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Which plug do you pull?


chathamsolutions

Which plug do you pull at the end of the day?  

464 members have voted

  1. 1. Which plug do you pull at the end of the day?

    • 1. I always pull the transom plug.
      55
    • 2. I always pull the transom plug - becuase it's the only one I have.
      6
    • 3. I always pull the engine plug.
      60
    • 4. I always pull the mid ship plug.
      133
    • 5. I pull multiple plugs.
      115
    • 6. I never pull a plug, I let the bilge pump take care of that.
      67
    • 7. I NEVER pull a plug - mine always sits in the water.
      25


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Growing up we always pulled the transom plug. I think it was the only one on our different I/O's.

For the past year I have always pulled the mid ship plug. The one at the driver's feet, in the typical ski locker area. There's a few reasons for this:

1. It's a 'T' handle. I don't need a wrench to pull it or put it back in.

2. All the plugs are brass. Using a wrench will eventually strip it, or the threads we put it in. Especially if I ask someone else to handle that job for the day.

3. I won't drop the plug. If I did it's be sitting in the bilge.

4. Easy Access.

5. When the boat is trailered, sitting on flat ground, the mid ship is the lowest point of the boat. All the water ends up here eventually.

The mid ship and the engine plugs are through the hull. The thread housings are thicker then the hull, so there's a lip that sticks above the hull/bilge area. It's not quite 1/4 inch. If the boat doesn't get completely dry then a little water - not much - will pool here. I found some yesterday and it was slimy.

Generally when I put the Bu away, under cover, I pull the mid ship and engine to give it two air sources. I didn't this time. That's probably why the water was still there.

EDIT: When I was out with Pistol Pete and denjoe (both VLX owners) a few months ago they both said they broke out a wrench and pulled the transom plugs. Pete said he had made some kind of funky ball valve thingy so it was easier though. Pete, what are you talking about? Show us a picture.

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  • chathamsolutions

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How come I can't choose more than one?...

I pull the mid ship and engine bay plugs, There is a plug that separates those two compartments (in the ski locker) and I leave it plugged up (becusae it is tough to remove..) so water doesn't travel between the bildge and the ski locker (both always have water in them)

Edit - my transom plug is up a step, so it isn't the lowest point... I don't pull it at all

Edited by SacRiverRat
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On direct drives without ski lockers, is there a plug that separates the transom area from the engine? In other words, if the engine plug is pulled, will there be water left in the transom area if that plug isn't pulled?

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On direct drives without ski lockers, is there a plug that separates the transom area from the engine? In other words, if the engine plug is pulled, will there be water left in the transom area if that plug isn't pulled?

Ryan I dont believe so

I always pull the engine plug as I get pulled out of the water, 9 times out of ten when I pull the transom plug nothing comes out.

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We've got a nice 30 degree incline staging area at our ramp so I just pull the transom plug and let it all drain out. Besides... I still need a wrench to get the T-Handle plugs loose. This boat sat in a slip for 4 years with little use. Those handles are in there good.

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I answered 'Never', because there wasn't a choice for 'Almost Never'. I pull the mid ship plug in the early and late season when I have to drain the heater to protect against freezing. But even then I put it right back in after the water is drained.

BTW - my boat sits on a lift all season, covered by a canopy.

Edited by SunriseH2OSkier
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I never have any water in my bilge. The skiers drip on the platform and dont bring in any water. I dont have any leaks so I just don't have any water to remove. I cant remember removing the plug since we got past freeze season and I needed to drain.

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I never have any water in my bilge. The skiers drip on the platform and dont bring in any water.  I dont have any leaks so I just don't have any water to remove.  I cant remember removing the plug since we got past freeze season and I needed to drain.

I wish I could say the same. I always pull the engine plug and drain. I have the gfo packing...virtually drip free. When I fill the bilge in the garage with the plugs in I find zero water on the floor the next morning.

Going to try some teflon tape on the plug next time I go out. I've been dying for a dry bilge ever since I bought the boat.

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My bilge hardly has any water in it from normal use. Last year I left it in Powell for a week and and Trinity for a week - hardly any water at all.

Things have changed though.

Since we've seriously started using fat sacs, there's always an overflow problem filling a sac. And I've never taken as much water over the bow as I did during out last Powell trip. With the front, center and one rear MLS full - then two 440# fat sacs in the same locker - it drives like a cow and water was always coming over the nose. Bilge came on daily.

I pull a plug every time I take the boat out of the water.

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my boat came with only a transom plug, thru which i could NEVER get all the water out. this irritated me for about a year, and then i added my own mid T handle ship plug (garboard drain) in the ski locker. i pull this plug after every outing, and the transom plug hasn't been out since.

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I pull the ski locker plug.

I keep it on a lift and pull it as soon as the bow is up and the hole is just clear of the water level - helps to drain all the water from under the ski locker sack.

Undid the plug seperating the ski locker and rear area long ago.

So when the lift completes all the water flows right out of the ski locker drain.

Since we surf a lot we have lots of water to drain.

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I always have to pull my plug. By the end of the day I will have at least 1-3" of water in my boat. Is this normal?

Water in your bilge is normal.

If it were consistently 3" then I'd talk to my dealer. 1" is nothing. I would think 3" and your bilge would be kicking in whenever you took off.

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We've got a nice 30 degree incline staging area at our ramp so I just pull the transom plug and let it all drain out. Besides... I still need a wrench to get the T-Handle plugs loose. This boat sat in a slip for 4 years with little use. Those handles are in there good.

I had that issue. Get some Liquid Wrench and set up a little vibration on the stuck plugs. They will move.

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Man, a large percentage of people never pull a plug.

I thought for sure more people would say they pull the transom plug...

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I regularly have more than 3" but thats because Shane and TJ like to nail the napping girls in the bow.

Now we call it Canuk Ballast.

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I regularly have water in my ski locker up to the top of the t-handle.. it doesn't get deep than that, and is almost always there within a few minutes of being on the water ... well it takes a while to fill up - I believe the thru hull drain fitting leaks

My packing leaks like crazy, so my bilge is always got water to the bottom of the v-drive.. and the pump comes on every now and then when people move to the back of the boat ;)

Not a huge deal... it manages itself - and I pull the plugs when the boat comes out

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My bilge hardly has any water in it from normal use.  Last year I left it in Powell for a week and and Trinity for a week - hardly any water at all.

Things have changed though. 

Since we've seriously started using fat sacs, there's always an overflow problem filling a sac.  And I've never taken as much water over the bow as I did during out last Powell trip.  With the front, center and one rear MLS full - then two 440# fat sacs in the same locker - it drives like a cow and water was always coming over the nose.  Bilge came on daily. 

I pull a plug every time I take the boat out of the water.

I know what you mean about the handling, as soon as you start really loading these boats down they turn into complete pigs on the water. You need to plumb those sacks in so you don't have to manage the pumps & all of that. Then at least that part of the system would be dry.

We trailer the boat to the lake, so we always pull a plug. The amount of water really varies, but it's dependant on how many people we have on the boat & what we're doing on the boat that day.

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I only hand tighten.

That's worked fine for me. Can't imagine trying to use a wrench around the pumps in the mid ship - or around the engine components either.

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I only do it tight by hand, but even at that, there has been a couple of time I had to throw a wrench on.

FYI, if you do need a wrench don't put it on the handle part, it may break right off :blush: At the base of the handle stem there is actually a square nut configuration that fits a 9/16" wrench, the same as the rear plug.

PS we only pull the center plug unless we are on a steep hill, then the transom plug.

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