Need a drain hole in my 12ft aluminum boat

TintWizard · **Joined:** Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:33 am **Posts:** 359

Hey folks , I'm tired of bailing my 12ft boat out after a rain storm so bought a 1" plug. I dont have a 1" drill bit nor a powerful enough drill for one. I don't want to buy 1 just for a 30sec. Job to never use it again lol. I used to go to Morch Marine b4 they closed for such things, any suggestions as to who in Belleville you go to for a small job on this boat? Thanks

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

Just flip it over and drain it. Worked for me for years!!!

AndrewB · **Posted:** Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:17 pm

I have the same issue, I have to put in a plug also. Currently I siphon mine out. Nothing like the taste of leaves/dirt/fish/worms and all the like. MmmYum Gag

TintWizard · **Joined:** Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:33 am **Posts:** 359

Walleye 9 wrote:

Just flip it over and drain it. Worked for me for years!!!

I don't want to take off/ out motor, gas tank, oars, anchor,net , seats each time, would be easier to just pull a plug lol

Hutchy · **Joined:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:06 pm **Posts:** 399

Use a live well plug, you don't really need a 1 inch hole to drain out the water. You can get one small enough (1/2") that a regular drill bit will work.

MattClapp · **Joined:** Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:03 pm **Posts:** 210

It would be a pretty easy job; but as you said, you would need the right tools. Its about a 5 min job , all you need is:

-3M 4200
-plug. I wouldn't do metal-on-metal, therefore plastic would be better

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50382

-a buddy with a drill and 1" bit

Brian Hadley at Belleville Sport and Lawn can likely help you out. Can't imagine it would be too much $

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

You siphon out your boat?

That's gotta be gross. I'm pretty sure you can rent tools from home depot, you could rent a powerful drill, or like was already mentioned downsize the plug and use a smaller bit...you're probably still going to need a good drill though

adventure · **Posted:** Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:08 am

Aluminium is easy to cut. A 1" hole saw will work. You can buy a kit from any hardware store.

TintWizard · **Joined:** Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:33 am **Posts:** 359

Thanks for the input ! I'm thinking that cutting the hole size down is a good idea to 1/2 "

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

TintWizard wrote:

Thanks for the input ! I'm thinking that cutting the hole size down is a good idea to 1/2 "

Just bought a 5/8 drill bit a couple of weeks ago, about $25, and fit into my cordless drill. I think the bigger you can go, the better (for drainage) If the hole is too small, it will get clogged with leaves, dirt etc... Not sure if you can get plugs that small. Maybe check first what size plugs are available in.

Good Luck

matdbz29 · **Joined:** Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:51 am **Posts:** 649

Why don't you just install a bilge pump? That way if you ever took on water you could pump it out. I had one in a small leaking boat , I'd just run it off my portable fish finder battery

BATMAN · **Posted:** Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:17 pm

The bilge pump is a great idea.

I have a 14 ft Lund that has a drain plug. I have never needed to use it except for pulling it during winter storage.

I installed an automatic solid state bilge pump that runs off a deep cycle battery that I have permanently hooked up to a small $10 solar panel. I have installed a switch that allows me to put the pump in auto or in manual. In manual the pump will go on if the water level in the boat reaches about 5 inches. It automatically pumps water out of the boat down to about 1 inch and turns off. The manual switch is used if I want to pump out water that never reached the 5 inches auto turn on level. I have been using this system for 6-7 yrs and it works great.

BATMAN

TintWizard · **Joined:** Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:33 am **Posts:** 359

Thanks to the forum member Graembo. He was nice enough to drive by and drill me a 1" hole in the boat .
Great members on here for sure !

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Need a drain hole in my 12ft aluminum boat

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