Outboard Motor Test Tanks: Design & Construction

[Instigator]

We have tons of gas wells by us and they have huge, vertical storage tanks.

Tonight on my way home from the local establishment, passing the well tanks, I thought......., what if we laid one down, cut it in half longwise, and buried it to ground level?

We’d have to torch one end out to back the boat into it but I think they’re big enough to work.

Probably 10’ diameter and 20’ tall.
Ish

Id think cheap to buy too.

[Ronnie C.]

Check out poly tanks,used in the fertilizer business.All shapes n sizes.the smaller 500 gal. strapped tanks in use to give away,good for smaller engines.If you have a fertilizer place close to ya check out if they have any bigger damaged tanks,easy to fix.Most time they give them away rather then spend time to cut them up.

[MattGreen]

You guys are onto something here. If you have the space to set it up, I agree that a re-purposed storage tank, either steel or plastic, could be a great and cheap setup. A steel tank would give you the option of easily welding in baffles.

I've used a 125 gallon plastic "stock tank" (intended for horses to drink out of) with a lid for just doing idle mixture adjustments. With a plywood lid and a test wheel it's worked quite well to get carb idle setting really close, so you just need a few tweaks at the dock/ramp. It was like $80. It is way too small to run above a fast idle.

Matt

[MattGreen]

the good thing about saving some money is that you can buy a test wheel that can turn both clockwise and counterclockwise!

Attachment 480979

Hey Ronnie tell us more about your dyno setup. It's not in my budget but definitely interested to hear about it. Did you buy it new or used ?
Matt

[PanRonnie]

Hey Ronnie tell us more about your dyno setup. It's not in my budget but definitely interested to hear about it. Did you buy it new or used ?
Matt

Well dyno setup would be an overstatement, earning money seems to be getting in the way
i have 2 tanks the one in the first page i welded myself ,wanted it to be very sturdy
40*40 mm square tubing 4mm thick with a plywood interior waterproofed with fiberglass
and an agricultural tank as supply tank for the dyno
you need a serious water pump for that
i had bought it for tuning first DTA and then my megasquirt ecu,s but when you have your own company and need the space things tend to be put on hold
i did an on water test running autotune within tunerstudio with a megasquirt ecu so you don,t actually need the dyno but it is good fun!
one with the dta ecu you can hear me controlling the rpm by changing the load