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Bow Bag or Lead?


ahopkins22LSV

Bow Bag or Lead  

55 members have voted

  1. 1. Bow Bag or Lead?



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1 hour ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Yeah if I go bag I’m not sure which one yet. Probably the sumo 650, not sure how the one you linked would fit or how a person would still be able to sit up there. 

I guess I'll have to measure my bow area but I assumed that's why they made them u shaped. Maybe a straight line will work better. 

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Just now, ahopkinsVTX said:

I’m not getting that involved. At most I’d turn this into a plumbed reversible bow bag. 

I understand... was not that bad.. but you are also in a brand new boat while I am 8 years old.. Was a fun project and fixed my problem.. in all honesty.. if you don't use the front seat.. then throw a bag on it.. same concept, I just wanted it hidden for fun sakes ;) 

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ahopkins22LSV
2 minutes ago, kerpluxal said:

I understand... was not that bad.. but you are also in a brand new boat while I am 8 years old.. Was a fun project and fixed my problem.. in all honesty.. if you don't use the front seat.. then throw a bag on it.. same concept, I just wanted it hidden for fun sakes ;) 

Wife also wanted this to be a “project free boat” while I know that’s not possible, I’m not going to be removing a bow tank that we paid for less then 6 months ago and then try to explain that haha.

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ahopkins22LSV
12 minutes ago, dcarl said:

I guess I'll have to measure my bow area but I assumed that's why they made them u shaped. Maybe a straight line will work better. 

Yeah I would be curious if you have access to your boat as I haven’t 100% decided on which to go with and definitely not sure on which bag yet if I decide to go with the bag. 

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Used to do the bag thing in bow/walk thru and hoped to never do that again after buying the lead wake. I do think there is a threshold where it stops making sense. For me that is 400#. 

I guess our circumstances are a bit different because the kids/my wife tend to gravitate to the bow.

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ahopkins22LSV
2 minutes ago, G Spot said:

Used to do the bag thing in bow/walk thru and hoped to never do that again after buying the lead wake. I do think there is a threshold where it stops making sense. For me that is 400#. 

I guess our circumstances are a bit different because the kids/my wife tend to gravitate to the bow.

We live in slightly different climates :lol: there are mid summer days that we have the heater on and are all hiding behind the windshield as it’s only 65 and windy but damnit it’s july so we are boating!

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27 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Yeah I would be curious if you have access to your boat as I haven’t 100% decided on which to go with and definitely not sure on which bag yet if I decide to go with the bag. 

I'm messure it and share. My boat is just down the road in my buddies hanger.

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ahopkins22LSV
7 minutes ago, dcarl said:

I'm messure it and share. My boat is just down the road in my buddies hanger.

Cool. Thank you. My is actually at a friends  house too but I’m not sure when I’ll be back up there. If I get there I will measure though too. 

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I use 400lbs in my VLX. Wife said no bags anywhere visible. I usually remove the nose cushion and stack them all in that spot.

DD71FFEB-AB60-4E56-A719-04FD7C717870.thumb.jpeg.5ed9eabec75ea6726dbabcf3cd280fa6.jpeg

My family is in the bow a lot so this works for me but it’s a pain in the arse. When we are not surfing I stack them on the floor against the rear seats. Moving them is always a pain, there is always stuff and people I have to move out of the way. I take them out after every trip to let them dry because they inevitably end up wet. I if had a choice I would be running a bow bag with a fill line plumbed in.

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Bag for sure for reasons above. If you happen to have additional people out with you, throw them in the bow and skip the bag.

I wouldn't want to move lead around constantly. I have some (~250lbs) stashed in the observers compartment, but I wouldn't want more than that. I'll tell you this too... kids love the bow. They are constantly hanging out there, so as your daughter grows and you have friends out with kids, the bow will naturally lower :)

 

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Edited by Raimie
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I plumbed in a bow bag in my 2018 22VLX and it has been great. I learned some lessons from my old 2012 integrated ballast install, so this time I put the reversible pump under the left rear port seat right next to the transmission area divider. It was much easier to install than putting it behind the sub, is easier to access for impeller service, still performs great, and now leaves my center t-handle available for drain duty. When I get time I'll post a thread with some pictures.

You don't need a full 1000lbs in the bow for your boat, so if you are concerned with bow space just use a smaller bag. You could use this V-shaped bag and still have bow room for a cooler or for somebody to sit there in the middle of the V. https://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-integrated-bow-sac.html

You could also use one of the smaller 300-400lb rectangle shaped bags and have it in the rear portion of the bow, leaving the pointy nose portion of the bow open.

 

 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Brett B said:

I plumbed in a bow bag in my 2018 22VLX and it has been great. I learned some lessons from my old 2012 integrated ballast install, so this time I put the reversible pump under the left rear port seat right next to the transmission area divider. It was much easier to install than putting it behind the sub, is easier to access for impeller service, still performs great, and now leaves my center t-handle available for drain duty. When I get time I'll post a thread with some pictures.

