Refueling on the Lake

For those of you that keep a boat/boats on a lake (i.e. you’re not regularly pulling it out to refuel), I’m curious what you use to refuel.

For as long as I can remember, we’ve always just hauled 5 gallons gas jugs back and forth. We’ve adding a new boat to the family stable this year, and it’s gonna be thirsty.

I’ve thought about a gas caddy, but they’re very expensive if you go over about 15 gallons, and they seem like they’d be really tough to get out of a vehicle. What about the Flo-Fast jugs?

I realize that the bigger the container, the more difficult it’ll be to handle/pour. Another concern would be speed. I hate taking 10 minutes to add 5 gallons of gas (45-gallon gas tank).

Anyone have a good solution?

I got two 15gal cans by Jaz from Jegs.
https://www.jegs.com/i/JAZ-Products/547/710-015-06/10002/-1
I use a big 1/2″ siphon.
https://www.amazon.com/FlowPro-Siphon-Self-Priming-Shaker-Style/dp/B081VVP1SL/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=fXI3KqdC68q9Dka9CTfxGg&hsa_cr_id=7455377980601&ref_=sb_s_sparkle

I can carry 12 gal myself easily but 15 is getting tough solo.
Its about 1.5 gal per min to siphon or .5 beer per jug…

I also have recently acquired a thirsty boat. Given how the two of us often have similar posts I’m guessing we’re talking the same style of boat.

Next door neighbors on both sides have the flo-fast system where I’m using 5-6 gallon jugs. They have the roller caddy that has capacity for two jugs(https://www.cabelas.com/product/GROUP-FLO-FAST-CONTAINER-HOSE-EXTEN/3323591.uts?slotId=0). All of us think we have the better system so it’s a bit of personal choice.

Speed – this is where Flo-fast both really really shines and also sucks. In the top 90% of the jug it pumps much faster than a traditional can. However it has problems picking up fuel in the bottom 10% or so. So he takes the pump off and pours it into the second jug, then hooks the pump on the second jug. Fair amount of time farting around.

At the end of the day he’s not any faster than I am getting the same amount of fuel into the boat. He loves that you don’t have to bend over to pour and the ability to roll it down to the water. I can’t stand all the dinking around for the last 10% and have no issue walking a couple old school jugs to the dock.

One note – all of my cans were purchased in Ontario. My 5.3 gallon has a vent on the rear of the can, works awesome. My 6.6 cans have the vent as part of the nozzle, much less awesome. They now make 6.6 cans with rear vents, this will make me much happier with cans vs fast flo

I use 6 gallon cans, but I have modified the spout to be about 3″ long, then I put a clear 3′ hose over the end. The short spout makes the gas run much faster and the 3′ hose makes it really easy to keep the hose end in the tank and hold can and stand up comfortably rather than bending over. It takes less than one minute to run 6 gallons out of a can with this set up. You must have a breather hole in the can though.

You might want to look at a vent kit for your 5 gal cans.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/ez-pour-replacement-spout-vent-kit/0000000244081

Jerry cans for me to top off the toon. I have 3 that I marked “Non-Oxy”. We have a gas station on the lake that lets you use a 25 gallon lever action gas caddy on wheels for when I’m running low.

https://www.amazon.com/VP-Racing5-Gallon-Racing-Utility/dp/B00AVQC01U/ref=sr_1_3?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4pTK6dPq5wIVguNkCh3LMwuwEAAYASAAEgJ5UvD_BwE&hvadid=174288114601&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9019798&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4698434024659677129&hvtargid=kwd-6576134273&hydadcr=7463_9322220&keywords=vp+gas+can&qid=1582563335&sr=8-3

i use the vp race cans around the house for everything, there great with nice vents and nice hoses. you can usually find them in 2 or 4 packs a little cheaper

Haven’t tried it yet, but thinking of the Tera Pump as an affordable option for this year. But I’ll say that the flo-fast system looks pretty great if you need more capacity and are willing to spend $300 to get that jug with the crank pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Second-Gen-TERAPUMP-TRFA01-Auto-Stop/dp/B010GNM7H4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3DJN84V3WIWAV&keywords=tera+pump&qid=1582572519&sprefix=tera+p%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-2

another vote for the EZ pour replacement spout and vent kit. You can take your existing 5 or 6 gallon cans and retro fit them. 6 gallons goes in quick.

Another (cheaper) option is to drill a breather hole and pop in a valve stem with the core removed.

mark-bruzek wrote:

I got two 15gal cans by Jaz from Jegs.
https://www.jegs.com/i/JAZ-Products/547/710-015-06/10002/-1
I use a big 1/2″ siphon.
https://www.amazon.com/FlowPro-Siphon-Self-Priming-Shaker-Style/dp/B081VVP1SL/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=fXI3KqdC68q9Dka9CTfxGg&hsa_cr_id=7455377980601&ref_=sb_s_sparkle

I can carry 12 gal myself easily but 15 is getting tough solo.
Its about 1.5 gal per min to siphon or .5 beer per jug…

^^^^^

This how I do it while fueling on a dock. Piece of cake.

No holding the can upside down, no pumping, no spilling.

Set the can on the dock and give the siphon a jiggle….done.

Make sure the hose is designed for fuel. They have a grounding strip built in (no boom booms) and won’t melt from gasoline reacting with it.

Menards carries them too.

Flo fast makes a great product not a inexpensive option but save a lot of headache. easy to use and fast.

Kind of a duplicate post from B-Mans.

Look at the Shaker hose 3/4″ X10″ and use your portable 5 and 6 gallon cans. Just set the gas can on the deck above the fuel tank and put the Valve end in the can and shake it to get the siphon going. The big tank will empty fast and you can get almost all of the fuel out.
It works great on the snowmobiles as well.
Keep an eye out at this springs garage sales and stock up on gas cans.

Good Luck

Steve