How much gas to fill your boat up?

[whitebassman]

Just still getting to know my new Lund Explorer SS 1725 boat this year. Just put the second fill of gas in the tank, and at 11 gallons it starting splashing out just a little bit. So I stopped.

The gauge was just a hair above the E line, and with the 4 July weekend coming up, I wanted to fill it up. But the very first fill when I brought the boat home, it filled up with 15 gallons. (I think the dealer put just a minimal amt of gas in)

I thought this boat was spec'd at 27 gallon fuel tank. There must be quite a bit in reserve after you hit the E on the fuel gauge.

So I'm curious, how much do you fill up your tank vs. the capacity of your tank? And are all 27 gallon tanks the same?

[harvey lee]

I fill my LUND all the way up to the neck and filler. With it totally full, I may smell gas fumes when it is stored in the garage but never a drop spilled that I know of.

I try to not fill it all the way and then put it in the garage. Fill and go fishing.

[Supercrew]

Do you really need a full tank, seems to me it takes some performance away from the outboard. I go with 8-10 gals. tops at the start of the boating season and my Suzy sips it a long time...... allowing me plenty of gas and less weight with great performance. My Alumacraft has a 24 gal tank and never had a need for all the gas or added weight.

[whitebassman]

Thanks for the replies. So far I've made it almost one month between first and second fill. Before buying a boat I always hear about how much of a dent filling up the boat would be, but if it is 10-15 gal/month, then it aint so bad. Especially when I am easily putting in 15 gal/5 days in my vehicle just to commute to work.

I agree with just filling it up partly, rather than having to pull the weight of extra gas along. Unless of course you would be in areas with few to none stops for gas.

But I wanted to know how much I would need, so to not be stranded somewhere with a smaller amt of fuel in the tank than I expected!

[Supercrew]

Really depends on how you run it, I have learned how the gauge works and when it is level I then decide if I need gas, and where am I going and how many days or hours. What are you feeding gas into? I have a 60 hp 4 stroke Susuki that is very easy on gas and I like to get from here to there now...

[jeffreyd]

i can tell you here in phx at the cost co filler up, my dodge ram took nearly 90 bucks to fill. i was on EEEEE and did a tank of hi test for 14 cents gal higher than low grade. wont do that again for a while. just hurt.

[Dale Rueber]

I have a 24 gallon tank and when the gauge is on E I have about 5 gallons left. All of the senders/gauges will be a little different so you will just have to keep in mind how much gas you actually have when your gauge says it's empty. Easy enough to figure out by how much you put in and the total capacity.

When I got the boat the dealer said they put 10 gallons in but the needle was on E. I asked the dealer about this and the mechanic stated that I needed to fill the tank to get the sender to adjust. Not sure about this but it seems to be the case.

One other note, on my new boat and the previous one I had to fill the tank slowly. If I fill at what the pump can put out it will start to bubble back and kick out the auto shut-off on the pump.

[marine_man]

One other note, on my new boat and the previous one I had to fill the tank slowly. If I fill at what the pump can put out it will start to bubble back and kick out the auto shut-off on the pump.

That's a great tip... worse than the auto-shut off is a gas geyser... no fun at all!

marine_man

[LightningBG]

Does it hurt the motor to run it out of gas?

Then carry a little 2 gal can when you know your close to out. When you refill you'll know how much capacity you have.

[marine_man]

Not explicitly... it's not good, but it's not the end of the world either.

I would expect some fuel pump wear due to running without lubricant, but, it's not going to be the end all of your fuel pump if it's not a regular occurrence.

marine_man

[whitebassman]

Well...out pulling a tube, and I ran out of gas! I knew I was close, and we were just about done for the day anyways. So I filled her up, and got to 21 gallons before it just started spitting gas up. The needle is not quite at F yet, so I figure I probably could have put 5 more gallons in, but did not feel like standing at the pump for 5 minutes slowly adding gas into the tank.

The needle sat at E for a while, I wish I knew exactly where my tank is sitting at. I wish it had those fancy digital sensors. I'll have to look into getting some SmartCraft gauge. I wonder if I can rig it on a 115hp 4-stroke Mercury?

[bassNspear]

i try to not put more then 3/4 full of gas in the tank

[Hookmaster]

When I got my boat in 1999 I ran it low until it started sputtering. I had 5 gallons of gas with and put it in and it read 1/4 on the gauge. I left the lake and went to the gas station. With 5 gallons in it was on 1/4; 10 gallons it was on 1/2, 15 gallons on 3/4 and 20 gallons on full. It is a 27 gallon take so I can put 7 gallons in over the full mark. I only fill it to 25 gallons.

[croixflats]

I believe mine is a 21 gallon. My motor goes through the fuel rather fast and the gauge is worthless. The gauge shows empty at over 1/4 tank. Now I just lift the rear deck to view the tank and add accordingly to how much I will use that day. I have a pretty good feel on how much the motor drinks for usage.

I also agree with not filling it full but is a good idea to learn the ins and outs of what your boat can do.

[Northlander]

Whitebass I have the same boat and I can get 27 gallons in. I have learned to stop pumping 4 or 5 times for about 30 seconds while doing so. After 2o gallons I take it slow. At 25 gallons, wich I very seldom have to do, I stop and let it "burp" itself.