Auxiliary fuel tank for a Honda pump

[springhillsmaple]

I'm thinking buying a portable gas tank made for a for a boat motor and hooking it up to my Honda pump so I can run the pump as long as I want. Has anyone tried this or tried some other way to increase run time? As it is now, one tank-full will move about 900 gallons a half a mile down to our sugar house. On a good day we need to move more like 3000 gallons and that's a lot of walking back and forth. thanks

[MISugarDaddy]

I believe Dave Klish did something like that for his RO when he still had a Honda motor on it. You might want to PM him.
Gary

[Cjadamec]

You are going to need a gravity feed tank like one for a portable generator to feed your pump motor. Most marine tanks are a pressure feed and the motors typically have somesort of fuel pump.

This universal generator gas tank replacement on amazon might be what you are looking for. Its's got a 5gal capacity and includes a shut off valve. You would just need a new fuel line to connect the carburetor on the pump to the new tank, and a stand to mount the tank to.
https://www.amazon.com/FLYPIG-Gallon-Generator-Petcock-Universal/dp/B075QF967K?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3

[mountainvan]

I do use 4 of the generator fuel tanks, they work well. I just built stands from spare lumber.

[Sunny Hill Farm]

We use a snowmobile gas tank to feed our gas powered vacuum pump. It has worked well for several years. it is plumbed so we can use the large tank or the motor tank if we want to run a shorter time. it is mounted outside of the pump house and feeds by gravity. We get 8-10 hours run time on a tank of gas.

[springhillsmaple]

Thanks all for the replies! I'll let you know how it works

[miboss]

You are going to need a gravity feed tank like one for a portable generator to feed your pump motor. Most marine tanks are a pressure feed and the motors typically have somesort of fuel pump.

This universal generator gas tank replacement on amazon might be what you are looking for. Its's got a 5gal capacity and includes a shut off valve. You would just need a new fuel line to connect the carburetor on the pump to the new tank, and a stand to mount the tank to.
https://www.amazon.com/FLYPIG-Gallon-Generator-Petcock-Universal/dp/B075QF967K?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3

What size tubing did you buy and did you have to put in any kind of reducer to connect to pump? I got the tank you linked to and some fuel line that matched the spec of my WX10 pump (1/8" ID and 3/8" OD), but that tubing is way too small to fit on the barbed end of the petcock that came with the tank.

It always seems like there's some new fitting, reducer, etc that I forget to get...

[Cjadamec]

I never actually used one I was just suggesting a cheap solution to the problem you had. You will need some sort of reducer to go from the tank to your fuel hose not sure exactly what size though.

[miboss]

no worries, I think I found what I need. 3/8" ID to 1/8" ID. I'm excited to not have to fill my pump every 45 min

[miboss]

I was hoping to pick your brains again. Small warning, I'm not very good with engines...

My WX10 has a fuel return hose, so I'm not sure if I need to do anything with that.

As I see it I have 2 options.

1. I can run the auxiliary fuel tank directly to the carburetor (like stated above). If I do that, and leave the fuel return hose to the tank on the pump, would that cause any issues?

2. I also bought a couple spare gas caps for the pump, could I just mod a gas cap and run the hose from the auxiliary tank directly through the modded gas cap and leave the carburetor and fuel return line alone? I assume that to mod the gas cap I would just need to drill the appropriate sized hole and caulk around where I run the auxiliary fuel line in?

Thanks for bearing with my questions.

[Cjadamec]

Definitely more than two options here.

- run return line back to new tank
- keep return line where it is and Tee into the line feeding the carburetor so that both new and old tank feed the carburetor. You will need to be careful of how high you mount the new tank to avoid putting excess head pressure on the old tank. Or use check/shutoff valves to isolate the tanks from each other.
-Feeding the line through the gas cap will be very difficult to seal and will be prone to leaking I wouldn't suggest that route.
- From what I understand the fuel return line is only used as a way to make the priming bulb work. While the engine is running the return line isn't actively moving fuel. Different engines might operate differently here.

If it were me I would run both lines back to the new tank to keep things simple. That or just Tee into the main fuel line and use a check valve to prevent the Aux tank from flooding the original tank.

[miboss]

Definitely more than two options here.

- run return line back to new tank
- keep return line where it is and Tee into the line feeding the carburetor so that both new and old tank feed the carburetor. You will need to be careful of how high you mount the new tank to avoid putting excess head pressure on the old tank. Or use check/shutoff valves to isolate the tanks from each other.
-Feeding the line through the gas cap will be very difficult to seal and will be prone to leaking I wouldn't suggest that route.
- From what I understand the fuel return line is only used as a way to make the priming bulb work. While the engine is running the return line isn't actively moving fuel. Different engines might operate differently here.

If it were me I would run both lines back to the new tank to keep things simple. That or just Tee into the main fuel line and use a check valve to prevent the Aux tank from flooding the original tank.

Thank you for explaining that to me.

(just thinking outloud..) If the return fuel line is really only used for priming, would it hurt just to leave it in place and not connect it to the new tank? If the tank on the pump is empty and I'm feeding the pumps carb from the new tank, the amount of fuel returned from the fuel return line should be so small, it would never fill or overfill the original tank? My concern is getting a proper seal to the new tank for the fuel return line. Also, my plan is to keep the auxiliary tank in the woods for the season. I'll already have to disconnect one line from the aux tank, but that is via petcock, and pretty simple/clean/easy. I don't have a clean way of inserting the fuel return line to the aux tank other than drilling into the aux and trying to seal with caulk, so that would get messy/cumbersome disconnecting every time.

[Cjadamec]

I would try the simple way first of just supplying fuel with the new tank and leave the return line where it is. Run the engine and hang out to make sure it runs right.

If you find after 10-30 min it starts to run funny you will need to go through the trouble of teeing the fuel supply lines from both tanks together so that the return line doesn't pressurize the old tank.

[miboss]

I would try the simple way first of just supplying fuel with the new tank and leave the return line where it is. Run the engine and hang out to make sure it runs right.

If you find after 10-30 min it starts to run funny you will need to go through the trouble of teeing the fuel supply lines from both tanks together so that the return line doesn't pressurize the old tank.

Thanks, I will do that.