Jack up the bow while boat is on the trailer ...

[zul]

Or jack up the front of the trailer 3-4 feet to raise the bow in order to get water out the drain plug. My boat weighs 4200 lbs dry and sits on a 2 axel trailer. I know that doing this will place extra load onto the rear axel ... too much weight? Plan B, I have jack stands that I could place on the frame behind the rear axels. Will this create a tipping hazard? Thoughts on what to do or not to do?

Why do this? I'm attempting this because my boat has a deep hull and a poor design by Rinker where most of the water that hits the floor of the boat runs into the belly of the hull. When the boat is level, even the water that hits the gunwale/bilge area tends to want to move into the front area under the cuddy. Doesn't every boat ever made run water toward the plug? OR Do most/all larger boats share this same problem?

Prior owner had an engine failure which sent loads of oil into this area. So, under my cuddy bed is a swamp of fluid, oil and sludge. I need to get the water and crud out before it turns into bad stringers, rotten hull or water soaked fail. It may be too late or maybe or maybe it is no big deal?

This space under deck is mostly sealed away and hard to get to. Ideas on water removal and cleaning of this area?

 

[jimmbo]

I see a serious headache for you, as you will always be wondering/worrying about Rotted Stringers, etc. I suggest a For Sale sign. I know that is not the answer you were expecting, but you are displaying signs of Hating the Boat...

 

[Chris1956]

Jack up the front of the trailer. The trailer should be plenty strong, as the bow is pretty light.

 

[zul]

I see a serious headache for you, as you will always be wondering/worrying about Rotted Stringers, etc. I suggest a For Sale sign. I know that is not the answer you were expecting, but you are displaying signs of Hating the Boat...

Well, I love the boat. Just trying to avoid restoration projects. I can't place a For Sale sign just yet. It does seem that I'll have to spend time draining on the ramp, every time.

I haven't seen anyone cursing Rinker for this issue and that 232 was made the same, year after year after year. Has nobody noticed? Has this caused major restoration for others?

Or maybe it's ALL fiberglass and NO wood (under deck) = No Problem?

I don't know much about the under deck structure of this Rinker but I'm digging deeper and deeper to see what I can figure out.

 

[briangcc]

Without the literature from Rinker it's hard to say how it was built.

Some manufacturers in the early 2000's went wood free. The FourWinns in my signature was touted as wood free in the manufacturer's brochure. I haven't found anything either way on my current Chap. I think some of the VEC hulls in the early 2000's were also wood free but don't hold me to that.

 

[jimmbo]

Just park on an Uphill stretch of road for a bit. If you are worried about Oil/Sludge, spill some Alkaline Cleaner in to the Bilge and some Hot Water, and tow the boat around for a bit. Drain and repeat a couple more times

 

[Horigan]

Just jacking it up should be fine. If you're concerned about overloading the rear axle, just put a piece of 3/4" plywood under the front wheels. If you know trigonometry, you can calculate the exact thickness you need.

 

[zul]

Just park on an Uphill stretch of road for a bit. If you are worried about Oil/Sludge, spill some Alkaline Cleaner in to the Bilge and some Hot Water, and tow the boat around for a bit. Drain and repeat a couple more times

Alkaline Cleaner, as in Simple Green?

The cuddy has the classic table mount in the center/bottom. With that removed, I can dump some Super Clean or Simple Green in there, hit it with a hose. Step two :: Drive it around on the trailer. Finally, jack it up, spray, rinse, repeat and let it dry out.

That's the current plan.

 

[jimmbo]

Super Clean, that is the Purple Bottle? If so, it is Good Stuff. I've used Lye(Sodium Hydroxide) for many years to clean Bilges, but it needs to be rinsed out thoroughly afterwards

 

[dingbat]

You will not overload a tandem trailer as they have equalizers that distribute the load equally between the two axles.

 

[jimmbo]

Only Spring Axles have that, if the Trailer has Torsion Axles, then that is not the case

 

[ski2rule]

Agree with Jimmbo . Find a slope to park it on...

