Ballast on a Liverppol Boats Narrowboat

[Robyn]

Hi,

 

We have got a lot of extra items on the boat and it is leaning now to the right (Where we have put our extra equipment) we want to get under the floor to the ballast but have took the carpet up in the middle of the boat but we can not find an access point.

 

Does anyone know where on the 2007 Liverpool Boats 58ft narrowboat they would opf put an access hatch.

 

Any help will be greatly received.

 

Kind regards

 

Michelle

[Athy]

Hi,

 

We have got a lot of extra items on the boat and it is leaning now to the right (Where we have put our extra equipment) we want to get under the floor to the ballast but have took the carpet up in the middle of the boat but we can not find an access point.

 

Does anyone know where on the 2007 Liverpool Boats 58ft narrowboat they would opf put an access hatch.

 

Any help will be greatly received.

 

Kind regards

 

Michelle

 

No need to do that. Just put a couple of paving slabs in the storage space under the seats. We did that with our last boat, which had a Liverpool Boats shell, and it did the trick.

I do like the idea of help being "greatly received", so much more gratifying than when people receive it only smally.

[Robyn]

Hi Athy,

 

Thank you for your response, however we do need to get to the ballast as the way our NB is set out the sofa is on the wrong side (IE side that is leaning)

 

We do not have anywhere we we could put any slabs, we currently have two on the roof however it still leans due to the weight of our equipment as we run our business from the boat.

 

Kind regards

[bottle]

I doubt there is access to the ballast, it will be spread over the whole length and width of the boat.

 

Boats are trimmed front to back and side to side.

 

Ballast will have a greater effect side to side.

 

My builder apparently does the final trim with steel bar under the kitchen galley units.

 

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs.

[Robyn]

Hi bottle,

 

Thank you for your reply

 

Oh well back down goes the carpet................ we'll have to think of other ways as it's a very weird feeling walking on a lopsided boat lol

 

Thank you both again

 

Michelle

[bottle]

Hi Michelle

 

You say that your sofa (guessing fixed) is on the wrong side but if you could gain access to underneath it (cut your own big, big 'trapdoor') then some ballast could be removed.

 

or

 

My previous suggestion add some weight under the galley units.

 

Good luck.

[nick the boats]

Check the cupboards for false floors, you wont get a paving slab in there, but grit blast grit can be re-bagged and is heavy.

Also front step, by the side of the water pump there may be space( make sure you fix it secure)

Nick

[O'Mali]

Why don't you just cut a hatch yourself?

 

Use a skill saw but set the blade depth to 17.5mm. Cut the square (cut the last 0.5mm with a stanley knife). take out what you need and then put the same bit of ply back in the hole with some strips around the outside edge to screw it back down. It's easy, plumbers and electricians do it all the time in houses to save emptying a room and lifting boards from one edge.

[Gordon Chesterman]

I've got a Liverpool boat and all it's ballast (broken pieces of concrete paving slabs) has been laid evenly throughout under plywood which has then been screwed down without any hatches or access points. If cutting your own hatch, watch out for the transverse steel bearers. They are positioned every 24inches along the length of the boat. You should be able to find where they are by fiddling around at the edges of the floor where it joins the sides, or by looking for rows of screw heads in the plywood. We have a similar list on ours which has been cured by beers (in cans).

I doubt that there is sufficient room under the boards though to ADD any more ballast - the paving slabs are all very tight with about half an inch above before the plywood - but, as someone suggested, you can always remover the stuff.

Good luck,

Gordon

[O'Mali]

If cutting your own hatch, watch out for the transverse steel bearers.

No need to worry about that if it is 18mm ply and you set the saw plunge depth to 17.5mm.

[Robyn]

Hi,

 

Thank you all so much for your responses they are very helful.

 

I think we will try and cut our own hatch out as per O'Mali's tip, that way we can remove some of the ballast as opposed to putting more in, don't want to risk sinking the boat :-)

 

Anyway thank you again for all your comments and suggestions, they were appreciated.

 

Michelle

[alan_fincher]

My previous suggestion add some weight under the galley units.

Fine if you have a walk through galley, but no help if i's a U-shaped one on the side the boat is already listing to.

 

If you do have a walk through kitchen there may already be ballast under the units on the side that's too heavy, which you could now remove, (ours did have).

 

If it doesn't affect forward, aft trim too much, it may be possible to pile extra steel ballast inside the counter on top of the uxter plate on the side you wish to trim it back towards.

[blackrose]

Hi,

 

Thank you all so much for your responses they are very helful.

 

I think we will try and cut our own hatch out as per O'Mali's tip, that way we can remove some of the ballast as opposed to putting more in, don't want to risk sinking the boat :-)

 

Anyway thank you again for all your comments and suggestions, they were appreciated.

 

Michelle

You'll probably end up having to cut a number of hatches between the bearers. I used a small hole cutter on a drill to make 4 holes and then just joined them up with a jigsaw. - couldn't set the depth on my saw so I just snapped a blade in half!

You'll also need a cold chisel, a lump hammer and a pair of goggles because sods law says that when you lift off your newly cut hatch there'll be a big chunk of concrete slab that won't fit through the hole. Actually don't bother with the chisel - just hit it wiv hammer! (Don't worry you're not going to hammer through a 10mm baseplate).

 

You'll need gloves as well otherwise your hands and forearms will get badly scratched. My hatches were about 18" square and I used a crowbar with a hooked end to drag the ballast from the recesses..

I used blocks of wood and plastic spacers to rest the cut out hatches on afterwards but the previous suggestion is probably better.

