Custom SwimDeck Ballast Bag project

[jcyamahariders wife]

How was the lake temp ?

 

[swatski]

How was the lake temp ?

Low-mid 80s. About perfect.
(Thermocline really low though, but doesn't matter unless you dive)

oh, and it was pretty crowded, too - I think we saw at least five other boats over the weekend, lol.


--

 

[ar240owner]

Pic taken at same time as my pic , just from my wife's camara , showes the wave better , again just transome bag and two adults !!! And wake wedge ! My son is 5'5" for wave hight reference

 

[Scottie]

@Scottie Thank you for sharing, your posts are very useful.
I'll add this:

1. With RideSteady - it is what you said, TTBOMK; I don't think you are hurting the system when maxing out and it keeps asking for more throttle, it's just annoying I guess
2. With my 240 I have also reached the point of too much ballast in the back wherein I could no longer come up to wake surfing speed of 10-11mph; I do not remember how much weight did it take - but it was something truly ridiculous -and way over 3,000lbs (I will search the info later)
   
3. I could overcome this situation by either moving ballast toward the bow, or by (temporarily) deploying trim tabs - and, interestingly, I only needed to blip those tabs down "to get over the hump", once I was going 10+mph (in some semi-planning mode?) - I could retract the tabs back completely without loosing speed
   
4. I would think that you may benefit from the L13 cones if getting up on plane continues to be an issue, or if you feel you are "plowing" through the water at high RPM but barely moving forward; those L13 will increase your pumps' efficiency and generally can improve hole shot quite a bit

--

Just wanted to follow up here. I've done some more testing and it does seem like its just too much ballast. I don't experience the issue at all if the factory ballast bags aren't filled. If they're filled, and depending on who is surfing and who is in the boat, 10.5-11mph is all she's got. That's enough for surfing, so it really isn't a problem I don't suppose, as long as there's not an actual problem. If I move people to the bow I can accelerate quickly and it actually lengthens and improves the wake, so no harm there. I did the ribbon/snorkle delete yesterday and picked up about 300rpm. Yesterday after the mod, with just me in the boat, I hit 49.1mph at 7600rpm. From other numbers around the forum, that isn't stellar, but seems about average, and now that I think about it, I had the Bimini out, so probably another 1 or 2mph with it closed. I haven't surfed yet after that mod, but the extra rpm might help. I have plans over the winter for ballast upgrades, which will include a ski locker bag, so that should give me control over bow weight. I do believe I'll plan to install the L13 cones over the winter also and that will give me a chance to check the intakes and impellers, etc. So in review, I don't think there's a "problem", but I think I can make some improvements. I don't necessarily need to go faster while surfing, but it would be nice to surf at less than WOT.

 

[Scottie]

So here's a mod for the new ballast bag guys. This is an easy one, and I think its a must do if you're filling the swim deck bag and don't have a fancy auxilliary port like @swatski or @jcyamaharider. I installed a blue sea 12v socket in port side corner and replaced the end of the over the side pump with the blue sea plug. https://www.bluesea.com/products/1015/12_Volt_Plug_with_Dash_Socket The plug now locks in place and isn't stretched across the cabin while filling. Much easier. Sorry for the picture quality. I didn't realize it was crappy til now. The 12v socket is the one on the left. On-board charger intlet on the right.

 

[haknslash]

19' bag is scheduled to arrive tomorrow! Going to get out on the lake Saturday morning to test it. I'll report back with how it performed with and without an additional 750 lb bag.

 

[haknslash]

Got the bag in! I filled it with air to see how it would shape once filled. We may need to make an adjustment to the height of the lower step as with air it seems a little short. I have to put my foot under it to make up for the gap to the lower swim platform and make the bag look level. It may not be an issue once filled with water and will lay down there first anyways. The top handles will work out great however I think they may have been confused where we wanted the lower handles. I was wanting to put them on the rear slopped section as it would be about middle of the bag and easy to access to tie off on the cleats or tower. I'm not sure how good the handles will be down low like it is but I will report on how it filled on the water. The handles should have been placed where their big logo is. It's not a big issue so long as I can tie the bag off easily so it won't fall off while underway.

Here's some pics of the prototype bag...

 

[jcyamahariders wife]

Just wait till you fill it with water it's a totally different beast ! Have a good day out on the water we are hitting the river tomorrow as well !

