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Fat Sacks for Surfing


obski

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My daughter has been pushing for us to get some fat sacs like the Pro-X ones to place in the rear lockers over the in-floor tanks. I was wondering what everyone's opinion was regarding use of the sacs over the in-floor ones. Will the floor support the weight? Should more weight be added up front as well?

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Same boat with my setup. 750 on top of the rear tank, 400 on the side seat, and 400 in the bow on the surf side as well. This is of course in addition to the stock ballast rear side surfing, middle and front full as well. If you have the power wedge also, then you can feed the monster. Things change also with the amount of people in the boat as well.

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I do not have the VLX, but I would recommend making sure you fill the factory ballast before you fill the sacks.

I'll second that.

Make sure you fill the factory tank before filling the sack, and drain the sack before draining the factory tank. Do that and it'll be fine. I use a 750 pound sack in my 23 LSV, as do many others I know, and there have been no problems.

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We added 750 over the stock with no extra reinforcements (so far so good) We find that adding weight up front makes the surfable wake longer and smoother.

Joe

We do the same set-up and have never had any problems. The wake is incredible when you get the speed dialed in.

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Those of you that picked up the 750# sacs - did you get one and then use it in the appropriate locker, or get one for each side?

What kind of sac do you use in the bow?

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I would plumb them in. Take the overflow line from the stock tank and feed it into the bottom hole in the 750. Then take the forward hole in the 750 and connect it to your overflow. The stock tank will fill all the way, then the 750 will start filling.

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I would plumb them in. Take the overflow line from the stock tank and feed it into the bottom hole in the 750. Then take the forward hole in the 750 and connect it to your overflow. The stock tank will fill all the way, then the 750 will start filling.

Does it drain as smoothly and completely as it fills?

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I've never actually used that setup myself, but I know it's what others have done. But I would imagine it would drain smoothly. The water in the sac will gravity feed out the back of the bag down into the tank when you flip the pump on to empty, especially if you drain your bow ballast first and have the bottom hole in the bag pointed astern.

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That's an interesting setup. I may have to try it out...if only I can find somewhere to put all the junk we have in the lockers.

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That's an interesting setup. I may have to try it out...if only I can find somewhere to put all the junk we have in the lockers.

I only have the one sack, but if I had 2 I'd give that a shot. It sounds like a good setup. I might put a couple of "Y" valves in the lines so I could pull the sack out if needed without having to re-plumb it.

But the more I think about it, the more I think I might own another 750 before too long :)

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Those of you that picked up the 750# sacs - did you get one and then use it in the appropriate locker, or get one for each side?

What kind of sac do you use in the bow?

I went the cheap route and have only one 750 which is switched when needed. All goofies ride and then the regulars. I also have the v-drive sacs (400# each) that are used for the surf side seat and the bow side respectfully.

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I was just soaking up some info here and was wondering if I have enough/the right amount of ballast for surfing. I just bought Fat Sacs and a surfboard and i'll be going to try for the first time next weekend.

I have 2 of the tube sacs, 1 in the locker and 1 in the bow walkway. I also got a 750lb sac for the rear locker and there's the wedge. Am I in a good starting place?

Sounds crazy but I had a dream last night that I got all this sorted out in the boat and then it was leaning so far that I started taking on water from the side. Cry.gif

I woke up feeling very anxious and uneasy.

Are there any driving tips I should be aware of or am I stressing about nothing?

Thanks!

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So who here believes that if you don't have the stock tank full and you fill the 750 on top of it, the tank will crack or cave in? I always fill the stock tank first just in case but I am wondering if that has really happened to someone.

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I plumbed a 750 sac into e stock system on my VTX, I took and threaded a male quick connect into the stock underfloor tanks vent port. The fly high fittings thread right in. Then I put a female quick cnnect on the stock vent line, along with a male connector on the top vent port of the bag. I then attached a 3/4 inch hose with another female quick connector to the bottom port of the bag. All you have to do when you want to use the sac for surfing is connect the bottom fill/drain line on the bag to the vent port on the tank. Then connect the vent hose to the top of the sac. It will fill when the hard tank is competely full. I also used a ball valve in the drain line to keep the water that wants to flow out through the drain pump while trying to fill the sack. You can easliy remove the bag for storage by just connecting the stock vent hose back to the tank and it works just like stock. It does take about 15 min. or so to fill both on that side.

