diesel tank capacity

[Lin]

Hi, just in the process of looking to buy a boat, liveaboard, what size/capacity diesel tank should I be looking for. I intend to cruise for apprx 8 months of the year & winter in a marina. The ads all have very different amounts. Thanks Lin. :

[casper ghost]

They vary greatly. Mine has about 40 gallons but i've heard of an extreme 190 gallons.

[Nickhlx]

They vary greatly. Mine has about 40 gallons but i've heard of an extreme 190 gallons.

 

 

I am pretty sure ours is approx 300 litres.... or about 66 gallons

 

Nick

Edited November 1, 2009 by Nickhlx

[Pickles2]

Mine has £127 worth at 69ppl (whatever that is).

Edited November 1, 2009 by Pickles2

[NB Esk]

I think it will depend on the style of the boat & other features. Mine is governed by the position of the fuel tank bulkhead, in relation to the weedhatch opening.

 

I've two tanks, one of 150L & one of 120L (internal divider offset to avoid the rudder tube)

[LEO]

Hi,

 

Depends on how you will be heating the boat - if you propose oil fired heating you will find it usefull to have a dedicated tank for the heating system.

 

I have 100 gallon for the engine and a seperate 50 gallon tank for the Kabola.

 

Leo.

[nb Innisfree]

I would guess a standard semi-circular stern about 45 gall, standard elliptical stern approx 35 gall. We have 95 gall which as full time live aboards is more than enough as we use, on average, 5.5 gall per week

Edited November 1, 2009 by nb Innisfree

[pugwash61]

My live aboard has a 90 gallon tank, but is fitted with diesel fired central heating & & 4kvh Diesel engined generator. I use about 50ltrs per month between the pair of them, plus the fuel for cruising. Being down here in the south, there are many places to refuel & its not a problem. weigh up what equipment you will have (diesel stove etc.), have a look at where you can refuel in your chosen area & calculate what you think might suit you. Its a bit like asking, how long's a piece of string.

[Lin]

My live aboard has a 90 gallon tank, but is fitted with diesel fired central heating & & 4kvh Diesel engined generator. I use about 50ltrs per month between the pair of them, plus the fuel for cruising. Being down here in the south, there are many places to refuel & its not a problem. weigh up what equipment you will have (diesel stove etc.), have a look at where you can refuel in your chosen area & calculate what you think might suit you. Its a bit like asking, how long's a piece of string.

 

 

Thanks to you all for your replies , gives me some idea. Now need to think about next posting!

[ditchcrawler]

I am pretty sure ours is approx 300 litres.... or about 66 gallons

 

Nick

same here

[Naughty Cal]

50 gallons, but we dont liveaboard so it is more than adequate for our needs.

[Keeping Up]

50 gallons, but we dont liveaboard so it is more than adequate for our needs.

Is that just a day-tank for you then?

[Naughty Cal]

Is that just a day-tank for you then?

 

Depends on where we are and how fast we can go, but yes on longer, faster trips it will mean topping up daily or every other day

[carlt]

I've got 2x200 gallon tanks though one has now been disconnected and will be purely for domestic use.

[Tiny]

My tank is stamped 40 gallons but on an empty/clean/fill I found it holds 52 gallons.

[Smelly]

Ours is pressure tested at 160 litres but I've managed to put 190 in there... Or maybe I was ripped off

[Naughty Cal]

You will have the filler neck and some pipework to fill as well as the tank so may well have squeezed the extra in there.

 

We where very lucky not to overflow ours at the weekend when filling it from containers. The fuel gauge was well off the scale

[mikevye]

There is a variance in tank size in all boats related to the capacity/power of the engine and the size of the boat. In simple terms whats the point of having 400 gallons available on a 3 cylinder 35 bhp engine? The other consideration is the weight of the fuel, again in a small boat you'd be aquaplaning like filis or have sufficient counter ballast in the bow as to give the impression the boat was sinking!

[nb Innisfree]

There is a variance in tank size in all boats related to the capacity/power of the engine and the size of the boat. In simple terms whats the point of having 400 gallons available on a 3 cylinder 35 bhp engine? The other consideration is the weight of the fuel, again in a small boat you'd be aquaplaning like filis or have sufficient counter ballast in the bow as to give the impression the boat was sinking!

 

Most modern NBs I see differ only in length. Both ends, including any built in fuel tank stay the same, so fuel tank is same on a 30' as it is on a70'

Edited November 4, 2009 by nb Innisfree

[RLWP]

You will have the filler neck and some pipework to fill as well as the tank so may well have squeezed the extra in there.

 

We where very lucky not to overflow ours at the weekend when filling it from containers. The fuel gauge was well off the scale

 

Not on a narrowboat you don't. Ours has a threaded spigot welded to the top of the tank, total length of filler 40mm.

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

Not on a narrowboat you don't. Ours has a threaded spigot welded to the top of the tank, total length of filler 40mm.

 

Richard

About 40mm more than we have, then.

 

Ours is quite flush with the very top of the tank.

 

No idea how much it holds though, as it's impossible to tell how much of the diesel in the bottom of the tank can't be drawn off because the take off may be above it.

 

I'm a coward, and refill it before it gets close.

[Naughty Cal]

I stand corrected

 

Must say i agree with Alan though. The closest we have come to empty was a quarter of a tank left and we were worried then. Needless to say we now leave on journeys with a full tank and top up wherever we can along the way.

[MoominPapa]

I'm a coward, and refill it before it gets close.

What you need is a day tank. Ours holds about 20l, and the engine uses roughly a litre an hour, I always fill the tank at the start of the day so after a normal day the tank is still half full. A long day or a river run might see it down to a quarter full. Whatever, with worst case daily use and even if the main tank runs dry unexpectedly on the first stoke of the pump, I still have half a days fuel to find more supplies. The day tank has a dip-stick built in.

 

This is very useful since our main fuel tanks are fiddly. The tank at the stern holds about 120l and it is possible but difficult to dip that. It feeds (by gravity) a second tank across the boat under the engine room floor which holds about 250l. There is no way to measure how full that one is. I normally leave the valve between the two tanks closed so that we are using fuel from the engine room tank. When that runs dry I open the valve and let the 120l run down from the stern tank into the engine room tank. At that point I know the state of the system with some certainty and can make plans to re-fill.

 

MP.

[Naughty Cal]

Fuel gauges are great inventions

[Smelly]

You will have the filler neck and some pipework to fill as well as the tank so may well have squeezed the extra in there.

 

We where very lucky not to overflow ours at the weekend when filling it from containers. The fuel gauge was well off the scale

 

Sorry, missed this. the filler is cut directly in the top of the tank, no pipes just tank...

 

The closest we have come to empty is, well, empty. None, nuffin, and about 600 yards of Wast Hill tunnel still to go. That was a nerve racking 600 yards as the engine sputtered and coughed...

 

I was surprised how close to the bottom of the tank the take off pipe reaches, there was only about 5 mm in the bottom. I'd had an evil plan to stick a couple of litres of water in to get the last of the fuel out but that was scuppered! Fortunately there's a garage 5 mins walk from the South portal where we found ourselves.

 

I dip the tank a bit more often now and learned the hard way that "50 quid" is a very moveable feast in diesel terms.

 

I still wonder about the 190 litres I put in. It was that very trip that it happened; I understandably brimmed it when we got to Alvechurch. My entirely unfounded personal theory is that it was pressure tested with 160 litres in it but it's a bit bigger.