Bayliner wakeboat

We have a 2004 bayliner 17.5 ft I/O. I want to buy a new boat for wakeboarding but my dad thinks that if we put a tower on the current boat it will be great for wakeboarding. I know thats not gunna help much Is there anything we can do to make the wake better? [ ie. ballast using the trim.}

Prolly not much you can do... it prolly doesnt have enough power to pull additional weight out of the hole, but a tower can help you progress depending on skill level. But I learned my first spins and invert behind our old 20' Bayliner Capri 2050.

Usually There is only 2 people in the boat so It makes A tiny washy wake. We are thinking of upgrading to a power prop. right now we have a 3 blade speed prop on it. The only time you get a clean wake is past 25 mph or right behind the boat. I am trying to convince my dad to consider letting me sell the bayliner and buy a Ski natique model 2001.

wakeman, since your dad is probably paying for the whole mess...make the best of what you have...if he puts a tower on...it won't change your wake. The power trim will change your wake, and just get as many peeps in the boat as you can fit...learn to do some stuff show your dad that you have progressed as far as the bayliner will take you...then try to get him to pop for the new boat...good luck

^^^^ Thats exactly what I did!!! haha

Well when I said considering getting a tower that means me paying most of it cause the only wake gear that I did not pay for was we split the cost of a new board for my Bday. My mom understands that I cant do much more behind the bayliner cause she watches me at my lessons lesson. I have progressed more behind the malibu in 2 monthes than a 2 years behind the bayliner.

Tower + Bayliner != Wakeboat (unless you're talking about the inboard Bayliners they made for a few years but those aren't I/Os)

A tower will help you get up out of the water, but you're not going to gain as much from a tower as you may think. If you're usually running a 2-3 man crew, spend the money you would spend on a tower on a universal pylon, a good pump, and as many fat sacks as you can carry.

Ballast will depend on your engine. I'm pretty sure the engine option packages go up to the V8 on the 17' Bayliner so you can't immediately discount ballast. With the V8 and a decent prop you can probably load it up as much as any inboard with similar engine. If you're running the 3.0L or even the 4.3L your ballast options will be quite a bit more limited.

The prop won't help your wake but it may help you get up faster. This is really important if you slam the boat with ballast.

All that being said, this will not be the same thing as a real wakeboat. Trying to talk your dad into the upgrade is the best solution.

The boat has a 135 horse power engine. I dont have crew because I just moved to florida from oklahoma and did not have a crew there. I saw like two people wakeboard there the whole 2 years I lived there. Does anyone have any prop suggestions.

Dude where did you ride in OK? All I see is people out wakeboarding. Something to do the help you situation is to put the motor trip up 1/4 - 1/2 and then put lots of weight in the bow. That is what we did on my buds 175 SeaRay. Same motor and size. It is about the best wake those little I/O that could can do.

17 pitch four blade mercury stainless prop

(Message edited by rallyart on March 12, 2007)

Altus ok middle of no where.

Also I would like to put a swim platform on it but thats more of a luxury.

Thanyou guys does anyone have any other suggestions.

Dude, I have a boat just like yours but with a tower and let me tell u, theres alot u can do and learn behind it. You have to load it down; I use lead weights and people, get a good prop like a 3 or 4 blade 18-19 pitch prop and when your rolling crank the trim up to 1/4 or lil more and its pretty good wake; no, nothing like a wakeboat but enough that my buddy can pull tantrums, 180's w2w etc., Im still learing but have progressed a great deal since i started. Hope this helps!

ok

My buddy was thinking about gettin this.

We've been riding behing a 17,5' Bayliner a couple of summers now. Loaded it with about 600lbs in the rear and another 3-400 in the bow. not the biggest wake but good enough to learn airs, w2w, spins and stuff. if you just compensate the rear ballast with almost the same up front you'll be fine. also we filled the ski locker with 100

okay thanks

any more advice would be great

Whatever happened to getting a 2001 nautique? Sell the bayliner and take your tower money and buy a 2001. Just buy an extended pole for like $150 on ebay. Ride that for a few years until you have all your basic spins and inverts dialed, then upgrade to a tower, board racks, bimini, and stereo. Then you have a sweet wakeboard boat.

