Fuel tank failure?

Montemar

Montemar

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www.voltloudspeakers.co.uk
Greetings
I may be transporting a 25 year old boat with twin SS fuel tanks which are full of diesel if a sale goes ahead.
I wondered if this may be risky as the road vibrations could cause rupturing of the 360 litre tanks.
I would be most grateful to hear opinions/experiences of this.
 
Get a couple of empty barrels 205Ltr each:
1 job done
2 peace of mind
3 you should have a good look at any insurance policy involved, it may well specifically exclude using a boat as a fuel tanker.
 
Shouldn't think it would be any worse than shaking up the Portland race, or even the diesel tank on the lorry. I wouldn't worry.
 
dustywings said:
Surely the motion of being on a transporter will not be as violent as some sea states the boat will be expected to encounter, I would have thought the tanks will be constructed to take more than this will expose them to.
Click to expand...

Yeh ,I would have thought a road journey will be a relatively relaxing ride for the boat compared to bombing up in a head sea flying off the top of the occasional waves between slamming !
 
I agree re road being no worse than the sea ( better?) but there are lots of threads that claim transporting by road has churned up a load of gunk in the tank - which similarly does not really make sense to me.
 
there can be problems because of the accelerations the boat experiences on the road - not from the towing vehicle which is quite gentle, but shocks through the trailer suspension from ruts, pot holes etc. These shocks can be of a much higher frequency with higher energy effects. The accelerations experienced at sea are less as the water always "gives" and of lower frequency. I suspect recent boats with new tanks etc would be fine, but older ones with some corrosion and maybe not so well designed might crack. Probably best to get most of the fuel out just in case.
 
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I think i,ve got it -assuming its true road transport may bust tanks ??
In the water the hull fully supported as designed whether on a calm mooring or slamming in a head sea the whole hull is supported .
On a trailer only parts ( pads etc ) support the now flexible plastic hull and the way the tank is mounted is crucial - it might end up taking up strain transmitted through the now incorrectly ( was not designed for this -sat on pads ) Supported hull.
Fill it with a few 100 kg of fuel
Sprinkle in a few bumps along the way over 2-4 days = ruptured tank .
I guess it's a factor of how well the boat is supported AND how the tank(s) are actually fixed / bonded to the hull??
 
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Surely the way forward is to talk to the road transport company.
I had our first boat transported . It had a good half a tank of fuel in it .The tank was aluminium. Removing the fuel never came into conversation.
 
Hi, Just as a thought on fuel tanks, the old stbd fuel tank is leaky and the boat has had a new 150 gal clear plastic tank fitted behind the gearbox by the last owner .As the old stbd tank is built into the boat i'm thinking of filling it up with foam to use as buoyancy and forget it , do you think this is ok or any ideas .cheers.
 
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