DIY Ballast

[shaneb0422]

Has anyone ever attempted using an old tow tube for a ballast bag?
I have a couple laying around, I know they aren't the ideal shapes but just something to play with to see how it helps or doesn't. Maybe give the motivation to invest in fat sacs.

 

[Dave.Mishchenko]

Re: DIY Ballast

I'd be a bit concerned with the weight on the tube. Does your bilge pump work well?

 

[brick75]

Re: DIY Ballast

Yea, not sure those are designed to hold that kind of pressure. You'd likely end up with a swimming pool in your boat.

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: DIY Ballast

Very good points.
Those tubes take a good beating when me (230+ lbs) are riding them, or my friends. So pressure was not originally a concern. It is an older one and not used anymore, so I will fill and bounce around on it out of the boat to see how it holds up.
As for weight, I plan to meter the amount of water I put in it (in Gallons) and I can get an approximate weight from that. So that I keep total weights under the boats capacity.

I have a Glastron I/O, we tried trimming the motor up to get a larger wake, but it was way to steep. Will adding the ballast (tube or fat sac, whichever it may be) to the bow help to mellow it out some but keep it larger?
I imagine with some trim and the engine back there, the back is already going to be pretty deep, better to balance the bow out a little at first and see if it works for now.
Don't have a large desire to have ballast bags laying on the floor in the back of the boat right now.

Thanks for your responses guys(gals).

 

[craze1cars]

Re: DIY Ballast

I've generally found ballast added to center/front of boat is more helpful for building a nice wake in an I/O. We don't bother with ballast in the back.

I think you'll find your old inflatable is too big to fit anywhere up there though...might be worthy of experimentation however if you just want to cheaply see how your boat responds to extra weight. Even in an improper "container," carrying water weight is MUCH much safer than using concrete, sand, or other such weights in a boat. Water is neutrally buoyant and won't sink your boat in the event of some catastrophe. However concrete and sand will only help pull your boat right down to the bottom...and concrete & sand don't quickly pump thru a bilge pump quite as easily either...

FWIW when we're in a hurry we often drain our ballast bags by simply opening the caps and then sitting on them! When they're finally light enough to turn over we flip them over. Yes, we just let them drain out 100% into the floor of the boat!! It beats the crap outta using a manual pump to sit there and wait for them to drain. You stand in a few inches of water for a minute or two, but then it finds its way down into the bilge leaving only wet carpet. From there the bilge pump does all the hard work while we're crusing back to the dock. The water dump damages your boat just as much as a heavy rainshower does. Just don't forget to pick up anything you don't want to get wet before you open 'em up!!

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: DIY Ballast

Precisely my point. I figure play with it up front, Don't have to fill it all the way, and when were done, we can even dump them after pulling the boat out of the water, just pull the plug and let it drain out.
The floor will already be getting replaced this winter so eh who cares .
Should be going out today, I'll see how it works. I tried test filling the tube last night, its one of thsoe that does not have the screw on fitting, which is annoying, have to hold and squeeze the stupid valve open with pliers and slowly put water in it. Lame. Might try it with a good tube that has a easier fitting on it.

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: DIY Ballast

Ok, Dad brought up a good point. Say I get a few hundred pounds worth of water up front. I don't have large storage up there (bowrider) so what's to keep it from rolling to the back when I take off? Do people typically strap their ballasts down?