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Anyone added lead?


That Guy

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I'm thinking about adding some lead ballast the the bow and port side on my boat to avoid having to fill a portable sack/over the side pump when we're really light on people. I'm not sure how much the 650lb under seat bow sack actually fills before popping the seats but I find the wave much better when I stuff a sack under the observers side dash or on the port side bow seats and put 3-500lbs in it when we only have a driver or driver +1 in the boat.

I'm thinking ~300-400lbs would probably be sufficient if not too much but I haven't seen any Axis guys post about adding lead plus I am kind of worried about tongue weight when towing. I can't imagine my current tongue weight being more than 300-400lbs so if I nearly doubled it I'm wondering what issues that may cause.

Post up what you guys have done.

Thanks

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I plan on adding about 500lbs of lead over the winter. Going to get it from local tire shop and buy the empty bags online or sack up and buy from a retailer. I plan on keeping the lead in the truck when in transit.

Edited by jetskipro550
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We are ordering a T22 and will be putting 300 to 400 lbs in the nose with the bow bag. I think the bow bag is around 450 when full. Our dealer has done this setup with a couple other buyers and had good success. We will be running 1100s in the lockers. I am not to worried about the tongue weight. May put air bags on if the rear end sags.

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I have 1000 lbs of lead in the boat spread out front to rear about 50/50 and we really like it. The lead in the front of the boat is hidden and out of sight and the lead in the aft of the boat sits out on the floor. We ride with three two five people and it makes it really really easy to shift weight side to side to even out where people are sitting very fast.

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99.99% of our time is spent wakeboarding and here is my lead setup: I have 450lbs in lead spread around in 75lbs increments in my A22. I put one 75 on the starboard side, one 75 on the port side, two 75's in the middle right before where my plug and play 950 sac is, and two 75's shoved as far up front as possible in the nose. I used zippered padded cpap bags (I used to be a rep for a medical supply company). I got the lead from tire shops old wheel weights. I wrapped the lead in reynolds wrap real tight before putting it in the zippered bags. Looks like Im smuggling coke if you unzip them. This setup plus the factory ballast, plug and play, wedge, and an additional 750 in the floor make a great wakeboarding wake.

Edited by ac88926
  • Like 2
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We noticed having 1-2 people in the bow really cleans up and lengthens the wake. Just last week I got a 5gal bucket of wheel weights from a tire shop for $20. I then bought 4 tool bags from harbor freight for $6 a pop. I lined the the bags with several layers of thick painters plastic to keep the dust and dirt from the wheel weights from getting into the boat. Each bag came out to be about 45lb so around 180lb total. I noticed the bow bag when filled leaves a nice little pocket just big enough for the lead bags to fit in font of the bag in the bow. Haven't been out to see the results, but should be able to report back after tomorrow. We will just leave the lead in there when trailering and see how that goes.

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Wow, some good responses here. Thanks for the ideas and input.

I've read about using wheel weights and am actually picking up (8) 5 gallon buckets full from a buddy tomorrow for a 12 pack of bud light!

I know most people use bags but also read where some just got PVC piping and cut it down, filled them with weights and capped them. It's cheap, a 6ft section of 4" PVC pipe is $8 and caps are $2 each.

I figured cut it into 2ft sections and they'd probably weigh 100lbs each and be sealed so not affected by water nor leak anything on the boat plus the bag would just form to the pipes in the bow when filled.

Anyone think that's not a good idea? A couple in the bow and maybe a couple under the port side dash to offset driver/cooler weight?

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As far as trailering with it....I'm not reallly worried about the extra weight as honestly I think my boat is LIGHT on the tongue weight as it is but I was worried about getting the boat ON the trailer with say 400lbs extra in the bow, doesn't it affect the angle/etc since the bow will be lower? I'm sure it's just a matter of playing with it but yeah. And the other thing is let's say I had the boat unevenly weighted and the port side was 400lbs heavier than the starboard side while trailering....could that cause more wear/damage to that side tire/axle or anything or it wouldn't really be an issue?

