Ballast system

[fyrfytr08]

I have a 2011 outback direct drive and Im wanting to add a ballast system to it. I was wondering if anyone knew of a good system that would not take all my storage

[MLA]

Lead weighs a lot and doesnt consume much storage, but I dont recommend it for a ballast system. Water weighs 8.35 Lbs p/gallon and takes up about .133 cu/ft of space. So, how much space is taken up, will be determined by the size and shape of the ballast sacs you choose, not an actual "system". The size and shape of the sacs will be driven by how much weight your boat needs to achieve the desired wake, and the placement of that weight.

Start by figuring how much ballast you need and where it needs to be, then you can determine if standard or custom sacs are whats needed. Then decide of you are going to manually fill the sacs with a toss of over the side pump kit or plumb in an automated system.

If you are ready to tackle a plumbed-in system, you will need to decide whether reversible impeller pumps or live-well aerator pumps are going to be the best for your design and boat. I typically let the boat, ballast layout, ballast goals, and finally budget, steer the decision. Both pump types have pros and cons, and each system has some particulars that need to be fallowed in order for the system to work effectively.

Aerator pros: quiet, fast, inexpensive, low maintenance, low current draw.
Cons: Can air lock, need to be below the water line or directly connected to the water source, additional plumbing required.

Reversible pros: simpler ballast design, less effected by head-pressure, self-priming
Cons: Expensive, noisy, higher maintenance, high current draw

[NCSUmoomba]

In an Outback, the choice will have to be made to either give up a lot of strorage, or walk all over the sacs in lying in the floor, or some combination of both. I have been running about 1000# in mine. I have about 60% front and 40% rear running a sac in the rear locker (plumbed in), a sac under each bow seat, and a sac in the front walkway. It is kind of aggrevating since I do lose a lot of strorage, and the boat is very easy to dunk the bow. This past weekend I tried something different. I rode with no ballast, slowed down to about 21-22 mph, and ran the line all the way in (about 65'). I was fairly pleased with the results. My TS W2Ws were pretty effortless.