replacement fuel tanks

thataway · Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:01 pm Post subject:

Saddle tanks do have a lot of benefits. I suspect that in a classic, that the aft tanks were eliminated.

There is one advantage of buying more expensive fuel on the water, and that is that most of it, if not all, is ethanol free. We do have several land based stations locally which do carry ethanol free gas, but they charge almost marina prices, plus there is a cost to trailer the boat to their locations.

Sunbeam · Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:24 pm Post subject:

Notayot · Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject:

So I just had to look. My tanks are the Moeller tanks shown in the pictures "Adeline" posted, tank numbers FT 2536 and FT 2537, both marked 25 gallon. I usually only put 23 gallons in each since then tend to "spit" out the vent when approaching 25 gallons. Oh, ours is a 2006 CD 22 Cruiser.

Sunbeam · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:17 pm Post subject:

Interesting - thanks for posting the additional data with part numbers Thumbs Up

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:16 pm Post subject:

As I've previously mentioned, I'm planning to replace the fuel tanks in my 22 Cruiser. Ultimately, I like the idea of saddle tanks, but for now I just want something "simple" to figure out, order, and install, so I was on the verge of getting the Moeller 23-gallon tanks. The 23-gallon tanks have been used on new 22's in the past, and are the tanks used by Triton in the current 22's. These tanks are Moeller tank numbers FT2339 and FT2340. These tank designs are owned by Moeller so anyone can order them (not directly from Moeller but through a Moeller dealer).

However, once I saw in this thread that Moeller also had made 25-gallon tanks (FT 2536 and FT2537) for the 22 Cruiser, I had to check into them before going with the 23-ers. To that end, I called Moeller this morning and asked about them. As it turns out, although the Moeller person could look up and find these two tank numbers, Moeller does not own the rights to the tank design (for the 25-ers), so they cannot be ordered through Moeller. One would have to track down the design owner (presumably someone involved with C-Dory in the circa-2004 era) and get permission. For me, my current tank replacements are going to be a "simple" route (if I were going to put in a lot of thought/effort I would be looking into saddle tanks), and the extra ~4 gallons is not worth that effort, so I'm going to proceed with the 23-ers that can more easily be obtained.

I figured I'd add this info to the thread for the record.

Sunbeam Hot

Adeline · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:17 pm Post subject:

This gets me to thinking...

Adeline was originally delivered with off-the-shelf Tempo 18 gallon tanks.

They actually provide about 17 because of the floor angle and position of the pick-ups.

A six gallon portable can fit between them.

This provides around 40 gallons total (17+17+6).

Later on, tanks were specifically designed to "conform" to the available space.

Pick-ups were relocated.

Capacity jumped from 17 gallons up to 23-25.

A 12 gallon portable could fit between them.

This provided up to 62 gallons total (25+25+12). A 55% increase.

Now some are adapting off-the-shelf saddle tanks to increase capacity.

Wouldn't it be nice if the engineers designed saddle tanks SPECIFICALLY for our boats.

They could be manufactured by Moeller (for example) and offered as options for new boats and as kits to retrofit older boats. Tanks, hardware, hoses.

I'd definitely be interested.

Think of the range...

Adeline has legs for MAYBE 90 miles with her stock 2-stroke 70 (40 gallons@ 2.25 mpg).

That's only 30 miles from port using the rule-of-thirds.

Newer boats with modern motors (4+ mpg ?) and updated tanks (around 60 gallons w/portable) can go 250 miles or more.

If the factory offered 20 gallon saddle tanks that could provide around 100 gallons of capacity (25+25+20+20+12) or 400+ miles of range. Disgust

That would be a HUGE deal for folks heading to Alaska or other remote trips where fuel is scarce (or unavailable)

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:38 pm Post subject:

That would be nice, although I wonder if the saddle-tank area of the boat has had more variation over the years than the stern tank area has. I'm thinking of cockpit boarding steps, cockpit sole, etc.

For me, with a 22 that has the smaller boarding steps and no permanent flat cockpit sole, I can imagine where saddle tanks designed for the new 22's might not fit. OTOH, they might, which would be sweet.

I bet that if one of us had saddle tanks designed and made, there would be many others who would be interested. I know that if an owner went to the time and trouble to have saddle tanks designed that would fit my boat, and I wanted a set, I would be happy to help defray the costs to the person who had to get the first set up and running.

If next year rolls around and I'm still feeling as excited about the 22 as I am now, I might try to figure out a set.

thataway · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:06 pm Post subject:

How about the off the shelf Moeler: 18 gallons 39" long, 8 1/4" wide at top and 5 1/4" bottom, and height 17 3/4" high. My boat is in AZ so I cannot measure, but my guess is that these can be fairly easily fitted on any of the 22's. They are about $260 each. There are more expensive Aluminum tanks (about $500) 36" long, 19" high 6" wide.

On the Delta trip, ran about 150 miles and had picked up a few gallons along the way, but my calculations were that I could have done about 200 miles with the standard 23/25 gallon tanks. (4 stroke carburetors, 90 Honda.)

Jake B · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:48 am Post subject:

a lot of good information here. for this year I am going to keep the 18 gal. tanks and have since picked up 2 5 gallon tanks that will fit between the two tanks. I will take this summer (once its water ready) and figure out my range and fuel burn. I have put a 90 etec on dory and should get decent fuel consumption from that.

after reading a lot of this info, I am not sure its worth the investment to go bigger on the tanks at this point. but look into adding extra fuel via removable containers for the longer trips.

again a lot of good info on here

Sunbeam · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:53 pm Post subject:

Adeline · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:45 pm Post subject:

I measured and the Moellers won't fit Adeline.

I've installed the factory "trays" under the gunnels and that limits me to about 32" x 18" of space between the step and the under-well area.

The best thing I could do to increase range is replace my trusty old Johnson.

That would double it right there. Disgust