livemusic Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 My 17' 1997 Tracker that I bought used a year ago, I keep finding water in the hull. When I trailer it home, it will slosh out of the drain in the bottom of the boat and I will see that the carpet is soaked. Which is mysterious to me because the plug is in. I have looked the bottom over for a leak/crack, can't find anything. One time I bet I overfilled the live well with pumped water; it probably overflowed to the back area? But let me ask, does your hull gain any water? If no crack or no live well problem, I guess it has to come from the plug. Do you guys use any old plug buy a higher end plug? Quote
Western-Mass-Bass Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Is it a rivet model? Ive heard they will pull on water. 1 Quote
Super User ww2farmer Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 Sometimes, but usually only a quart or so after a 10-12 hour trip. I am convinced it's from dryed out gasket/sealing material around the thru-hull fittings that I have disturbed over the ten years I have owned this boat, ,like around the livewell intake and rear transducer bracket, and /or the keel seam thingy that Tracker welds on not being 100% water tight any more..............because sometimes there is not a drop of water in it. If I have been out in heavy rain and damp weather, it takes 3-4 trips out to not get any water out of the bilge, even though it's drained after every rainy outing, the amount of water that is in the carpet, floataion foam, etc.... and other places that drain into the bilge area is pretty impressive at times. I once fished in a downright monsoon, with a limit of big smallmouth from deep water and 80+ degree air temps and 75+ degree surface water temps, so I kept the livewell on "constant" the entire day to keep those smallies supplied with as much fresh and oxygenated water as possible. I have a 1000 GPH livewell pump, and my livewell drain tube can't keep up with what the pump takes in...........I wasn't paying any attention to this overflow situation, coupled with the downpouring rain, and before I knew it..............about 3 hours later.................the console area of my boat had shin deep water in it. It took the bilge pump a 1/2 hour to get rid of all that water, but the boat was never in danger of sinking.....................Moral of the story.............water in the boat causes my no alarm, unless it's from major hull damage LOL. Quote
Ski213 Posted March 12, 2016 Posted March 12, 2016 I always take on some water. I don't sweat it much anymore. Used to be a lot more courtesy of a live well drain hose crack and a failed rub rail seal. If you're soaking the carpet in lower areas I would think that's a fair amount of water but I'm not familiar with the construction of your boat. You might try flooding the hull at the house and check for water leaking out at thru hull fittings and such. 1 Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted March 12, 2016 Super User Posted March 12, 2016 No boat in my driveway, but my Ascend 128T takes on a little water through the hatch covers. I resealed them with auto/marine RTV, but a little always gets in. I don't sweat it. Quote
Super User J._Bricker Posted March 12, 2016 Super User Posted March 12, 2016 6 hours ago, Western-Mass-Bass said: Is it a rivet model? Ive heard they will pull on water. +1 1 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted March 12, 2016 Super User Posted March 12, 2016 Tracker acquired Fisher Boats around that time. Fisher hulls were known leakers. I've owned 2 riveted boats since 2004 and never had a drop of water caused from a leaky rivet. First thing I would do is visually check along the rivets/welds for any stressed areas. I would also check for cracked pumpsmand hoses for the livewell and bilge. If you don't see anything obvious, Park the boat on level ground. Put the drain plug in the boat and fill it with water from your garden hose. Wait and watch. If the hull is leaking, this is a surefire way to find the leak. If you do this and determine its not the hull, drain the water out of the hull. Put the plug in the livewell and fill it up. Turn on the recirc pump if you have one and see if any water comes out the hull drain 2 Quote
Super User Further North Posted March 12, 2016 Super User Posted March 12, 2016 Had a '98 Tracker V-14 that'd wind up with some water inth bilge after a long day. Never enough to be a problem. A Lund and two Crestliners since then have been bone dry unless it rains. Quote
Slade House Posted March 13, 2016 Posted March 13, 2016 Could be that you're foam is water logged underneath your deck , thats bad , most likely you have water that has soaked is now stuck in the bottom of your boat where it can't be drained via a pump , and can only be taken care of by ripping out your deck , and ripping out the old foam and then replacing it. Quote
Snakehead Whisperer Posted March 13, 2016 Posted March 13, 2016 9 hours ago, Slade House said: Could be that you're foam is water logged underneath your deck , thats bad , most likely you have water that has soaked is now stuck in the bottom of your boat where it can't be drained via a pump , and can only be taken care of by ripping out your deck , and ripping out the old foam and then replacing it. I've seen waterlogged foam drained by just drilling a few holes in the hull, tilt it so the holes are at the lowest point, and leave it sit like that for a week or so. Then just glass over those small holes. On 3/10/2016 at 3:25 PM, livemusic said: My 17' 1997 Tracker that I bought used a year ago, I keep finding water in the hull. When I trailer it home, it will slosh out of the drain in the bottom of the boat and I will see that the carpet is soaked. Which is mysterious to me because the plug is in. I have looked the bottom over for a leak/crack, can't find anything. One time I bet I overfilled the live well with pumped water; it probably overflowed to the back area? But let me ask, does your hull gain any water? If no crack or no live well problem, I guess it has to come from the plug. Do you guys use any old plug buy a higher end plug? I have water in the bilge every time I pull my boat from the water. It's mostly due to my laziness about replacing old livewell hose. My guess is that you have an issue with your livewell plumbing, or something minor like that. Regardless of how the water gets in the boat, you should be draining it before you leave the lake/river. Around here it is illegal to trailer your boat with the plug in, and I'm pretty sure it is in most places. Just a heads up. Quote
Slade House Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 drilling holes in the hull seems like a worse idea than removing the decking and replacing that. Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted March 14, 2016 Super User Posted March 14, 2016 A little bit of water isn't the end of the world, however it sounds like you have quite a bit. It very well could be the hoses. You need to remove your plug after you're done fishing though. Figure out how much is coming in during a normal trip to see if it's even an issue. Lots of good info above on how to check for leaks. Also, visually check transducer mounts, or any drilled holes in your hull for sealant. If it doesn't look like there's anything on them, you might want to remove it and put some in there. Quote
Snakehead Whisperer Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 On 3/14/2016 at 1:07 AM, Slade House said: drilling holes in the hull seems like a worse idea than removing the decking and replacing that. It's the only way to get the water out of a foam filled boat like a Whaler. Quote
joefish Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 You really should remove your plug before leaving the parking lot. It is illegal in my state to trailer a boat with the plug in. Quote
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