Drain Plug

Lono

New member
Looking for some info on the drain plug for my boat. I have had 2 people give me different opinions on the installation of the drain plug.

One person said finger tight and remove it every time you take the boat out of the water. Another said tighten it fully with a wrench and never take it out until you put it away for the winter.

I trailer the boat so it never stays in the water unattended and I keep it covered in the driveway.

What do you guys think???
 
Lono":3kt21ooy said:
Looking for some info on the drain plug for my boat. I have had 2 people give me different opinions on the installation of the drain plug.

One person said finger tight and remove it every time you take the boat out of the water. Another said tighten it fully with a wrench and never take it out until you put it away for the winter.

I trailer the boat so it never stays in the water unattended and I keep it covered in the driveway.

What do you guys think???




Finger tight would worry me in case vibration would work it loose. I always tighten up with a wrench. I keep my boat in the water 8 months a year. If I was trailering the boat, I might be removing the plug after each trip, but I see no need.

Martin.
 
I use two plugs, a screw in bronze plug that screws in from the outside which gets snugged up with a wrench, and a rubber plug from the inside which gets tightened as much as my old fingers will tighten it. When the boat goes on the trailer both plugs come out.
 
I've seen a lot of boats "sink" on land and get water damage, so unless I was very sure the boat would stay dry, I would remove the plug when on land. If there is something wrong with the plug/installation that renders it too delicate to remove/replace, then I'd want to correct that.

I can see where if the boat is kept in the water, or in a garage or etc. then there is no need to remove it.

Sunbeam
 
mgarr682":1bp4a37s said:
I use two plugs, a screw in bronze plug that screws in from the outside which gets snugged up with a wrench, and a rubber plug from the inside which gets tightened as much as my old fingers will tighten it. When the boat goes on the trailer both plugs come out.

Finally, a cure for the "inny vs outie" discussion. BTW, I like double duplicit backup redundancy :lol: :thup :thup

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Does the 16 have a Garboard bronze screw plug or the expanding brass tube type?

When I leave my boats on the trailer the plugs are out. I usually put them in before leaving the house/camping place. I put the plugs in the sink, and put a tag on the wheel. For the rubber expanding plugs, finger tight. For the bronze Garboard plugs, wrench.
 
I've never had the need to go beyond finger tight, but perhaps I have very strong fingers. :mrgreen:

I always pull the plug when I pull the boat. I picked up an astounding amount of rain water just last weekend while moored for only a few hours.
 
DuckDogTitus":tl16z29j said:
I've never had the need to go beyond finger tight, but perhaps I have very strong fingers. :mrgreen:

I always pull the plug when I pull the boat. I picked up an astounding amount of rain water just last weekend while moored for only a few hours.

Bilge Pump? On Auto?

Good way to leave it if the forcast is drippy.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
smittypaddler":1s3myjf0 said:
I thought many states require you to remove the drain plug to prevent carrying invasive species from one body of water to another. Not true?
That is a whole other topic--but they certainly do inspect boats in may states, and no water in the bilge should be a rule. I have had my boat inspected, where they just looked at the bottom, never looked to see if any water in the bilge!

I saw that there were Quagga muscles at Powell recently and the hoped to "remove" them. I think that is wish full thinking. Sorry to see that happen, since Powell has been doing preventive measures for some time.

"Fourteen widely dispersed adult quagga mussels were found attached to moored houseboats and dock structures. The mussels were alive, but too far apart to successfully reproduce.

The adult mussels were found at the Waheap Marina. Surveys were conducted in the Antelope Point area beginning in December, 2012 and no mussels were detected."
That is from the most recent update on the monitoring. I would be more concerned than the report--but maybe there are some experts who have better information.
 
I had a 19' Bayliner inboard/outboard with a well-fitting cover that shed the rain nicely. Rain is mostly what we get in Eugene in winter except when I visited the Keys for a couple of weeks. I came back to broken trees and shrubs from a wet heavy snowfall which had since melted. I went to the edge of town where my boat was stored and found the engine compartment half full of water. The heavy snow had collapsed the cover and then melted. Plug's always out now when not in the water.
 
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