Ballast in a motor boat

[tesswoodnutt]

We are putting new engines in an old 33' Aquastar. In the preparatory work in the engine compartment we have removed a good deal of weight in bilge soaked engine bearers (which we are replacing) and badly built bulkheads (also being replaced), also the new engines are 330kg in total lighter than the old ones. Because of this we feel that some ballast low down in the now clean and empty keel space would be beneficial. What could we use as ballast? Would concrete be suitable, or is it likely to be too corrosive? Any ideas greatly appreciated!

 

[FWB]

You can get lead ingots--just over a foot long and weigh, I think 75kgs!--anyway start here http://www.leadballast.co.uk/
Make that 40kgs !

 

[Vara]

I watched a new fishing boat being launched,once in the water a Ready mix machine came along and pumped about 3 cubes of concrete into it to take it down to its marks mind you it was steel and apparently had formers in place to take the concrete.
I'd go down the lead or encapsulated pig iron route.

 

[PCUK]

See how she performs before installing any ballast.

 

[tcm]

absolutely. adding fixed weight not a good idea at all. Note of course that if you DO need any weight - you can fil the tanks a bit. 330 kilos is 60ish gallons of water. I'm sure that the engine bearers weren't designed to be soaked thru either

 

[andy_wilson]

My mate has a Trader (style). Every now and again I have come across a bag of gravel in the bottom of a locker. Easy to shift, unlikely to move or do damage.

Would add ballast once afloat to balance her out. Can't think of too many instances where adding weight just for the sake of it is a good thing. See how she handles first, might have been designed with smaller (and therefore lighter) engine options anyway.

 

[tesswoodnutt]

We have been concerned in the past with feeling a bit 'top heavy' in a swell if passengers are up on deck, so maybe the bags of gravel idea might be the way to go, but we thought as low as possible would be best, and that means below the floor we're about to fix one evening this week. Thanks for the comments!