Ballast Draining on trailer

[Prospect]

My club uses a crane to lift all the sailboats out of the water and onto their cradles. I'm the only Macgregor owner at the club so I'm the only one with a trailer. The wind has been very strong here recently and I haven't had a chance to take the boat up to 6mph to drain the ballast. I doubt I will before the haul out. This means that the boat will be placed on the trailer with the ballast (it's a big crane and it can handle the extra 1000 lbs of water). The mast is completely off the boat as well.

My question is. Can the ballast be drained while the boat is on a trailer on a level surface or does it need a small incline? I would like to use a large diameter hose to direct the water towards the lake and was wondering about the opening size of the ballast drain.

[LakeMac26C]

I'm assuming you have an M or X with the drain in the stern? My C has the drain amidship on the keel and can drain at any angle. There is no way to attach a hose to the drain plate however. I have heard of ppl using a blower/inflator through the vent hole to force water out of the boat. Never tried it myself.

My $0.02 is that the boat may handle the water ballast weight on the water or trailer, and the crane can handle the weight, but I would be concerned with lifting the boat with water ballast with the crane. My concerns are the extra stress on the hull from the crane straps with a much heavier boat/ballast. I have no evidence for this though.

[Gazmn]

I’d use a reducer like this and then reduce further to garden hose.

Take off the metal band on 3” side and you should be able to put it on over the drain fitting.

PS: I use the 3” rubber cap version to guarantee the ballast doesn’t fill. As I’m sure my shutoff valve doesn’t seal and seat completely

[Jimmyt]

Raise the nose with the tongue jack. Mine will easily get the nose up enough to drain most of the ballast.

3-1/2 “ OD

[NiceAft]

If you have the chance to take the boat out, this may help?

The 6MPH rule is there because at that speed the bow raises enough to drain the ballast. Remove everything from the forward berth. Place it, and as much boat stuff as you can (anchors, chain, etc) in the aft berth, as far back as you can; you shouldn’t need to get up to 6MPH to drain the the ballast.

[WinSome]

Save yourself some effort.
1. Open the ballast valve as you exit the boat at the lift
Most of the water will drain as it lifts out and gets rinsed off.
2. The ballast will finish draining while on the trailer IF/when bow is raised with the trailer jack. There will be only a bit of water to remove /run away in this process.
3. Close the valve to almost shut for the winter season
That’s all that’s needed.

[Gazmn]

This!

[Russ]

I drop a couple Chlorine tabs in the ballast vent when I fill it in the Spring. When I dump the ballast, it smells like a swimming pool.

The above (open the valve before they lift it out) seems like the simple solution.

Then mess with the lift operator and say "Oh, my holding tank must be leaking"

[Prospect]

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it. I thought about draining the boat as they lift it but there are over 40 boats that need to be lifted and each person gets a 10 minute slot. It would eat up a bit of time but maybe they can accommodate. It would really save a lot of hassle.

How long does it take to drain the ballast?

[WinSome]

Ballast will empty in under five minutes. Last couple minutes it’s slower. I enjoy messin’ with startled folks at the launch -tell them just got boat out in time , etc.
I don’t think the lift folks will be hindered by the water outflow. The boat is dripping anyway.

[kurz]

When I forgot to empty Tha ballast Tank, I use a cheap pump like this


I squeeze the pump directly on the vent hole under the front bed.

[Russ]

How long does it take to drain the ballast?

Less than 30 seconds. See video above.

[Piddle and Futz]

I'm with @WinSome...

Rarely do we cruise at speed to empty the ballast tank. Just opening it as you come in to trailer seems to work just fine. Most of the water comes out on the ramp as we pull the boat out... Further emptying as we drive down the road. It's never been an issue for us.

So long as the crane can handle the water weight, letting it leak out as you lift is just fine... or if you don't like the way that looks or are concerned about spilling water where it's not wanted, just open the valve once trailered. It will all come out on its own as you drive.

[pitchpolehobie]

If I was going to do it with the crane I would have them stop raising the boat just above the water. Depending on how weight is distributed with straps ID be worried about movement and sliding as water exits the stern

[dlandersson]

Ditto

I'm with @Windome...

Rarely do we cruise at speed to empty the ballast tank. Just opening it as you come in to trailer seems to work just fine. Most of the water comes out on the ramp as we pull the boat out... Further emptying as we drive down the road. It's never been an issue for us.

So long as the crane can handle the water weight, letting it leak out as you lift is just fine... or if you don't like the way that looks or are concerned about spilling water where it's not wanted, just open the valve once trailered. It will all come out on its own as you drive.