why take the plug off??

[Silvertip]

Re: why take the plug off??

Salty87 -- I've never seen a drain plug that couldn't be reached. There is an inside and an outside to the transom. Standing at the back of the boat is a perfect opportunity to install and remove it. Now we can argue whether the plug should go inside or outside the boat. Hint: There is no wrong answer. If you can reach it from the inside and it pleases you to place it there by all means do so. If you prefer installing it from the outside, that works too since water pressure at rest tends to seat it tighter. Installed from the inside the pressure at rest would tend to push it out. The best plug is a Garboard Plug which is screwed in from the outside.

 

[CAVU V]

Re: why take the plug off??

Plug, what plug?

 

[grego]

Re: why take the plug off??

I have a check list, that I keep in glove box, similar to a check list I use for airplanes. you should always charge batts. a few times through the winter monthes.

 

[Jgweb2000]

Re: why take the plug off??

Several people have noted that their boat has the plug attached by a chain to the back of the boat. Next time our boat is in for service im going to ask them what they can do about that.

We take the plug out, boat gets stored outside and we already have problems with our wooden floorboards.

 

[Span 24]

Re: why take the plug off??

maybe there should be a thread for common reasons to remove the plug...otherwise, i think the OP is being mislead.

Perhaps. However, the OP appears to be leaving the plug in so that he does not have to worry about it next time out. It could be very dangerous to develop a habit of assuming that the plug is in because you 'always', or even 'typically' leave it there.

I think that (for most) it is better to remove it on land, and install it just before launch. A detailed checklist, religiously followed, will nearly always avert disaster both on land and on water.

Michael

 

[joed]

Re: why take the plug off??

My plug stays in except in the winter when I park the boat. The boat has a cover that keeps all the rain out. Any water that gets in while in use gets pumped out by the bilge pump.
The boat is kept on a lift for the summer and the plug stays in all season unless I am doing some bilge cleaning and need to flush the bilge.

New question. Do you put the plug in from the outside or the inside? Mine goes on the inside.

 

[blousteau]

Re: why take the plug off??

Just about everyone with an I/O puts theirs in from the outside, I hope. We had an CC, that we would put the plug in on the inside. After a rain, swim, or wash down on the water we would pull the plug while underway and the water would drain.

 

[Campylobacter]

Re: why take the plug off??

Obviously I am in the minority here, my plug only comes out when washing the inside of the boat (and that is not nearly as often as it should be). The boat is parked in my garage and has a self bailing deck. I check the bilge every time I get back and it has been bone dry every time, the hatch I open to check stays open during storage to keep it nice and dry.

 

[grego]

Re: why take the plug off??

A good reason for removing plug is to evaporate any extra water ,left in hold of boat. Oh. Having an inside plug, "with the weight of boat and the pounding of wake" , you would end up with a lot of water "inside the boat". The "inside plug, would just pop off due to pressure differences.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: why take the plug off??

Hi All! Complacency leads to disater! Always follow the checklist. That being said, mine is out unless the boats in the water. It hangs from a chain so its always there. Should I ever get to the lake and its not, I have a spare bronze one in my tool box and a spare platic one thats floats in the glove box. I keep a wrench in my door pocket to remove and install it along with a "Boaters key" that I keep in my pocket. I'm in the process of welding a bung on my trailer to store a spare as well as a mount for a bronze wrench. Ya, its over kill but...

 

[Liberated]

Re: why take the plug off??

Same exact thing here^^^^^^^^ Except for the one on the trailer, at least until I go to the store and get a female end tomarrow !!!! Good one!!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: why take the plug off??

extra weight of the water trapped inside your boat may bust your trailer springs and put too much load on your tires

Exactly. I've seen trailers with bent axles because of this. for those of us who live in places where it can rain very heavily for hours on end, the possibility of ending up with a two or three hundred gallons of water in the boat, is very real. At 8.34 pounds per gallon, that could be as much as 2,500 pounds of extra weight on the trailer.

 

[TensawRiver]

Re: why take the plug off??