 

[jcyamaharider]

Got the bag in! I filled it with air to see how it would shape once filled. We may need to make an adjustment to the height of the lower step as with air it seems a little short. I have to put my foot under it to make up for the gap to the lower swim platform and make the bag look level. It may not be an issue once filled with water and will lay down there first anyways. The top handles will work out great however I think they may have been confused where we wanted the lower handles. I was wanting to put them on the rear slopped section as it would be about middle of the bag and easy to access to tie off on the cleats or tower. I'm not sure how good the handles will be down low like it is but I will report on how it filled on the water. The handles should have been placed where their big logo is. It's not a big issue so long as I can tie the bag off easily so it won't fall off while underway.

Here's some pics of the prototype bag...

View attachment 76181 View attachment 76182 View attachment 76183 View attachment 76184 View attachment 76185

That on was actually my fault. I forgot to move the handles. I will wait to hear back after testing and make changes as you see fit Kenny.

 

[haknslash]

About to hit up the lake to try it out.

 

[haknslash]

Out on the water right now dodging storms. Just wanted to say this bag I think is a freakin winner!!

 

[haknslash]

Short clip

 

[MidnightRider]

Out on the water right now dodging storms. Just wanted to say this bag I think is a freakin winner!!

View attachment 76248 View attachment 76249 View attachment 76250

Do you have the wake wedge?

 

[haknslash]

Nope. I'm single engine so I don't have the jet wash the twin engines have. Once you weight a single the jet wash buries into the Wake once yiu weight it enough.

 

[SCP1]

Out on the water right now dodging storms. Just wanted to say this bag I think is a freakin winner!!

View attachment 76248 View attachment 76249 View attachment 76250

Is this the only bag being used or were you using your 750 as well?

 

[haknslash]

@SCP1 First pic was 750+490 swim deck bag. Last pic was just the 490 swim deck bag. Because of the positioning of the swim deck bag it really sinks the back corner of the boat. When I had both the bags filled it was very hard to get the boat settled in for surfing speeds. If I tried to slowly reach 10 mph the boat would just plow and could easily cavitate. So I had to get the boat hard out of the hole to get up on plane and then I could dial back the speeds until I reached surf speeds. I liked the wave better with just the 490 bag. The boat is much more controllable to dial in the speed. Next time I would maybe only fill my 750 bag halfway and that would probably be all I would do. The 490 alone looked very surfable and way better than my wave looked last year with 1,400 lbs draped over the rear seat. It's crazy how the placement of the bag seems to really be a sweet spot for sinking in that corner and adding list which is what these boats need to create a wave. More pics coming.

 

[SCP1]

@SCP1 First pic was 750+490 swim deck bag. Last pic was just the 490 swim deck bag. Because of the positioning of the swim deck bag it really sinks the back corner of the boat. When I had both the bags filled it was very hard to get the boat settled in for surfing speeds. If I tried to slowly reach 10 mph the boat would just plow and could easily cavitate. So I had to get the boat hard out of the hole to get up on plane and then I could dial back the speeds until I reached surf speeds. I liked the wave better with just the 490 bag. The boat is much more controllable to dial in the speed. Next time I would maybe only fill my 750 bag halfway and that would probably be all I would do. The 490 alone looked very surfable and way better than my wave looked last year with 1,400 lbs draped over the rear seat. It's crazy how the placement of the bag seems to really be a sweet spot for sinking in that corner and adding list which is what these boats need to create a wave. More pics coming.

Well that’s great news as I already have a 400lb bag.

 

[haknslash]

Here's the new 490 bag filled...



This is the result of just the 490 bag and a slight turn!! The boat naturally wanted to carve a left turn because of the listing from the bag. Shows just how effective this ballast placement is!! Wave had a steep transition.



This is with a 750 lb bag placed along the side bench seat + 490 swim deck bag. Really starting to sink that corner down now...



Big time listing for this little boat



With the 750 going counter steering to have a straight heading the wave gets washed over. You can see it rolling over out back. a lot of water is being moved here and a lot of thrust (near max RPM!!)



If you let go of the wheel with the combined bags the boat will want to turn even harder than with just the 490 bag. So to clean up the face of the wave and get the jet wash tucked back into the wave you find a balance point of left of surf side steering but not too much. The result is a long, meaty wave with a steeper face...

 

[SCP1]

My plan is to put the 400lb bag under the rear seat so the only bag visible would be the one on rear. Are there any changes you want done to the bag, for example measurements, handle placement, ect... ?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Looks good Kenny!!! Can you fill the bag more?