Old boat has no bilge drain??

[joe1267]

Maybe this question has been answered a thousand times before but I am going to ask anyway. I have a sweet, 1968 15ft Mohawk Boat company runabout. It has the customary drain plug in the bottom and another in the spashwell, but it does not have a 3rd plug that I can find for any water that could possibly make its way into the hull of the boat. Is it possible that it was built this way? The boat is solid and I have had a great deal of fun with it..Joe

 

[mike343]

Re: Old boat has no bilge drain??

Could you clarify a little. It has a plug in the "bottom" . Does that mean in the boat's running surface (hull) or at the bottom of the transom at the rear of the boat? Also, I have had outboards and have never seen a plug in the splashwell, just s hole to let the water out.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Old boat has no bilge drain??

there is usually a well at the transom, that drains the under hull, should have small rubber stoppers in it. on the side of the well. then drains out the bottom hole.

 

[Steve Mahler]

Re: Old boat has no bilge drain??

I have the same boat, and a million (ok not really) other antique run abouts. All the same - 2 drains. 1 up high in the spash well, another at the bottom of the transome. Cant understand why you would think another is needed.

If water is beneath the floor, it will run back to the recessed 'bilge' and out the bottom hole (when on a trailer obviously). On the Mohawks there is almost no floor structure, just about 3-4 inches of space/foam and rudimentary stringers, so it is pretty simple. Mine had a rotted floor, of course, and I was surprised that it really doesnt have stringers, just molded glass supports for the floor.

I too love the little boat - takes waves like it is made of solid steel, no flexing (unlike any MFG or Glastron I have owned).

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Old boat has no bilge drain??

My 1967 MFG has 3 drains, the splashwell, the deck, and the hollow space below deck between the stringers, all 3 drains are standard garboard size. Maybe the space below your deck is foam filled so a drain was not added.

 

[joe1267]

Re: Old boat has no bilge drain??

I have the same boat, and a million (ok not really) other antique run abouts. All the same - 2 drains. 1 up high in the spash well, another at the bottom of the transome. Cant understand why you would think another is needed.

If water is beneath the floor, it will run back to the recessed 'bilge' and out the bottom hole (when on a trailer obviously). On the Mohawks there is almost no floor structure, just about 3-4 inches of space/foam and rudimentary stringers, so it is pretty simple. Mine had a rotted floor, of course, and I was surprised that it really doesnt have stringers, just molded glass supports for the floor.

I too love the little boat - takes waves like it is made of solid steel, no flexing (unlike any MFG or Glastron I have owned).

Steve, glad to know another "Mohawk" guy. I appreciate the info on the construction as well. She is very solid. The reason I wondered about a "missing" drain plug, is that my '59 Aristocraft has one as did several other 14-17ft boats I have looked at. I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something that could help prevent costly repairs down the road. I was fortunate that my Mohawk spent it's years being stored indoors. Still shines and people can't believe how old it is

 

[Steve Mahler]

mohawk

mohawk

Mine can be seen on shareaproject dot com, search mohawk 15.

fun little boat - and I am stil confused by these folks saying they have 3 drains, never seen that and I have gone through many junk boats in my restoration hobby.