White Elephant disposal

[ranchhand]

How does one dispose of a 32 ft. fiberglass white elephant? The boat is unsaleable. Engine, rigging, other parts, and a 7 ton iron keel, can be sold, but what happens to the hulk? Thinking of donation to the local fire department for practice fire, but might there be other options?

[atoll]

Originally Posted by ranchhand

How does one dispose of a 32 ft. fiberglass white elephant? The boat is unsaleable. Engine, rigging, other parts, and a 7 ton iron keel, can be sold, but what happens to the hulk? Thinking of donation to the local fire department for practice fire, but might there be other options?

there is a member KISS on the forum that is looking for a boat to test his 90lb anchor from.

it would greatly please many members if KISS could take it off your hands.......we might even have a whip round here to cover expenses

[Target9000]

What I've seen done is... Strip the hull down then cut it up with chainsaws and throw it into a dumpster to be hauled. Burning it would produce some pretty toxic fumes I would think.

[Stumble]

Happen to have a wood chipper handy?

Honestly the only time I have disposed of a hull we just trucked it to the dump and dropped it off. We loaded it on a flat bed trailer at the yard, and when we got to the dump tied it to a post and just drove away.

Of course it scraped the heck out of it but then they drove over it with a grader so the scratches didn't matter much.

Figure it will run about $100/tonn or so. You probably will have to remove to fuel tank (environmental regulations) but otherwise they didn't really worry about much.

[dpddj]

When I want to get rid of something, anything, I put it out front with a FREE sign on it. The one thing I had to dispose of was an old roll up movie screen. That one puzzled me.

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by atoll

there is a member KISS on the forum that is looking for a boat to test his 90lb anchor from.

it would greatly please many members if KISS could take it off your hands.......we might even have a whip round here to cover expenses

I think many shall be willing to support Your (generous) idea, Atoll!

[MBWhite]

As mentioned, if it is legal where you are to burn it you'll be left with several trash bags of fiberglass strands and that will be about it. Cut it into pieces and make a fire to toss them in (they can be big pieces) but absolutely do not try to burn the boat in one piece as some crew member on the ISS will probably be able to see the flames from space....

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by atoll

there is a member KISS on the forum that is looking for a boat to test his 90lb anchor from.

it would greatly please many members if KISS could take it off your hands.......we might even have a whip round here to cover expenses

Doh! I almost split a gut...

OP: I've seen them disposed of by yards, they pay someone to cut them up until the chunks are small enough for the dumpster. But you could be like the people who leave them at the yard. have it hauled and abandon it!

[nimblemotors]

Leave him alone atoll! You naughty boy, and besides he wants a STEEL boat if you were paying attention..

As for getting rid of fiberglass boats, strip them and take them to the landfill, I think it is $50 for up to some length here. Or the trailer I bought from a guy who got a 'free boat', that guy just chainsawed the hull into pieces that fit into the trash, I think he told me they wanted a title to dispose of it, so check on that issue.

Originally Posted by atoll

there is a member KISS on the forum that is looking for a boat to test his 90lb anchor from.

it would greatly please many members if KISS could take it off your hands.......we might even have a whip round here to cover expenses

[sestina]

Donate it to you local dive club. Tow it out to sea and scuttle. Make a nice artificial reef.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by sestina

Donate it to you local dive club. Tow it out to sea and scuttle. Make a nice artificial reef.

Don't you dare!

[Celestialsailor]

If it floats...it sinks. Near an ocean?

[lifeofreilly57]

It all depends on where you live.
Most states won't allow you to burn it due to environmental issues, first there's toxic fumes, then of course ground pollution that can come from any stuff that fails to burn but has turned to liquid or powder form, and of course, like stated in a previous post you don't want Homeland Security knocking on the door when they spot it from the ISS. Hazardous waste issues are something you really don't want to get into, those guys at Environmental Management have no sense of humor.
At the least you need to remove the fuel and waste tanks, those can usually be disposed of at your local waste site.
Last time I did it was on a smaller boat in another galaxy far, far away, I removed the waste tank, all the stainless (it's worth scrap or can be sold to others who need it), fuel tank and lines, motor, all the wiring(it's worth scrap too) then cut it up with a chain saw and tossed it all in a dumpster.
Motor went for scrap, wire went for scrap. Any of the teak worth saving from the interior was sold at the marine resale shop, mast was cut up and sold for scrap when I didn't have any takers for a complete mast, which surprised me since I had previously bought an insurance boat totaled due to a rig loss and had the hardest time finding one used(pre-Craigslist).
I'd check with the dumpster supplier first though before jumping in, it's been a long time since I did that and I was surprised last year when I rented a 15 yard dumpster to get rid of some building material dumped on a property I bought. The regulations in my part of the country had changed and the list of what you can't put in a dumpster was pretty extensive, again, it all depends on what part of the country you live in.
I have my wife's old 28 footer in my backyard now and it's right on the edge of whether to scrap or redo, it would cost as much to redo it as it is worth so I'm on the fence here, she seems to have lost her sentimental attachment once she figured out how much labor is involved to bring it back.
Let us know what you decide to do, and how it works out, I'd be curious to see what's required these days to dispose of it.
I'm thinking of cutting the stern off and converting it into a bar for my party room.......I'll cut off the first two feet of the bow and mount it on the wall with the running lights functioning.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by MBWhite

Cut it into pieces and make a fire to toss them in (they can be big pieces) but absolutely do not try to burn the boat in one piece as some crew member on the ISS will probably be able to see the flames from space....

LMFAO, I ain't heard the "see if from space" line since I was Real fond of using it 5yrs back. Thanks for the laugh!

[boatman61]

insure it and sail for Berumda then call the ASR and scuttle as they loom over the horizon..