Bildge pump for duck boat?

K

Kris Washington

Member
Greetings All,

Question: does it make sense to put an electronic bildge pump in a 16' duck boat? I'm building the Sam Devlin Snow Goose. No mention of a bildge pump in the plans. Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks!
Kris
 
Yes, absolutely. I have one in my BB3 and wouldn't be without it. I have halted a day on the water when my bilge pump didn't work. In my mind it's a matter of safety, not just convenience.
 
Definitely install one and check it frequently. I also carry a back up manual pump and an old fashioned bailing can. Having sunk a boat or two when I was young and invincible I would rather be safe than sorry (or dead).
 
Kris,
My pump is manual and switched & fused thru my control panel. I want to be able to have control over when it comes on - sometimes there is ice in the bilge and I don't like the idea of a automatic pump running on and on if it gets stuck. Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid. You can see the vent in the second pic. It shoots out over the starboard sponson.





 
Thank you so much for taking the time to help me with this Pete. I so appreciate the pictures and explanation.

I'll definitely be installing a bildge pump this weekend! (And to Paul's point carrying a manual back-up as well.)

Please stand-by for stupid newbe follow-up question : )
I notice you have the floor/sole vented above the pump (the grate). I assume that allows water coming in from rain and/or rough waters over the gunnels to be captured bellow decks and dealt with by the pump. Other than a screw-on plastic access cap installed in the sole I didn't plan for any venting/holes through the sole. So the pump in this case would only be dealing with water that may get into the space below the cap or from leaks in the hull (however unfortunate that would be). Question: Should I vent the floor to allow water down below the floor? Sorry - been around boats a while, but my first build.

Thanks very much again.
Very Best,
- Kris
 
Kris, From my experience most of the water that comes in a duck boat -on a normal hunt -is from either me getting in and out or the dog bringing it in. When it gets rough you may also get spray inside as well. If you don't have a place for that water to go it's just going to build up in the back of the boat. My feeling is to have place for it to go - the bilge - then pump it out. You'll always have a dry boat that way. The Snow Goose you are building is a great boat and you likely won't get much water in it but plan for a 'just-in-case' scenario and you won't have to worry.
 
Thank you very much for your time and experience Pete. I can't tell you how helpful it is to get advice from guys who have been there and done that. Very much appreciated sir.
 
Definitely!
I got caught in rain storm once that put about 3" of water in the boat. Yep, it rained that hard. If I didn't have a bilge pump, I would have had a lot of extra weight in the boat trying to get back to the dock.
Mine is "portable": has a long cord with a 12 volt plug and a flexible pipe.
A some point I am going to permanently install it.
 
Get the type that have removeable cartridges. That way if the pump goes bad you just replace the cartridge and not the whole pump. It saves money and bilge pumps do quit working more that you think.
 
Hey Carl,

I am rigging up an Arthur Armstrong Wigeon and was going to do the exact same thing for the just in case. I hate to put a hole in my new transom so I will see how it works out this year.
 
So the pump in this case would only be dealing with water that may get into the space below the cap or from leaks in the hull (however unfortunate that would be).
Click to expand...
Just a thought, but if you do any reading/thinking on water entry rate in a holed hull, even a smallish hole, a bildge pump can't be expected to keep up. Water entering the boat from a leak in the hole is under pressure (the deeper the greater the pressure) and comes in faster even then a big regular battery operated bildge pump can handle.
 
Hi Todd. Got it - bildge pump not suitable to handle leaks. That was a silly assertion on my part. I am certainly not planning on nor hope to experience any leaks : )

Do you have a bildge pump set up on your Goose?

Thanks as always.
- K
 
A bilge pump can not handle a substantial compromise of the hull. If can, however, handle minor leaks (like a rivet starts leaking), a deluge of rain (like I experienced), taking a rogue wave that doesn't completely swamp you but puts a butt load of water in the boat, or similar cases. In these cases, it should get you back to the dock.


I think (think) what Todd is getting at is that if you are expecting a bilge pump to handle a 3" hole in the hull, it aint happening. The bilge pump wont be able to keep up, might give you some extra time to beach the hull or get ready to hit the water, but that's it.
 
Thanks Carl. You and Todd make very good sense. I would not expect the pump to handle leaks. And the first step is not having any! But I understand that the pump will help get rid of rain and wave water is many cases. I'll be picking one up today at West Marine. I was on the fence between Johnson swappable cartridge type and Rule brand. I think the biggest factor is physical dimension. The height of my bildge area between hull floor and sole is only about 3" at the stern. I can see that this may be the reason you set yours up the way you did - so that the bildge actually comes up through the grate in the sole.

Thanks again!
 
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