Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New Appreciation for Fish Haulers!

I just reviewed this posting an the original statement from Cecil included a warning that hauling fish is dangerous. As any trucker can tell you, liquid will slosh (bad spelling??) sideways, back and forward and can cause you to loose control on a curve. Going up and down hills can be a tiring experience. Put liquid in a trailer and you compound a bad situation.

Stopping is definately a new experience and the weight of the water hitting the front of the tank will always occur just when you are coming to the end of the road or at the stop sign. This can make even the bravest man's feet sweat.

You-ins with tanks may want to consider installing baffles or using multiple smaller tanks to minimize the danger.

Do not overload. If my memory serves me...water weighs 8 lbs per gallon and 64 lbs per cubic foot. Therefore, a small pick up size 6 by 3 by 3 tank completly full can be as heavy as 3,456 pounds not counting the weight of the tank and fish..... Put that in the back of a half ton (1000 lb) pickup and you have put yourself in great danger.

Dennisinponco,

Very good points! I have a single small tank at 181.6 gallons in a 250 gallon capacity tank that I put on a trailer. The tank itself weighs another 400 lbs. I slow down as easily as possibly when coming to a stop and I DO respect the danger.

Tank is encased in angle iron on the trailer bed and I strap it down to boot. Then there's the oxygen tank on the trailer too. Wouldn't want drop that baby on the road! Can you imagine the explosion and how flammable that would be?

I once had a bad experience towing stone that shifted on me in a different trailer, and caused my van to go out of control as the trailer fish tailed. The van landed on it's side and I had to kick my way out of the windshield to get out. I was not hurt but it was a very educational experience on the dangers of hauling heavy loads!

I know a fish farmer that hauls a tank in the bed of a dual wheel truck. He had to stop abruptly once and it was all he could do to keep from getting crushed in the cab by the tank that was pushing it's way in.

Cecil,

I love the story of your rock load and dead van. Great story on the hauler that almost got a large enemia (never wrote that word before, so it may be mispelled).

Good point on the oxygen tank. I once saw an article that said a gas cylinder fell out of a pickup and knocked the head off, it went 200 feet up and then destroyed 2 parked cars after it came down. I see gas cylinders laying loose in a lot of the local farmer's pickups, tailgates open... I bet there is a law against that.

At the very least, heavily loaded trailers should have electric brakes.

The wheels of some of the old pull behind campers have electric brakes. If a person can find one cheap enough, he can take it to the junk yard to strip it down to the frame and then add a baffled tank or build a baffled tank using fiberglass which should be a lot lighter than steel. Some of the old campers are extremly ugly and cheap in this part of the world.

My hauling tank is plastic with foam sandwiched in between to layers. It still weighs 400 pounds!

I have wondered if a guy couldn't make a hauling tank out of an old chest freezer. Any thoughts?

Sounds like an old chest freezer would have an awful high center of gravity. Hauling liquids is scary.

Cecil:

Is your plastic hauling tank a fishing tote that commercial fishermen use on the Great Lakes approx 5' x 5' x 4' high with a lid? The fisherman use this on their boats to store their catch on crushed ice?

With respect to people who break the law, the homeowner must be carefully in how much force or protection he uses and what is seen as reasonable under the circumstances. Excessive force or protection means can be dealt with criminally or civilly where the evidence is weighed more on a balance of probability not beyond a reasonable doubt. A few years ago an federal inmate tried to escape from a maximum security prison and in the process broke his back......the courts awarded him a disablity pension for life from his permanent injuries sustained while trying to escape and committing an indictable offence.......go figure???????

Rowly

Rowly,

It's a commercial tank for fish hauling and even has gate valve to drain it and is sloped for draining. It's called a Port-A-Pond and is made by a company in Minnesota calle Rotamold. Cost was $1000.00 and I've used it for fish hauling trips up to 13 hours. If anyone wants info I can dig it up.

As far as the earlier comment on the freezer, a chest freezer would have a lower volume and center of gravity than this particular tank. And of course you don't fill up tanks completely anyway. Only question I would have would be if the freezer walls would be strong enough. Many now seem to have plastic inside walls. But if they were strong enough maybe inject foam inbetween the inside and outside walls for insulation?

I've heard where there are big casket manufacturers people have made fish hauling tanks out of them.

I'm thinking that the big (148 quart?) Igloo cooler made for offshore fishing would be a great fish hauler when rigged up with aerators. I know it holds a lot of dead fish. Might need to add baffels to keep the slosh down.

Just hauled 20# of Tilapia in a 152 quart ice chest. Used a PowerBubbles 12V DC air pump with a dual output.You can buy both at Academy. The air pump comes with two air stones and tubing.Silicone the hose to the inside of the cooler and put a vent hole in the top. The cooler I bought had several indentions in the top for cup holders. Put vent hole in one of these cup holders and silicone cup holder drain so water will self drain back into the cooler. I got the Tilapia from Boatcycle--nice size 1/2 to 3/4 lb each. Kept them in the cooler about 6 hours with no problem.