Ballast suggestions for 1999 Nautique SS

I recently bought a 99 NSS and looking to put some ballast it in. Just wondering what others have used as far as how much weight and cost differences for a temporary system and fully automatic? The wake is perfect with like ten people in the boat so Im thinking I need somewhere around 2000 LBS?

Do you have the stock hard tanks? none? I'm going with around 2k in non people ballast.

Check out my thread, you can see what I'm working on.

I have a fully automatic 2500lbs in my 98NSS. I have three ballast puppies mounted on a custom mount behind the back seat and a seperate thru hull for each pump. One 750lbs bag on each side of the motor and a gravity games bag that is 1180lbs in the ski locker that I cant get completely full. My ski locker is bigger than yours though because I have a playpen style front bow. It takes 7 minutes to fill the rear and about 9 to fill the locker. I studied other custom systems and factory installed systems to come up with mine. you can see most of the install here.

http://www.planetnautique.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=12694

2000 will provide for a real nice wake, just evenly distribute the weight. The ski locker definitely does not hold 1200 #s. I have a 95 with a custom sac made specifically to the locker dimensions. It's about 850#s max and probably more in the 700 range. Bow weight is key IMO, currently I'm running the open bow triangle, probably something like 6-700#s.

Here is what we run, and its awesome

Bow = Fly High triangle bow sac - fits under bow (no seating loss) fills to ~600lbs

Locker = Fly High fat seat bottom - ~600lbs

Rear = V-drive sacs - 440 each (~900 total)

Its awesome with this, and we usually ride with a few people so the locker sac stays empty most of the time

I am guessing a thousand based on how long it takes to fill. I can fill the 750lbs sacks in 7 minutes but it takes almost 10 to fill the locker. That is the only scientific way of doing it. Rate of flow multiplied by time. They are all the same exact pumps.

^ but depending how far from the pump the bag is will change things, alot.

If a pump is pushing water 6" to the bag it will go a LOT faster than if it is pushing 3 ft. of water to the bag.....

At a certain point the pump will just do nothing because it cannot move the weight of the water.

If Flow x Time only works if the pumps are the same height/tube length to bag/tube length from water/ etc etc.

you should also be able to figure out a rough volume of the locker based on it's measurements. convert to gallons and times that by 8 I think. pretty sure the volume of the locker itself couldn't hold more than about 850 #s of water. it's a big locker, but not 1000 #s big, but then again, I'm no scientist or mathematician.

Nice thanks guys..What are the costs to run the fully auto system?

WE did ours, bags, pumps, plumming materials for under $1,000


I got a screamin deal on the fatsacs though

I would say 1500 if you are paying full retail. I think that I have 1200 or so in mine and I got a deal from a buddy. It sure is nice. I hit it today and love the ease of filling ballast.

Wow, you guys spend a lot. You can get 540lbs sacs for around $50 bucks each right now. So $150 for 1620lbs. A couple of pumps...$30 each. Pvc and hose from lowes around $60. A couple through hull fittings $ 40? Wire and a switch. More like $250 including sacs. May not be the fastest but it works. You can also get a simmer pump for around $72 each.

I have what I feel to be one of the best built boats made with respect to the actual materials. I chose to put back in what would have come from the factory. My system is an almost exact copy of an 09 Super Air ballast system. So I have a modern ballast design. I also plan on keeping my boat for a long time so longevity was also a factor. I used all marine grade hardware, tinned 10 guage marine grade wire, I added a new main fuse panel just to supply power to the pumps, new chrome above water thru hulls, and I used all fly high bags and quick connect hardware to make it easy to remove the bags for service work or winterizing. Everything comes apart really quick and clean. I see no issues with doing it your way, but to each is own.

Agreed with Brad.

I will never use any fatsac besides fly high, they are amazing.... you pay more there.
$30 wal-mart pumps are worthless.... they need to be primed, and are only about 500/700 gph, if you're lucky. Awful.

Our old boat we tried to do the ballast "cheap" and everything went to hell and ended up just diong it all again, with quality parts.

You get what you pay for.