Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

How do you fuel your bu'?


Jeffro84

Recommended Posts

Just curious if most trailer their boat to the gas station or leave it on the lake and pay a higher price. Also, is it worth buying the large gas cans on wheels and leaving it on the dock?

Link to comment

I can only recall a few times where we buy fuel on the water. If the boat is on the lift, we go the 5 gallon can route. I normally fill 6-8 cans when we go to the gas station.

Link to comment

Our boat stays in our boat house year round, so in the past we've used the marina for our old boat, but since we got the BU we bought one of those gas caddy's and just stop by a gas station and bring gas to the boat. Has worked really well and seemed to save some bucks in the long run.

In my case I didn't do it for cost reasons only, but did it because the gas quality at the marina was suspect at times. It always seemed like the gas this time of year (probably much of it sat all winter) didn't burn as well or caused some hesitation in another boat we owned. So I opted to get my own gas from a gas station that turns over its supply often.

Link to comment

I use five 5-gallon cans to buy gas at a local station. That saves me around $1.50 per gallon from on the water. I would be curious to hear about the various methods people to get the gas in the boat. I use a large funnel with a 2 foot extension hose. I was at a ski school in Orlando last week and they were using siphon. Any other methods out there?

Link to comment

I think I'll find a gas caddy and try that this summer. I've been doing the mutiple 5 gallon cans for years and need to find an alternative.

Link to comment

We bought a Gas Caddy a few years ago and I can even imagine going back to the 5 gallon tanks. Luckily our dock sits high enough that I can just let gravity pull the fuel into the tank, so I didn't need to purchase the hand pump.

Link to comment

We use the 5 gallon cans. Usually if we go out at night after work, we'll go through about 5 gallons of gas, so one can fills it back up to full each time we go out. On the weekends we'll bring down a couple cans and it's usually enough to get it close enough to full after being out for a few hours.

Link to comment
MalibuNation

No gas on the lake, so it's a comb of 5 gallon cans and/or pull it out. Haven't decided on a gas caddy.

Be careful with static electricity and the gas caddy!

Edited by jchooper
Link to comment

Some marinas won't let you bring gas down to the dock. Some of it's safety, I guess, but a lot of it is that they want you to buy their gas, I bet. It would suck to buy a gas caddy only to find out that you can't use it ...

Link to comment

I keep my boat on the lift, and everyone that rides has their own can. Don't bring your can, you don' t ride :). Don't have to worry about gas money ever.

Link to comment

I am a 5 gal can man. I lower the boat and leave the can on the dock and siphon. I do have a gas station up at the other end of the lake that is usually only 10 cents over road price I will go up there sometimes. it's a long ride and can use 1/8 of a tank on the way up or back. We have two other Marena's that do sell gas also.

Link to comment

5 gal gas cans. It's a pain but I live ~½ mile from the ramp but about 6 miles from the gas station (and most of it is 25 mph speed limit). 15 minutes there, 15 minutes back...½ hour of towing just to get gas? No.gif

I usually just sit the can up on the transom with a Wonder Pump™ siphon hose doing the work. Thumbup.gif How many gallons do the "Gas Caddies" hold? I'd be worried about lifting it in and out of the bed of my 4X. Shocking.gif

Link to comment

We don't have a gas station on the lake, there's a private guy that comes around if you have a contract with him. He charges $1.00 over current fuel prices off the water. You just an orange flag on your shorestation and he comes by during the week and fills it up and mails you a bill. It works pretty well but I don't mind carrying the 5gallon cans down the yard. We usually do 6 at a time.

On the shorestation we've rigged up a nice setup because the gas caps are right in line with the rear post of the shorestation, so it was a pain to fill. I ran a 1" hose to the front post and attached a PVC made funnel of sorts. I have about a 6-8" tall piece of 3" PVC. It reduces down to a ball valve and then to the 1" hose. I just stand on the dock and pour at chest high. You have to be careful about overfilling but it's not bad and I find I don't spill nearly as much, not even a drip drip drip into the lake. WOrks great. When I'm done, I roll up the 6' of hose and use one of my old velcro rope organizers to keep the hose up under the cannopy. I keep a top on the 3" pvc when not in use and put a rag in the end of the hose. I used to have a cap but it fell off and is gone now.

