Adding ballast to the bow?

[Keyboardman]

Hi all, I have a 21ft walk around cuddy with a new to the boat Evinrude 200 on an offshore bracket. This engine replaced a 150 and now the added weight has the stern sitting lower than the deck drains and unless plugged, they flood the bilge. Is it feasible to add ballast to the bow to try and compensate for the imbalance or should I just keep the deck drains plugged, not worry about it and go boating. Thanks.

 

[jbcurt00]

You want to compensate for too much weight too far aft by adding weight and lowering the bow... seems the Rube Goldberg method...

 

[jimmbo]

How many lbs heavier is the 200 over the 150?
Perhaps the Deck Drains should be dumping overboard, not into the Bilge

 

[Keyboardman]

Not sure on the actual weight difference but it's enough to make the stern sit about 2" lower in the water. The deck drains are now under water and allow water into the boat. I have them plugged right now.

 

[ahicks]

Not sure on the actual weight difference but it's enough to make the stern sit about 2" lower in the water. The deck drains are now under water and allow water into the boat. I have them plugged right now.

You MIGHT want to have the boat weighed?

 

[Keyboardman]

Not sure how I would go about getting the boat weighed.

 

[flashback]

Assuming you have a self bailing cockpit the only solution would be less engine weight or elevate the cockpit.

 

[ahicks]

I guess I just assumed the boat was being trailered and that you could run it across some truck scales pretty easily. That weight slip in hand, you could do some Googling to see how much your boat weighs compared to others when new?

THAT info may cut your story line short(er).

Personally, I would hesitate to add forward ballast to raise the rear as well.

 

[zool]

A lot of 2 stroke to older 4 stroke conversions face that problem, the scuppers collect water. The newer 4 strokes weight similar to the old 2's.
More flotation in a bracket helps, but turtling can still be a problem.

Throw some sand bags in the bow, and see if it helps, but raising the stern is always the best solution....

 

[jimmbo]

Any Idea as to what the Yrs of the 2 engines were-are?
In the early 80s the 200 and the 150 were pretty much the same Weight. Then in the Mid 80s through the 90s some changes were made and unless it is known which motors are involved...

Another reason is that there a bunch of water in other locations besides the Bilge, and is trapped

 

[dingbat]

What boat?
Bracket new as well or just the motor?

Assuming carb 150 to 200 DI you looking at #150.

Are we talking deck drains or scuppers?

I've had 6" of water in my cockpit more than a few times. A "plugged" deck drain would be a problem...

If scuppers, ball scuppers will keep the water out yet allow the cockpit to drain

Walkarounds are already bow heavy because of the design. The source of the pounding that WA are notorious for. Adding weight to the bow would only make it worst.

 

[Keyboardman]

What boat?
Bracket new as well or just the motor?

Assuming carb 150 to 200 DI you looking at #150.

Are we talking deck drains or scuppers?

I've had 6" of water in my cockpit more than a few times. A "plugged" deck drain would be a problem...

If scuppers, ball scuppers will keep the water out yet allow the cockpit to drain

Walkarounds are already bow heavy because of the design. The source of the pounding that WA are notorious for. Adding weight to the bow would only make it worst.

What boat?
Bracket new as well or just the motor?

Assuming carb 150 to 200 DI you looking at #150.

Are we talking deck drains or scuppers?

I've had 6" of water in my cockpit more than a few times. A "plugged" deck drain would be a problem...

If scuppers, ball scuppers will keep the water out yet allow the cockpit to drain

Walkarounds are already bow heavy because of the design. The source of the pounding that WA are notorious for. Adding weight to the bow would only make it worst.

The Boat is a '87 21ft Dixie 821 Bluefin WA cuddy. The bracket is original. It has a hole in the bottom of it that I can only assume allows for drainage while underway? Not sure why you'd want a bracket to fill half full of water at any time but? The deck has only the two drains, just thru hull fittings with no flap or ball like scupper. They are positioned just above the height of the waterline paint line. On the inside of the boat, they are just above the bilge access hatch. Seems to me that any water would want to go in the bilge as well as drain out the transom? Just a poor design in my opinion to have deck drains and not scuppers that low to the waterline. I did run the engine at the ramp yesterday and the clogging telltale problem seems to have cleared itself out. I had around 50 psi of water on the helm gauge at a high idle with the new water pump kit installed.

