100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

fishmonster13

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
98
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

i have a 50 gallon live well i use for tournaments in a 17ft boat and really have had no problems with it ,don't even notice it. but it is more in the back of the boat than the front. if you can put it more centered and spread it the weight out as much as possible, and these boats have huge safety factor built into them for example i could run up to a 140hp motor on mine but the manufacturer rated it at only 85hp, however i am not going to test the limits.
 

Boss Hawg

Lieutenant
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Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1,433
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

i have a 50 gallon live well i use for tournaments in a 17ft boat and really have had no problems with it ,don't even notice it. but it is more in the back of the boat than the front. if you can put it more centered and spread it the weight out as much as possible, and these boats have huge safety factor built into them
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for example i could run up to a 140hp motor on mine but the manufacturer rated it at only 85hp
, however i am not going to test the limits.

Thats the kind of advise & thinking that gets folks into trouble :(
Most will only see the I COULD part :confused:
 

a70eliminator

Captain
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
3,762
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

Aren't live wells usually at the water line, you pull the plug and they fill up to the water level, therefore weight is not really a concern it's a displacement thing, unless you try getting up on plane, then your trying to lift all those gallons up out of the water? Kinda like floating a 5gl bucket full of water it hasn't any weight to it until you go to lift it out of the water. I would re-think the 2 50gal drum experiment it's not the same, I take back the suggestion.
 

SteuryLover

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
191
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

I am in total agreement the weight will not work in the front. I am now thinking of adding a 30" Armstrong type bracket that adds flotation at rest. Then I could most likely install something safely on the stern of the boat. The DFG guys out here have them on their older center console rescue boats to accommodate the extra weight of the newer 4 strokes (they run twin 90hp 4 strokes on a 19' center console and twin 150's on a 22'). I am over trying to make the front work out. I really appreciate the calls on safety, always the #1 priority.
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

800 - 900 pounds of slosh (water/fish) coupled with side mounted fuel tanks that also provide a slosh factor and in a heavy swell you could find yourself wet. Not my idea of a good time.
 

jay_merrill

Vice Admiral
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

One of the things that I was going to mention, is that fresh water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon and saltwater weighs 8.59 pounds per gallon. That means that just the water in your tank will weigh between 835 pounds and 859 pounds. Given the strength that is going to have to be built into the tank to contain and support this, I could easily see your tank/water combination weighing close to 1,100 pounds, nevermind the rest of the gear that will go with it.

Sorry, but I think you should forget all the attempts to modify a boat that is obviously too small for what you want to do with it.



???
 

SteuryLover

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
191
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

I am putting the white flag up fellas, time to find a more appropriate boat. I love the opinions on this forum though, very valuable.
 

boat1010

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
781
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

Sure doesn't sound safe to me. As Bob_VT said I would do a lot of checking with people other than iboats before I would set sail on the three day tour...
 

Boss Hawg

Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1,433
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

I am putting the white flag up fellas, time to find a more appropriate boat. I love the opinions on this forum though, very valuable.

Wise disision IMO-

The old sating "Never mind the mule--Just load the wagon" does'nt apply to boats :(
 

walt-oxie1

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
141
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

So in other words you are comportable with having a additional 6 grown men that adverage 200# each + a what--200# of net on less than a 18' boat along with yourself & normal gas, gear, batteries watnot :confused:
I sure go with Bob on wat he said :rolleyes:

No, there is usually 2 (sometimes just me) people on the boat. Why would I need the other 4 people? I also have a different hull design that is made for commercial fishing and hauling extremely heavy loads.
 

Boss Hawg

Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
1,433
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

No, there is usually 2 (sometimes just me) people on the boat. Why would I need the other 4 people? I also have a different hull design that is made for commercial fishing and hauling extremely heavy loads.

I was making reference to the 1200# of extra weight :confused:
 

walt-oxie1

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
141
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

I just remembered something. Back when I used to pier fish, I used a 30 gallon drum with a bunch of 1 inch holes drilled all around it. It also had a flap type lid on the side that was hinged with wire ties and made out of the section that was cut out of the barrel. The "lid" was secured with a bungee cord. I used to drop it over the side of the pier and secure it with a rope. When I wanted to pull it out of the water I went slow so the water would drain out. You may be able to use something like that to keep them alive while fishing and use your existing live well or cooler just to transport them in.
 

walt-oxie1

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
141
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

Walt, what rig do you use?

I don't usually try to keep fish alive. They usually go in baskets or totes then into coolers later. It mostly depends on the fish, time of year and weather.
 

SteuryLover

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
191
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

I just remembered something. Back when I used to pier fish, I used a 30 gallon drum with a bunch of 1 inch holes drilled all around it. It also had a flap type lid on the side that was hinged with wire ties and made out of the section that was cut out of the barrel. The "lid" was secured with a bungee cord. I used to drop it over the side of the pier and secure it with a rope. When I wanted to pull it out of the water I went slow so the water would drain out. You may be able to use something like that to keep them alive while fishing and use your existing live well or cooler just to transport them in.

I have thought about doing something like that, having a larger mother ship to transport the catch was also a thought. The front fish hold is sealed and holds 35 gallons, I also have the main live bait tank which holds 32 gallons. I ordered a KeepaLive system for my existing bait tank so I can get a better idea of how much its going to take to keep these fish alive. But I am over building one on the front. For anyone who is familiar with our local rockfish, they are very strong fish. They stay alive for a long period of time out of water and are hardy enough to not need to ice them for hours. Party boats out here will have anglers gunny sacks filled with rockfish for the whole 10 hour+ trip. They never ice them, they just simply spray salt water on them from a hose time to time to keep them wet.
 

walt-oxie1

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
141
Re: 100 Gallon Live Fish Well Is The Weight Safe?

Oh crap, It just dawned on me you were asking about my boat. I guess I am having a senior moment. It is an 18 foot Phillips Big 18 wellboat.
 
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