New LSV Ballast

[mrnate450r]

I've been talking with my dealer about surf ballast for my new LSV, and my initial idea was to go with 750's for the pnp and an 1100 lb bow triangle. I wasn't going to plumb the triangle in this year for budget reasons, but my dealer got me thinking. What about the new Ronix bags? He thought it would be nice to be able to move it around to help find the sweet spot. Anybody used them?? Or should I just do the triangle?

[DocPhil]

what Ronix bags?

[mrnate450r]

The 8.3 ronix bags. They fill and drain much faster than the fly highs. There is a video on YouTube about them.

[TNWILSON]

I've heard nothing but good things about them. Also the price is about the same as all the others.

[wakesetter8796]

I wanted the ronix bags they are cheaper than fly high but the fittings wouldn't work for our boat <br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk <br />

[Rmack]

My opinion is to plumb the triangle bag into the boat. It's so nice to just flip a switch. I have the triangle bow sac and love it. Search for tallredriders post on plumbing in a bow line. I used his idea and love it.

[Fman]

Is anyone plumbing in a ballast with Johnson pumps and bypassing the PnP option? I installed a three pump Johnson system on my friends 2014 MB and it has been awesome, he is running the 650 lb bow sac, and two 750's in the lockers. I also am running two Johnson pumps on my '13 VLX plumbed in with 600's in each locker. With the Quad ballast and Johnson pump system its a great setup, the Johnson pumps drain the bags pancake thin. I especially like how you can fill and drain the hard tanks and bags seperately with multiple pumps running. I can fill all hard tanks and two 600 lb bags (2500 lbs total) in 4 minutes from completely being empty.

Just something to consider, I am a huge fan of the Johnson system over the PnP.

[wakebrdr94]

I went with the PNP, but opted out of the bow ballast again. Doesn't make sense to eat up the storage when you have to use more weight upfront anyway. I plan on plumbing in a front ballast bag. Just need to wait for Travis to make a trip down here

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[Fman]

^^^ I love drilling holes in new boats, what a rush! Nothing like 6 new holes in my friends 2014 MB :-) I felt like a surgeon performing a triple bypass on his baby!

[mrnate450r]

I will probably opt for the bow sac plumbed in next winter. My budget is already stretched for this season. Fman, are you filling and draining through the same hole?

[DocPhil]

I will probably opt for the bow sac plumbed in next winter. My budget is already stretched for this season. Fman, are you filling and draining through the same hole?

Is it a 100% guarantee that the new LSV will do better with bow weight?

Do we know that yet?

[nyryan2001]

Doc- when you get your OEM ballast in there, plus 750-1100s in the trunks (those are deeper trunks, I'd go 1100s...), plus wedge, your prop angle is gonna get bad, thats a lot of rear weight.

I dont know that you will 'need" weight in the bow for a big wave... but all trends suggest that when you get that type of additional weight in the rear your bow goes up quite a bit. You'll have a huge steep wave.... to draw it out some legthwise.... improve your prop angle---> reduce rpms, improve driver visiibility.... you'll wanna put some weight in the bow.

350lbs is the standard LSV bow tank right? I think the 1100 P&P triangle removeable for the bow would be the way to go for when you want the weight up there.

[wakebrdr94]

^^^ I love drilling holes in new boats, what a rush! Nothing like 6 new holes in my friends 2014 MB :-) I felt like a surgeon performing a triple bypass on his baby!

Hahaha that was great.

I've only put holes in for transom lights. And I felt sick doing that. But when I was done not that big of a deal. A bigger hole scares me a bit. I know it's not that big of a deal, but still a little scary until I do it.

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[DocPhil]

Doc- when you get your OEM ballast in there, plus 750-1100s in the trunks (those are deeper trunks, I'd go 1100s...), plus wedge, your prop angle is gonna get bad, thats a lot of rear weight.

I dont know that you will 'need" weight in the bow for a big wave... but all trends suggest that when you get that type of additional weight in the rear your bow goes up quite a bit. You'll have a huge steep wave.... to draw it out some legthwise.... improve your prop angle---> reduce rpms, improve driver visiibility.... you'll wanna put some weight in the bow.