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Lead-wake.org or .com or something. Jerad out of canyon lake sells 50 lbs bags. I had POP products (steel) and when I bought my A22 I sold it all and went with 600 lbs of Lead Wake.

I put 200 lbs in the tip of the bow, sitting on top of the bolts for the U bolt under the front lights, I removed the front seat back to put it up there.

100 lbs under helm, behind the subwoofer/kick panel.

100 lbs opposite of that, in the observers locker, slid behind my 2 batteries

100 lbs under port bench seat, pushed all the way forward

100 lbs under starboard bench seat, pushed all the way forward.

I have towed thousands of miles this way. Only 2 issues. First, it makes loading the boat a little more difficult (easily fixed by filling the rear sacks a little bit when loading). Second, the bow sits low all the time, so when we are out just messing around or cruising around, I have to be careful of other boats rollers. But the wake is so good with this bow weight that I am willing to look past those minor inconveniences.

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I have six bars of lead 75lbs each in the walkway closest to the front of the boat and I will say it does make putting the boat on the trailer more challenging sometimes.. As said above, I add a little water to the year ballast tanks and it seems to be ok.. Some angles of the ramps can be tricky though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

As far as trailering with it....I'm not reallly worried about the extra weight as honestly I think my boat is LIGHT on the tongue weight as it is but I was worried about getting the boat ON the trailer with say 400lbs extra in the bow, doesn't it affect the angle/etc since the bow will be lower? I'm sure it's just a matter of playing with it but yeah. And the other thing is let's say I had the boat unevenly weighted and the port side was 400lbs heavier than the starboard side while trailering....could that cause more wear/damage to that side tire/axle or anything or it wouldn't really be an issue?

2 parts to this. First just because all of the weight is in the bow it DOES NOT transfer directly to tongue weight. Remember the boat is sitting on bunks, so the weight does distribute somewhat. Will it increase tongue weight absolutely, but adding 400 lbs in the bow is not adding 400 pounds tongue weight.

Second 400 pounds should not make your tires wear that different. Would your car tires wear different out you never drove with a passenger? 1500 pounds probably, 400 i highly doubt it.

I use 21 bags of bomb wake. I have 10 bags in the bow, 4 bags in the transom. Permanently, i then move the other 7 bags from truck to boat. Double check your trailer specs, Malibu really underbuilds their trailers. I would not be surprised if you are running close to weight rating. I trailer lead some lead now, because new boat has triple axle. My '14 was over the limit without lead! Out bowed tires in to the point there was rub marks on the insides of the wheel wells. So DO not over estimate your trailer capacity.

Bombwake.com is excellent, roughly $1/pound delivered. Yes it is steel not lead, but still great product.

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  • 1 month later...

I have 1000 lbs of lead in the boat spread out front to rear about 50/50 and we really like it. The lead in the front of the boat is hidden and out of sight and the lead in the aft of the boat sits out on the floor. We ride with three two five people and it makes it really really easy to shift weight side to side to even out where people are sitting very fast.

What type of trailer and tow vehicle are you using? Withe 1000lbs of lead in the boat you are probably well over the trailer max weight. Keep in mind that most boats with a full tank of gas and the usual stuff that accumulates in a boat are already 600 to 800 lbs heavier then the published spec.

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does anyone think 400lbs of lead stuffed in the far front under seat area by the eye loop and around the outside of the hard tank is close to the equivalent of a 650 bow bag based on the leverage point of weigh farther forward kn the bow. It is a little bummer to loose the bow when we have 5-6 smaller kids

  • Like 1
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First just because all of the weight is in the bow it DOES NOT transfer directly to tongue weight. Remember the boat is sitting on bunks, so the weight does distribute somewhat. Will it increase tongue weight absolutely, but adding 400 lbs in the bow is not adding 400 pounds tongue weight.

Where the bunks touch your boat has nothing to do with the tongue weight. Most of the that 400lbs does go to tongue weight. You can calculate the increase tongue weight as follows.

1) Find the center of gravity of the 400lbs.

2) Now calculate the moments of inertia. Front axle, center of gravity of the weight, trailer ball.

