Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Where is the best or handiest place to mount a propane tank on a teardrop?

I'm going to build a 5 x 10 Benroy inspired teardrop. It will have a Camp Chef Outdoor Camp Oven on a slide out drawer in the galley. The two most likely places to mount a propane bottle seem to be on the tongue or on the exterior beside the galley.

A big goal is to keep the weight of my teardrop under 1200lbs. I want to eliminate unnecessary weight in the components of my teardrop. My tow vehicle is a 2015 Subaru Forester with a 1500 lbs. weight limit for a towing trailer with brakes.

1) Tongue mount: plenty of room on tongue, may effect tongue balance, need a bracket to fit propane tank, does not obstruct vision while driving, longer more complicated run for gas piping, longer pipes add more weight. noseoil's tongue mounted propane tank setup is inspiring.

2) Exterior of galley: enough room on exterior of galley, need a bracket to fit propane tank, may obstruct vision while driving, short less complicated run for gas piping, gas piping weighs less.

If you don't need a lot, get a couple of the aluminum 6# (1.4 gal) Worthingtons, maybe with a quick-connect adapter.

No need to mount, use the same way as the disposables, only 6" wide and very light.

Or if you do find a good spot, put an auto-change regulator between them.

A lot of people carry their propane refillable canisters on the tongue, where it is protected by the tow vehicle and the trailer itself. If you decide to put it on the exterior (Assuming you meant side?), I would at least put it behind the fender, where the fender could give it a little (very little) protection; but, this is not as safe and secure a location as the tongue, IMO. Come to think of it, I don't know if carrying it on the side is even legal! You might want to check on that. If you decide to carry it in the back, maybe store it in the galley somewhere in a cabinet or box and set it on the ground for hook up when you get to your campsite.

If you're thinking about the propane canister, I'm guessing that you must be pretty far along with your build!!!

Here's an example So Cal Teardrops 10" LP Mount Bracket of a propane tank mounting bracket I'm considering attaching behind a 10.75" wide fender on the exterior side of my galley:

Alternatively the propane tank bracket could be mounted on the outside front wall of a teardrop.

SoCal Teardrops has photos in their Gallery - XS Off-Road Teardrop that display a propane tank mounted behind a fender on the outside of the galley area.

Outside is better but just know there's little risk if you find a place in, long as you follow what I wrote above.

IMO now there are refillable 1# bottles, little reason to use the disposables anymore. Very easy to use the refill kit to fill yourself too.

But two equal tanks with the auto-change rego really makes things easy, if you go on the front tongue plenty of room even for the plastic Norwegian ones.

Esteban wrote:Here's an example So Cal Teardrops 10" LP Mount Bracket of a propane tank mounting bracket I'm considering attaching behind a 10.75" wide fender on the exterior side of my galley:

Alternatively the propane tank bracket could be mounted on the outside front wall of a teardrop.

SoCal Teardrops has photos in their Gallery - XS Off-Road Teardrop that display a propane tank mounted behind a fender on the outside of the galley area.

Please note that the side mounting bracket is different from the other one. It offers a bit more protection. They are both really nice. When I was looking for mounts, nobody seemed to make them for the smaller tank. I ended up using a battery mount kit for my propane.

S. Heisley wrote:
Please note that the side mounting bracket is different from the other one. It offers a bit more protection. They are both really nice. When I was looking for mounts, nobody seemed to make them for the smaller tank. I ended up using a battery mount kit for my propane.

Yes, I see that SoCal Teardrops several styles of propane brackets.

I have no need for their heavy duty bracket with "roll cage" protection surrounding the propane tank because I'm never going to take a teardrop on off road rock crawling adventures.

Another supplier, AdventureTrailers.com, has two different propane cylinder brackets. One fits 5 lb. propane tanks and the other fits 10 lb. propane tanks. Amazon.com sells similar brackets and tanks.

One way to go would be to mount a 5 lb. propane cylinder bracket behind a fender on the outside of my galley and buy two 5 lb. propane tanks in order to have a spare propane supply. The spare tank could be stored in a tongue box. I'm kinda leaning toward mounting the propane tank on the side to facilitate an easier to install, shorter, and lighter weight pipe run to my Camp Chef Oven in the galley.

My ideal set up would be to find an aluminum propane tank bracket, like the ones above, that fits a 12" diameter Viking composite propane tank. I'm still trying to decide whether to mount the propane tank in front (on the tongue or attached to the outside of the front wall) or to attach the propane tank and bracket on the exterior side of the galley. There are pros and cons for ether way that I'm trying to resolve.

DO NOT tap into a portable tank mounted horizontally for usage!

Only ASME permanently mounted, and some DOT portables for commercial use are designed to do this safely.

Store & transport horizontal OK, use vertical.

Esteban wrote:I really be happy if I could find an aluminum propane tank bracket, like the ones above, that fits a 12" diameter Viking composite propane tank

Mounting brackets for Forklift tanks can be adapted. See NashFuel on eBay, maybe Amazon.

Have you looked at standard 20# bottle mounts with strapping, not the hold-down from the top?

Ours sits inside the tongue. It's the 10-11# bottle & we used a welding cylinder bracket as a mount, welded to the tool box in front. Works well, weight with propane & bracket is about 30#. Check my build thread for our mounting technique of the stove you will be using (drawer guides & 2 aluminum angles).