Best Lead bags?

[2020LSV23]

Hey I am going to be ordering some lead for our 23 LSV and just wondering what you guys think is the best brand (website) to buy from and weight increments? 

[Slurpee]

It’s a bag of steel shot. So kind of hard to get it wrong. They are all priced about the same. I ordered 500lbs from LeadWake recently.  Quality construction.  Expect your LPO to tell you to come get it yourself though. 

[Cole2001]

Wakeballast would be my choice. Great guys and huge sponsors of the competitive wakesurf association. 

[tjklein]

6 hours ago, Slurpee said:

It’s a bag of steel shot. So kind of hard to get it wrong. They are all priced about the same. I ordered 500lbs from LeadWake recently.  Quality construction.  Expect your LPO to tell you to come get it yourself though. 

 

+1 for Leadwake.  I have have had 4 bags for 3 years and they've been great.

[RyanB]

I stashed my lead under the bow seats around the tank on my LSV. 50 pound bags. Bought from leadwake. I have no complaints. 
 

That said, if I were to do it again, I’d make my own. Get some lead weights from a tire store and put them it 3’ PVC pipe and seal it. Pretty sure I could have got more weight up there doing it that way. 

[Stevo]

+1 for lead wake

i have 100lbs in the bow in front of my hard tank. Pro tip: in subfloor locations put the bag in an XL ziplock bag to avoid moisture absorbing and smelling.

for the bags in storage lockers I sprayed them with never wet to avoid smelly bags.

Rust-Oleum 278146 NeverWet 11-Ounce Outdoor Fabric Spray, Clear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRHF8E4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_02cXDbRBZ5B1

[eubanks]

https://www.leadwake.com/

[MadMan]

I wonder what percentage of people ordering these bags form LeadWake think they are actually getting lead??

[Dfowkes]

Jared at www.leadwake.com 

He also usually runs a 10% off and free shipping.  @Murphy8166 should have the code and if not send me a PM

[2020LSV23]

9 hours ago, RyanB said:

I stashed my lead under the bow seats around the tank on my LSV. 50 pound bags. Bought from leadwake. I have no complaints. 
 

That said, if I were to do it again, I’d make my own. Get some lead weights from a tire store and put them it 3’ PVC pipe and seal it. Pretty sure I could have got more weight up there doing it that way. 

I might have to do the PVC pipe idea as I am in Canada and shipping 400+ pounds is going to cost an arm and a leg I think. Tire stores sell "lead weight"? I will call my local shop thanks!

[Eagleboy99]

4 minutes ago, 2020LSV23 said:

I might have to do the PVC pipe idea as I am in Canada and shipping 400+ pounds is going to cost an arm and a leg I think. Tire stores sell "lead weight"? I will call my local shop thanks!

Tire weights will be a PITA.  They have the clips and you are paying for the shape.  The cheapest lead (unless you have a bddy at a smelter in Trail) will likely be lead shot.  Roughly 2 bucks CAD a pound.  We use it for trap shooting.

[MadMan]

A guy I worked with kid worked at a tire place, could get all the (used) lead I needed free.  That was years ago though.

[RyanB]

10 minutes ago, MadMan said:

A guy I worked with kid worked at a tire place, could get all the (used) lead I needed free.  That was years ago though.

I got three full 5 gallon buckets for like $100 on craigslist a few years ago. No idea what it weighed, but it took two guys struggling to move each bucket. 

[granddaddy55]

Makes sense to make your own in your shipping situation , here in states we all get that USPS almost free ride!

that said if you move them around a lot  like I do to list the boat heavily ,  the 25’s snd 35’s are better , I have 6 50’s, 6 35’s and 8 25’s

The  25’s are real cool cause I hang them on the port cabin long seat cushion rails then Put cushion back down 

[2020LSV23]

I’m going to grab 8 X 50 pound bags for a total of 400 pounds lead weight for the bow. That should be all I ever need to work with?

[Murphy8166]

I will reach out to Jared Cutler of LeadWake and see what they have going on right now.  BLACK FRIDAY is 3 weeks away and usually a good time to buy this stuff

[asnowman]

Maybe a dumb question, but how does an order of say 500 lbs of weight bags get shipped to you? I also need to order about 500 lbs before next summer. I have forks for my tractor, so i can unload pallets easier than individual weight bags.

[2020LSV23]

1 hour ago, asnowman said:

Maybe a dumb question, but how does an order of say 500 lbs of weight bags get shipped to you? I also need to order about 500 lbs before next summer. I have forks for my tractor, so i can unload pallets easier than individual weight bags.

Going to be shipped freight on a pallet to the nearest depot and I will have to go pick it up. I had over 1500 pounds of Rogue dumbbells shipped to me and I would assume same route would be used for lead weight.

However good news for me is LeadWake contacted me and let me know I have a distributor a ferry ride away + 1 hour drive so that will be how I get them. Shipping would be more money than taking ferry.

[RyanB]

When I bought mine, they shipped the bags in the USPS "if it fits, it ships" boxes.  50 pounds each.  300 pounds total.

[asnowman]

27 minutes ago, RyanB said:

When I bought mine, they shipped the bags in the USPS "if it fits, it ships" boxes.  50 pounds each.  300 pounds total.

Oh man i forgot about those. We ordered 1/2" stainless steel chain for moorings, and they shipped in those boxes. Easily over 50lbs each.

[justgary]

I don't use ballast for a boat, but a .50 Cal ammo box will hold roughly 100 pounds of used tire weights if you fill it full.  I have around 1,000 pounds of the stuff in ammo boxes at more like 50 pounds per box so I can move them easier.  I use them on the back of the tractor for ballast when I need it.  These three boxes are about 55 pounds each.

Note that I'm not necessarily suggesting that you use ammo boxes, but just giving you something to estimate volume from if you go out hunting a bunch of used tire weights.

[2020LSV23]

Does anyone know if I can stash/hide the 50 pound leadwake bags in the bow of the 2020 23 LSV? Im going to want to add around 100 - 200 pounds permanently up front but will have to buy the 25s if the 50s wont hide

[wdr]

You have a little room between the batteries maybe a 3” x 12” space, but you have cables and wires in the way. The center of the front ballast tank has a vertical support cylinder shaped hole that is about a 3 1/2” x 8” high hole you can get about 15 lbs of lead in. The only way to get to the sides of the boat with out pulling the front ballast tank is to pull the cup holders and drop in some tube sock shaped sacks. You can access the drivers side of the ballast tank area by pulling black plastic tub behind the flip up back. The carpeted panel in the observers side storage can probably be pulled to access that side.

Edited November 15, 2019 by wdr
Sp

[wdr]

You have all kinds of room behind the sub. You will lose a little room in the observers side on the floor but it will be balanced if you do stash weight behind the sub.

[Wavemaker]

57 minutes ago, 2020LSV23 said:

Does anyone know if I can stash/hide the 50 pound leadwake bags in the bow of the 2020 23 LSV? Im going to want to add around 100 - 200 pounds permanently up front but will have to buy the 25s if the 50s wont hide

I've also heard guys pulling out the front speakers and stashing some lead in the hole and then putting speakers back in.  I have no idea how much room is in there.  This is one of the reasons I decided to go with a MXZ was because of the plentiful space for lead bags in the bow. (and of course the huge bow seating) 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Wavemaker