 

[poconojoe]

I vote for parking it on a steep hill while still attached to your vehicle.

I had a little bit of water left in my bilge from pulling the plugs for winterizing. Most of it ran out the garboard drain hole, but some stayed even though my trailer jack was maxed out.
I thought about lifting it higher with a bottle jack but my fear was that if I lifted the front of the trailer too high, it would get away from me and tip too far up slamming the drive to the pavement.

So, go to the nearest hill or maybe get out your shop vac and suck it out.

 

[jimmbo]

Don't forget to Chock the Wheels and other precautions, when parking on a Slope

 

[stresspoint]

take the back wheels off and jack it till the trailer hits the ground .

method : before next trip out , 2 jugs of cheap dish detergent in the bilge , add enough fresh water from the hose .to dilute to a strong detergent to water mix.
when you get home take wheels off and jack up , all the goop will drain to engine compartment , once its all at the back , pull the drain plugs and drain into a tub ( dispose of properly , don't just tip it down the drain ,> water some weeds with it .
hose in another few litres of water , go for a trip around the block ( wheels off if you have smooth roads will be fine.
drain again ad allow to dry for a few days while its jacked up.

 

[froggy1150]

I actually had this boat higher than this with no issues. Both sets of wheels were off the ground. I did this to pour foam. Drive was up and boat was ratcheted down real good so it didnt slide back. Once the trailer frame hit the ground it was super stable.

 

[JimS123]

If the water is under deck and not accessible, adding soap probably won't do any good. But go ahead anyway, it can't hurt.

Yes, drive around awhile. The best suggestion yet was to find a steep hill and park until it all drains out. If no hill around, simply jack it up until the keel slopes toward the back. It'll just take longer to drain.

Whatever you do, DON'T take off 2 wheels. You will severely overload the other 2.

Regardless to all this, MY major concern would be where did the water come from anyway...

 

[zul]

Where my boat is parked is really flat. So I added simple green, drove around for 15 minutes and then jacked up the tongue a few feet. This worked out really well.

The water gets in from washing the inside of the boat. I had it at a self serve car wash and was hosing it out while it was level. Parked it level and that's when I started noticing water trapped under the cuddy. Another time the boat was level, I de-watered/winterized it and no water came out the drain hole. It just ran into the front. Just a bad draining feature, I guess? I'll have to spend some time on the ramp when done at the lake.

Do most/all larger boats have this issue? Or maybe its just this rig??

 

[JimS123]

Where my boat is parked is really flat. So I added simple green, drove around for 15 minutes and then jacked up the tongue a few feet. This worked out really well.

The water gets in from washing the inside of the boat. I had it at a self serve car wash and was hosing it out while it was level. Parked it level and that's when I started noticing water trapped under the cuddy. Another time the boat was level, I de-watered/winterized it and no water came out the drain hole. It just ran into the front. Just a bad draining feature, I guess? I'll have to spend some time on the ramp when done at the lake.

Do most/all larger boats have this issue? Or maybe its just this rig??

Nooooo boats have this issue. I can't believe what I just read.

A boat is the opposite of a bathtub. One is designed to keep the water in, and the other is designed to keep the water out.

If a bellows is leaking, or a canvas cover is no longer water tight, or the kids dripped water in the boat after swimming, the appropriate thing is to drain the water, soak what'e left with a sponge. and make sure the inside of the boat is perfectly dry. Not tomorrow, but right after you go boating.

We all clean our boats with spray cans of vinyl cleaner and Spray Nine to clean the deck. Car washes are for cleaning the outside, not the inside. I understand the oil spill. Nevertheless the oil won't kill the hull, trapped water certainly will.

Sorry to be so obtuse. I sincerely hope your boat survives. Just get all the water out and keep it dry in the future.

 

[Silvertip]

You might consider installing a small 1/2 dollar size port in the area where the lake & boat juices collect. There are all sorts of nice looking "ports" you could use to make this feature look factory. You could then suck out the bad stuff, add cleaning agents and water and then suck that out or drain it through the normal route the bow raised. Just a thought!