Boat Tansom Plug

[rushin]

Lately I have been pulling the plug when just pulling the boat out of the water while still on the ramp so the boat is at an angle to drain.

[brody66]

One of my friends bought an older direct drive and i detailed it for him and took it for a lake test and for some reason opened up the engine compartment and noticed a hole in front of the motor, i had no clue there was a drain plug there, notcied it as we were backing down the ramp, thank the lord i checked the oil and noticed the hole.

[da.bell]

I normally put the plug in when I leave the house and then take the plug out when I reach the top of the ramp. This allows the water to dry in the bilge when transporting the boat from the lake to home.

The only reason why this occurred was that I am so use to putting the plug in at home that when my son put the plug in, I took it out since we had a 4 hour drive to the lake and I figured I would put it back in before I launched. Amazing what happens when you get older . But, IMO, the more air going through that bilge area, the better.

[Joeprunc]

If that happened I would kill the motor, flip the bilge on, and focus on putting the plug in. Its been so hectic at the ramp lately I've been driving the truck and letting the GF motor around till I get back to the ramp. I hope she would do the same.

I put the plug in when I remove the transom straps and remove it when I put the straps back on. The ramps are always so freaking crowded during the summer months, I would be afraid if I stopped on the ramp to pull it, someone would surely hit me .

How was Whiskeytown? I remember being up there after a Shasta trip years ago, the water was almost as clear as Tahoe. What a beautiful lake.

[da.bell]

The water wasn't that clear but definitely high enough to almost go over the top of the cement circle located near the dam.

[chpthril]

I do this a couple time a yr, I just jump in a install it!!!! forget the trailer and reloading BS. Once you reload it on the trailer, everyone at the ramp knows what ya did

[majestic]

I will keep mine in. I don't want to do the 911 plug insertion with the FAE in the way.

[MRMoffat1]

I would jump in and put the plug in. I carry a spare for that reason.

Ditto.

It happened just once to me - back in 1986. Carried a spare plug every since.

[MoneyPity]

I pull the plug when I get home since I take on a little water from our labradors bringing in gallons of water each after the swim every couple of hours.

Since I have to remove the swim platform to get the 20V in the garage, I pull the plug then and put it into one of the back cupholders.

I keep two spares and have them in the boat toolkit that stays with the boat as well as a 2 1/2 ton portable jack.

If there is water in the bilge I will leave the jack in the position it was in when I disconnected from towing vehicle. Because of my sloped drive, the bow is pretty high so I will leave it up high for a day or two and then lower it.

When I pull boat out of garage I put the plug back in before the platform goes on. In case I bonehead and forget I have a rubber plug that can be plug the drain from the inside. It is one of those rubber plugs as you tighten it it expands. With V drives it is a little easier than a Chineese fire drill.

Over the weekend we were waiting to load up when an older Supra came rushing in to the launch area and smacked into the waiting dock. The driver quickly pulled open his motor cover and water was gusing into the Supra. All the trailers waiting to load let him cut the line and we helped him load. From the time he rammed the dock to when we got it on the trailer the boat overflowed the bilge and was almost 3 inches deep bow to stern.
It took a lot of motor to get it on the trailer.

He had a major leak but his center and aft plugs were in.

[dogbert]

My plug is in one of the cup holders. Rather than installing another bilge pump, which isn't necessarily a bad idea, just get a Tsunami pump that plugs into a cigarette lighter. If it happens again, put that baby in the bilge and jump out and put your plug in the water.

1200 Gph is a lot of water...way more than what you'll take on without a plug.

[dogbert]

The real question is - why is your boat taking on enough water that you need to pull the drain plug out every time? The few times I've pulled the drain plug, I've gotten nothing out.

Well, on my particular Tige, I have this wonderful scoop built into my sloped transom that's called a blower vent. It excels at channeling water through my blower hose into my bilge. As someone also mentioned, we take on water when surfing on the dark side because of the bilge pump hose. Then there's the cooler drain and the dripping from my kids jumping off of the sun deck while they are soaking wet.

It's a boat...it collects water...that's why there's a drain plug.

[Tequilasun]

Here's an old Ozark's trick. Spare plug or not. If you notice before your engine dies, get the boat out away from the ramp and get it on full plane. If probably put the taps down too. Just get the bow as high in the air as possible. This creates the stern as the lowest point and the water will drain out. Actually it's kinda sucked out. That will give you much more time to get it back on the trailer to get the plug in.

It's not like you are always going to remember to put the plugs in, but I have a mental check list I go through when I launch. Unhooked, key in, plug in, go. Repeat it to myself everytime. Kind of like when I leave the house and say specticles, testicles, wallet, and watch. I don't wear glasses, so cell phone replaces the first. Or I do keys, wallet, phone, go. Just a last minute reminder.

[dingleberry]

...Repeat it to myself everytime. Kind of like when I leave the house and say specticles, testicles, wallet, and watch.

Sooo...when was the last time you left the house and forgot your testicles?

[da.bell]

^^^ That is what you call "getting married"

[dogbert]

Sooo...when was the last time you left the house and forgot your testicles?

He's from Missouri...cut him some slack...hey, wasn't there a song about a detachable private part?