I will say, all loaded up with full stock ballast, a750 in the rear locker, about 7 people all biased to one side and a floting wedge, the wave is HUGE, everybody that surfed it was whinning including myself, about how badly there back leg was sore. It had so much forward push you were constantly on the brakes to keep from raming the boat!

I will say also that the vtx with a full bow tank and 2 women up front is VERY easy to swamp. The bow sits so low in the water it is very challnging to drive when someone falls while surfing. My 05 xti was not near as challanging to drive.

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I was just soaking up some info here and was wondering if I have enough/the right amount of ballast for surfing. I just bought Fat Sacs and a surfboard and i'll be going to try for the first time next weekend.

I have 2 of the tube sacs, 1 in the locker and 1 in the bow walkway. I also got a 750lb sac for the rear locker and there's the wedge. Am I in a good starting place?

Sounds crazy but I had a dream last night that I got all this sorted out in the boat and then it was leaning so far that I started taking on water from the side. Cry.gif

I woke up feeling very anxious and uneasy.

Are there any driving tips I should be aware of or am I stressing about nothing?

Thanks!

You do need to be careful especially when you load one side as much as I like to load it. When the rider falls, throw it in to neutral and let the wake pass you before turning around. Always turn away from the loaded down side so you can avoid the large part of the wake.

And make doubly sure you state all this to any driver you might have drive the boat while you surf! I know I told my buddy to turn to the right and avoid the wake, but he was the first the chilli dip the front end and soak the boat!

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So who here believes that if you don't have the stock tank full and you fill the 750 on top of it, the tank will crack or cave in? I always fill the stock tank first just in case but I am wondering if that has really happened to someone.

I leave my stock tanks at the dock

Nyuk nyuk nyuk

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The VTX is so "relatively" short, that you might benefit from shifting a bit more weight to the bow. If it is soooooo steep that your on the brakes the whole time riding, it is too steep and needs to be lengthened a bit.

IMHO, that is...surprised someone hasn't suggested that yet.

I will say, all loaded up with full stock ballast, a750 in the rear locker, about 7 people all biased to one side and a floting wedge, the wave is HUGE, everybody that surfed it was whinning including myself, about how badly there back leg was sore. It had so much forward push you were constantly on the brakes to keep from raming the boat!
Edited by WaveMake'nLSV
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The VTX is so "relatively" short, that you might benefit from shifting a bit more weight to the bow. If it is soooooo steep that your on the brakes the whole time riding, it is too steep and needs to be lengthened a bit.

IMHO, that is...surprised someone hasn't suggested that yet.

That is exaxtly what I was thinking. I am a bit scared to put more weight in the bow though with how low it sits already. I actually think that the 750 over the center might be better. I have not had a chance to play with it much as of yet, but the 750 is so big it would take up most of the seating space.

I was also thinking of deleting the wedge from the program to see if that helped a bit. I always have all these ideas of what I want to do, but when we get out there with all the crew I always get preoccupied with everything going on they often get forgotten about.

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I will say also that the vtx with a full bow tank and 2 women up front is VERY easy to swamp. The bow sits so low in the water it is very challnging to drive when someone falls while surfing. My 05 xti was not near as challanging to drive.

This is something I have worried about in adding more ballast, especially in the bow. My '06 VLX is much easier to get a roller over the bow than my '01 SS VLX was.

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Just got to be careful. In our low in the water SSLXi we are now running 2k + wedge for surfing. It takes 1500 in the corner, 500 in the ski locker, and a few people up front...but almost everyone can go rope less with that weight. We love it but its VERY tricky to drive it and stay dry with that much weight.

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