wieghting

[wakerider_23234]

does anyone have any ideas for wieghting such as sand or anything thanks

[Firefightersmurf]

THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURIES OR ILLNESSES ACQUIRED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE THESE RESULTS.

Ballast Basics 101

I set out on this to increase the wake of my current boat. I have a boat that already has a more than adequate ballast system, but just like everybody else I wanted my wake even bigger. When I started my search for the proper weighting system I had many options to choose from that have been used in the past: water, lead, concrete, etc. I weighed all the positives and negative of each type of system, and have come up with what I believe is best for me.

Water (weight per volume .036 lbs/in3 )
Positive
- Weight can be put in the boat and taken out of the boat fairly easily, thus saving gas while cruising

Negatives
- Commercially available weighting systems can be fairly expensive.
- Hardwired pumps that allow the water to be put in and taken out easily can be intimidating for the novice to tackle
- Relative low weight per volume, thus taking up a lot of valuable storage area in the boat

Lead (weight per volume .41 lbs/in3)
Positive
- Relatively cheap if you can find it
- Very dense material that takes up very small amounts of space.
- Easy to work with, to form to whatever shape you want
- Can be easily moved throughout the boat to fine tune the wake
Negative
- Fumes while smelting can be toxic if inhaled
- Can be difficult to find in appropriate quantities.
- Always in boat, increasing gas consumption

Concrete (weight per volume .087lb/in3)
Positives
- Density better that water, but not as good as lead
- Easy to form to whatever shape in needed
- Cheap
Negatives
- Poured in the hull can reduce resell value of your boat
- Always in boat, increasing gas consumption

I have chosen to use lead (and in the future fat sacks) for my application, and I will discuss what I have done to acquire my material and to form it into what I would like. There are several places you can acquire scrap lead like scrap metal yards, and used wheel weights from tire stores (avoid the large national chains, they won’t give you the lead). After you get the lead you have to make it into a manageable medium. Some option that would suit most needs would be to place the small pieces of scrap into small heavy-duty bags, or to cast ingots. I have chosen to cast ingots. I wanted ingots that were about 50 pounds, small enough to be moved easily yet large enough to be effective. Following my chart above you will need a mold about 122in3 to be about 50 pounds. While searching for an appropriate mold I found that a standard bread mold in almost perfectly 122in3. For the entire smelting process common everyday pots and pans can be used because lead melts a relatively low temperature (327C). DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT WILL BE USED FOR FOOD. Go to goodwill or the dollar store to get your smelting pot. The lead toxins can enter the pours of the pots and will be leached into any food that is cooked in these pots no matter how good you think you have cleaned them. While actually doing the smelting it is highly suggested to do this activity outside with an approved respirator, safety glasses, fire resistant gloves, and a fire extinguisher. I have used a “turkey fryer” to smelt the lead it gets hot enough quick enough to melt about 50 pounds in 10 minutes. Picking up 50 pounds of molten lead in a cast iron pan can be a little sketchy, so I found that it was easier to use a ladle to move most of the lead to the mold, then dump the rest from the pan into the mold. After the lead in formed, you have to decide how to “finish” the ingots, or if you want to finish them at all. You can spray paint them, you can coat them in a rubber coating (trade name Plasti-Dip), or you can coat them in a rhino liner type coating.

THIS IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY I WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURIES OR ILLNESSES ACQUIRED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REPRODUCE THESE RESULTS.

[t b d]

You can also go to a used sports equipment store and buy used weight. Or find an old excercise machine and strip all the weights off.