can you surf with a single ballast on 2006 LSV?

[Claytorman]

Hello,

I am looking at buying a 2006 LSV. It has the 325 HP engine but only the single factory ballast. I have never surfed before and know very little about it. Will I be able to surf with only the single ballast? I am 6'2" and 200 lbs if that makes a difference.

From all the Moomba's that I have looked at, it seems odd that this boat came with the 325 HP engine, but only one ballast, and it being an LSV.

How tough and expensive is it to upgrade to a 3 ballast system? I am an advanced do-it-yourselfer, having rebuilt engines and manual transmissions. Plus, I am a pretty good plumber:)

Thanks

[bergermaister]

You can definitely surf with little to no ballast with the right board and speed but you need the boat leaning on your surf side - go with human ballast!

Based on your background and experience sounds like you could set that thing up no problem. Cutting holes in fiberglass is no biggie after your first one. The rest is basic knowledge of wiring and a little plumbing. Lots of forum articles and how-tos - although they may have ended up in the archives (see the light gray text link just left of center at the bottom of the pages).

When you say only one ballast - what exactly do you mean?

[kaneboats]

I think he means GI instead of GIII. Only a center(front) bag and no rear. I almost wish mine had been that way so I could have gone with 3 reversible pumps right off the bat.

[parrothd]

For an basic setup buy some used 750lbs(or new) or 1100lbs from wakemakers and 1-3 tsunami pumps, maybe $500ish?

The more pumps the faster you are surfing. Search the forum foe where to put the weight, but I'd think you'd want 1100 in the rear, your center ballast full and some weight in the bow(throw a 750 bag on the seats)..

If you decide to upgrade to something easier you can reuse the bags and install reversible pumps. My boat had no ballast system, I upgraded over the winter from the tsunami pumps to a reversible pump system(4 of them). The install was pretty easy and ran around $2500ish for everything, pumps, hoses, fitting, switches, etc, etc...


http://www.wakemakers.com/wakeboard-ballast-bag-pump-combos

[REDFIVE48]

For an basic setup buy some used 750lbs(or new) or 1100lbs from wakemakers and 1-3 tsunami pumps, maybe $500ish?

The more pumps the faster you are surfing. Search the forum foe where to put the weight, but I'd think you'd want 1100 in the rear, your center ballast full and some weight in the bow(throw a 750 bag on the seats)..

If you decide to upgrade to something easier you can reuse the bags and install reversible pumps. My boat had no ballast system, I upgraded over the winter from the tsunami pumps to a reversible pump system(4 of them). The install was pretty easy and ran around $2500ish for everything, pumps, hoses, fitting, switches, etc, etc...


http://www.wakemakers.com/wakeboard-ballast-bag-pump-combos

I have the exact boat, but with the Gravity III, I found it very hard to surf regular(without a rope) with stock ballast and even with 4 or 5 people in the boat on the surf side. What made a huge difference is an 1100lbs bag on the surf side. Now I can surf with just a driver in the boat. Some tips on surfing without the big ballast bag in the V drive locker:
have a big person stand on the surf side gunwale and grab the tower while they lean off the boat (like they are trying to tip it over)
play with your speed
drive in a circle to to the side you are surf on

Good luck.

[E4NASH]

I have the exact boat, but with the Gravity III, I found it very hard to surf regular(without a rope) with stock ballast and even with 4 or 5 people in the boat on the surf side. What made a huge difference is an 1100lbs bag on the surf side. Now I can surf with just a driver in the boat. Some tips on surfing without the big ballast bag in the V drive locker:
have a big person stand on the surf side gunwale and grab the tower while they lean off the boat (like they are trying to tip it over)
play with your speed
drive in a circle to to the side you are surf on

Good luck.

Driving in a circle will not help at all really. Best bet is to just weight it right, have the right speed and go straight. I've never needed to have someone hang over the side. If you are doing all that you don't have enough weight. Get the right weight in the boat before someone falls over and goes under the boat while you are riding in a circle...

