Propane delivery...

[Victor3]

 My family and I (city folks) recently rented a cabin where there was no electricity. Everything (water heater, oven/range, lights, refrigerator) was propane. It was 22 miles off the highway and couldn't be accessed without 4WD. Even in snow-free condition it took two hours to drive the road.

 I'm curious as to how people in places like this get propane. Are there services that supply homes that far off the highway on bad roads or do folks have to bring it in themselves?

[blind ear]

Look at the tank outside. Does it have a dealers logo on it? If the tank is 100 gals or more the company probably services it with thier trucks. If it is a bank of small bottles the resident may have to transport them.

With all utilities being LPG the consumption rate would have to be monitored closely in the winter, unless they have a huge woodpile. eddie

[Rex in OTZ]

The biggest Ive seen was 2ea 100# bottles boated 48miles up river.

[Victor3]

Look at the tank outaide. Does it have a dealers logo on it? If the tank is 100 gals or more the company probably services it with thier trucks. If it is a bank of small bottles the resident may have to transport them.

With all utilities being LPG the consumption rate would have to be monitored closely in the winter, unless they have a huge wookpile. eddie

 The tank was ~5' long x 2' diameter and permanently anchored. I didn't note if there was a dealer logo on it.

 Nobody stays in the cabin Nov - May. When we were there two weeks ago there was still a foot of snow in places.

 Do suppliers charge by the mile in addition to the cost of propane? I'd think it wouldn't be worth it to send a truck so far otherwise.

 I'm thinking to buy a small rural vacation home when I retire, but the more I learn about living where there's heavy snow + bad roads, the better the desert (or a helicopter) is looking. 

[blind ear]

Here in Miss the price is delivered on Propane. Used to be that diesel was delivered cheaper to farms because of bulk delivery. For a while then there was a delivery fee for diesel to farms. I don't know about how. You will have to check with your suppliers, yellow pages, call them. good luck, eddiegjr

[Lloyd Smale]

they deliver to our camp but will only go once a year when they do the other camps at the same time. If you absolutely need a fill up they will do it but will charge you a 100 bucks extra for the trip. This is a very rural area and i dont know if your gas company will let you get away with something like this but one guy i know has a camp that the trucks cant even get into to. What he did was buy an old 3/4 ton truck and mounted a small bulk tank right in the bed and when he needs a fill up he just drives the truck to town fills it brings it back and puts it back in place and hooks up the lines. He actually lives there though and uses more gas then we do.

[Victor3]

...one guy i know has a camp that the trucks cant even get into to. What he did was buy an old 3/4 ton truck and mounted a small bulk tank right in the bed and when he needs a fill up he just drives the truck to town fills it brings it back and puts it back in place and hooks up the lines.

 I was thinking that was what some folks might have to do. Pretty sure there's some DOT regs that have to be adhered to to do it legally though...

[Cornbelt]

Here in the Midwest, filling stations that sell propane will fill whatever size tank they can get on the scales. Usually 100# cyls. are the biggest anybody brings in, and a couple of those will last quite a while if there isn't a furnace. As far as DOT goes, unless its a commercial vehicle, the tank just needs to be secure and the top screwed on to protect the valve.

[hillbill]

here where i live in MO, a local supplier wouldnt touch a place where yu need four wheel drive to get too.if it was me id rig the tank on a small trailer and just pull it to town when i needed it filled. fill it, pull it bak to the camp and leave it on the trailer, block it up, remove the tires and put them inside.thats what id do. but if its anchored maybe they have been filling it???

[bilmac]

From the dimensions you give I would say your bottle is a 100 pounder. People haul these in to get them filled, they're not light, but they can be handled. People usually have two of them.

Anything bigger and they are filled in place. Usually there is a dealer who will put you on his regular route so you do not pay a delivery charge. If you see big tanks at your neighbors stop by and see where they are getting their gas. 

[Siskiyou]

Back in my smoke chaser days I use to haul 100-pound cylinders up to the lookout tower.  In addition I had two, 100-pound cylinders for a small trailer I lived in at a Guard Station.  During cold weather the life span of a cylinder is short if you are heating the structure, lights, and cooking. 

It is best to have two or more cylinders so that one is on standby.  When transporting anchor securely in an upright position.  If things go sour you have an explosive device in your vehicle, or a potential rocket. 

Test your connect for a leak with soapy water.

[SHOOTALL]

Don't forget the test date on the tank must be good also for some to fill it ( I know some don't check).

[bilmac]

No one has ever hasseled me about hauling 100 pounders laying down, you almost have to have a pickup with a window guard to secure them standing up. They are also hard to secure laying down. Blocking them doesn't work for me, I have a couple of low hooks on my fender wells and I bungee them.

[SHOOTALL]

Here if you go to a propane company they won't let you leave the yard if a vertical tank is laying down . If you go to a refil station they could care less . If you lay them down point the valve at the cab as it will most likely do little damage compared to the tank come rocket ! I had a situation with an oxy tank once , they do move fast.

[blind ear]

Hauling a propane tank lying down, haul it with the base to the cab. Secure the bottle base against the cab where the bottle can't move around. The cut off valve is less likely to be broken off that way. If the propane top valve stem is broken of, the liquid propane evaporation cooling effect will freeze the liquid gas in the tank if it is escapeing anywhere near fast enough to cause a rocket effect.

The biggest danger in hauling propane is in a situation where you wreck and the gas leaks out and is allowed to pool. Propane is heavier than air. It will settle in a  hole if it has no escape or wind to disperse it. Have a wreck in a deep spot, or a hole, and the propane leak will stay there and smother you even if it doesn't ignite.

With compressed O2 there is no liquid vaporization to freeze the liquid, the tank is filled with compressed "gas/vapor". The oxgen will continue  to escape  the entire time the bottle is gaining speed lying on the ground slideing or rideing a cart.  (That is why the bottle should be tied down, and on a cart set to one side and not in the center of the cart, to keep the bottle or cart from acting like a rocket.) It can tear down a block wall or standard wall construction after only a short run distance. A big O2 tank can go through a block wall and fly 2 or 300 yards in the right situation.

eddiegjr

[steg]

I used to have propane delivered to the two 100# tanks that I had, it worked out well years ago when they switched the tanks when you called for a fill, but then they started delivering with the tankers, and make a delivery( top em off) whenever they were in the area. This was fine for a while until that smelly stuff started building up in the tank, because of being heavier than the gas it setteled to the bottom of the tanks, it got to the point that you didn't even want to turn the stove on to cook a meal, it smelled so bad, I called the company and they said there wasn't anything they could do about it, I said there was and told them to come and take their tanks away. after that I went to those smaller 20# tanks, its a pain but no more smell, and I just take them to get filled when I get a couple of empty ones, that works for me. you can go up to 40# tanks if you can handel them.....................................steg

[Lloyd Smale]

Im lucky enough to live in a good old boy area where if you know the propane guy some of the rules are overlooked. Legally to mount a tank in a truck you would have to have a hazmat endorsment to even drive it. Up here there not to fussy about how you haul it or what kind of a valve your tank has ect. If you have money they have propane.

[bigMikeA]

My family and I (city folks) recently rented a cabin where there was no electricity. Everything (water heater, oven/range, lights, refrigerator) was propane. It was 22 miles off the highway and couldn't be accessed without 4WD. Even in snow-free condition it took two hours to drive the road.

 I'm curious as to how people in places like this get propane. Are there services that supply homes that far off the highway on bad roads or do folks have to bring it in themselves?

guess I don't understand the problem..   'round here they'd just chain up and deliver.