pop-products vs fly high sacs

I have an 07 x2 and it likes to be weighted up. I have sacs but it is not plumbed in to the boat. The cost to have it plumbed is almost the same as buying equal amount of weight in pop products bags. I have pop up front and love them because you can get a lot of weight in a little space. What are thoughts on putting all led in the back to keep all my storage as this is only a 20' boat. I store the boat within 100 ft of launch ramp so towing is not an issue. What are some thoughts on this pros and cons???

How much weight are you looking at? The one MAIN disadvantage with the Pop-products is they can start to become a pain when you get done riding and then have to haul 800lbs out of the boat (unless you're going to keep them in there full time), whereas the ballast can be emptied with the flip of a switch (assuming you plump and make the whole system automatic).

To me, the pop products are the better choice for a few reasons:

First, you can move them around depending on how many people you have in the boat. Try relocating a 250lb sac once it is full.

Second, when you get a new boat, you can take all of your stuff with you easily.

Third, in the future, if you decide you want to tweak your wake a bit, you can move 80lbs to a different location just by moving 2 bags. The sac is all or nothing.

Just my $0.02...

Both, Sink that thing....HAHA Seriously I agree completly with what was said by Dan

thanks guys. You just firmed up what i was thinking, and robert im sure there will be days when I will do both. For all the X2 haters out there, come ride behind my boat! you won't hate after that.

relocating a 250 sac isn't that bad. do it for surfing quite a bit.

IMO the two are serve different purposes. Neither are all or none, but a combination of the two works the best.

for towing the distance you're towing, you could throw say 1000 lbs of lead in there and be fine. but i would worry about stressing the hull on the trailer and wherever the weight is. then again, do you want to stop and 1000 lbs?

i would start with 500 lead and 1000 water. you could easily do 1000 lead 1000 water (or more). now you're talking. IMO you can't get a wake that will keep you happy by using one.

i would add that with a little homework, you could put that ballast system in yourself. not much to it, and lots of good posts/articles on here.

Lets not forget that water is neutral in water, while steel sinks . If you weight a boat with ALL pop-products, and then you swamp it, its going down to the bottom.

Check this out


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTORp58DZsU

^ahah, that's great

Thats hilarious that someone thought of doing that. Very funny stuff!!

"this is your boat on lead" haha

James! you might want to think twice.

eh.... It's true that lead will make a boat sink, but I'm not sure how many boats actually have neutral boyancy anyway with the weight of motors, stereos and rigging. Any way you look at it, if a boat sinks to the rubrail it'll be a total loss anyway. Water in the wiring harness, guages and motor generally will create non-stop problems for a boat. Usually making them un-repairable.

We run water and lead. We leave the lead in the boat at all times. It's much easier to move and takes up a lot less room. Our boat also stays very close to the launch ramp, though I've towed up to Bullards Bar (which is a pretty good haul) with over 1500lbs in the boat without a problem.

Lead is great if you want to compensate for passengers. Water is best for making bigger wake. You should only want to stow 250# of lead.

So if a boat is swamped with water to the rub rail, do you really want it back?
I think the insurance company just got themselves a boat. So might as well sink it to the bottom so they know for sure.

I wonder how many users of lead actually use that excuse about neutral buoyancy. I've used lead for several years in a 205 & never once had a problem.

(Message edited by bill_airjunky on February 18, 2008)

Either way, I think you will have some explaining to do if you are over the weight capacity of the boat. Its just my opinion, but I think that the insurance companies would try and could get out of a claim if the boat was loaded over the limit.

With that said, I plan on having my boat slightly over the limit. I hope I never prove my thought on this subject.

Thats true, Kevin. There is some degree of being smart about how much weight your loading, regardless of how your doing it.

A few years ago we were sitting at the dock in an older VLX with 3 fat sacks in it. A Coast Guard crew member walked by, saw the full sacks & told us to drain them or lose the boat.
Right next to the VLX was my 205 with about 800 lbs of lead hidden in the boat & they never said a word.

The stupid thing is a VLX is way more capable of handling the weight than a 205, no matter what kind of weight your using.

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quote:

I wonder how many users of lead actually use that excuse about neutral buoyancy. I've used lead for several years in a 205 & never once had a problem.

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You mean Non-users right ?

I've seen a MC 205 get swamped and roll over before without lead. (over loaded with people)

If it had lead in it there's no doubt in my mind it would of went to the bottom.