A question about ballast

I have a Sea Ray 185 sport I/O that surprisingly throws a decent shaped wake. I want to add some ballast to get a little more height out of it. The problem is the Max persons/weight is listed at 8/1100lbs. I want to add 560 in the back and 400 in the center, obviously I cant fill them and have 3 people on the boat. Now if I was to do that... what would happen? lol Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated.

the boat can handle it. i wouldn't worry too much about it. we are always well above the limit in just weight before we even get to people. plus, i think the rating is only for negatively buoyant weight, which would exclude water anyways. just make sure the boat is sitting at a level that you are comfortable with

I've loaded the boat up with 9 people which was well above the weight limit and the wake became considerably taller and did not seem to effect the level of the boat in the water drastically. So I guess I'd have to see how the ballast effects it. I was going to get the skylon hd fat buddies but for the ski locker I only have about 7 inches of clearance and 72 inches of length and about 2 feet of width. do you have any suggestions for that space?

i would say that at least 75% of all wakeboarders ride bhind a boat that is over the limit in people or weight. my weekend crew is rare that we dont exceed both people and weight.

Only worry about the people limit the water cops can't weigh you to see if you are over limit. I used to have the same boat you are riding and we put about the weight your are talking and always had 5 people. It did just fine too. Now in the 03 VLX we have more weight then the warning before we even pump in the factory ballast or put people in the boat.

Dont worry about it. I think my 07 b52 says 10 people or 1600 pounds. I usually put 500 in the front, 700 in the center, and a 100 pound sack in each locker plus the 1800 pds factory ballast plus 5 people. The only thing you might want to do is get a prop with a bigger pitch. It helps out alot.

The current prop on the boat is 3 blade 14x21pitch. I was thinking about getting something with 4 blades and 19pitch, would that be okay?

It just depends on how much weight you wanna put. I have a v-drive so its kinda hard to compare, but i went from a 13.5x16.5 to a 13.5x14.25 and it made a huge difference. Better whole shot, more consistent speed. A four blade would help out alot though.

heck, doesn't the EPIC weight 3k w' 4k of ballast???

I'm definitely going to go with 4 blade, and a pitch between 16-19... I'm not really sure though, If anyone knows anything about this, please enlighten me haha

slam that thing to the rails kid!!! and watch the wake grow.
my boat=1250 ballest, wedge full=1200+ and soon will have a 1000 in lead.

Go with the 19. I had the same boat previously. Going to a 19 made an incredible difference in pulling. Sac it out, and once you are on plane trim it up between 1/4 and 1/2, whichever cleans the wake up the best. Man we had some good times in that boat for 8 years!

Sounds good to me, right now we ride at 65 or 70 ft. at as close to 22mph as we can get with the trim at about 1/4.. so hopefully the trim and the ballast will make the difference, it really is a nice boat.. i'll post pictures tomorrow of the stock set up

I have the same boat and I have 2 skylon fat buddies that I put on the floor bcuz they cant fit beside the motor and I also have 90lbs of weights in the way back + 300 in the front and usually have 4 people with and with a 17 pitch it gets out fine and has a pretty nice wake for a little I/o..

what years is yours? If I measured correctly they should fit on the sides of the motor in mine, i hope

Its an 05. they would probably fit but I would have to move my battery and I dont really wanna do that...

they must've changed the way those compartments are set up because the compartments are 29"x24" and the battery is setup behind the compartment. I'm more worried about fitting one in the ski locker because its so shallow inside it

Depends on if the cops or Coast Guard decide to check you out. Been in that boat a few times. Usually you drain the sacks & go about your business. I suppose if you found a real jerk, there might be other consequences.

luckily where I usually ride, which is a bay that is seperated from the main boat harbor by a channel, the cops don't usually go in there unless you are being a jerk in the channel. So i figure you just fill up when you get there and drain before you leave, that way if you get pulled over there's no weight problems

...my 17.5 crest liner with a 90 outboard is tweaked to the max for boarding......700lb fatn sac rear....440 upfront......4-6 people in the boat. the prop howeever eventually went from a 13.5 by 19 to a 13.75 by 11. the boat holds speed with that weight from 18 to 23. But when empty I cannot go faster than 20-21 so as not to over rev.But we wakeboard all the time so that isn't a real issue. So your boat can handle the extra weight (alot) but you probably will never be happy with the prop/ acceleration and how long it takes to get up until you seriously change the pitch of the prop.

....I would def go right down to 16 if your gonna load her up....just make sure you know your rev limit and dont go over. (once in a while by accident wont hurt it(I have done it many times over 8 years)......my motor has never been to a dealer in 12 years even with all the abuse. You'll love your set up with the low pitch prop because you will just be able to set your speed and it will hold.....no PP necesary. Like I said I went from a 19 to a 17 to a 15 to a13 to a 11. cost me some money but were all aluminum props...the advantage there is the aluminum can flex under heavy load and drop another pitch to get you out ......when we go it sounds like two gears ...when we first get going it makes one sound then when we get up it sounds like it goes into another gear if you know what I am trying to say. Anyways dont be afraid to experiment lower with the pitch. For me I dont think they make the prop size any lower and if they did I dont think the boat would actually move....