weighting a boat?

Just wanted to get the opinion of the masses. Which is better to have for weighting your boat fat sacs or lead. I don't mean which is more convenient, but which one creates a better wake. Need help 2000lbs of lead or 2000lbs of water.

hehe kind of reminds me of the "what weighs more, 2000 pounds of bricks or 2000 pounds of feathers" question...

Yeah, I know that whole thing, but what about density and neutral buoyancy of water in water? Hmmm. Thanks for the help.

sorry my post wasn't helpful... i don't think i'm qualified to answer a question like that, being new to the sport and all... just typed the thought that came to my head when i read it

I have both lead and water in my boat... I have a 700 pound sack i put in the bow and about 250 pounds lead in the back... makes my I\O wake pretty good with about 3 people in it... more than that, the wake is really nice, but the boat starts getting a little hard to control.

I think its more of how much weight and where you weight the boat that makes a difference. Not so much what you use.

If your boat starts sinking 2000lbs of lead will take it right to the bottom. 2000lbs of water will become buoyantly neutral once it's in the water. Other than the fact that lead takes less space their should be no other difference.

At least with water you can dispose of it before trailering or putting the boat on a lift. That much lead doesn't really sound reasonable considering the boat has to go somewhere when you are done boarding, and I can't think of too many situations where it's best left in the boat.

Understood, imagine this if you can a tournament wakeboard boat, v-drive, 500lbs in the locker, 500lbs of weight in the nose, and 1000 on each side of the engine. Help if you can.

Thanks

David - 2,000 pounds should do very well. Either one (lead or fat sacks), if placed as you say, will make the same size wake. In our boat we use both. We have sacks in the locker, and on each side of the motor. Everywhere else (under the seats, and up front), we use the Pop Product bags. Which are 40 lb. bags with handles full of steel shot. It does all come down to preference, we prefer to not have sacks where we can see them, or where they are in the way. So we use steel in those areas. Placement and how much weight will make the difference, not density.

Hope that makes sense.

My question is as follows: Does water become neutrally buoyant once it goes below the water line since water in the sacks is the same density as the water the boat is sitting in.

No.

Only if the waterline is inside the boat. I.E. it's sinking. At that point the sacks will become buoyantly neutral.

Now after talking with a lot of people who wakeboard and some who say lead creates a better wake than the same amount of water weight. Perplexing. Now, has anyone tried it both ways.

Thanks

Sorry David I guess I didn't understand what you were asking.

David regarding your last post.

If there was the exact same amount of weight in lead and water, as long as it was distributed through-out the boat the same, there should be no difference what so ever. This goes back to what DrumNwake said:

"what weighs more, 2000 pounds of bricks or 2000 pounds of feathers?"

I pose the question because we have to talk about the density of lead as opposed to the density water. This question was brought up to me by someone who works in the industry. I guess a little physics problem could solve it. Oh well, thanks for the help.

i can tell you water is alot easier to work with than lead. lead is a pain in the ass if you trailer or leave your boat on a lift. plus water is alot cheaper--hehe!