[Claytorman]

Thanks for all the quick replies. I feel better about buying the boat now. The single ballast was my biggest worry. It sounds like a Wakemaker upgrade may end up being better than a factory Gravity III.

If you have more comments, keep 'em coming.

[brain_rinse]

If it had the g3 you'd just be upgrading it all anyway. Good luck with the new boat. Lots of help for you around here.

[REDFIVE48]

Driving in a circle will not help at all really. Best bet is to just weight it right, have the right speed and go straight. I've never needed to have someone hang over the side. If you are doing all that you don't have enough weight. Get the right weight in the boat before someone falls over and goes under the boat while you are riding in a circle...

My tips were for things that helped me when I didn't have the proper weight. They helped, didn't cure. Was never able to surf without a rope until I got the big bag in the V drive locker. Sorry I missed the fact you were on my boat when I was doing that stuff and noticed it actually didn't help me :eek:

[E4NASH]

My tips were for things that helped me when I didn't have the proper weight. They helped, didn't cure. Was never able to surf without a rope until I got the big bag in the V drive locker. Sorry I missed the fact you were on my boat when I was doing that stuff and noticed it actually didn't help me :eek:

Simmadonna there honey, don't get your superman undies in a bunch. I never said I was in your boat I was simply stating that driving in a circle wouldn't really help and that the best thing to do was to get the boat weighted right...but anyway cool story though bro... 👍

[moombadaze]

i would see getting the gravity one system now as a advantage, clean slate to start with. 3 reversibles, mount the switch's up higher, correct sized bags in the rear, ibs in the front and its a surfing machine.

does it have a wake plate? if not look into adding one too as this will help fine tune the wake shape

[DDNorCal]

I also have the 2006 LSV. 6'2" 190. Connect your ski locker bag to an IBS. Often times I also add a sack in between or on the surfside front seats. Add as much weight as possible to the lockers. I surf goofy and have the 1450 that runs under seats. With that, you can surf all day long without a rope.

[cornrickey]

driving in a slight turn to the surf side helped keep my wake clean when I didn't have enough weight. but now that it was said it doesn't, it probably won't work anymore ;)

[Claytorman]

You guys need to educate me on "IBS". That is a new acronym for me. Still a newbie.

I hopefully will be going to look at this boat in the next few days and take it for a test drive. Anything to pay particular attention to on a 2006 LSV? Common problems, etc. Boat has about 200 hours on it.

Someone asked, it does have a wakeplate with the dual actuators.

Do you guys trust the NADA boat values? From the research that I have done, it seems like most Moombas are selling about 10% above the NADA numbers. I guess that I shouldn't say selling, but listed 10% above NADA even by private sellers.

[brain_rinse]

Integrated Bow Sac (fat sac that goes under the seats in the bow).

Private seller or dealer? Asking price? There are couple of great 2006+ LSVs out there for sale right now (see the 2007 in the classifieds here...)

[kaneboats]

Well, no matter what you paid, when the new ones are over $50k it's hard to accept less than $35-37k for yours when it's just a couple years old.

[REDFIVE48]

You guys need to educate me on "IBS". That is a new acronym for me. Still a newbie.

I hopefully will be going to look at this boat in the next few days and take it for a test drive. Anything to pay particular attention to on a 2006 LSV? Common problems, etc. Boat has about 200 hours on it.

Someone asked, it does have a wakeplate with the dual actuators.

Do you guys trust the NADA boat values? From the research that I have done, it seems like most Moombas are selling about 10% above the NADA numbers. I guess that I shouldn't say selling, but listed 10% above NADA even by private sellers.

I have about 450 hours on mine, here are the problems I've had so far:
trailer axle failure (this one sidelined me the longest as it was stuck half way out my garage, but at least didn't happen on side of road) - several on the forum have had this happen
MAP sensor failure - presented like what most people are having issues with in vapor lock, but for me its the MAP sensor, not a big deal I just carry a spare
Ignition switch failure - pretty strange one there, but easy enough.