Well this is my first post as I am a new member here and wanted to get in on the talk. I for one take my plug out everytime I leave the water as well for all the listed reasons and follow the pre-lauch check list. Why? JUst me thats what I like to do. My previous boat was a 97' Bass tracker and the plug was fairly easy to reach from the inside but now I have a 90' Blazer tournament edition with 150 Johnson GT V6. The It has a big 24 gallon fuel tank and the bilage area is very deep and I am short armed so it is almost difficult for me to reach from the inside to put the plug in. It came with the t-handle style and makes for difficult time trying to turn it once in. To be honest I never hear of putting the plug on the outside..LOL.. I'm from south Alabama and well just never heard of it. Anyway I came across this boat plug that I am looking at buying what do you guys think?

http://www.bassboatsolutions.com/Home_Page.php

Click on the video link and watch it.

 

[joed]

Re: why take the plug off??

Does anyone else think the previous post is spam? New user, single post with link to sell a product.

 

[TensawRiver]

Re: why take the plug off??

joed,

I apologize if you thought I was posting Spam, I am not and have a legit question. I am new here and do not know if you all have problems with spammers but since I do belong to other forums that I regulary chat on I know that it can be a problem so again I apologize and ask that you at least give your opinion. If this is going to be a place where everything is questioned and no chance given first then let me know now and I will chat elswhere.

Sincerly,

Tensaw River......(NOTE: if you will look the Tensaw River up it is located in Mobile and Baldwin Counties of south Alabama and no where near where this prodduct is sold so I'm no spammer).

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: why take the plug off??

Thank you for clarifying your status in regard to the product that you mentioned. We were spammed somewhat heavily last night by someone advertising mail order drug sales, so perhaps that is why there was some suspicion.

I do not recommend any drain plug system that involves having the plug on the outside of the boat. At one point, I would have never inserted the plug from the outside, but let myself get talked into the practice as a matter of convenience. Very shortly after that, I hit something with my motor and all of the castings through which the tilt bolt passed, sheared. The foot of the motor immediately slammed into the back of the transom, cocked to one side, and sheared the drain plug off. I nearly sank my boat because of this.

I especially would not use the system that you provided a link to. In my case, I was able to save my boat once I realized what had happened, because I keep extra plugs aboard and had easy access to the drain hole from the inside. That, combined with a 1,250 gph bilge pump in an 18' boat, kept me afloat. Had I had some sort of mounted mechanism in front of and running through the drain hole. I probably could not have inserted a new plug rapidly, if at all.

In my opinion, bad idea.

 

[TensawRiver]

Re: why take the plug off??

jay_merrill,

Thanks for the reply and your explanation of the spammers. Like I mentioned I well know how spammers can be but I guess I let it ruffle my feathers a little to much by the first reply. Again I ask all to look pass my simple frustration.

Conerning the boat plug that I posted, THANKS for that as I did not feel comfortable with the thought of putting my plug on the outside. I can certainly see the pitfalls of doing so. I actually came across this website and the link that I posted because I was searching for an easier way to put my plug in and also to see if it was normal for the plug to go on the outside. Like I mentioned before I had not heard of it until a few weeks back. I had just purchased the Blazer Boat and while at the lauch I was trying to get it in but was having trouble as in this boat it is way down at the bottom and the huge gas tank is right up against where I have to stick my hand down. Another guy who was very tall just reached right on down and stuck it in tightened it up like nothing to it. He said that he puts his in from the outside and I thought that would be easier but had never heard of that. I am short armed and can just barley reach it to slide it in but trying to tighten it up with the tips of my fingers is very hard and takes a long time and really cramps my arm. I have to lay down on top of the boat to do it. (it's a t-handle style) I did purchase the old clamp style that I am used to but it is just a little to small it was a 1" so I guess I should probably just find a little bigger one as it slids in but does not seat firm and will just pull right back out even when clamped. This is my first larger bass boat as I am used to an old aluminum Bass Tracker.

I apologize also for being so long winded..