I am having trouble convincing my dad about the 2001

Does any one have anymore suggestions

tell your dad to get on here and read the volumes of people advising against putting more money into the bayliner. like leo and others have said, in a few years you could have a serious towboat if you start with a 2001 and build on it

(Message edited by denverd1 on March 13, 2007)

I used to ride behind a 84' capri 16', with a homemade pole. I used two 55 gallon garbage cans for ballast and then loaded 6-7 people into it. Ah, the good ol days. It would take about an hour to plane but once you got going it was great. I have since upgraded, but it got the job done when it needed to. Good luck.

Does any one know where I could get 55 gallon drums for ballast. can you get them at home depot or something.

I would not recommend using 55 gallon drums wakeman. First off, that is 460lbs each. Two of those would be a little over 900lbs. That would help produce a decent wake, but you are running a 135hp engine. Like Elle said, it took an hour to plane. It will literally take minutes just to get up to wakeboarding speed. On top of that, I/O engines are not good for towing a bunch of weight. They have a bunch of gears between the engine and prop which means a lot of torque is being lost. You will probably burn all of those gears up in half a year if you run that kind of weight all the time. A 2001 on the other hand has a 240hp engine that is direct drive. All of the torque goes straight from the engine to the prop. Even with the old prop, we could pull up 1500lbs of water and people in about 15-20 seconds. How much can you sell the bayliner for? If you can get $5000, I would recommend selling it and getting a 2001. If your dad still has questions, let him talk to me through email or phone. 2001s are in high demand and will continue to hold value. Bayliner's are not in high demand, so each year they lose value.

Do a search on boattrader.com for 'correct craft' boats between the years '1982-1989'. Here is one I found for $4000 with a new engine.

http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/4/2/82912942.htm

Nada said it is worth 6120 low retail.

There you go, if your dad thinks he is getting a crappier boat with the 2001, have him check out the2001.com. It is a site dedicated to this one model boat. Hundreds of people own these boats and value them based on their quality and performance. Just make sure if you do buy one, to check it out completely and make sure everything is solid.

now we're getting somewhere. Your dad is reacting like most dads do. if you show him that you've researched this extensively, as well as loads of other people (--> the2001.com) and this is something that you really want and will be responsible with, you have a case.

I just need to come up with tons of fact and maby even get him to talk to someone about it to convince him.

I am gunna talk to my dad about this one its right in my area and it is a good deal right?


http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/5/9/85811459.htm

(Message edited by wakeman7 on March 13, 2007)

Maybe when you guys are done convincing his dad you can talk to my wife. We've got a tower on the way for our bayliner. The local dealer has two 2001's in great shape that we could trade up to.
Funny thing about wives. They're more concerned about interior space than the size and shape of the wake their husbands have to ride on.
And the prop can help the wake simply for the fact that more torque means you can add more weight.
That's the next purchase. Four blade 14" 17 or 18 pitch prop. Aluminum all the way. Can't afford stainless.

Also hoping the non-stretch rope will make as much difference as everyone on this board says.

Kenneth, go for the safety aspect and don't mention that it's harder to back up. No prop near the swim platform. Better for kids etc.

My mom doesnt care much about space she knows I need something with a better wake

Hey wakeman, check the NADA on that boat. I think you can bargain the guy down into the 4-5k range. The exterior is in really crappy shape, but in a few years you could save up for a paint job.

youre mom rocks. Sounds like you are approaching this well. good luck.

I dont care about the looks just the functionality.