In all, main expenses for this boat have been gas, maintenance (which isn't hard to do yourself), and toys (boards, tubes, ropes, jackets, stereo). Seat vinyl is starting to crack a lot more this year, think there will be some work there in the near future.

Enjoy, still love mine even though I don't get to play as often as I like.

[Wax]

I just paid $28k for mine a few months ago with 180 hours. I think it was a pretty killer deal though. No problems at all yet except my perfect pass screen was extremely dim 4th of July weekend, seems to be fine now though.

I already upgraded the left rear (regular surf side) to a 1100 and right rear to a 650 (goofy side). The wake is killer with just one rear bag full and the front ski locker full (400lb like the boat you're looking at). You'll definitely want to add bags to the rear lockers, and I suggest going with 1100 at least on whichever side you usually ride. I just had a goofy rider on my boat the first time 2 days ago, and with just the 650 (and driver) on that side (front still full) it was a great surf wake (I think due to LH rotation the goofy side is easier to make a good wake on since the prop rotation slightly helps list the boat to the right). I don't have an IBS yet, but I think it would beneit me mostly for wakeboarding...I don't think it's necessary for wakesurfing (albeit beneficial I'm sure). You don't have to plumb it in to start, just buy a Tsunami pump and fill it manually. You'll get sick of that pretty quick though, plumbed ballast was my main purpose for upgrading boats.

2 things about what other people said...it should be obvious, but it's not smart to have your buddy hang off the side of the boat holding on to the tower to get the boat to list to the surf side. Granted we've all done dumb things, but if DNR or sheriff sees that it'll definitely be a ticket. Better off having them sit on the back corner with feet on platform, again that is still illegal (in MI) but is at least not quite as dumb and obviously illegal, as well as probably more beneficial for the wake.

I have seen people driving in circles toward the surf side, and I know it looks like a bigger wake sometimes, but it's not a good wake. When surfing, a straight line is best to get the proper wake shape with a deep trough and a sharp curl. When turning, it actually makes the wake angle more shallow and pretty much washes out the lip. Sure it's surf-able, I stay on wake while the driver turns the boat around when I'm riding, but it's not a good wake. I turned slightly to the left with my old Supra when I first started surfing about 7 years ago, but I didn't know any better. Once I learned to properly weight my boat, I no longer needed to and the wake became signifantly easier to surf.

[smileycvc]

I have a 2007 Mobius and I guess I have the G1 system. How much weight is that sac in the ski locker? We run 450 in the bow, the sack in the locker full and then a 650 in the rear on the surf side. With the wake plate down 1/4 (or up depending on how you look at it) we are able to surf no problem. Puts out a nice long clean wave.

[kaneboats]

The sack in the center is a 400.

[Wax]

With the wake plate down 1/4 (or up depending on how you look at it)

What do you mean depending on how you look at it? Lol it's either up or down...

I ride with my plate all the way up, which correlates to the bow riding high and stern dropping low. This makes the steepest wake, which I like. As I put the wakeplate down it mellows the lip out and makes it not as steep, but it's still as big of a wake. Pocket might get a little longer. I put the plate about halfway for beginners and even my wife, the wake is very intimidating when at it's steepest.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 4

[brain_rinse]

What do you mean depending on how you look at it? Lol it's either up or down...

Well if there were no plate at all, the boat would ride like when the plate is all the way up. So some people think of this as the "neutral" position and all measurements are "down" from this point. So down 1/4, and up 3/4 are the same thing.

[Wax]

Ohhh never thought of it that way, but makes sense

Sent from my piece of crap Galaxy SII that Sprint won't replace...

[smileycvc]

Well if there were no plate at all, the boat would ride like when the plate is all the way up. So some people think of this as the "neutral" position and all measurements are "down" from this point. So down 1/4, and up 3/4 are the same thing.

This. Compared to our old boat it's kind of opposite and we haven't gotten used to it.