Edited August 2, 2009 by blackrose

[ChrisPy]

You'll probably end up having to cut a number of hatches between the bearers. I used a small hole cutter on a drill to make 4 holes and then just joined them up with a jigsaw. - couldn't set the depth on my saw so I just snapped a blade in half!

You'll also need a cold chisel, a lump hammer and a pair of goggles because sods law says that when you lift off your newly cut hatch there'll be a big chunk of concrete slab that won't fit through the hole. Actually don't bother with the chisel - just hit it wiv hammer! (Don't worry you're not going to hammer through a 10mm baseplate).

 

You'll need gloves as well otherwise your hands and forearms will get badly scratched. My hatches were about 18" square and I used a crowbar with a hooked end to drag the ballast from the recesses..

I used blocks of wood and plastic spacers to rest the cut out hatches on afterwards but the previous suggestion is probably better.

bin there, done that, I agree, a sod of a job.

my LB widebeam was bow heavy, probably still is when the water tank is full, even after I removed all of the 500kg of slabs from the front two bilge compartments.

I think LB just fill all the compartments with ballast regardless.

I don't know how they think (thought) we will fit out our boats; the only heavy items I have up front are the Morso and the bow thruster, but the boat was floating dead level with a half-full tank before I went to work on it.

[AndyM]

Hi,

 

We have got a lot of extra items on the boat and it is leaning now to the right (Where we have put our extra equipment) we want to get under the floor to the ballast but have took the carpet up in the middle of the boat but we can not find an access point.

 

Does anyone know where on the 2007 Liverpool Boats 58ft narrowboat they would opf put an access hatch.

 

Any help will be greatly received.

 

Kind regards

 

Michelle

 

As has been said in another post - there is not a lot of room to fit any more ballast under a LB floor, my LB sailaway came with no access hatches, I had the whole floor up just out of curiosity and to lay some insulated water piping. Now that the fit-out is near complete I adjusted the trim with 56lb weights bought on Ebay - easy to adjust the trim any time and they fit neatly under kitchen units/beds.

The other alternative I considered was hiding paving slabs behind the ply lining below the gunnels, but I didn't need to resort to that in the end.

 

Andy

[Steve Manc]

On 02/08/2009 at 13:58, Robyn said:

Hi,

 

Thank you all so much for your responses they are very helful.

 

I think we will try and cut our own hatch out as per O'Mali's tip, that way we can remove some of the ballast as opposed to putting more in, don't want to risk sinking the boat ?

 

Anyway thank you again for all your comments and suggestions, they were appreciated.

 

Michelle

Hi Michelle

Can you please give us an update. I have a similar problem.

 

How did you access the ballast?

 

How much of your floor did you lift to get to the ballast?

 

How did you go about getting the boat level?

 

Did you do anything wrong along the way of levelling out the boat?

 

How did you resecure the flooring?

 

Any tip on getting it right?

 

Thanks

 

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi Michelle

Can you please give us an update. I have a similar problem.

 

How did you access the ballast?

 

How much of your floor did you lift to get to the ballast?

 

How did you go about getting the boat level?

 

Did you do anything wrong along the way of levelling out the boat?

 

How did you resecure the flooring?

 

Any tip on getting it right?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Not sure you will get an answer, the thread is 9 years old, and the OP hasn't visited the forum for over a year.

[manxmike]

I had a similar problem on a LB hull, I used sash weights under the kitchen cupboard to try and balance it out. You can get them easily from small double glazing companies.

[Robyn]

On 16/07/2018 at 09:53, Steve Manc said:

Hi Michelle

Can you please give us an update. I have a similar problem.

 

How did you access the ballast?

 

How much of your floor did you lift to get to the ballast?

 

How did you go about getting the boat level?

 

Did you do anything wrong along the way of levelling out the boat?

 

How did you resecure the flooring?

 

Any tip on getting it right?

 

Thanks

 

Hi,

 

We ended up having to cut a couple of holes in the floor and laid the floor coverings back over the top leaving easy access.

 

Also, used avery weights and a railway track in the engine bay. 

 

You can also put some weights under your kitchen cupboards.

 

Michelle

[Steve Manc]

Hi Robyn

 

Thank you for the update.

 

We have decided to follow your lead in August. Wish us luck ?

 

Steve

Edited July 19, 2018 by Steve Manc
Correct name

[Guest]

We used two 56 lb weights next to water tank. Could easily go in engine hole, under bed etc.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Guest

[Canal321]

On 16/07/2018 at 10:04, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Not sure you will get an answer, the thread is 9 years old, and the OP hasn't visited the forum for over a year.

Lol ? OP must have been on email notify since 2009. 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Robyn said:

Also, used avery weights and a railway track in the engine bay. 

Does that allow you to run the engine forwards for maintenance ?

[Robyn]

1 hour ago, Canal321 said:

Lol ? OP must have been on email notify since 2009. 

No, I just don't sign in and read as a guest. Just saw my user id pop up and wondered why. Now I know ?

Edited July 19, 2018 by Robyn

[Robyn]

2 hours ago, Steve Manc said:

Hi Robyn

 

Thank you for the update.

 

We have decided to follow your lead in August. Wish us luck ?

 

Steve

We made an access hole under the steps at the back, one under the fixed double at the rear, one down in the area behind the front steps and one under the cupboard in the kitchen so all access areas were hidden away.

 

Regarding the level of the boat, we just added/removed the ballast from areas until it looked level.

 

Good luck with everything, I'm not sure what engine you have, however, we also added to a thread with all the replacement filters equivalent to the Izuzu ones if you search you may find it, or I think I still have a copy somewhere I can dig out for you.

 

Michelle