Propane Tank hold-down

[EricMeyer]

Picked up my used S-13 in Nov and promptly winterized it and put it in the barn. Yesterday went out to steal the propane tank off of it for my maple syrup boiler and noticed how flimsey the stock hold down straps are. I'm sure you seasoned egg owners have improved on these. Would you please share some of your solutions?

Thanks.

[Bob Cupp]

My Love Bug has 2 peices of flat stock welded to the base. Welded to the verticle pieces of steel is a metal band that bolts around the tank. A pain to change but it isn't going anywhere.

[Donna D.]

I guess a number of states require the propane tank be removed from the trailer prior to filling in the tank. Getting on and off the trailer can be a pain. The hold downs on my Scamp are the factory original and require a wrench and a screwdriver. The tank isn't going to fall off or walk away without effort, but more effort than I care to go through to remove it for filling

Joy A made her own and the last time I saw her, she ran a coated chain with padlock through the tank handles and down to the frame to "secure" the tank from walking away. Since she did the "mod" back in 2005 and has made a trip to Alaska with the trailer since then...guess it works pretty good

[EricMeyer]

Thanks guys. I have some ideas but was wondering what other people have done. I have the stock scamp hold down straps but discovered them loose with the bolts bent. Was too excited bringing home my egg to check them, and I trusted the seller when he said it was road ready.

[Gary Carvajal]

Since we use our Scamp all fall, propane use was always a necessity on cold trips. I decided to install a thirty pound tank, that puppy is about thirty inches high as well.

I went to the hardware store and bought two pieces of 5/16 all thread three feet long. Then I bent the ends in a vise, about two inches from the end into about a 120 degree bend. Covered the all thread with 1/2 inch fuel hose, and drilled 5/16 holes through the frame top to bottom, put on stainless self locking nuts with a washer and works like a charm. A half inch deep socket and ratchet and in less than a minute it is done, on or off.

Sice I use a thirty pound tank, the three foot all thread worked fine. a single piece of for foot or two two footers would probably work on a standard twenty pound tank.

Gary

[jrnutpaul]

Gary,

When you get an opportunity could you post a pic

Thanks,

Paul

[Gary Carvajal]

Photos of my redneck propane tank holdowns.

Gary

[Benny K]

Howdy, hope you don`t have a problem with the ready rod you used....I`ve had some problems with it cracking in the root of the thread when it is bent too sharp and that would lead to failure of the rod at the bend.......I would have run the rod straight up about 2/3+ of the way up the tank....double nut it where it goes thru the bottom mount and make hooks out of 1/8" x 3/4" band iron, similar as your rod hooks at the top and a 90 degree bend 1/3 of the way down the tank.... drilled to accept the rod with about an inch or so to put on a nut to hold the hook tight onto the tank....this way it would be more convenient to unscrew the hold downs to replace the tank......but then again you may be just fine with the bent rods.....have photos on my webshots but didn`t picture the tank specifically so the details are not too visible....also used a stainless cable to back up a tank coming loose and also to hold down my battery case for theft security....Benny

[Brian B-P]

Even without seeing the photos, I can picture this setup, Benny. Sounds really good to me!

[Gary Carvajal]

Benny your way would be petter fo rsure, once I begin to see any degradation in the all thread, I will re-do it as you describe--

Thanks
Gary

[David & Terry]

Photos of my redneck propane tank holdowns.

Gary

I just finished a mod. where I had to move two 20# tanks off the tongue to make room for a diamond pattern box and I went with a small footprint, 11# tank ( 9" dia.) which had to be moved forward. Just lacked an inch or two to drop the tank into the recess at the junction of the tongue's 4" X 2" channels up front. So, I made a 3/4" wood base support (with angle iron underneath) to mount on top of the channels at the "V" where the tongue jack is. I fashioned a steel band from 1/8" X 1" flat steel to go around the circuference of the tank. I bent out two small protruding semi-circles about 1/2" diameter 180 deg. apart and then bent the ends of the strap out 1" and drilled holes to receive a clamping 3/8" bolt and nut. The band is half way up and sits just above the tank weld around the middle. I hope the tank weld keeps the band up. Feels real good because the flat steel clamps up very tight and I don't think it could possibly slip down lower. The two protruding things receive turnbuckles (one end with an eyebolt and the other with a hook). The wood base plate is drilled to receive U-bolts that go thru the base and down the channel. Couldn't find 6" long round-top (for pipe) U-bolts that are also 2" wide. Seems that the longer the U-bolt is the wider they come. So, I made them from round stock and threaded the ends. The "eye" of the turnbuckle goes thru the U-bolt and the hook end fits into the protruding semi-circles on the band. Now, the force downward goes to the channel when the turnbuckles are tightened, not to the wood base. At the base I screwed 4 small angle irons to prevent the bottom of the tank from wandering.
It's raining so I'll edit this wordy description and post pictures in a day or so.

ps Tank bottoms are notoriously uneven the way they are tack welded to the base. Sometimes the curvature of the tank itself is slightly below the plane of the circular base metal. I had to grind down almost 3/4 of the way around the base circle so that the tank sits vertically and hollow out some of the center of the wood base plate because of the protruding tank bottom!

[Roger H]

I use my trailer through all four seasons. I have converted a couple of single-tank trailers to dual tanks. I find that I really don't want to run out of propane when the temps are in single digits outside.

FWIW, the dual-tank setups are easy to install, cost about $30 for the hardware (not counting the switchover regulator), make it easy to remove the tanks for filling, and give some real peace of mind when it's cold out and you know you've always got at least five gallons of propane left when you start out.

Roger

[David & Terry]

I use my trailer through all four seasons. I have converted a couple of single-tank trailers to dual tanks. I find that I really don't want to run out of propane when the temps are in single digits outside.

FWIW, the dual-tank setups are easy to install, cost about $30 for the hardware (not counting the switchover regulator), make it easy to remove the tanks for filling, and give some real peace of mind when it's cold out and you know you've always got at least five gallons of propane left when you start out.

Roger

That's great, Roger.
My Unik rig was built in Canada with twin tanks. I'm in Texas and don't camp in the winter, what little winter we have down here ( maybe snow two days a winter ). Use only sites with electricity and use elec. htr. A/C is what's important in the Southwest.
Here's some pics of my conversion:
HEY, I can't put even one pic on here. I'll have to find out why!

[Gary Mic]

And I thought those little flat pieces of metal was done by a previous owner!!

I took them out and just tied mine down with a heavy cargo strap! It's nice and tightly in place and I can easily switch it out when I'm near a rhino tank place like home depot. Not to mention when I hit a RV refill station and they ask me to remove the tank! It only took one time when I had spent a good hour fighting with rusted bolts. No more!!

[Joy A]

Yeap, even after that long Alaska trip my propane cage is working wonderfully. The uprights are bolted to the frame and then the band is tightening around the tank. It's going nowhere until I loosen it. The chain is definitely a good thing because I wouldn't want my propane tank to walk off.

I never liked the Mickey Mouse setup that originally came with the trailer. I'm not one to want to be crawling around on the ground certainly not to loosen those pesky screws.

I like just having to unlock the chain, loosen the band and pull the tank out. Simple Pie!!! No hands and knees, just a slight bend over to get the tank and lift it.

[David & Terry]

That's great, Roger.
My Unik rig was built in Canada with twin tanks. I'm in Texas and don't camp in the winter, what little winter we have down here ( maybe snow two days a winter ). Use only sites with electricity and use elec. htr. A/C is what's important in the Southwest.
Here's some pics of my conversion: