Ballast?

[Mcrowe]

Hey everyone I am new to the forum. I usually tend to stay over on the wakeboarding forums but I have not been lucky enough to have my questions answered by anyone so I felt maybe I would have luck here!

I run about 4 ballast bags in my Mastercraft x-30 total weight at about 3400lbs. As you can imagine this takes a while to fill, and really wears on pumps. I am wondering if I install a scoop on the hull such as : http://www.cassellmarine.com.au/p/815206/through-hull-skin-fitting-scoop.html . Could I run this with just a ball valve at the hull. So when this thing is open and I get the boat up on plane it fills the bags automatically and all i do is simply close the valve when full. Does anyone have any idea how fast this method would fill as far as GPM, GPH or any flow comparison?

 

[Mntom]

Re: Ballast?

Is this the specs on your boat?

Length of Boat: 22' 5"

Width Amidship: 102"

Boat Weight: 4,120 lbs.

Fuel Capacity: 65 gallons

Total Weight Capacity: 16 people or 2,475 lbs.

(From this site:http://www.mastercraft.com/boats/overview/x30) That seems like a lot of ballast......

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Ballast?

Is this the specs on your boat?
(From this site:http://www.mastercraft.com/boats/overview/x30) That seems like a lot of ballast......

Sure does, that would be around 425 gallons of water to get to 3400lbs. It would also take up 54 cubic feet of space - Where in the world are you putting all of that?

 

[Mcrowe]

Re: Ballast?

Actually mine is a 2001, it is 3300lbs dry and capacity of 12. Yes its a lot of ballast, I have a 750 on each side of the motor, 650 on the floor and a 1200lb bow filler. However, This weight is only full when myself or my brother or other experienced riders are behind the boat. I do not let just anyone drive the think like that. This amount of weight allows me to ride at 85+ feet behind the boat at about 25mph. This setup allows for minimal line tension as well as maximum height.

But as you can see it would be ideal if I could just open valves, drive and fill the thing up! I think the system would work fine, I am just wondering if it would fill in comparable time to a 1200gph aerator style pump. I am a huge fan of simplicity and less moving parts when it comes to these things, unlike about every new boat on the market!

 

[SeanT]

Re: Ballast?

Are you actually burning through pumps or is it to help reduce time to fill?

 

[Mcrowe]

Re: Ballast?

I have burnt up all 6 pumps over the years and its time to replace them. I was just wondering if this would work because it seems simple. Thanks

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Ballast?

mount one of these beside the engine, vent the exhaust out, and you will be good to go! You could fill/unfill your tanks in roughly 1 minute.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_120475_120475

 

[Mcrowe]

Re: Ballast?

mount one of these beside the engine, vent the exhaust out, and you will be good to go! You could fill/unfill your tanks in roughly 1 minute.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_120475_120475

Haha that would be awesome if there was room! I am going to cheapest, yet most effective route here guys. I cant give away my whole plan because I am pretty excited about my design I have come up with. I just need to figure out if its feasible to fill on plane without pumps if you have a hull scoop. Or I really need to find out the flow rate at say 20mph....