Where do you fill up your propane tanks?

[Xavierp]

great looper here
Struggling, actually more than struggling finding a place to fill up my tanks.
U-Haul is my go to place. But 60 miles from where I am
Looking at RV places but nothing close by

How do you handle the situation living aboard and cruising?

Thx

[boatpoker]

Our locker contains two 20lb. tanks (last about 3 months.)and have traveled between Ontario and Bahamas routinely for 30 years. We have never had any problem getting our tanks exchanged (not filled) very close to a marina or anchorage. When one tank is empty, we switch to the other and start looking for a convenient exchange location.

Two days ago the grocery store 300yds from the free day dock in Trenton, Ontario let us use their shopping cart to bring one back to the boat ... they said they'd pick it up later. We routinely have offers to drive us back to the boat. This is pretty typical in our experience and we have never run out of propane.

[fourlyons]

I have had luck refilling my tanks at gas stations, tool and construction equipment rental places, and home heating fuel suppliers.

[Jammer]

We have the smaller 11 pound tanks which does limit options since they cannot be exchanged.


Locally propane fills are available from an independent rental equipment dealer with excellent service and very reasonable prices. I have also used U-Haul in the past. Gas stations in rural areas often sell propane and I have used those also. I have also used local propane cooperatives. The commercial dealers and some of the coops are trying to get out of the small-cylinder fill business but the more service-oriented coops still do it.

[capt jgw]

I've converted three boats to propane cooking and I've always built the lockers to hold two 20# standard patio grill tanks. With those if a refill place isn't handy, an exchange place will be. Almost every gas station and most hardware stores and even some supermarkets have tank exchange. It's a bit more expensive than refill but much more convenient. The steel tanks will eventually rust on a boat but if you exchange them they're not on the boat long enough to be a problem.