GFS,

This may be a dumb idea but here goes, with the intent of breaking the bond between the hose and foam. Insert a round wood plug into the hose as close as possible to where the hose begins to be imbedded in the foam, then clamp a long pipe wrench over the hose/wood plug area and use torque/twisting of the hose to break the bond.

Hoping you find a method that works soon; good luck.

The hose OD is usually larger than the hole for the fill fitting so this might not work fer ya. :(

If you can plug both ends, collapse it with vacuum to break it apart from the foam

I think most fill hoses have a spiral of wire - mine did - that will keep it from collapsing with a vacuum. But it opens up an idea - if you pull the wire out it may make the hose more flexible and collapsible. That might free it up from the foam a bit.

How do they put it together? Fill goes on before liner goes in? Why yes Sandy, they do.

Thought I was onto something...

The outrigger pad is pretty close. Maybe a sneak attack position.

That fill hose ain`t cheap.

The wire in the hose usually corrodes but as a last resort, who knows. Looks a tad large and
lumpy by the tank

The vent is right next door and also has me wondering.
Well, the pressure washer is waiting for me in the morning. The plastic barrel will house my new fuel. I will then run the water hose in the tank for a good bit. Take a smoke break.
Boom. Edit that. I can smell the fumes on the sidewalk 10 ft. away.

If I were a smart man, I would rewire the house now, but as evidenced by the last time I had the coffin hatch out, I clearly am not a smart man. Right before my first gathering some seven years ago now.

Thanks All.

When I pulled the tank on my 18' SF I ended up cutting into the glass with a hole saw and using various blades to cut the hose free.

Wait... I then took a jig saw and connected all my holes. Then still had a heck of a time. It was the single hardest part about replacing my tank.

I then glassed it back together. But the PO had built the casting step into a flush front deck so cosmetic imperfections of the glass repair were not an issue as they are covered.

I think at very modest vacuum, like shop-vac level vacuum, you are right. But if some boat builder has a real vacuum pump, then 15 PSI x all those inches of hose area should buckle it at a bend and continue collapsing from there, I would think.

A tank won't take any real vacuum, so the hose doesn't need to be engineered to either.

*I think*

The fill hose has a helical wire inside it. Hard to imagine a vacuum collapsing it. We would need an engineer to determine if it is possible. Hmmm, any engineers around here? :)

Don's right, those fill hoses have significant wire reinforcement built into the walls of the hose, plus a round hose shape naturally has a significant amount of hoop strength in compression as well. Even if you could pull a perfect vacuum on it, I don't think a mere 14.7 psi of compressive pressure would even faze it!

I was looking at hose @ BOW today. I think you would need a vice to collapse it.
It was laughing at me.