Did something dumb today.

[sawguy21]

@Southside I was taught early on to tie said plug to the tiller or steering wheel to keep that from happening. A fellow who I (briefly) worked for at his so called marine shop backed a customers boat and trailer into the water, boat didn't float off  so he backed in further. Still no joy so further when everything dropped off the ramp. It wouldn't pull forward so he he threw the Land Rover in 4 low and hit it, boat and trailer came sans axle. He laid into me for not checking the plug so I told where to go and left.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have had several with a short chain or cable attached connected to the boat at the drain. You had enough room to remove it and drain the boat but it was always right next to the spot where it was needed.

   The one in my live well is the same size so it is always available as a back up if I ever lose the primary plug.

[SawyerTed]

Oh the boat plug not installed stories! I have my share. Here are a couple.

Spring of the year several years ago, my oldest daughter, who was attending UNC Wilmington, wanted to go Spanish Mackerel fishing with some of her friends.  So I arranged the trip and took the boat.  They met me at a ramp on the ICW near Shallotte, NC.  We launched and proceeded out of the inlet.  When we slowed down to set our trolling lines, the bilge pump came on and ran and ran and ran.  Then it dawned on me, I had forgotten the plug.  I checked and it was where I normally keep it and not in the necessary spot for the moment.  

Faced with sinking, none of the young people were willing to go in the water and put the plug in.  So over the side I went into the chilly water, installed the plug and back on board in less time than the debate they were having on the merits of sinking.   :D

On another occasion when I had a stern drive bowrider boat, I would remove the plugs from the water jacket and manifold jacket on the motor to help prevent freezing damage.  My brother and I went to Badin Lake fishing for striped bass in January.  Except we got a mile from the ramp and the back of the boat was filling up with water.  We knew we had put the boat plug in.  THEN I remembered those pesky plugs in the water jacket and manifolds.  Turned on the bilge pump, ran back to the ramp and trailered the boat.  It took about half an hour for the water to run out.  We installed the plugs after fishing them out from under the motor.  Seems like we caught fish on that trip but I really don't recall. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Boat plugs.
 This is one of those "Let HE who is without sin cast the first stone" subjects. I am not without sin, although I try to let those incidents pass from memory as soon as they can. :D

 However, there was this one time, we were fishing the St. Lawrence river out of Clayton, NY in the 1,000 islands region. We had a rented open boat docked just below our rented cabin with a 15 horse Evinrude. My son was about 13 or 14 at the time and I considered him a fully fledged and trained deck hand, and he had failed to roll out of bed and go down to bail out the boat after an unexpected heavy rain overnight as was his duty. So we had breakfast and walked down while I made all kinds of comments about him costing us fishing time and how simple it was to just get the bulk of the water out of the boat and all those other things a Dad says to his son when he is trying to instill responsibility. The tackle boxes were floating in the boat, just to give you an idea. I was not about to do 'his job' for him, so we untied and took off for the far side of the channel, that gave us a good 20 minute run flat out and I pulled the plug figuring it would drain as we ran. It was slow going at first with all that water on board, but improved quickly. What was left he could hand bail or hand pump as we fished. Well we got the the spot, a cove around one of the islands, in due time, set out an anchor to catch the slot current the way we liked and started fishing. In just a little while I noticed a tackle box moving a bit, then I noticed my feet were getting wet. I quickly put the plug back in. I waited a few more minutes and calmly asked him when he was going to 'get around' to getting the rest of this water out of the boat. 

 To this day he doesn't know of this little boo-boo on my part. He just thinks those drain cocks don't drain as much water as you might think they would. ;D

[SawyerTed]

Then there was the time I turned on the wash down pump at the dock to rinse the deck before setting out to fish an artificial reef 8 miles offshore. 

I neglected to turn the pump off.  The hose from the pump to the wash down connection had a split in it.  For the hour or so it ran it pumped the bilge full.  

Some creative rerouting of the plumbing allowed me to use both the bilge pump and the wash down pump to pump the water out before we sank.  

I spent the next day replacing the plumbing before launching the boat again. 

[sawguy21]

 :D :D :D

[firefighter ontheside]

When I worked in MN at a canoe outfitting company off of the Gunflint Trail I would go fishing in the evenings and my days off.  I had a little 9.9 mercury outboard on a 14' boat.  I would do like you all and drive the boat with the plug out to get the water out.  It didn't happen fast with that 9.9.  One evening I got stopped by the game warden.  We talked for a while as I knew him from buying gas at our store.  As we were talking  I realized that the plug was still out and I now had about 6" of water in the boat.  I quickly told him I had to go and I gunned it.  Well, it took me about 30 minutes of driving around to get all the water out.  It was a nice night for a boat ride though.

[Nebraska]

Really just dumb luck.....I bought an old crestliner fishing boat from the retired plumber here in town. Verns had some health issues and couldn't use his boat anymore. It had been sitting a while.
Finally  got it out early this fall. I didn't forget the plug, my wife and  were trolling along  and I thought the back end of the boat was sitting lower .  It was ....much lower...

 Well the live well plumbing was leaking  underneath filling the boat.(I figured it out  at that moment)...Glad the bilge pump works.  I though I'd lost the plug too.   It was getting towards dark anyway so we beat it back to the boat ramp. Bilg ran the whole way back and water drained for ten minutes  after I got the boat out.  Hoping to get that torn apart and fixed soon. 

[Southside]

Sounds like you need a plumber.   :D

[firefighter ontheside]

My dad bought a new to him 2003 Lund this summer.  After the first few times we used it we figured out it had some water getting in somewhere.  The first thing we checked was rivets, but they all looked good.  Then I took apart the floor in one of the compartments to get to the drain for the live well thinking maybe it was getting in there.  That didn't fix it.  A few weeks later we replaced the bilge pump and the live well pump.  It turned out that the livewell pump hose attached to the pump was not clamped on and was very loose.  It's been dry in there ever since we replaced the pump.

