Boat Plugs

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
Last year Minnesota passed a law that whenever a boat is on the road, the plug must be out. If caught with the plug in, it is a large fine. Purpose of the law is to stop the spread of zebra mussels and other exotic water species from moving from lake to lake. I don' have a problem with the law (if it really works) but do have a problem with my plug.

I have the kind of plug that you put in from the inside of the boat. Put it in the hole and push down a lever and the rubber of the plug expands filling op the drain hole.

While this works, it is difficult to remove this type of plug everytime the boat is taken out of the water. Because of the way I hve the boat set up, I have to move a few heavy things everytime I need to remove the plug. Not a workable solution for the long haul.

I was out bass fishing with a buddy the other night and he had a plug on his walleye boat that screwed in from the outside. I thought this would be an easy way to take the plug out.

Does anyone know of a way to convert the style I have into a plug that can be put in to the drain hole from outside the boat?The boat in question is a Lund SSV 14.

Oh yeah, someone said I could just use the current plug I have and put it in from outside the boat. This sounds like a disaster in waiting to me.

Thanks for the advice.

Mark W

With this new law, I wonder what happens if you were fishing/hunting in Wisconsin and drive over the bridge into MN with the plug in and get caught?
 
Mark,

I had the same type of plug you have on my momarsh. I used it exclusively on the outside. Never had the lever move and this was dragged over beaver dams and some shallow weedy area's. Even if it would have moved to the pull-out position, you still had to turn it a number of times before the rubber would constrict enough to actually pull it out. I was never worried about it. I now have the screw in type on the estuary and I do like it much better. I don't see why you can't just go get the rubber plug with the "T" handle and use that on your current setup from the outside.

Ryan
 
After thinking of this for a second it dawned on me you might be talking about a garboard plug. Is it the screw rubber type with the "T" handle or a garboard?
 
Mark,
I had the same issue with my tunnel and it has two drain plugs. I had my welder insert a smaller threaded pipe in the plug hole, which is long on my boat and now I can use a threaded garboard (sp) plug from the outside. The over the counter garboard plugs wouldn't fit into my drain holes. Hope that helps.

Brian
 
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]
Oh yeah, someone said I could just use the current plug I have and put it in from outside the boat. This sounds like a disaster in waiting to me.
Click to expand...


Mark,

I ran my 16ft. Starcraft runabout this way for years with no problem. I actually preferred it that way because I could wait and pull the plug last thing before hitting the road. That way it wasn't draining in the mud while I was lashing the boat down. I now run my Chuck Huff with the lever type plug on the outside although a tee handle plug might be even less likely to be pulled out by accident.


My current fishing boat has a plastic screw in plug from the outside. Is is a fair amount smaller than the expanding type. The female portion of it installs to the boat using two screws in a flange to hold it in place. I have an extra unit laying around some where and I will measure it. I am thinking you may be able to install this screw in style directly over the opening for your current expanding style.

That way you can comply and not make a major alteration to your boat AND no worries about the plug falling out.


BTW Concerning coming from Wisc.; Doesn't matter where you are going to or coming from, if you are on the road in MN your plug must be out. Which means if you have no drain at all, you are good to go also. I guess you could permanently close the drain hole and you would be compliant. Might still mean a trip to court to sort it out.
[/font]
 
I've never had the plastic screw in type that Dave mentions, but I would be concerned with it cracking in cold weather. I wouldn't want anything plastic that is going to be messed with a bunch. Might ruin your day if it cracks while you are tightening it down prior to launch. If you go garboard I would use bronze.
 
Here is the type of plug I have

[inline plug.png]

Dave - What happens when someone unfamiliar with MN law on having all drains opens drives through the State with the plug still in?

Ryan - As far as plastic and the cold, if it has worked for Dave, and where and how he hunts, I'm not worried.

Mark

View attachment plug.PNG
 
Last edited:
Mark,

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. For all practical purposes I imagine given an out of state traveler, the officer may not choose to issue a citation if the boat plug is removed upon the officers request. If the driver gets all pissy or the officer is having a bad day,,,, then the driver may well earn himself a citation.


I did check on the plastic screw in plug. The OD. of the female portion which installs on the boat is about .006" BIGGER than the ID. of the tube for the expanding plug. Oh and the expanding plug I am, using on my Chuck Huff has the brass tee handle. I screw it tight and can't imangine that any weeds are going to pull it out.
 