You don't need a full 1000lbs in the bow for your boat, so if you are concerned with bow space just use a smaller bag. You could use this V-shaped bag and still have bow room for a cooler or for somebody to sit there in the middle of the V. https://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-integrated-bow-sac.html

You could also use one of the smaller 300-400lb rectangle shaped bags and have it in the rear portion of the bow, leaving the pointy nose portion of the bow open.

 

 

 

 

That's what I did.  I put the pump right under the passenger seat next to the batteries.  Easy to get to and close enough I can hear it running and change pitch when it's done draining. There's a good build thread that several people contributed to a year ago below.  I used the V-Shaped bag.  It rolls up nice and easy and I can leave it as sort of a back rest during the day when not in use. But there's enough room up there for an adult to have a water filled lounge cushion or a couple of kids to chill.

 

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ahopkins22LSV
29 minutes ago, Stevo said:

Apparently his cooler goes there🤷🏼‍♂️

Correct. We are typically out for the whole day so we pack a “48 can” cooler almost every time. Three years ago it probably would have had 48 cans of beer in it but now there is maybe a 6 pack, lots of water a food. Ahhh kids lol. 

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1 hour ago, Brett B said:

I plumbed in a bow bag in my 2018 22VLX and it has been great. I learned some lessons from my old 2012 integrated ballast install, so this time I put the reversible pump under the left rear port seat right next to the transmission area divider. It was much easier to install than putting it behind the sub, is easier to access for impeller service, still performs great, and now leaves my center t-handle available for drain duty. When I get time I'll post a thread with some pictures.

You don't need a full 1000lbs in the bow for your boat, so if you are concerned with bow space just use a smaller bag. You could use this V-shaped bag and still have bow room for a cooler or for somebody to sit there in the middle of the V. https://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-integrated-bow-sac.html

You could also use one of the smaller 300-400lb rectangle shaped bags and have it in the rear portion of the bow, leaving the pointy nose portion of the bow open.

 

 

 

 

I would appreciate your pics.  Is there no way of using the pump that already fills the front hard ballast? Similar to the way the plug and play bags work in the rear. I my be way off here but that seems way easier than adding a pump and running all that hose.

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2 hours ago, dcarl said:

I would appreciate your pics.  Is there no way of using the pump that already fills the front hard ballast? Similar to the way the plug and play bags work in the rear. I my be way off here but that seems way easier than adding a pump and running all that hose.

Either way you run a lot of hose.  Mounting a pump is the easiest part.  Running the electrical for another pump is a bit of work, but at least Wakemakers sells full cable assemblies so it's mostly plug and play.

If you can find your bow pumps and look at how they're connected to the hard tank and figure out a way for them be run cleanly to a bow bag, then you've started down the fun project path.  Don't forget it needs to also work without breaking the function of the tank when by itself on days you have bow ballast buddies on the boat.

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My vote is a bag...and I run 500lbs of lead, including 100lbs in the nose I will never see again as I'm not spending the hours it took to get it in there to get it back out.  Just plumb in a hose and use it.  Lead it useful for:
- Putting weight where water weight can't go
- Weight tweaks

Of my 500lbs, only 200 is accessible.  Even that I keep hidden; usually 100 under the bow filler and another 100 hidden under a seat somewhere depending on what I'm doing.  I prefer nothing exposed...it's a bigger surprise when people see my wave yet see 0.0 of my ballast setup.

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I had a bow bag for my 21vlx and it really helped, in fact I actually needed the weight to plane with my PnP bags. I hated having the bow taken up and that was one of the things my wife wanted to avoid with the new boat.  So.... I just got 300# of lead delivered yesterday. My plan is to remove the front speakers and stash 200# up there If i can get it to fit.  Then the other 100# will be moved around to adjust the wake where needed.  I want to have all bags out of sight.  I surfed all season last year with no bow weight, and the wave was great, but i always liked it more when I had a few kids or an adult up front.  We’ll see how this experiment goes. Wife was NOT happy when the lead arrived 😬

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  • 4 weeks later...

I think a little bit of both is best. I have a 14 VTX and have 100lbs of lead hidden in the gunnel of the bow. If we have a big crew I make sure 1 or 2 people are sitting up front to help balance us out. If we have a small crew or no one wants to sit up front I run a bag I had from my old Prostar. I store it under seats so it is out of site when not in use. A little weight in the front is great for Slalom skiing and for Surfing so is a win win. I do keep the boat on the lake so no towing concerns not sure how 100lbs would affect towing.

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On 12/7/2018 at 9:01 AM, SCMike said:

So.... I just got 300# of lead delivered yesterday. My plan is to remove the front speakers and stash 200# up there If i can get it to fit.  Then the other 100# will be moved around to adjust the wake where needed.  I want to have all bags out of sight.

Have you tried to stash some in the bow behind the speakers yet?  On my '18 LSV, I figure that is the only way to access that far forward.

I ordered 300# too and want to place some in the bow, behind sub, and watchers seat area.

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