[doc henderson]

I used to do that with my sailboat, but you better have some wind.

[Crossroads]

This actually dates back a couple months, I bought a 20x30 rounded canvas shelter that is rated for "Canadian snow load". I got it all set up and parked the boat, edger, 4 wheeler and skid steer in out of the weather. Was I. There today and could see where the steel poles were failing. I already had the skiddy parked outside because I had been using it. Went over and started the 4 wheeler and was getting ready to back it out when I heard a pop. I dove between the boat and 4 wheeler as the shelter came crashing down. I escaped without injury, but the windshield on the boat got broken and the cover is tore up. So, I spent the rest of the day digging everything out and cutting the shelter into little pieces. 

[Hilltop366]

Must have been for Victoria not Labrador. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Crossroads, do you know the brand by any chance? I have been quite happy with mine after 3 winters. Pretty dang tough. The quality levels on these can vary a lot and those shelter logic ones don't seem to hold up very well.

[SawyerTed]

This is very minor but DUMB just the same. I was sharpening blades this evening on the Woodmizer BMS 250.  I knew the blade I was sharpening had a bit if a bend in it but proceeded anyway.  Well the machine stopped about 1/3 around.  I couldn't get it to restart.  

I unplugged the machine, checked the E stop, no joy.  Recalling there are a couple of fuses inside the control box, I pulled had fuses and checked them. Again no joy.  

After about a half hour. I checked the blade, pulled it to me a bit and tried to start the sharpener.  It started and ran fine.  It has been so long since I've sharpened blades that I forgot that there's a proximity sensor that shuts the sharpener down when the blade is out of alignment.  It was that slight bend that did it. 

My ego was bruised and raw but no other damage to man of machine. 

[Don P]

Some wounds just don't heal :D.

[Crossroads]

I don't know what brand it was off hand, I might try to dig up the box tomorrow and check. 

[Jim_Rogers]

This actually dates back a couple months, I bought a 20x30 rounded canvas shelter that is rated for "Canadian snow load". I got it all set up and parked the boat, edger, 4 wheeler and skid steer in out of the weather. Was I. There today and could see where the steel poles were failing. I already had the skiddy parked outside because I had been using it. Went over and started the 4 wheeler and was getting ready to back it out when I heard a pop. I dove between the boat and 4 wheeler as the shelter came crashing down. I escaped without injury, but the windshield on the boat got broken and the cover is tore up. So, I spent the rest of the day digging everything out and cutting the shelter into little pieces.

How much snow was on it?

[GAB]

This actually dates back a couple months, I bought a 20x30 rounded canvas shelter that is rated for "Canadian snow load". I got it all set up and parked the boat, edger, 4 wheeler and skid steer in out of the weather. Was I. There today and could see where the steel poles were failing. I already had the skiddy parked outside because I had been using it. Went over and started the 4 wheeler and was getting ready to back it out when I heard a pop. I dove between the boat and 4 wheeler as the shelter came crashing down. I escaped without injury, but the windshield on the boat got broken and the cover is tore up. So, I spent the rest of the day digging everything out and cutting the shelter into little pieces.

I think you got snookered by the advertising.
Advertiser 1  Crossroads 0.
GAB

[Maine Miller]

This actually dates back a couple months, I bought a 20x30 rounded canvas shelter that is rated for "Canadian snow load". I got it all set up and parked the boat, edger, 4 wheeler and skid steer in out of the weather. Was I. There today and could see where the steel poles were failing. I already had the skiddy parked outside because I had been using it. Went over and started the 4 wheeler and was getting ready to back it out when I heard a pop. I dove between the boat and 4 wheeler as the shelter came crashing down. I escaped without injury, but the windshield on the boat got broken and the cover is tore up. So, I spent the rest of the day digging everything out and cutting the shelter into little pieces.

I had the same thing happen to me on a 30 X 30 a few years ago. Got close to a foot of wet snow followed by rain and down it came. Had a camper and 2 boats under it. Minor damage to the little windshield on my pontoon boat. Surprisingly, my Homeowners covered it. They will never get the chance to pay for another one tho.

[HemlockKing]

With those tent garages you need to knock the snow off the roof during storms, every 4-6 inches I'll go out with a broom and knock it off from the outside and inside. Otherwise they will fail. Sadly can't leave home on vacation if there were to be a big snow storm or you risk it collapsing too

[WV Sawmiller]

   Are the tent garages supposed to be heated to melt the snow as it falls? 

   We had that problem on the military base in Bagram in Afghanistan. The tents were heated and while we would remove snow with special rakes under extreme conditions but most of the time the heat took care of the issue. We had a bunch of tents assigned to the USAF and they contracted on their own to foam them with a solution that insulated and hardened the tents. The first heavy snow they collapsed. We had to tear all the covers out and replace them with normal canvas. To top it off the foam was considered hazardous waste and we had to pay a special contractor to haul it off and process it.

[Resonator]

My experience I'd only get a couple winters out of those tent shelters. I would have to keep sweeping the snow off otherwise it would start to sag, turn into big blocks of ice, and then failure happens. They worked good in summer to keep the rain off and provide shade, unless a wind storm would hit. :D

[HemlockKing]

I have a 12x24 x10 height round top for my tractor and it works pretty good but it does trap moisture. Still better than being out in the sun, snow, rain etc

[Crossroads]

We have about 3' stacked up right now, but it had been sliding off and piling up on the sides. Then we got a wet snow followed by a freeze and it didn't slide. There was a blanket about 6' each side of the peak about a foot deep.