re: New boat - major fiberglass work

Unfortunately, the best thing you can do is lawyer up. There's Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that covers warranties.

Only thing I can think is that all the fuel fittings, hoses, etc are foamed in before cap is set, so it may just be that you may as well pull the tank.

I hate how boat MFRs now a days put all their shite in before setting the cap, and don’t give you ANY way to access shite after the fact. Fuel tanks being one exception, but atleast leave access for fittings, senders, wire ducts, etc.


Boat I’m working on now has seacock valves on thru hull literally impossible to replace without cutting a hole in the floor. You can hardly even get to them to shut them off as it is.

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I hate how boat MFRs now a days put all their shite in before setting the cap, and don’t give you ANY way to access shite after the fact. Fuel tanks being one exception, but atleast leave access for fittings, senders, wire ducts, etc.

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Agreed. This is the absolute worst.

Ahhhh, that makes sense. So it won't take fuel properly on the trailer because the tank has a forward vent that isn't working correctly. Angled up it gets air locked.

Idk what the guts on those new boats look like exactly, but it seems this could be far easier to remedy by poking a hole in the deck over the forward end of the tank and running the vent from the front the tank to the fill neck at the transom. Im sure some stupid EPA rule prevents skeeter from doing that, but maybe the could pay a local shop to make the "repair" for you? That might be a better outcome for everyone involved?

FWIW my boat has the same issue. The fill is on the back 1/3rd of the tank and on the trailer and it doesnt have a forward vent at all, it'll only take about 20gal short of a full tank. I just live with it.

Ahhh, yeah this is actually more common issue than you would think. And also classic case of EPA creating problems by “fixing” things for no reason.

You probably have one of those shitty carbon canisters somewhere too then.

I agree with downshift though, this sounds like something that could very easily be fixed with small hole in deck and just covering with pie plate or minor fiberglass repair (depending on a few variables). I might be missing something but I don’t see that equaling a full blown tank replacement.

Man that's lame af. A bunch more junk that's a pain the arse to service to fix an imaginary problem.

What's the purpose of that mid vent? The tank can't air lock in the center if the top is flat.

Agreed. I'm all for holding companies responsible, but i think I'd try to work out a deal here. Ask them to pay for a local repair to your satisfaction and it'll likely cost Skeeter far less money, you far less time, and you end up with a boat you're happy with. Nothing like that would affect resale or anything.

All that bullshite would have to go. Talk to skeeter about having a local shop correct the issue In a minimally invasive way on their dime and you'll have a much better boat when it's done. Have the local shop do away with all that BS and make it a typical back fill front vent setup. Won't ever have to look at it again.

To be honest, even if they replaced the entire tank and fuel system you’re probably still going to fight filling up on a trailer as long as they put that epa bullshite back in.

Suggest locating the spring loaded check valve at the outlet of the tank that provides spill protection reguired by the feds. The gas will dry and leave a varnish coating that prevents proper opening. Take the internals out and dispose for good gas flow. Also the dip tube where pushed on to tank fitting can leak air in. When running , look at full bowl to see if air in leakage occurs. Check to see if tank vent has a free flow.

I had a 30 foot proline that had all of those problems. The worst was it had an aluminum gas tank that condensed water by the gallon