mooring ball in a small lake

[Johnshan1]

Hey everyone, we live on a small lake in Maine, I have been driving down to the ramp and launching the boat since we just bought the house and have only used the boat a few times. Well I realized how much I hate trailering it 1 minute down the road. I want to put the boat on a mooring ball and wade out to it. The water is only about 2-3' deep about 100 feet out. <br /><br />The boat is a small 15' boat that I built. It weighs about 900 lbs with all gear. The lake is calm and its rare to even see a white cap.<br /><br />What will I need for mooring weight? I will have a cover over the boat and an automatic bilge. Since I will see the boat everyday im not worried about dual pumps and batteries.<br /><br />Thanks for any advice and what I need for hardware.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Something big filled with concrete works best. Carrying the thing out there will be the trick. Maybe get a buddy with a bigger boat to help. Bouys are held in place with a concrete block poured into a wooden form and left to cure, then you pull the wood off it. Put a large eye bolt in the top of the wet concrete with a large washer held between 2 nuts sunk in the concrete. About a foot square should be fine, that's 75 lbs.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

build and 18"x18" box, get a 1/2" eye bolt from the electrical Dept at home depot ( the type they use to hook the electical service to the house). suspend the eye bolt in the center of the box, fill with concrete, take a hammer and tap on the side to get the concrete to settle, and air pockets out. let it set up. now with a friend, attach you rope and float, you can use the spare tire out of the car. put it in the water, put block on top of the tire, float it out to where you want it, and dump it. be sure it is deep enough that if the water level drops it does not become a hazard. this will hold what ever you desire to moor.

 

[Bondo]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

2 Old Engine Blocks,..... Bolted together with a short Chain between them is a Great Mooring Block,........<br /><br />If by chance a Big Blow comes up,....the 1st block will Usually Hold,.... If it gets Drug around,... <br />The slight slack between the 2,.. Then the Weight of the 2nd will Keep it Where You Want It..............<br />Even with a Short rode scope,.. If the boat Moves the 1st Block,.. The 2nd will Not Move.......

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Thanks guys, went and made a 12" tall x 12" wide x 18" long block, put a foot of chain in it. At the bottom of the chain I put a threaded rod with nuts on it so the chain couldnt pull out. It took just about 2 80 lb bags of concrete, hope she holds. Since I am only in 2 feet of water, I was thinking 5' of chain to the mooring ball, when I needed to "hook up" at the end of the day simply clip my rope to the shackle that joins the chain to the ball, clip the other end to the bow eye and off I go.

 

[roscoe]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

4 things.<br /><br />1- Concrete loses half of its "weight" in water.<br />It is not dense enough. A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds.<br />Concrete weighs between 90 and 140 pounds per cubic foot, depending on type. So if you take an average cubic foot of concrete at 120 pounds, and subtract the weight of the water displaced (62.5#), you have gained 57.5# of holding weight.<br /><br />A cubic foot of steel weight 220 pounds. Giving you 157.5# of holding weight. <br /><br />150# of steel would be great. Use chain from the steel to the float.<br /><br />2- You do not mention what the bottom of the lake is made of.<br />Mud would be best, then sand, then hard/rock.<br /><br />3- Is a "permanent" mooring legal on your lake?<br /><br />4- Why not secure it to shore?

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

<br /><br /><br />Think I should cut the old cooler off it or can I use as is? The junk cooler was on the way to the trash and fit the bill.

 

[roscoe]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

cooler is gonna slide.<br />Cooler actually reduces the holding poweer because it is bouyant.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Thats kinda what I figured Also I checked out where its gonna be today and its mostly rocky, no sand or mud to speak of.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Also I dont want to secure it to shore as its far to shallow to bring the boat up to it. I have never heard of any issues with moorings being legal or not, people just plop them in. Its a small lake with no public launch just a canoe carry. If I can find an I-beam I will use that, I have a 10 footer but its awful hard to cut with no power source around it.

 

[roscoe]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

You can always wait till winter, and drag a heavy chunk of steel out on the ice with the car/truck, but that means you have to trailer till next year.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Thats a great idea, I like that. I think I will just try to find a shorter (4' or so) i beam and throw it out this season. I really dont think I will have an issue with the 160lbs of concrete, theres really not any wave action or any heavy wind on this area, we shall see.

 

[Bondo]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Originally posted by Johnshan1:<br />

<br />

Ayuh,............. I Gotta Admit,..............<br /><br />That's the 1st Mooring Block,.....I've EVER Seen,.......<br />Wearing a PFD................. <br /><br />At 1.5cu.ft. of Concrete,....... I Bet it'll Almost Float.................

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Good one! The cooler will be removed prior to the sinking. The dog sure is interested though.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

<br /><br /><br />Theres the beauty, gotta wait for it to cure more I guess cuz the corners are a little crumbly. Think im going to tag team em and have 2.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

PS- my wife made fun of me for going and taking a picture of conrete block at 10 pm at night, she just doesnt get it

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

tag teaming would be a good idea. do it like bondo mention with the engine blocks.

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

Check with the local authorities to make sure you can use that. Many times the town dictates the type of mooring you can use.<br />I have seen many times the environmental police pull a mooring to check compliance. I don't know what the deal is in Maine, but they tend to be strict on anything to do with water.

 

[Mark42]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

I know its kind of late for this suggestion, but you said the lake is only 2 to 3 foot deep where you want to moore. Why not drive in a pressure treated post or steel rod into the lake and tie to that? You should attach a bright float and paint it accordingly for safety reasons. <br /><br />Actually, you could probably get away with a good anchor and mooring ball. Then it's easy to bring in off season.

 

[Johnshan1]

Re: mooring ball in a small lake

It seems to be common practice to use whatever you want for a mooring weight around here, in the lakes anyway. Im not sure I could drive in a post, the bottom is mostly rock, good idea though.