Need opinion on permanent fat sac install/interior benches

bmh2208

Okay, I need yalls opinion on my proposed layout for my permanent ballast installation. I have a '77 CC american skier, so ofcourse space is at a premium. I am tired of hoping over fat sacs and trying to wedge them inbetween the seats. I am proposing of building some enclosures/seats than will encase my sacs and allow me to permanently hook up the sacs to the pumps. I have attached some pics to illustrate what I a looking to do. Any opinions of suggestions would be appreciated.

I will build a box to cover the 500lb sac in the front and make it a pseudo bench for the driver and a couple of observers to sit on. I know it will sit up higher than the original seats, but it should be okay, plus it will make it easier for the driver to see over the bow. I will make some removable seat backs for the driver and for the observers so they can face forward or backwards.

I will probably leave in my somewhat ghetto rear platform to hide the rear sacs/extra vests. It might look like crap, but you could park a truck on top of it(2" solid wood door cut in half).

This seems like the best layout and will let me add 1000lbs of water easily, where as before I would have to sit a 250lb sac in front between the two seats and another one on top of the 500lb sac in the back.

After I get the basic layout nailed down I am going to strip the interior(carpet) and start framing up the benches, etc. I am going to remove the side shelf to get a little more room on either side of the engine. I am hoping to build some boxes to serve as seats on either side of the engine box for more seating.

Any ideas would be great.

Cheers,
Brandon

Bowen · Posted: Feb 28, 2005 8:14 pm Post subject:

Do a search for some posts by Nauty he built some for his Nautique and they were awesome. He ended up doing a sundeck on the back, and two boxes to cover the side sacks that doubled as seats. he even got the sundeck upholstered to look good.

bmh2208 · Posted: Feb 28, 2005 8:50 pm Post subject:

Right now I can fit either the 500lb sac or 2-250lb sacs under the rear deck. The beam is definately too narrow to fit the sacs on either side of the engine cover so that is why I am looking to make a bench in the front to hold the sacs, and have them double as my seats up there.

cwaker4 · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 465 City: Gilroy

sounds like youve got some solid ideas to make the ,ost out of your extremely limited space, i cant really think of a better way to do it.

Hollywood · Posted: Feb 28, 2005 9:24 pm Post subject:

That 500 is massive up there. There is no way you're gonna be comfortable sitting on top of all that, the steering wheel will be lower than your crotch. A 350 might work, then you could actually fit a seat brace and padding over, and stick one of those 250s in the bow. This way you'll realisticially have some front seats and keep the same weight.

bmh2208 · Posted: Mar 01, 2005 6:53 am Post subject:

Yeah that was the only thing I was worried about having the sac so large and trying to make a bench out of it. With it as far back as possible, I was able to sit on it and have enough room for my legs to clear the steering wheel. I am also thinking of putting one of my old Grant GT steering wheels on there to give me a little more room as it is much smaller in diameter. I did like the fact that it set me up where I can easily see over the windshield. I will try to make room for 3 people to fit on the bench. The driver facing forward, and then have some removable (rearrangable) seatback for the observers. Suprisingly the single 500lb sac fit better there than the 2-250's. I thought about squeezing a 250 up in the bow, but there is even less room there. I will put my RF 12" and amps up in the bow in a fiberglassed box in the nose.

I should be starting pretty soon... I have alot of spare cedar 2x2's to frame everything up. Now I just gotta get ahold of some cheap pumps and I will be ready to rock. It gets pretty hairy driving this thing fully loaded to make sure that I don't swamp the back end when slowing down. Suprisingly enough, with that much ballast it puts out a pretty good wake for a 17 footer.

Thanks for the replies,
B

cwaker4 · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 465 City: Gilroy

good luck with it, thats a lot of weight to stick in an old 17 footer

03parksridr · Soul Rider Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 256 City: Edmond

do this just pre-make a box to put your front seat on, and then just put the sac in there and let it fill up to the size of the box. It won't weight as much that way. but you'll gain seating and have a more comfortable seating position.

bmh2208 · Posted: Mar 02, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject:

Yeah making the box just the right height is one option...although as you pointed out it won't weigh as much.

Yeah it certainly is alot of weight for the old boat, but earlier last summer we weighted it up with 1000lbs of water with 3 of us also on board. Granted it is pretty tricky to drive, you have to make sure you don't swap it from the back when slowing down. We definately get some looks my the newer BU's, etc. and how our wake stomps theirs, albiet probably not fully loaded. Before I got this boat we used to board behind a Mobius V. So far we are able to everything off this wake as we were behind the Moomba.

From looking at the specs between my boat and a 2001, mine is about 8" narrower and about 2 feet shorter. It seems as there are many who normally ride with 1500-2000lbs of ballast regularly, so I can only attest to that as far as any reasoning for me to be able to run 1000lbs.

Thanks for the responses.

B