need to add weight on back of boat

[GibsonHouseboat1987]

I have a 1987 model Gibson Houseboat, its 42ft in length, and powered by a 4 cylinder engine. Don't laugh, its what Gibson put in the boat. Anyway, right now the front of the boat is plowing through the water. And according to Gibson if there is enough weight in the back to compensate for the flybridge it would bring the front back up to where it needs to be. They said about 600lbs should do it. only problem is, not enough room. was thinking of installing ballast tanks, but way to expensive. could install bigger gasoline tanks, but would have to my generator and hot water tanks, and don't have the room to move them in closer to middle of boat. If anyone could help I would appreciate it.<br /><br />Thank you

 

[chris in va]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

If you browse through the West Marine catalog you will find these 'Wakemaker' water bags for wakeboarding. One holds up to 600# of water, which should be perfect for your situation. <br /><br />Or, you could always just load up some rocks back there...

 

[tylerin]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

How much does a keg of beer weigh

 

[Crazy]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

How much does a big old V8 weigh ?

 

[ed hobbs]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

How much do 8 supermodels weigh? About 600 pounds I'd guess!

 

[L Christopher]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

Forget about the weight, how about Marooned with 8 supermodels.

 

[magster65]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

Take your friends fishing and make them all stand in the back.<br />Seriously, it sounds like you don't want to spend a bunch of cash on this so how about finding some old jerry-cans and fill them up with water. You could move them around until you get the weight exactly where you want it.

 

[flashback]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

about 80 1 gal milk jugs filled with water will do it, filled with sand, maybe less.........seriously, or get some lead ingots at your local plumbing store, could probably do it for about $100.00, good luck

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

The least expensive way to see if the weight will solve your problem(and unfortunately,I dont think it will),just bring your plastic garbage pails from home,put them where you want and fill them with water..Cover them to keep the water in or put a garbage bag liner in each one and wire tie it closed after filling.The reason i dont think this will solve your problem is because the 4 cyl does not seem like it would have enough power to get you any kind of bow lift.I hope I am wrong and this DOES work for you! Good luck Charlie

 

[hoot]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

just for reference, a gallon of water weighs slightly over 8 lbs and 1 cu.ft. of water will weigh about 62 lbs.

 

[tylerin]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

Gibson HB just saw an item you might be interested in by Overtons. Its called the fat seat under wakeboarding. Its a big ol lounge chair claims to add 800-1500 lbs and its a cool looking chair. Don't know how it works but check it out It might be your solution

 

[GibsonHouseboat1987]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

we found a solution, a friend of mine works for a company that uses 30 gallon drums for chemicals. We rinsed the drums out thouroughly, and we're putting 2 on the back deck, and two in the engine hull. There is plenty of room for all 4 drums to sit perfectly. All we have to do is fill with water and will make the back aproximatly 960lbs heavier, which will overcome the weight of the fly bridge (which is about 900lbs). I figure that the extra 60lbs will help when we have several people on the front deck while we're cruising the lake. And when it gets cold, all we have to do is empty the drums to about half, to allow for expansion when it ices up. We haven't gone for a cruise as of yet, cause of me getting called into work several times on my days off. So we will see how well this works. Thank you everyone for your advice.

 

[jlshields]

Re: need to add weight on back of boat

Adding 900# of dead weight to a boat? Sounds to me like you're really going to have a slug! Instead of more weight I would look for more power. Is your Gibson classed a 'river cruiser' with the pointy bow?<br />john