2015 22MXZ Ballast

[gordon20mxz]

There is a thread started by smooky called MXZ 20 - VLX 22 on 10/31/14. It has a lot of information about weight. I learned a lot from it. I tried to link to it for you, but I could not figure out how to paste the link.

Search for it and read that thread.

[Shodan01]

Thanks and I found the thread - I am thinking of adding some weight to the front of the pickle fork this season.....

[skicrave]

I plan to use 400 pounds of Pop Products steel shot this season. It's supplied in 10 - 40 pound bags. It's $375 delivered as per their website. I will use it in a few of areas around my boat.

I was told by another forum member on a different thread that he puts 4 bags of weight (steel or lead I can't remember) tucked into the front anchor area of his 24 MXZ. There is a fair amount of room up there. The benefit is that it gets the weight really far in the front of the boat which has mechanical advantage to get the bow down in the water. The disadvantage is it puts more weight on the tongue of the trailer if you have to trailer your boat and if you are not going to take the bags in and out. That is the concern that Shodan had about fixed weight, because he is going to drive his boat around a lot. I use a boat lift on a river so I don't have that concern.

My discussion about this is that water is not very dense and takes a large volume of space to get weight. Although, it has the great advantage of being able to pump it in and out of the boat.

Data: Water 1gram/cubic centimeter. Steel Shot 7.8 gram/cubic centimeter. Lead 11.1 gram/cubic centimeter

Water weighs 8.33 pound per 231 cubic inches (= 1 gallon).

Steel shot is 7.8 times more dense, so it is 64.97 pounds per 231 cubic inches (= 1 gallon)

A 400 pound sack has about 48 gallons of water in it (400 / 8.33 = 48). Picture 48 gallon milk jugs in your bow.

To get to 400 pounds with steel shot you only need 6.16 gallons of shot (400 / 64.97 = 6.16). Picture 6 or 7 gallon milk jugs in your bow.

Pop Product Steel Shot Bags are measured to weight 40 pounds each. So that weight, the volume/space each bags takes, is roughly 75% of the size of a gallon milk jug.

For Shodan's purposes, who started this thread, who wants to keep the bow open, do you think he could consider 200 pounds (5 bags) of shot in the front of the boat (he has an 22 MXZ so he has that large anchor space) and 200 pound in the center of the boat? When he is ready to trailer go through the effort of removing the 5 bags (200 pounds) of shot from the front of his boat and putting them in his truck. Leave the 200 pounds at mid-ship because that probably has very little impact on trailering? Is it too much effort to stuff 4 to 5 bags of shot in and out of the anchor compartment each time you use the boat? I don't know, I'm just throwing the question out there.

Lead or steel absolutely has a place, and we use it in our own boats, so we're not anti mechanical weight at all. The big issue, which you already mentioned is trailering, and dealing with the tongue weight issue. Most of these boats are already setup to have a tongue weight that is at the limit of a Class III hitch, so having another 200 pounds of weight in the bow will virtually guarantee you exceed the limit. Shuttling a couple hundred pounds of lead each time you trailer your boat gets annoying real quick if you drive to the lake every day you go out.

If you're on a lift though, and you have capacity for it, a little bit of strategic mechanical weight can be a lifesaver.

[Shodan01]

Thanks all for the input! This is why I love the forum....

I have 700 lbs until I start to push the limit of my lift, and the boat is on it full time (Well once I get it in the water). I think 200 lbs won't be too much sitting up there since typically it is only my wife sitting there. I was more worried about loading lead, then driving to get dinner on the lake for leisure.....I would guess it would be no different than adding another person at the bow.

[Shodan01]

How much weight would all of you consider adding to the bow at the furthest point forward?

[skicrave]

I don't have a ton of experience with the 22MXZ specifically, but I would be cautious about putting anything more than 200lbs up there. With rear ballast full you could run more, but without anything at the back of the boat, that's going to bring the nose pretty far down in the water.

[yabetcha]

I have 200 pounds of Pop Products for sale if anyone is interested.

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/classifieds/item/1047-pop-products-ballast-bags/

[saidainc]

How much weight would all of you consider adding to the bow at the furthest point forward?

We tried 100lbs of shot in the nose (swimdeck hatch) and it didnt work out that well. In essence, it didnt improve the wave much and we already keep a box anchor and rubber coated chain there for roughly 30lbs. Since we have 750 and 500 plumbed into the leftside lockers, we just added a 400lbs fatsack to the bow to whatever side we are surfing and it seems to do the job just fine. We also have a 150lbs cube that is easy to move around if we want to fine tune things.

The tonque weight issue resonated heavily with me because we saw an accident with tongue trouble from someone towing an Axis on the mountain roads in Idaho and it wasnt pretty. I became convinced that we should be able to drain (remove) all additional weight from the boat prior to trailering and towing and sacks are just convenient for this.

[Shodan01]

I am going to try 200lbs in the nose once I get it on the water. Wagemakers said they are making some custom bags for the 15' 22MXZ so I might hold off for those. I was happy with their plug/play option in my 2012. I will be curious how the Power Wedge II helps with planing etc.

[bluestang50]

I have been running all factory tanks full, 800lbs in each rear locker, and 800lbs in the bow. It sits pretty low, but nothing crazy. We only run that much bow weight when there aren't many people on the water, but you still have to be cautious.

[saidainc]

200lbs is way too light FYI. You will adding weight after just a few runs with that amount, why not do it right the 1st time?

[Shodan01]

I meant 200 lbs lead, then adding 400lbs water, just to play and see how much lead after all is said and done is needed :-)

[SnubNose]

Hey in the 2012 MXZ was the maximum bag a 600lbs? Thats what the guys at wake makers told me. I have a 2012 mxz and wanted to make a better surf wake.... However mine didn't come pre plumbed for plug n play. Any recommendations?

[Shodan01]

Hey in the 2012 MXZ was the maximum bag a 600lbs? Thats what the guys at wake makers told me. I have a 2012 mxz and wanted to make a better surf wake.... However mine didn't come pre plumbed for plug n play. Any recommendations?

Nope - I bought the kit from wake makers and had 750's. I would have done 1100's but was worried about space....Keep in mind you DONT have to fill it all the way up :-)

[skicrave]

We suggest using the 600lb Straight Line option for an off-the-shelf bag, it's 40" length is closest to the length of the compartment.