Get The Lead Out??
 

Been contemplating buying some lead pellet bags from http://WWW.bombwake.com gettin tired of filling the 1000# bow fat sac to the right amount without going over/under weight and friends having to play musical chairs for equal weight distribution. My concern is the negativity I hear about lead in boats. What Im hoping to hear are a few reviews from some of the guys on here that use/used lead for ballast. Positive, negative, insight, or even words of wisdom would be helpful! Thx

use lead to adjust the weight, dont use it to totally weight it down. Lead will sink your boat to the bottom, water ballast wont

Hahaha, yeah I know that. I was thinking of getting around 600# to take care of the job that one giant fat sac for the bow does and weight distribution. Although every bit of weight makes it easier to sink

Assuming you tow to the water can your tow vehicle handle 400+ lbs more tongue weight? Most of that 600 lbs will end up as tongue weight.

Thx, for asking Jeff! I will be towing to the lake, live about 15 miles from the water, tow with a 2500HD duramax, and actually don't intend to pull the boat with the lead in the boat. It will be riding in the bed of the truck, my assumption is trailering that much weight in the boat could possibly do harm to the hull and trailer. I kinda imagine it as if you towed home with your ballast tanks still filled. Is that a safe assumption?

Sounds like more trouble to move 600 lbs of lead back and forth between the truck and boat than messing with the bow sac.

3 feet from the bow to the truck bed isn't that bad of a haul (throwing them in prior to launching boat) but throwing twelve 50# can get tiring. Now hauling that crap down the dock to the boat; that would be a BIG negative!

I have 400LBs of lead that I use in the front. I keep two bags in the very nose of the boat at all times another two bags under the bow seats on each side. The rest I keep behind the drivers seat and under the passenger seat in the cock pit. That way only 200# extra pound are on the tongue or in the bow for when cruising. When the guys are going to board I throw the other 4 bags in the walkway takes about oh 1 minute. I think if you handle it that way your good. Also I purchased a heavy duty B&W hitch that is rated for 1000#vtw. So only having to move 4 to 5 bags is not bad at all. Oh I have the old school x star 205v hull.

Another thought plumb in a second pump for the 1000 lb sack.

Wow, I'm really dumbfounded by this cuz I have never thought of that! But I still hate guess-timating how much the 1000# sac needs to be filled. Have you had any issues towing with lead in the boat?

I have 750 lb sacs in the back of my 23' V-drive. Fly high rates these at 950 lbs fully expanded and they are what I'd call "fully expanded" in my compartments. It takes 12 mins to fill with the 800 GPH Tsunami pump. This is with one fill pump for each bag, all 3/4" hose, fittings and what not. If you went to 1" hose and the Rule 1100 or Tsunami 12,00 you'd probably see fill times in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. This is factoring in the fact that you'd probably have more hose going between the intake and the bag on a bow sac vs. right next to the intake on my rear bags.

The nice thing about plumbing it in vs. lead or manual filling is that you can multi task. Yeah you might be able to move the lead in less than 10 minutes but you'd be slightly worn out afterwards and you won't have accomplished anything else. With the plumbed in bag you flip the switch the moment the hull touches the water and by the time your tow vehicle driver parks the truck, walks back to the dock, you pick him up, setup the rope, idle through a no wake zone, wait for the first rider to get completely ready, etc. the bag is full.

I just did mine a couple of months ago and it's been so much better than filling bags with portable pumps:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1141678...ISU_smm9bKfpwE

The bad part is that it's more expensive than I would have expected. You're probably looking at about $3-400 just to plumb in your existing bow sac with nice OEM style switches, bronze intake w/ shutoff, fly high/flow-rite quick disconnects, high quality hose, odds and ends, etc.

Updated my boat info: I can definitely see a job like that getting expensive, sadly I would have to buy a different bow sac and can't bring myself to drilling the hull. My Bu already has built-in ballast and a wedge. So this is all on top of the built-in. Nice job on your boat btw. Does your boat have any built-in tanks or is the recent work you did it?

No tanks, all soft bags. I have about 2,300 lbs of automatic ballast and then I have 2 Fat Buddies that I put in the ski locker for another 400ish lbs. I leave one full all the way in the nose of the ski locker unless I'm trailering a long distance. I fill/drain the other fat buddy in the rear of the ski locker, put it all the way in the bow if nobody wants to sit up there, or put it on the floor in the back for occasional surfing.

A plumbed in tube sac in the ski locker would be easier to deal with but I already had the Fat Buddies and they offer a lot of flexibility for wakeboarding vs. surfing or depending on where people want to sit.

2300#?! Dang, What's that wake look like at riding speed?

Good. I don't know I don't analyze wakes I just jump 'em. Ha! I gave myself a concussion and major whiplash the 3rd time out. I guess that means the ballast is doing its job.

That's actually a good depiction! I can picture the wake, and the crashes! :D

Currently I have 7 75lb lead bars coated in rubber, 10 pop bags at 40lbs each, and the fly high system plumbed in.

I use 2 of the lead bars in the bow and all 10 pop bags in the bow. To avoid excess tongue weight when trailing I move the pop bags from mid-ship to bow, it literally takes me 1 minute, and doesn't make me tired at all...if anything warms me up if its cold in the morning.

I love my lead and always contemplate getting rid of my fly high sacs and buying more lead...lead really firms up the wake and cuts through any chop nicely allowing the wake to always maintain shape...in my personal opinion I can use a lot less lead weight than water weight to get the same results (does that make sense?).

Everyone talks about how easily and quickly a boat can sink with lead in it, which is 100% true...but if you sink your boat with sacs full, it will probably sink to the gunnel...which is a complete loss regardless. Just be smart and aware of what's going on and you shouldn't have any problems.

Well it looks like ill be getting 12 50# bags of lead delivered today. Will definitely take some picks of the bags. Won't be at the lake today but possibly tomorrow I will. I'll get some photos of the lead in my zeppelin!

So my lead came in Saturday, my first impression was the size to weight ratio. I can't wait to use it!
[IMG]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/64006861@N08/5924601283/" title="IMAG0278.jpg by durty_curt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6006/5924601283_e8baeb0ab3_z.jpg" width="383" height="640" alt="IMAG0278.jpg"></a>[/IMG]

The size of the lead bag to a bathroom scale
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/64006861@N08/5924601303/" title="IMAG0284.jpg by durty_curt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5924601303_e32591a2ee_z.jpg" width="640" height="383" alt="IMAG0284.jpg"></a>

And most importantly, its purpose. Weight!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/64006861@N08/5924601317/" title="IMAG0285.jpg by durty_curt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6005/5924601317_38453b1ff6_z.jpg" width="640" height="383" alt="IMAG0285.jpg"></a>

Multiply that by twelve :)