How to drain boat with no hills?

**csm** · 10-01-2009, 10:18 PM

I live in a pretty flat area, and I'm tired of having extra water in my bilge, which eventually moves into the ski locker after a day on the lake. Pulling the plug and taking an additional 5 minutes on the ramp really isn't an option, and there are no steep hills that i could park on around the lake.

Does anyone do anything creative to do this? Is there a way to jack up the front of the trailer enough to drain the rest of the water out? A guy that works on Moombas said something about cinder blocks and 2x4's, but I couldn't really understand where he was going with that.... Any ideas?

**jester** · 10-01-2009, 10:28 PM

shopvac. works great just have to take some extra time before you put it away for the night.

**cab13367** · 10-01-2009, 11:04 PM

Originally Posted by csm

I live in a pretty flat area, and I'm tired of having extra water in my bilge, which eventually moves into the ski locker after a day on the lake. Pulling the plug and taking an additional 5 minutes on the ramp really isn't an option, and there are no steep hills that i could park on around the lake.

Does anyone do anything creative to do this? Is there a way to jack up the front of the trailer enough to drain the rest of the water out? A guy that works on Moombas said something about cinder blocks and 2x4's, but I couldn't really understand where he was going with that.... Any ideas?

One thing I've thought about but haven't tried is to put some car ramps under the rear tires of your tow vehicle and driving on top of them with your boat/trailer hooked up. That would elevate the tongue but don't know if high enough. Try at your own risk

**you da man** · 10-02-2009, 12:04 AM

Just find a large building/warehouse or business that has loading docks and back down one of them when they are closed.

**moombadaze** · 10-02-2009, 07:50 AM

2nd on the shop vac

**yearround** · 10-02-2009, 10:27 AM

IMO and experince,
you will not find a driveway, ramp, steep enough to get all the water out of the bilge while hooked to the tow vehicle. i have a pretty steep driveway, i have put my truck in the garage with the boat on behind, still does not drain the water. i have driven 600 miles from CO to UT then up a steep unpaved mtn road to a cabin, going up the mtn road, water was draining!

i guess you could jack the from of the trailer up until the rear of the trailer hit the ground and maybe get the water to drain, but that is a pita, i tried that once, (the cinder blocks, 2x4's etc)

i put a plug in the ski locker to keep bilge water from getting in to the ski locker.

i use the shop vac to get the water out, i don't even bother to pull the plug, unless i have to for the mussell inspection

**you da man** · 10-02-2009, 10:48 AM

I only had my XLV a few weeks. Where are you guys using the shop vac in the boat to draw out the water?

**yearround** · 10-02-2009, 10:50 AM

i pull the water from under the V, and ski locker is any is in there

**moombadaze** · 10-02-2009, 10:59 AM

one thing when doing the shop vac removal of water is it can get kinda heavy and akward to get the vac out of the boat. Try going to lowes or home depot and get a adapter to fit a short piece of garden hose to the end the vac hose, that way the vac can sit on the garage floor and still get the water out. May have to rig something up to make it all work but its worth it.

**csm** · 10-02-2009, 11:33 AM

Good idea moombadaze... I've used the shopvac a couple of times, but it's such a hassle that I wanted a different method... I've brought my square sawhorses to set it on outside of the boat, but it's still a hassle. If I can find an attachment to allow the vac to sit on the floor, that's definitely the route I'll take.

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