 

[dingbat]

The Boat is a '87 21ft Dixie 821 Bluefin WA cuddy. The bracket is original. It has a hole in the bottom of it that I can only assume allows for drainage while underway?

The hole is a drain.
The bracket is a buoyancy device. The hole should be plugged unless the bracket has leaked and needs drained

The deck has only the two drains, just thru hull fittings with no flap or ball like scupper. They are positioned just above the height of the waterline paint line.

As are mine.
I get no water at all coming into the cockpit, even with 3 guys fishing off the transom

On the inside of the boat, they are just above the bilge access hatch. Seems to me that any water would want to go in the bilge as well as drain out the transom?

Having a hard time envisioning. Are you saying there is no hoses connecting the deck drains to the scuppers?

Just a poor design in my opinion to have deck drains and not scuppers that low to the waterline.

The poor design isn't the scupper being that low to the water line. The bad design is having the deck that low to the water line

 

[jimmbo]

I would be paying attention to the Transom, as the one picture shows several Gelcoat Cracks at and around the Plugs you put in, Those Plugs should not put any stress on the Transom.

 

[Keyboardman]

The deck drains are just horizontal holes thru the transom that empty into the inside of the bracket. They don't drain down below the deck then out. I have them plugged on the outside of the transom (Inside the bracket) and also on the inside of the boat with 1 1/8" compression plugs. They don't leak and probably never will. When I first put the boat in the water they were dumping in water and flooding the bilge. If I were to plug the bigger hole in the bottom of the bracket, it would probably just fill up with water as it's open on top. It's all a strange configuration to me and a poor design IMHO. I also can't find much info on this outboard version of the 821 Bluefin as they were most all Sterndrives.

 

[Keyboardman]

I would be paying attention to the Transom, as the one picture shows several Gelcoat Cracks at and around the Plugs you put in, Those Plugs should not put any stress on the Transom.

The drain is just a brass thru hull tube that the plugs are sitting in. They are expanding out into the tube for a friction fit. The transom itself seems pretty solid to me. With that 450lb engine tilted up hanging two ft off it and me jumping up and down on the end of it, surprisingly nothing moves at all.

 

[jimmbo]

Those Drains would have been fine if someone hadn't butchered the Well to run Cable/Hoses through the Bottom of it, and likely cut a Access Hole in the Bottom as well, and what was put in the Hole is likely no longer sealing. Cables and Hoses needed to be Routed through much higher, near the top of the Well on the Walls

 

[dingbat]

The deck drains are just horizontal holes thru the transom that empty into the inside of the bracket. They don't drain down below the deck then out. I have them plugged on the outside of the transom (Inside the bracket) and also on the inside of the boat with 1 1/8" compression plugs. They don't leak and probably never will. When I first put the boat in the water they were dumping in water and flooding the bilge. If I were to plug the bigger hole in the bottom of the bracket, it would probably just fill up with water as it's open on top. It's all a strange configuration to me and a poor design IMHO. I also can't find much info on this outboard version of the 821 Bluefin as they were most all Sterndrives.

Got looking again.....what are you calling a "bracket".

The brackets I'm familiar with are sealed floatation cambers that bolt to the transom. Used to offset the motor from the boat to allow the prop to run in "clean" water

Looks like the motor is bolted to the transom. Has the old style open transom/splashwell setup with open scuppers

 

[garbageguy]

Hi all, I have a 21ft walk around cuddy with a new to the boat Evinrude 200 on an offshore bracket. This engine replaced a 150 and now the added weight has the stern sitting lower than the deck drains and unless plugged, they flood the bilge. Is it feasible to add ballast to the bow to try and compensate for the imbalance or should I just keep the deck drains plugged, not worry about it and go boating. Thanks.

maybe post a few pics - far to closer - of the water where you don't want it

 

[Keyboardman]

Got looking again.....what are you calling a "bracket".

The brackets I'm familiar with are sealed floatation cambers that bolt to the transom. Used to offset the motor from the boat to allow the prop to run in "clean" water

Looks like the motor is bolted to the transom. Has the old style open transom/splashwell setup with open scuppers

Definitely on a bracket. It's not a flotation style bracket, it's open on the top and also a hole in the bottom of it. The deck drains go thru the transom and into the bracket.