Here is the type of plug I have



Dave - What happens when someone unfamiliar with MN law on having all drains opens drives through the State with the plug still in?

Ryan - As far as plastic and the cold, if it has worked for Dave, and where and how he hunts, I'm not worried.

Mark
Click to expand...

Mark,

Dave does say that it is his fishing boat that is setup this way.

Ryan
 
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]
Ryan - As far as plastic and the cold, if it has worked for Dave, and where and how he hunts, I'm not worried.
Click to expand...


Mark,

No, re-read my post. The plastic one is in my fishing boat, although I do go fishing in sub freezing temps on occasion. Any concerns I would have on the threaded plugs, especially in a horizontal orientation, is dirt and water freezing in the threads. I've had that happen on a bronze threaded plug, even tho it was installed straight vertical where the threads themselves would drain completely.
[/font]

Ryan, You type faster than I do. :>)
 
Last edited:
I've had several Lunds and always moved the plug to the outside for convenience. I used the plug type you have or, when I lost that, changed to the T-handle. I never had to do any kind of conversion. Unless your SSV-14 is different, I don't imagine you would, either. When using that plug on the outside, the only thing I did was make sure the handle was pointed up the transom. I never had it pop out, but then I was fishing and not duckhunting or messing about in brushy water. The T-handle will work well in those conditions.
 
The way I understand it is that the boat just has to be drained. The plugs can be in if the areas have been drained so most people traveling through should be OK unless their boat is leaking bad and they never check to see if it's holding water.

Just remember they also don't want you on two different bodies of water within 5 days either. **Rolling eyes smiley**

Tim
 
Attach a shock cord to the handle of the plug, and make it stretch fit to the drain hole. Then if it does come out, you still have it! And you won't miss-place it either.
 
Mark,
I always keep the the plug out when trailing for fear of getting caught in a downpour. Last thing I want to be doing in the middle of a rain storm is trying to remove the plug in a bad situation like side of the highway. I replaced my plug with the "T" type screw in from the inside to the out with no problem.
Charlie
 
Mark, if you decide to go with a plastic plug system go for a design with square threads like the sea dog kayak plug.

http://topkayaker.net/TopKayakerShop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_135&products_id=186&zenid=a9n9hash3knviu0l8d9u1tt125

I have been using a standard NPT threaded plastic plug on my BB III since there was no way to use a rubber plug from the inside. The NPT plastic threads bind up with sand and silt and muck and over the years have become a little more boogered up. After two years I had to build a slotted wrench for the plug because the threads were so rough that I could no longer tighten it by hand.

When the plug threads eventually fail I will be grinding off the flanged mount and intalling a kayak plug with square threads.

BTW - lots of river boats up here run with the lever expanding plugs on the outside due to how they are configured on the inside. Most open john boats run with them on the inside though.
 
Never had a problem with the lever or "T" top plug inserted from the outside, it seems like it COULD come out...but they never do.
But keep a spare handy anyway!
 
Ray,

The square threads are "acme" threads and yes they are much better than NPT threads for this application. My plastic plug uses the same thread type and is designed the same as the one in your link.

My first choice would be for the expanding plug tee handle style installed from the outside. Easy and no fuss.
 
I use the T-type plug (get it at Wal-Mart) on the outside. When I pull out of the water, the plug is the right size and fits right in the through hole for the bilge pump high up on my transom on one boat or in the splash well drain hole in the other boat. That way it is always there. When I do a walk around before launching, if I see the plug is in the bilge hole, I know to move it before putting the boat in the water. Has saved me from having that sinking feeling, hehehehe. Trip.
 
My boat sits high on the trailer and I can't reach the plug while standing outside of the boat so today I use a "T" type on the outside after learning a good lesson about why NOT to use a toggle type plug on the outside. One very windy day when pulling away from the blind I managed to get a tree root caught on the plug and yes the plug came out. As luck woud have it I kept my cooooool..;-) and kept the boat moving forward under power as my buddy searched in the boat box for the spare plug. Seems having a spare plug was one of the few things I remember my dad telling me at that age that sunk in. I have yet to lose a "T" type but I always carry a spare.

Ed L.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top