Link to comment

no gas on our lake, so i use thoes freekin 5 gallon cans. I fill 6 of them at a time, and that will usually cover us for a week, unless we have lots of company over or spend alot of extra time skiing. This year I WILL find a better solution. I feel like it takes us half an hour just to fill the boat from all the small cans. Thoes little pour nozzels are so restricting. I might try to find some sort of large and long funnel that will fit in the gas fill of the boat snugly on its own. The idea with that is I could unscrew the small spouts on the can and dump it into the funnel through the 2.5" opening. That should go alot faster than thoes 1/2 inch spouts. Has anyone found a good funnel that fits in the gas fill? I'm thinking that one with a 45 degree bend might work the best

I've had my eye on a gas caddy too, but gravit fed wont work for me, so I'll need a pump. The pump seemed like it would be very slow. Can anyone with a pump and a gas caddy provide info as to how long it takes to empty it with the pump?

What I would really love to do is somehow figuar out how to siphon or drain (or even pump) the fuel out of the truck and into the boat in an efficient mannor. That would be a real easy way to transport 20 or 25 gallons to the lake at a time! Anyone ever done that?

Link to comment
I use five 5-gallon cans to buy gas at a local station. That saves me around $1.50 per gallon from on the water. I would be curious to hear about the various methods people to get the gas in the boat. I use a large funnel with a 2 foot extension hose. I was at a ski school in Orlando last week and they were using siphon. Any other methods out there?

I don't have any gas available on the lake, so I have to buy at a gas station. I have a gas caddy (13 gallons, I think). The thing is heavy and doesn't roll well. We have quite a few steps from the driveway down to the lake and it's not easy to move. On top of that, using the gravity method takes a good 15-20 minutes to drain the entire 13 gallons.

I saw something last year at a ski school near me and I'm going to try to build one. A summary is that a unit that looks like a box kite was built out of two plastic milk crates. The top milk crate had a plastic carboy type water bottle attached with the spout facing down. The top of the carboy (opposite the spout) was cut off to create a giant funnel. There was some hardware and a clear tube connected to the spout.

Here's how it worked. Set the box kite contraption next to the boat. The bottle "funnel" is high enough for gravity to do its work. Insert the clear plastic tube (pretty big, say 3/4 ID / 1 inch OD) into the gas tank. Pour gas from the five gallon container into the bottle funnel, no need to use a spout just pour from the open container. The contraption puts the gas into the tank as fast as you can pour it.

I haven't built it yet, but it's on my project list for this year. That way I can fill up manageable 5 gallon containers.

Edited by CedarLakeSkier
Link to comment

Gas on one lake but not the lake used for the majority of the summer so every time it is pulled for a weekend I fill it up...other wise it's the 5 gallon route!!! I have thought about a gas caddy before but, maybe I'm being stupid but, isn't a 35 gallon gas caddy a little heavy to get out of the back of your truck?!?!?!?

Link to comment

Ours is on the trailer just about every night and the gas station is only about a mile from the ramp and a mile from the lake place, and right in the middle to boot! So, we fuel at the gas station...

Link to comment
no gas on our lake, so i use thoes freekin 5 gallon cans. I fill 6 of them at a time, and that will usually cover us for a week, unless we have lots of company over or spend alot of extra time skiing. This year I WILL find a better solution. I feel like it takes us half an hour just to fill the boat from all the small cans. Thoes little pour nozzels are so restricting. I might try to find some sort of large and long funnel that will fit in the gas fill of the boat snugly on its own. The idea with that is I could unscrew the small spouts on the can and dump it into the funnel through the 2.5" opening. That should go alot faster than thoes 1/2 inch spouts. Has anyone found a good funnel that fits in the gas fill? I'm thinking that one with a 45 degree bend might work the best

I've had my eye on a gas caddy too, but gravit fed wont work for me, so I'll need a pump. The pump seemed like it would be very slow. Can anyone with a pump and a gas caddy provide info as to how long it takes to empty it with the pump?

