2002 23’ XTI Rear Ballast Hard Tank vs. Fatsac

[dimer10]

Crew, 

I was hoping you may be able to give me some thoughts on rear ballast hard tank keep vs. remove and install fatsacs.  Both pumps went bad on the tanks so I am in the process of replacing those and the thought crossed my mind.  
 

I looked throughout crew threads last night and some today to see if there was anything and couldn’t locate any ideas.  
 

If the crew could help me out with thoughts or ideas that would be awesome. Thanks. 

[ROFF]

Were you thinking of removing hard tanks and installing one or two soft bags in their place?  
 

 

[dimer10]

ROFF, thanks for the reply.  I was looking at installing 2 soft bags in their place.  

[ROFF]

Looks like you may be able to find one at Wakemakers.   Do you have the dimensions of that compartment?     I’ve put some smaller bags in that aft locker above the rear tanks.   Not really comfortable doing that on a regular basis as there are several bolts protruding into that compartment on the transom.   

[dimer10]

Thanks. I am going to measure them out this weekend. I called wakemakers and they said it may require 2 custom bags to be made.  We only store the ropes in the ski locker so I was thinking I could also modify the ski lockers to allow more room for bigger bags. Can you think of any negatives to ripping out the hard tanks?

[ROFF]

Not really.    I’d go over the compartment for sharp edges and protrusions that could damage the bags.    Pulling the tanks and having bags that presumably take up most of the compartment which is tall would make me concerned about the ability of the pumps to fill it full.      
 

Im wondering how much that compartment would hold if it were completely taken up with bags.  

Edited June 9, 2020 by ROFF

[dimer10]

Roff, thanks for the replies and info.  I ended up sticking with the hard tanks and replaced the pumps.  

[ROFF]

So I ended up doing a bunch of things in the transom locker on mine.   Moved the anchor light to the tower,  re-routed the vents, and measured things out for a possible custom bag to replace the hard tanks that are only about 250# together.   

By utilizing the whole transom area with hard tanks removed it’s about 750#
 

Here’s a short video of our wake now using 1150# in 3 bags, rear tanks, shaper and floating wedge.

Im 6’ and 200#  using a 4’7” board 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by ROFF