Permanent ballast / lead weight

[hiett_431]

I was digging around my parent's farm over the weekend looking for ideas on something for ballast weight. I found a bunch of old heavy chain, so i picked up some heavyduty duffel bags and brought home about 200-250lb of chain. It doesn't take up a lot of room because they are big chains, so i think they'll fit great beneath my back seats. I was wondering if anyone else who uses lead or weights leaves it in their boat or do you unload it every time? I've read that it can possibly warp the trailer, but I wasn't sure if anyone had any suggestions or experience.

[rearviewsg]

just be carefull you can also damage the fiberglass if the stuff bounces around alot while it is on the trailer. I would take in account for your trailer also if you have a single axel i would look at the load specs and then weigh everything it won't hurt your trailer if you are under the recomended weight but if you have a full tank of gas a bunch of stuff it may put you over max weight then you run the risk of damage to boat as well as warping of the trailer.. but least you were smart and put them in bags i have seen people put chains or weights under the floor before and damage the structural suppost of the boat when stuff started bouncing. so just be carefull

[t b d]

I used 600 pounds of lead weight in my last boat, it did have a tandem trailer but the trailer showed no signs of damage when I sold the boat. Just be carefull with the placement of the weight. Try to space it out and not put a large mass in one spot or you will see that area start to droop. I never took the weight out of the boat. That would be a huge hassle every time you took the boat out. If you go to play it again sports you can pick up used weights to save you some money.

[Broccoli B]

I don't use any additional ballast in my boat, but my doubele axle trailer says it can hold 6000 pounds, that is almost twice what the boat weights.