Thanks guys

I told my dad he said we can go look at it sometime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed

I had one and it sucked, so I upgraded! See before/after photo! LOL

Nice mc

Attila
What was your old Yacht?
SeaRay what?
Aghhhhhhh! I wish I had a Vvvvvv-Drive!
Scott

Wakeman, dont just take a look at the boat. If your dad just bases his oppinion on looks, then you are screwed. Have him test drive the boat. I was stunned the first time I took one for a test drive. The thing drives like a go cart without added weight.

Scott, no that was the same exact boat this thread is about. Bayliner 175 with the 3.0 I4. It was actually a fun boat, just not a wake machine. BTW people, I switched to the 4 blade 18 pitch and it still had no balls!

Thanks wakeman7, I dig it... and so do a couple of the sponsored guys that ride behind it.
That is how I get free lessons.
...well I guess if you want to call that free.

yeah the bayliner does not have much power even with a few people

So have you planned a trip with your dad to go see that boat?

man a 2001 is a no brainer compared to a bayliner. quality alone of a nauti and bayliner shouldnt even be mentioned in the same sentence. i had a friend with a 17 foot bayliner and a pole. it was ridable at best. that 2001 when weighted will throw a pro level wake that you can get reallllllly good behind! ill try and get you some good pics in the next couple days of the wake so you can show your dad just what you are missin out on. ill second the go cart thing, all my friends say shes the ferrari of ski boats. ive taken a turn at 40 as sharp as it would go and it never let go, almost threw some people out of the boat, but hey they were tryin to get me to show them what she would do. lol it was funny. hopefully some really good pics would help your argument. ill post asap

call the guy selling the 2001. set it up for a saturday and just let your dad know when...

Yea, go behind your dad's back! Probably shouldn't do that, but definately set up an appointment ASAP.

I will I am starting to get some where so keeping my fingers crossed

behind his back? what does that mean?

I talked to him so hopefully we can check it out soon

thursday

We are going to go check the boat out today

good luck with the boat deal bro

My dad let me down now we have to wait to go

I hope I can go friday

good luck, i have a buddy with a 2001 that we took out the rear seat and put in one of those 1200lb couchs and a bunch of lead under the bow. the freeboard is nearly under water. the wake is insane behind that thing. it is one of the most fun boats i have rode behind. i usually ride behind my buddy's 2004 super air with the hippo system but it is still fun to jump out behind the 2001 once in a while. i rode behind an 18' fourwinns years ago and know how you feel.

My buddies Bayliner Capri almost sank on the St John's River in Fla. Back in 1998, bilge quit on him while he was out boarding. It was only about a year old and the wake was horrable even with extra weight. Eveytime I see the word Bayliner I hear the sound of "BLUP, BLUP, BLUP" rinding me of that tird. Getting that thing out of the water and off the ramp full of water was a nightmare.

Funny you say that...the guy who is redoing my stringers on my 2001 has worked for corporate boat companies for the past 35 years. One of the companies he mentioned was bayliner. He said the reason he quit was because of all the shortcuts that they admitted to taking.

I went and saw it. Shes a beauty. They were redoing the interior so in did not look great on the inside but the guy working there said the stringers were great and the engine ran great also. the boat has a little more than 600 hours on it and there was a little rust on the trailer but besides that it was great. my dad thought it looked not that great but his reasons were the old steering wheel and the old throttle but thats nothing to replace. also Think that he thought it looked bad cause there was no interior in the boat. I loved it.

Where in Florida do you live and how old are you? With all the riders here in FL, I'm sure you could hook up a with someone to go ride. IMO, get a job and work your a$$ off this summer, and you might be able to buy one yourself next winter. You might get a lot more respect from your father, if you handed him $3000 to pay for half...

I already do have a job. We have bayliner so if we got another boat we could sell it and i could pay for anything we add on. tampa i am a teen

Good, you have a job, that is a step in the right direction. The point of my post is that if you want something bad enough, you will figure out a way to get it. BTW, the Bayliner is Dad's boat, so it's his decision to sell it, and it looks like he doesnt want to yet. If you helped with the upgrade, $$-wise, then it might happen quicker. I'm just saying that there are probably a lot of things going on in your Dad's head about upgrading like reliability, maintenance costs, etc...

