pioneercmt
2011-08-09 08:03:27
My boat lists - I need about 500-600 lbs on the other side to balance out my crab block equipment. Right now I'm using ten 50 lb bags of sand from Home Depot in one of my ice fish hold bins. My dock buddies tell me the bags will eventually leak sand all over the place, not good for the bilge pumps in the fish hold, etc. They recommend using those 94# bags of portland cement - they say just lay the complete bags of cement where you want them into the fish hold, and the moisture in the air will get inside the paper wrapper and turn them solid, while still being able to be removed at a later date. But they're beginning trollers too, and haven't tried it themselves, just heard from someone else. Anyone have any experience with ballast on a troller/crabber? I'm a little worried about the heat the cement will give off. If heat isn't going to be a problem, do you think I could just spray fresh water on them, rather than wait for the moisture in the salt air to do it? Maybe I should just get a durable bag to wrap up my existing sand bags?
Thanks in advance!
mydona
2011-08-09 13:43:52
I've seen guys use sand that has been put inside truck inter-tubes. They cut it in 1/2, making 2 "sausage casing" tubes and then zip tie the ends close. The rubber coating wont scar the hull and is a lot easier to handle when it's time to remove them. The local tire store should have old tubes to give away. Also the paper from the cement bags can clog your bilges just as fast as sand.
carojae
2011-08-10 18:04:41
Seems like a lot of wasted space to house bags of cement.
I don't have crab gear to counter but a shift in ballast because of icing fish is always a problem. This is why I always have a box on each side of the boat for holding spare trolling leads. Taking a 50# lead from one side to the other, for example, equals a 100# shift because you've taken from one side and added it to the other side. Works well for me.
$0.02
Jim