Is ballast bad for an engine?

[xCharlieBrownx]

I have a monterey I/O with a 205 horse power V6.

I was wondering if ballast (sand) will damage the engine because it has to work harder to get up and go.

Any help is appreciated.

[flixmaster]

Weight will cause increase wear and tear on an engine...but so will having a number of people in the boat.

Having sand in your boat will ALWAYS cause you to burn more gas. If you have ballast bags you can add weight and remove it when you are not wakeboarding. If you are going to add weight I suggest bags.

[xCharlieBrownx]

Thanks for the reply.

I wanted to get sand first to see how the boat handles the weight and if it had an impact on the size of the wake. If it does, I'll probably end up getting some fat sacs instead of using sand.

[flixmaster]

Just invite a bunch of people that will tell you how much they weigh. Then you can calculate where and how much ballast you need. Moving people around to adjust the wake is easier than moving sand.

[vette74]

You can fill up coolers full of water also to see how much impact it has on the wake.

[bobwire]

If you really want to load it down, you might want to think about getting another prop with less pitch just for wakeboarding. That way you wont rag the motor out so much.