Building ballast system-little help

so, i own a 2002 Tige 22i. I had two 450lb sacs in the back on each corner and a 300 pounder in the front a few years ago(bought the boat new)until i broke my back and stopped wakeboarding for a while. so the boat has just been an unweighted family boat for a while. so, im getting back into wakeboarding and want to put some weight back in it. whats common practice, all pre wired so you just flip a switch to get water in and out? I used to have to hook my little pump into the cigarette lighter and hook it up to each bag individually to fill them up. im doing this on a budget but im sure there is a way to have it hooked up all clean . Im a moderate skill level, not very advanced so i dont need a ton of weight in there, but the wake without weight is not enough. I can go wake to wake and a couple spins and grabs but thats the extent of my ability. I was thinking about 1200 pounds or so like i used to have. can anyone show me the light as far as hooking up a budget ballast system. thanks, Nik

Nik there are tons of options out there to get you what you want. I put together my own custom ballast for just under $1300. You can by a complete or partial kit from Rival. Just contact the folks at www.tigeaz.com

There are 2 great ballast install threads by Tige owners on www.tigeowners.com , located under "How to" and also a "ballast" category. (see links) You will need to register to view pics.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=47

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=52

since you have all the bags already, you should be able to build it for a lot less than $1300. tons of threads on here.
give this a read:
http://www.wakeworld.com/Articles/2001/BallastSystem1.asp

well, i actually dont have the bags, but im hoping that i can do it for less than $1300. thanks for the link to the thread. i was sure that this has been gone through a bunch of times. nik

when I bought my sacs (all pro-x series) I got
bow sac
V-drive sacs
Fat Seat Bottom
2 tsunami pumps
for like 400 bucks, the dealer I went through cut me a deal ordering it all at once

Here are the outlines of my budget system. Two 550 sacs in rear that are plumbed to a single Tsunami pump and high flow, manual - valved 'Y' that splits the water to the rear sacs and because there is a valve to each sac, you can custom fill each sac from one pump. I didn't have the courage to drill below the water line so, I still have to throw the pump overboard to fill but I do not need to hook up or disconnect the sacs and both get filled from the high speed Tsunami. To drain the sacs, I put 750GPH switched Rule pumps directly to each sac and the water discharges like regular plumbed balast out the side. For the front, I just manually fill a couple of #500s under the bow seats which only get partially filled to about 400lbs combined total and I just leave them filled pretty much most of the summer unless the boat is slammed and is being used for non-wake purposes. I do not trailer the boat so the leaving the weight in there is no big deal.

That 'system' set me back less than $400 and though not completely automated, it takes most of the hassles out of weighting the boat.

Nice! I have done some research and it seems easiest to use two pumps, like you say. I found three pumps and a bunch of fittings for about $100 and some people on here are selling sacks for reasonable, so i think that im going to get a semi-automatic ballast system that will hold 1600lbs for about $350. ill come out sitting pretty, i just need it to get warm outside so i can go out and work on the boat. Its barely gotten into the 40's for a couple months! :-( I can t tell you guys how much im ready for the summer. thanks for the help

Nik, it sounds like you are trying to stay on a budget. Be sure to plan it all out before you start. You may have the major items like pumps and bags, but there is a crapload of hardware, tubing, fittings, thru-hull gear, clamps, wire, switches, connectors, etc. I did it myself a year ago; I kept all the receipts for all components and it came out to just over $1000. I went with all new gear, but did get the bags at the lowest possible price during winter. Here is a picture of my parts list when I started, but made several more trips to the hardware store after that:

Nik did you break your back wakeboarding?

OMG.

Rich, it would be great if you could post up some pics of the install if you have any or at least get some when you were all done. I assume you put it in your 205V in your profile pic. I want to do the same system in my '97 Malibu VLX. That should be very simular to your boat. How much weight was it when done, fill time, and ease of install. Give me some info, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also where did you get most of your hardware. Scoop, under boat thru hulls, valves, ect. I don't see another valve mechanical or cable operated to stop water flow coming in. Do you just open and close the ball valve all the time?

I did a write up last year that answers most of your questions. Take a look and let me know if you have more:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/441538.html?1178123510

I have the Pro-X v-drive sacs in the back, and the Pro-X Locker sac in the locker. I estimate that it is close to 1100 lbs. Fill & empty times under 10 minutes.

guys, if you're going to the trouble buying sacs, hoses, fitting, switches, scoops, etc. why not fully automate it?

There's nothing like coming off plane at the riding spot, fully loaded.

Nick,

If you want to PM me your email, I will be more than happy to send you my spreadsheet with parts list, price, part #, and supplier.

My custom setup is very similar to Rich's.

Thanks guys, I'll have to look into it when I have a little more time.

no. broke my back riding my dirt bike. But, it definately affected my wakeboarding! Will effect me for the rest of my life. So far, i have the thru hull fittings, buying two 440 lb sacks for the back lockers. I was going to buy two 250lb sacks and one 600lb sack too. thinking that i might put the 600 in the bow, and the 250's on either side of the engine. however, i would LOVE to have everything out of the way! maybe the two 250's under each of the front seats in the bow. I was thinking that i wanted to get close to 2000 pounds. I had a lot less before, but would rather have the option of going bigger w/o rebuilding the system. are there sacks that are more box shaped to fit in the middle of my boat(plenty of space on the port side, about a 2.5'x2.5'x3' locker in front of the driver)? I would love some ideas on where to put each sack and how much weight to put where. I want to get to about 40% in the front and %60 in the rear when im done, right? or, being a mid-engine, should i shoot more for 50-50???

you should check out some tube sacs for under the seats, if you haven't bought any yet. 440's in the back. couple hundred under the seats plus a some lead where you need it, maybe a sac in the bow.