What I would really love to do is somehow figuar out how to siphon or drain (or even pump) the fuel out of the truck and into the boat in an efficient mannor. That would be a real easy way to transport 20 or 25 gallons to the lake at a time! Anyone ever done that?

You could get a nice diamond plate fuel tank that mounts in the bed & has an electric pump with a service station type hose/handle. Then just drive the truck to the waters edge & fill er up. I have a buddy with a Supreme that does that with success. Here is an example of that. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/sto...06725_200306725

Link to comment
...isn't a 35 gallon gas caddy a little heavy to get out of the back of your truck?!?!?!?

Let's see...35 gallons X ~7 lbs per gallon + ~5 lb container... Shocking.gif ...250 lbs!!

That thing would have ~100 pounds on me. :lol:

Are they really 35 gallons? I've never even looked because I just figured if it was enough gas to reduce the hassle of gas cans then it would be too heavy to lift. :unsure:

Link to comment

I have two 15 gallon tanks that I fill at the gas station on the way to the boat. The boat is on a hydro hoist and when I lower the boat in the water I put one tank on each side of the boat and filler-up. Each tank cost $75, and I am guessing I save $0.75 per gallon, so it hasn't taken long to pay for the tanks, in addition I don't need to go out of my way in the truck or boat to go and get fuel. The tanks look like portable air tanks so they can be a little hard to lift when they are full so I sit them on the wheel barrow to get them from the truck to the boat. Filling the boat is easy, each tank comes with a hose and spicket like the gas station. If I fill each tank with 10 gallons instead of 15 I just hand carry them. The wife laughed at me the first time, but now sees the time and money saved

-Dave.

Link to comment

Locally, we don't have gas on most of the lake, so we fill up on the way to/from.

When we go on longer vacations, gas is typically a 20-30 min drive each way with very inconvenient ramps, so we fill up on the water unless we have to run into town for other supplies. Even then, we don't use many cans because of the steep/difficult walk down to the water. Gas on the water is typically 50-80 cents higher than in town.

Another contraption I saw for quicker filling (also at a ski school) was a large funnel (6 - 8 qt) attached to a 1"OD thick plastic tube. The owner used elastic straps/bungies to attach the funnel to the inside of his thigh just above the knee and the tube just below the knee. With his knee slightly bent, the funnel stuck straight up with the top about 8" above his knee. He was able to put 2 cans of gas into the boat pretty quickly and spill free.

Link to comment
MalibuNation
...isn't a 35 gallon gas caddy a little heavy to get out of the back of your truck?!?!?!?

Let's see...35 gallons X ~7 lbs per gallon + ~5 lb container... Shocking.gif ...250 lbs!!

That thing would have ~100 pounds on me. :lol:

Are they really 35 gallons? I've never even looked because I just figured if it was enough gas to reduce the hassle of gas cans then it would be too heavy to lift. :unsure:

That's reason one that I don't have one ... what do you think 6-7 lbs per gallon?

Number 2 is just another thing to store in my ever shrinking garage.

Edited by jchooper
Link to comment
... what do you think 6-7 lbs per gallon?

Just looked it up...gas is actually about 6 pounds per gallon (6.1-6.5 depending on temp, according to the site I found). So a 35 gallon caddy wouldn't weight 250 lbs. No.gif It would be a svelt 215 lbs. :lol: (still 65 lbs heavier than me).

Link to comment

We buy at the marina. Its only about .10-.15 more than gas stations. Closest gas station is about 8 miles away. We use to fill 13 gallon race jugs but it was a pain always filling them and then lifting them. For about $8 more, I'll just stick with the marina, its next the ramp.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...