3) Increase in tongue weight = 400lb * (dist center of weight to front axle) / (distance trailer ball to front axle)

If you put the weight near the bow, I'm guessing most boats would translate 80-90% of the weight to the tongue.

Edited by flapjack
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I melted down old tire wights into 4ea 2" tube, each at about 75lbs for a total of 300lbs.

How did you melt it down and what containers did you use to do this and to store in for use on the boat?

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Not trying to be a downer, but Melting down the lead can be a bit on the dangerous side if you dont know what youre doing. Molten lead tends to burn skin and the fumes can get you too. Just something to think about. Damn I sound old.

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does anyone think 400lbs of lead stuffed in the far front under seat area by the eye loop and around the outside of the hard tank is close to the equivalent of a 650 bow bag based on the leverage point of weigh farther forward kn the bow. It is a little bummer to loose the bow when we have 5-6 smaller kids

If you want to try it out before you buy we can pick a day and i will bring my lead bags.

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How did you melt it down and what containers did you use to do this and to store in for use on the boat?

On my previous boat we melted down some lead in old coffee cans on the outdoor BBQ while we had a breeze. Then using vice grips, poured it into cake pans & made "bricks" out of it. Then covered the bricks with outdoor carpeting.

This time around & just put the old lead pieces in the heavy plastic liner bags that Pop Bags sends you. It was a lot easier & less hazardous. And in the end, about the same as far as weight. And a lot easier to pick up & move around the boat.

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does anyone think 400lbs of lead stuffed in the far front under seat area by the eye loop and around the outside of the hard tank is close to the equivalent of a 650 bow bag based on the leverage point of weigh farther forward kn the bow. It is a little bummer to loose the bow when we have 5-6 smaller kids

I think it would. I had 200 lbs on top of the bow hook nuts, 100 lbs behind the batteries and 100 lbs behind driver kick panel (so basically just in front of the windshield location) plus another 200 lbs in cabin far forward of the tower mount area. This is probably the equivalent of a 600 laying across the bow (as it typically farther back against the front fold up seat back so it doesn't roll on you). I would guess that having 400 lbs in the bow, so far forward and so low in the boat, it would be close to the 650 triangle sack. I moved my lead to the center of my boat and put a sumo 750 in the bow (fills to 800) and it acts like a few hundred lbs more than my lead set up.

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  • 4 months later...

Alright, little bump to this thread. I weighed (ha, pun intended) my options and decided on the most cost effective route for now as I have no idea if I'll like it.  So I bought some canvas tool bags at Lowes for sub $5/each and made six 50lb bags for a total of 300lbs and plan to put it under the port side dash. They are a little larger than lead-wake bags but I've have the space.  I've got probably another 100lbs in tire weights leftover from my pickup.  Inside each cavnas bag I put 2 gallon ziplock bags, 25lbs in each. All in I'm about $45 right now for the tire weights (12pk bud light), 12 gallon sized ziplock bags (don't tell my wife), and six canvas bags from Lowes.  Will post back once we get on the water on how it does.

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/18/2016 at 5:32 PM, That Guy said:

Alright, little bump to this thread. I weighed (ha, pun intended) my options and decided on the most cost effective route for now as I have no idea if I'll like it.  So I bought some canvas tool bags at Lowes for sub $5/each and made six 50lb bags for a total of 300lbs and plan to put it under the port side dash. They are a little larger than lead-wake bags but I've have the space.  I've got probably another 100lbs in tire weights leftover from my pickup.  Inside each cavnas bag I put 2 gallon ziplock bags, 25lbs in each. All in I'm about $45 right now for the tire weights (12pk bud light), 12 gallon sized ziplock bags (don't tell my wife), and six canvas bags from Lowes.  Will post back once we get on the water on how it does.

Would you change how you packaged your tire weights at all? I am about to do the same thing. Getting tire weights tonight from a local auto shop. Trying to figure how I want to package them. I would really like lead wake or pop pags to put them in... I just dont [want to buy the expensive bags at $20]-edit

Edited by AJwakedevil
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