"In floor" plumbed ballast Marauder/Sunsport?

[PNW4Life]

I've began shopping for one of these two models (leaning towards CB though) and would like to know if anyone's placed any type of ballast under the floor when they've ripped the foam out to replace bad stringer/floors...?

If you have:
How much room is under the floor?
Did you use hard tanks, bags or lead?
What kind of weight can you fit under there?

I like the deep V hull on these boats and the high freeboard they offer and for the money feel they're the best value for an "entry wake boat" that throws a wake and won't kill the bank account.

My family had an older Centurion when I was younger and we had to rebuild the whole inside of the boat so I have the experiance and knowledge to rip a floor out and put in a new one and figure with an older '80s Supra I'd rip the floor out and put a new one in just to be sure it's sound and while doing so would like to know if anyone's done this/how you did it.

I plan on laying at least 600 lbs of lead under the floor at this point and plumbing as much water in down there as possible (500-600# back, 600-800# under bow). I may be adding more lead than that since I won't be trailering it anywhere and it will sit on the boat lift when not being used. I like the option of being able to fill and empty the majority of the ballast, but if I can't get the weight I want from water, I may end up loading up more lead weight under the floor.

I know these boats can take some pretty heavy weight and throw serious wakes when pushed down. My goal is to have between 1,800-2,500 lbs of available ballast out of sight and taking up no floor space when it's all finished up. What kind of weight are you guys running with your boats for the "perfect" weight?

All ideas/opinions/advice welcome here. Thanks.

[cadunkle]

Under floor? Doubtful. Not much room there, too narrow and short between primary and secondary stringers and you have exhaust taking up space/making heat right in there too towards the rear. You could probably have some custom bags made to fit but they likely wouldn't hold much weight... You'd have to see the cavity spaces and determine if the amount it would hold is worth the time and expense. You're pretty much looking at under bow seating and under rear bench/in rear ski locker. If you relocate batteries to under port side dry hole/cubby you can regain some of the lost storage under the spotter seat.

Check out this for someone who plumbed in hidden ballast in an early Supra. It's a Saltare, but the layout is pretty much the same, just scaled up a bit.

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?p=1086434&highlight=#1086434

[PNW4Life]

Thanks for that link! That setup is pretty similar to what I had in mind.

If there really isn't much space down there between everything, lead might be the way to go then. I can get 60# bricks that are 3''x4''x20'' that I could lay across the floor to get some "built-in" weight and then sac the bow and under the rear seat/ski locker.

Knowing the dimensions of the lead I'm working with, would you say it's a stretch to imagine laying bricks down under the floor? I'm thinking it's make sense to keep it pretty even and rely on the sacs to create the wake shape I'm looking for. The lead would just be to sink the hull deeper into the water and give me a better starting point. Maybe stacking 8-12 bricks under the floor...?

I'd like to use two separate sacs under the rear seat and am still trying to figure out if it'd be easier to use one or two sacs for the bow because I'd like to have the option of filling only one side for surfing.

[Okie Boarder]

I run about 1300# all hidden that I put in during my rebuild. The under floor option didn't seem real feasible and would have only gotten me about 800-900#. Mine is real similar to what vette did in that link with 400# bags under a rebuilt rear seat and in the ski locker. I also kept the front bilge area completely open with an 18" square hatch lid and put a bag down there under the cooler. I have about 200# of hard weight in the bow storage to round it out toaround the 1300 mark.

[PNW4Life]

I run about 1300# all hidden that I put in during my rebuild. The under floor option didn't seem real feasible and would have only gotten me about 800-900#. Mine is real similar to what vette did in that link with 400# bags under a rebuilt rear seat and in the ski locker. I also kept the front bilge area completely open with an 18" square hatch lid and put a bag down there under the cooler. I have about 200# of hard weight in the bow storage to round it out toaround the 1300 mark.
What boat model do you have?
When you say you could have fit 800-900# under the floor, is that liquid or lead?
I'm planning on getting a closed bow for a few reasons that don't matter to this thread and would have to be getting a killer deal in order to opt for an open bow at this point. Regardless, fitting that big triangle bag up there wouldn't be a problem.
Do you have 2 400# sacs under the rear seat? That's sounding better and better the more I think about it.
Lead under the floors is also sounding more feasible for getting optimal weight under the floors. This boat won't be used for skiing ever, top speed won't matter and surf wakes will definitely be taking backseat to wakeboarding.