your dimensions? These are approximately 4ft x ~ 18 inches.

I am going to clean and then check the condition of them. If they are pitted, then I will start to look at my options for replacing them. I have seen some members on here go with the plastic below deck tanks and have read where others went with Al. Have you priced Al tanks yet?

Bill

My rough dimensions are 15 inch diameter and 40 inch length. I intend to take the galvanized steel tank to the fabricator so they can use the old tank as a template. I requested quotes for aluminum tanks with epoxy coatings from Speedy Tanks in Bayville, NJ (www.speedytanks.com) and SP Tanks in Toms River, NJ (www.sptanks.com). The quote I received from Speedy Tanks was $476 per tank. I'm still waiting to receive the quote from SP Tanks.

prowlersfish wrote:It would be a good time to install a check valve in the vent system to prevent fuel spills when filling up . I use the Racor LG-100 ( work gas or diesel ) no more fuel spills . The racor LG-50 is also highly rated .

Not a bad idea. I think I'll see how bad the vents spray or spit before I purchase one.