350lbs is the standard LSV bow tank right? I think the 1100 P&P triangle removeable for the bow would be the way to go for when you want the weight up there.

I see what you're saying and most likely it will need bow weight. I would just like some real world experience before I go drilling any holes

[CJAY]

Is it a 100% guarantee that the new LSV will do better with bow weight?

Do we know that yet?

If you're running PNP you will need bow weight. BUs tend to do better with bow weight all around. We had 400lbs ontop of the the tank in the bow with 750s in the back and it wasn't near enough

[wakebrdr94]

If you're running PNP you will need bow weight. BUs tend to do better with bow weight all around. We had 400lbs ontop of the the tank in the bow with 750s in the back and it wasn't near enough

Exactly why front ballast tank in a bu is a waste. Lose storage and seating both. Might well plumb in one big triangle and keep some storage.

[Fman]

Exactly why front ballast tank in a bu is a waste. Lose storage and seating both. Might well plumb in one big triangle and keep some storage.

If you fill your bow ballast bag dont you loose all the storage space? If you pack the bow with gear, anchor, etc... dont you have to take it all out to fill the bag? Plus you do loose the pre-sets auto fill and drain when you go bag only. I do not agree the bow ballast tank is a complete waste, depends on how you use your boat. The VLX needs bow weight for wakeboarding and surfing.

I personally would not order a LSV or VLX without the bow tank, we use it all the time with pre-sets.

If we actually get some rain and I can use our boat this season, I am adding another 300 lbs of bag auto fill this spring, I will have the 300 lb bow tank and 300 lbs tube bags on a Johnson pump for 600 lbs total.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Fman

[wakebrdr94]

I'm going to plumb the hose over, but rest the bag on the seat. Hose will come out of the cubby area and flip a switch. 600 lbs+ up front, same as you, still have storage Even if you plumb a horseshoe bag in the compartment, you can still place gear under the filler cushion if need be. Rear compartments are gone with ballast bags, bow is gone, In a 21' boat, we give up too much. This is where I think they got it right with the G21.

[Fman]

Good point about having storage available. I guess we never boat camp or need extra temporary storage. I also like the fact I get to use presets with hard tank, and have two pumps filling the 600 lbs rather than one. We don't always need 600 lbs, usually for wake boarding hard tank is good enough. It's nice to have the 300 lb hard tank I can fill with mtc and know when it overflows I have 300 lbs. For surfing I will be using the additional tube sacs. I am surprised you can fit a 600 lb Sac under the seats, the hard tank pretty much uses the entire bow area, would not think a bag would fill 600 lbs under the seat. This is why I am using two tube sacs in gunwale area.

My friends MB has the 600 lb bow bag, he can't fill it unless he empties out the bow storage. They boat camp on Powell a lot, makes total sense for him to have the extra storage to pack gear to his camp site.

[wakebrdr94]

I'd worry about the bags in the gunwale. With my luck they'd break and kiss me electronics good by.

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[Fman]

I will be good test dummy for others, if done properly I think it will work great and be totally hidden. Prepping the gunwale is the key to avoid damage to the bag.

[DocPhil]

So are you guys suggesting plumbing in a line and putting the bow triangle on the seats?

Or plumbing in a line and underneath in storage. What size bag could you even fit under in storage?

[mrnate450r]

So are you guys suggesting plumbing in a line and putting the bow triangle on the seats?

Or plumbing in a line and underneath in storage. What size bag could you even fit under in storage?

When I go that route, I will plumb in a triangle for on top of the seats. It's not going to happen this year though. Already spending way too much!!

[DocPhil]

When I go that route, I will plumb in a triangle for on top of the seats. It's not going to happen this year though. Already spending way too much!!

what can you fit under the seats in that LSV? probably not enough eh?

[mrnate450r]

what can you fit under the seats in that LSV? probably not enough eh?

If you got the bow tank, only a few lead bags. The tank takes up the whole space.