any experts willing to provide some education on weighting a boat for wakeboarding. just looking for a survey of information on weight placement and amount and how it affects wake shape... <BR> <BR>also, any boats have definite characteristics when it comes to wake shapes (e.g. malibus are very rampy, nautiques very steep, mastercarft are very ???? etc.)

For the most part, it all depends on the boat. Some boats like a lot of weight in the front and others like more weight centered. I was always told that weight in the rear increases height and weight up front makes the wake solid. Trial and error is the best solution.

I slam my X-star out Majorly right around 5,000lbs. This is how I slam it out. <BR> <BR>1,100 LBS (triangle bow sac as full as possible) <BR>750lbs Lengthwise in the Middle <BR>750lbs Internal in the floor <BR>650lbs on the Back seat <BR>2 x 85lb Small sacs to balance the boat on the seats or floor <BR>2 x 750lbs in the Trunk on either side of the engine. <BR>----------------- <BR>4920lbs Grand total, not include people and Gear. <BR> <BR>This makes the wake HUGE and Rampy. Mastercrafts have a no launch ramp style wake with a nice solid lip on it. It really tosses up in the air nicely not to abrupt. <BR> <BR>Its a lot like Robert said, lots of trial and error and knowing what you as a rider and a drive can handle. My boat slammed out is not the easiest thing to drive.

^thats a lot... my max is a 300 lb factory ballast in the rear and two 260 lb side sacks. Andy you have got yourself a nice setup.

Luke, <BR> <BR>our motto is: <BR> <BR>"when in doubt, slam it out"

Andy, <BR> <BR>What year is your X-Star and what prop are you using? <BR>I was going to purchase the Acme #1235 here soon,which was advised to me earlier from Jay,and our boat is an 01' X-Star. Just wanted to get more info. <BR> <BR>Thanks

im all about big air but is it in any way bad for the boat to have a ton of weight in it?

Good motto Andy.... however I fear that if i slammed it out like you my boat would end up at the bottom of the lake<IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":-(" BORDER=0>

Jeff, <BR> <BR>GET THE ACME 1235, I run it, prior to this Prop I was running an OJ 14/20, this is like night and day difference. OUt the whole instantly... <BR> <BR>My X-Star is a 2001, same as yours.

Andy, <BR> <BR>Thanks,sounds like most people with our style of boats use the Acme 1235. Our prop right now is the O.J 14X18 which I think is what the boat came with from factory. I will be ordering the Acme 1235 this week,can't wait to see how it does. Thanks

Dude the 1235 will change your life. I bought mine from Midwest Mastercraft (<a href="http://www.waterski.com" target="_blank">www.waterski.com</a>) The drop shipped it from ACME got it in 3 days, I think it was like $435 plus shipping. If you all ACME directly they will charge you 699.00 for it so shop around.

IMHO When you start getting towards the amount of weight that Andy puts in his boat you have a whole host of issues many factory ballast accustomed drivers may not take into consideration. I am also a believer that the skills need to match the weight in the boat. A novice rider does not need a massive wake (beyond 1-2k in ballast).. and in my experience it can very well create bad habits. An expert rider (and up) really does tend to enjoy extra weight a bit more. I guess I would compare it to drinking wine...if you have only been drinking wine a short time or not regularly you likely wont notice the difference between a $20 and a $200 bottle of wine. <BR> <BR>For instance (with large amounts of weight) you just about always need to keep the boat running since you need the constant ability to move the boat in response to rollers. Example: if you are changing riders and a boat rolls by tossing some decent rollers your way you can take water over the bow OR back of the boat by simply sitting there (whereas with less weight the boat would "bob" right over them). This just recently happened to me actually. We were sitting still changing out riders. A boat rolls by directly behind the boat (about 100 yards away), towing a rider. Shortly thereafter the roller climbed over the transom and right into the seating area. This wasnt a monster roller either, just your average stock vlx roller. However since the transom was weighted to the point where the D-rings were at the water line it didnt take much to take water on. <BR> <BR>Also: Upple dubs take A LOT more concentration and space, as does turning around, pulling riders up etc. IMHO as the weight increases so does the concentration of the boat driver (not like they shouldnt be paying attention). When you are heavily weight its almost as much about the gauges as it is about the oldschool "driving by feel" (especially double ups). Coming around looking for the roller, lining things up, staying on point with speed, etc. taking a ish load of concentration...especially in a small area. Basically your constantly making sure that boat is on plane at speed, not too fast or too slow. Throttling up through corners and adjusting the speed coming out of corners etc. <BR> <BR>I have had my brother pull me over the years. Each year the boat gets heavier, each year he needs to pay more attention to his driving, and each year we have an argument about how hard it is to drive the boat.

Sorry to drag this discussion off course, but I would argue that a huge wake can actually decrease your skills. You start to rely on the wake for all your pop, instead of proper edging. <BR> <BR>Large wake discussions always make me think of the video of Bylerly on the Wake Report where he is throwing some serious moves behind a non-weight outboard barefoot ski boat. <BR> <BR>Skill always trumps wake.

Argue away. I would argue Bryerly is way better than me, I need a big wake to go big, he does not....

Hahahaha, I love your posts M-Dizzle always right on the money. <BR> <BR>You have to keep the boat running so you can move asap if needed. And rolling Upples is a HUGE deal even turing aroud is a huge deal, once that water shifts in the boat to the direction your turning the boat almost has a mind of its own, you just hang on work the gas to keep the speed. This is also the reason I hate perfect pass, it is horrible with this much weight in the boat. In my boat my other slogan besides, "when in doubt slam it out," is, "We dont believe in perfect pass, we have perfect wrist. <BR> <BR>Vision, <BR> <BR>I can tell you first hand that my wake makes skills increase for the right level/upper level riders. You can get some sick hang time with minimal effort so you can really get dirty.

M-Dizzle <BR> <BR>I totally agree with everything you said,we only as its said (slam) the boat with 3250lbs plus 2 to 4 riders and when we do this it's always the same crew which are good riders and I am always the driver. Then we will dump 40 to 50% and then I will ride,and when my children,wife and other family its only max of 50% which everyone has fun with and can easily learn from this wake. I am looking to reprop for 2 reasons when slammed the extra to get on plane and for fuel economy when slammed or not. <BR> <BR>Andy, <BR> <BR>I will check them out tomorrow, Thanks for the heads up!