Lead Bags for 242XE

[Ryan123]

I hate the idea of having ballast sacks on my seats. I want to go the lead bag route and wanted to see if anyone else has tried this? I’m wanting to add 10 50lb bags, possibly some in the storage area behind the seat back on the swim platform, can that little locker support the weight? Any ideas where I can HIDE these bags and still accomplish a better wake? I wanna try all ballast bags 100% and the extra weight from the bags.

 

[swatski]

I hate the idea of having ballast sacks on my seats. I want to go the lead bag route and wanted to see if anyone else has tried this? I’m wanting to add 10 50lb bags, possibly some in the storage area behind the seat back on the swim platform, can that little locker support the weight? Any ideas where I can HIDE these bags and still accomplish a better wake? I wanna try all ballast bags 100% and the extra weight from the bags.

@COtoFLsurf uses those, he may be able to chime in.
For most of us, These hulls need a good list for the best wave, with the surf side corner of the swim deck basically swamped when not running, it's going to be difficult to do with no exposed bags...

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[Ryan123]

@COtoFLsurf uses those, he may be able to chime in.
For most of us, These hulls need a good list for the best wave, with the surf side corner of the swim deck basically swamped when not running, it's going to be difficult to do with no exposed bags...

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With the 1400 pounds of stock ballast that comes on the boat plus the 500lb lead bags it should get me close to 1900 pounds before we figure any people weight. I should be getting pretty close I would think. Was just wondering what’s the best placement of the bags. Again I was thinking the small lockers behind the seat backs on the platform but I’m concerned they can’t hold that much weight.

 

[swatski]

With the 1400 pounds of stock ballast that comes on the boat plus the 500lb lead bags it should get me close to 1900 pounds before we figure any people weight. I should be getting pretty close I would think. Was just wondering what’s the best placement of the bags. Again I was thinking the small lockers behind the seat backs on the platform but I’m concerned they can’t hold that much weight.

I hear you!
The bottom of that rear storage compartment seems pretty sturdy, however keep in mind that if it were to collapse you might starve the engines off of air as that’s where the engine bay air intakes are located on the port side - the air flows under the double floor, IIRC.

From personal experience it seems that it’s not just the total weight of ballast, but the placement/ distribution is critical.

In this context, I have been amazed how well the custom swim deck ballast from Gatlin works, it has a cut out for the tiered platform, and it seems to place the weight exactly in the right spot leveraging the swim deck platform down and listing to the side, on the surf side.

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[jcyamaharider]

Swatski said it best, just because you have "X" amount of weight doesn't mean it is the right spot. I have setup alot of Yamahas of all years and lengths. I know what works. If you are looking to surf your boat, You need to fill your locker bag, buy a Transom bag and slap on a wedge. DONE!

 

[Bluewater272]

Lead bags freak me out. Water ballast may not be the sexiest, but you can dump it quickly if you need to.

 

[Ryan123]

I appreciate the advice, I do have the wake wedge. And again, my question was asking about placement of the lead bags and how much to fill each stock ballast. I understand weight is not everything and placement is important. So if I can get some advice on placement of lead bags and my stock ballast I’d appreciate it.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Put it as far to the rear surf side corner as possible.

 

[JDub]

Stack it up in the very back corner of the storage locker. Watch out its sharp. Then when your done just throw half of it on the other side storage locker takes 2 min. If you really need to get rid of weight you can throw those bags off faster then draining a ballast bag. Dont worry about that shelf, It will hold more then 500 lbs

 

[JDub]

Also i fill the surf side bag full, locker full, non surf side 75 percent

 

[Ryan123]

Thanks for all the info, with all the extra weight it will have my swim platform practically under water, any issues with this? The radio remote in the back being submerged?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Stack it up in the very back corner of the storage locker. Watch out its sharp. Then when your done just throw half of it on the other side storage locker takes 2 min. If you really need to get rid of weight you can throw those bags off faster then draining a ballast bag. Dont worry about that shelf, It will hold more then 500 lbs

You must burn a lot of fuel with all of that weight to the rear. 500 pounds of lead ballast is a lot to move around but bringing that weight more to the center of the boat would be way more beneficial. I used 200 pounds of led ballast and always moved it to under the captain and co-captain chairs when I wasn't surfing. It helped level out the boat for other activities.

 

[JDub]

We are on a small lake so I don't really worry about fuel. We are usually surfing or foiling. That, or taking the kids to the beach and its only a mile from our dock.

 

[JDub]

My bags don't get wet in the compartments. The remote will be underwater, but I haven't had any issues with it yet. The best part of the bags are you can move one or two here or there and see what works best for you. I have also found water depth makes a huge difference. Our lake is any where from 4' to 70' deep. When the water is shallower then 10' or so the wave starts flattening out. If its 10' or deeper the wave is comparable to some surf boats. I've been seeing a waist high curl 20' behind the boat.

 

[Ryan123]

My bags don't get wet in the compartments. The remote will be underwater, but I haven't had any issues with it yet. The best part of the bags are you can move one or two here or there and see what works best for you. I have also found water depth makes a huge difference. Our lake is any where from 4' to 70' deep. When the water is shallower then 10' or so the wave starts flattening out. If its 10' or deeper the wave is comparable to some surf boats. I've been seeing a waist high curl 20' behind the boat.

How much lead do you have and where do you position them?

 

[JDub]

If you open the storage door you can reach around to the left and I stack 500 lbs in there as far back and as tight as i can. Then i have another 150 right in front of the storage door on the shelf. I have another 100 lbs under the port seat right by the amps. That is more then enough to surf. Depending on how motivated I am I have 2 475 fatsacs. I will put one in the bow about 2' back from the very front. I put the second one right up against the port seat. That is with the boss lady and the 2 kids that weight 45lbs each. You have to be good at popping up quick with the 2 extra bags though. If we have a bunch of friends out this all changes of course. I also am on a lift so i don't trailer with the lead in the back so i dont know if the shelf will hold up to that.

 

[Ryan123]

That seems like a ton of weight! With the factory 1500 lb of ballast and 750 in lead weight and then another 950 in sacs before any people. I was going to just add 500lb in lead weight and use the factory ballast, will that work? We keep ours at the marina so no trailering.

 

[JDub]

It will be more then enough i would think. I was able to surf with just factory ballast.

 

[jcyamaharider]

We surf with the factory center locker full and my transom bag. 1600 pounds total and a killer wave. Doesn't get much easier then that.