You have a piont. He also kept saying that if it is choppy the boat will be tipsy since the boat is narrow. I am trying to tell my parents that since we would have a good boat for wakeboarding we wont have to pay for 3+ lessons a week which is how much lessons I do. When it gets warmer [because he sais its to cold]I will see if I can get a pull from this kid I know.

here is my old boat, did good for starters...

boats thats are awsa approved towboats meet certain performance and safety standards. they are suited to towing sport use...I do not think the bayliner is awsa approved, i know the 2001 nautique is approved. the safety factors alone justify getting the 2001. sell Pops on the safety...and then the improved wake, and ultimately the huge increase in enjoyment. make safety your battle cry.

Tippy ? Narrow ? In the orlando setinel today (sorry dont know how to do the cut and paste thing) 1990 20' sport nautique 370 hrs, w/trailer sacrifice 7,500 407 291-4241. I had this exact boat for about 7 trouble free years before I got my sante 210, the beam is like 89", it's a tank, I loved it,heck, I miss it. mine had 600 hours when I got it,well used,ran awesome. the wake ? dare I say it....it even better than a 2001 wake. I would say the transition is longer and the wake bigger while still retaining a slightly pitchy lip at the top. side note,the platform is so killer, it's part of the hull and just huge. They only made them like that for a few years. It's a killer place to chill if your just drifting across the lake.

That's a great deal on a sport, you should at least go look at it. It will look bigger to your Dad, and more stable. Really is sounds to me that your dad is use to i/o and has never owned an inboard. For just cruising around, i/o's are hard to beat for inexperienced boaters, at least for a few years until the lower unit needs repair. I'm not saying your dad is inexperienced, just i/o's are pretty easy to maintain and drive. That it is why i/o's are so popular as a first boat. Either way, keep your eyes open and you'll find something...

Not many ski boats are going to do well in chop. It doesn't really matter since all your wakeboarding won't be in chop.

yeah thats what I said.

in my opinion my 18' Starcraft I/O was WAY more tippy than my MC 205V (which has a narrow 90" beam like the 2001). My wife used to freak out when I took tight turns, with the inboard the boat hardly leans at all.

The inboard is much worse in chop than the I/O was, no question. I would also say that once I/O's get to a certain age they need a hell of a lot more outdrive maintenance that inboards don't need. They are more complicated to work on as well in my opinion.

I had a 2004 bayliner 185 and it had a swoop tower. It was fun and was a great boat. The wake was ok but really takes some of the tools away from you that can make you the best rider you can be. Now that I have upgraded to the malibu 247 rx wakesetter. I have only one thing to say. Buy once. don't make the same mistake I did. Go straight to a wake boat. You will be glad you did. you can get a used wake boat for the price of a new I/O. And you will find the $ you spend on trying to make that bayliner a decent wakeboat. You could have bought a nice used wakeboat.............

I have a 2006 Sea Ray 175, very similar to your Bayliner. I put a 540lb fat sack in the back and about 200 lbs up front. This pic is with 3 people in the boat. Joystick Roll Cage tower. Does the job just fine for ~$20k. It takes a bit of trim adjusting to eliminate white wash and get a good rampy shape.




(Message edited by SlamminP on March 20, 2007)

Here's a better pic of the wake. Both pics at 21-22 mph. The only problem is if you go faster the wake gets tiny.

If all u and ur family do is wakeboard , then by all means deff go with a direct or v-drive . I bought our i/o due to the price , rides smoother in chop , and more cruising and smaller kid stuff we do like toobing , wait , i didnt really say toobing . But for real , u DONT have to have a wake specific boat to advance ur riding . I have seen people pull 540's and other more advanced stuff behind i/o's . As long as ur out riding , it really dosnt matter what it is behind . Just go have fun and be safe .