Skidder fuel cell replacement

[jdatwood]

So I finally had enough of the leaking piece of !@#$ fuel cell in my 440D so after looking for awhile at used ones no better than the one I had I decided to go new. I was able to find a real nice alum 20 gal. with a sump and sending unit from Jegs for $300 bucks.  My question is do I need to vent this tank? The machine is set up with a return to tank. I have not run the machine except in the yard and it seems to work great but I did notice a little vacuum on the cover when I opened it which made me wonder. What do you all think?

[mad murdock]

Is the fuel tank cap vented? A lot of time that is the vent on a lot of fuel tanks, you should be able to determine by close examination of the cap. 

[ga jones]

I've replaced a tank on a 540 a. What a pain. had to split the machine to get it out. I don't think an aluminum tank will hold up. To much shock.do you have the old one out yet? Is the tank vented or the cap?i can't remember on the 540 it was 10 years ago.needs one somewhere .

[jdatwood]

New tank has two welded flanges, one rollover valve and a vent I have them both capped right now but can remove one for a vent if need be just wasn't sure if it needs one. The factory tank does not have any vent unless it's through the cap. The new tank's cap is not vented.

[HiTech]

If the skidder stops after you use it for awhile I guess you will need to vent it, or if you see your tank collapsing. lol Tanks have to be vented somehow.

[jdatwood]

Thanks for the help, it makes sense it needs to be vented just wasn't positive. I will use the rollover valve supplied in the tank. Air will vent and fuel will stay in! This new tank is going to be great this winter. No more water in the tank or frozen fuel lines  >:(
:new_year:

[bill m]

Having a new tank will not stop you from having water in it. One of the largest sources of contamination is from 5 gallon cans used for refueling. Also by filling the fuel tank at the end of every day will help prevent condensation.

[jdatwood]

For sure Bill. However in my case it appears that the tank took an impact on the bottom at some point from the previous owner and blew out the seams on top of tank. You could see evidence of that (caulking) all around the top seams. They must have run it with the belly pan off. Every time it rained I would drain water from the filter for a few minutes when I started it in the morning. I bet I got 10-20 ounces of water every time it rained or snow melted in the afternoon sun. Water in the fuel in Maine on a cold morning is BAD you may as well tow it to a warm garage and thaw it out because it freezes back up as fast as you can get it thawed. I went through that this fall, I got a warm spell the first of December and decided to nip this one in the bud. I retrofitted with a 20 gal. tank vs. the original 41 which is better for my needs I have a day job this is just a personal use machine. I only use 4-6 gallons pulling really hard in a day top's. If anyone is interested in seeing how it was done I could post photo's. It came out great, no more water and it looks factory.