pumpless ballast

i'm doing stringers and floor in my boat. i want to add a simple ballast system that will load on the fly and drain on the fly. i'll add tanks under the floor while i'm there. i don't want to mess with pumps. i probably want to be able to fill left side vs right side but that's about it.

i've searched and couldn't find much about ballast without pumps.

can someone point me in the right direction?

thanks

Calibria Pro Vert Ballast, maybe they can send you in the right direction.

Here's some info on one I helped with a friend a while back.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/199086.html?1105114843

There's another link within that post from the beginning.

Good luck.

i miss my old ballast system. i think there are spread sheets posted on the diytower site too. if you decide this is for you lemme know and ill dig up what info i have.

i've read your review before, alan. that rings a bell and was some of what i'm looking for. i like the vent control idea. my tanks will be under the floor though.

i searched for calabria's system, there's a decent description on pg 5 of this brochure... http://www.calabriaboats.com/2007_Calabria_Brochure.pdf

gate valves, 1 for each side. fills up when the hull is in the water/drains when on plane. i think i still like the scooper pick-up better with a ball valve.

mcmaster carr has all kinds of them. has anyone seen or have pics of the valves calabria uses? how about pics of the valves on a calabria?? are the openings on the transom?

thanks

fyi i got just about all my stuff (valves and such) from mcmaster carr. good luck, keep us posted

go to www.livebaitlarry.com there are some technical articles about how much water pressure is created with different size thru-hull scuppers.

I think filling would be easy with a forward facing scupper TH and a shut-off valve. Draining the tanks that are below the water line could be tricky, but could be done with another rear facing scupper or TH at the transom. You need a vent for sure.

Post your design and get input before you pull the trigger.

excellent

i'm thinking of pushing the tanks a little further forward than i had originally planned. when on plane, the tanks will be mostly above the waterline and definitely higher than a TH mounted on the transom or even under the hull. under the hull might work better with a siphoning effect whereas the transom would only be gravity. however, with a big enough TH gravity should do the trick pretty quickly. under the hull might leave some water in the system if the siphon doesn't draw it all out. it should with a vent.

thanks for the link. i'll start another thread for pics of a calabria transom.