Looking to upgrade ballast on 2019 Max - the wakemakers kit ($999) looks like it will

[Maxman]

get the job done but are the upgraded rears and midship needed or just the one of the two? I have 550lbs of lead I will move to the bow if I do the full kit but could use elsewhere if I do the rear only or the midship only?

[haknslash]

Based off all the threads and posts I've read regarding the Max is she likes some junk in her trunk and midship and not so much as adding ballast to the bow. If you don't want to buy the rear bags you could add your lead under the stock rear bags and then plumb in midship ballast. The wakemakers kit adds about 400+ lbs to the rear of the boat and the rest is the midship. Seems the sweets pot recipe for the Max is to keep the weight mid to rear. Do you have AutoWake to monitor pitch and roll?

[Maxman]

I do not have auto wake. Went with G6 ballast and skipped the AW.

[haknslash]

Gotcha. You can use your phone to check roll and pitch on inclinometer apps. I would play around with similar settings other have and experiment from there.

[Bmac]

Maxman I think I read one of Matt’s post saying that the max potential of the Max surf wave is when you hit 5500lbs of ballast. That can be lead, water, people, or gear. I have the 2020 Max with 4,000 lbs of water ballast and I have 1200lbs of lead so that even on the light days I will hit that max potential. I took mine out on the water last week and with just the 4,000lbs of ballast and 2 people in the boat my potential was only 1/4 of 100%. I hope this info helps. Best of luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Swervy]

Hi, I'm new to the forum this month and had a few questions for the group. We are looking at a 2018 Moomba Max that's pretty loaded up. It has Autowake, g6, bunch of other goodies, and the standard 3000 lbs of ballast.

We are long time boat owners but are looking to upgrade to the inboard world as the family wants to learn to surf. The majority of the time it will just be the 4 of us (me, wife, a 10 & a 7 year old) out on the water. With that being said, will the standard ballast in the Max be enough for us newbs (wife is the only one with surf experience) to learn and have a good time?

Thanks.

[haknslash]

You'll likely want more ballast. 3k makes a decent wave but unless you're a lightweight person then you're going to need a bigger wave to surf and that comes from more displacement. That's why the 2020 Max come standard with a few hundred lbs extra ballast and can be optioned with 4K lbs. The big girl needs to sink a bit to make a nice wave so if you have a lighter crew then you'll likely want more ballast. This receipt applies to nearly every boat out there as well. Of course the heavier the boat is the less it likely needs to make a big wave. Max is 4500 lbs dry so not a really heavy boat but not quite a lightweight either.

[Swervy]

Thanks for the info!

I have a feeling the wife is going to murder me when I let her know we may have to spend an extra $2k on ballast bags. :(

[haknslash]

Thanks for the info!

I have a feeling the wife is going to murder me when I let her know we may have to spend an extra $2k on ballast bags. :(

The WM upgrade is $1G for the Max unless you were also planning on getting a bunch of lead too.

You could always go the Tsuanmi pump route and get some bags to individually fill for much cheaper but that would get old quick when the rest of the system is as simple as flipping a switch. I did that last year manually filling a single 750 lb bag and it wasn't horrible but I wouldn't want to do that every time or with additional bags so we took advantage of the discounts during Black Friday last year. I have yet to try it out.

[Swervy]

I thought they were $1K per side...that's not as bad as I thought. I do not want to mess with external pumps or bags all over the cabin, the boss lady would also hate that.

Do the mid ship lockers become unusable after bags are installed in that area?

Thanks.

[haknslash]

Yea it's $1k is for the whole kit (4 bags and 4 hoses). Kit comes with (2) 1200 rear bags and (2) 540 midship bags.

I think there is still a little bit of room left in the midship but not a whole lot. Similar to how the 2020 Max is if you opt for the 4K upgrade but they put a false floor/shelf over the bags so you can still place stuff in there. Check out z28ke's Murder Max thread for what he did using netting and he has larger 720 lb midship bags so in theory those should take up even more room than the WM 540 lb bags https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?31541-Murder-Max-Mods/page11.

I really wished I had my boat right now so I could just play around with these things and take some pics or vids.

[Swervy]

Yea it's $1k is for the whole kit (4 bags and 4 hoses). Kit comes with (2) 1200 rear bags and (2) 540 midship bags.

I think there is still a little bit of room left in the midship but not a whole lot. Similar to how the 2020 Max is if you opt for the 4K upgrade but they put a false floor/shelf over the bags so you can still place stuff in there. Check out z28ke's Murder Max thread for what he did using netting and he has larger 720 lb midship bags so in theory those should take up even more room than the WM 540 lb bags https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?31541-Murder-Max-Mods/page11.

I really wished I had my boat right now so I could just play around with these things and take some pics or vids.

Wow, great info! Thanks for that link!

So, sounds like if I purchase the 2018 Max I will have to upgrade ballast. Next question, will the standard ballast be enough for us newbs to learn with or do I have to make this upgrade right away? Any additional info is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

[z28ke]

I’d say go ahead and upgrade to save from the frustration of trying to learn with inadequate push since you are new to wake surfing.

[DNIXD99]

I didnt even use the 540s . I ended up putting the stock bags mid.

[haknslash]

I’d say go ahead and upgrade to save from the frustration of trying to learn with inadequate push since you are new to wake surfing.

Agree!


I didnt even use the 540s . I ended up putting the stock bags mid.

How do those look in the compartment once filled? I think those are 900 lb bags but some say they are 1,000 lb rears and 1,000 lb center'bow bag. I don't know about you guys but my center bag always takes longer to fill than the rears which always makes me think the center/bow bag is more like 1,200 lbs and the rears are 900 but who really knows unless you weighed them from after draining lol.

[Swervy]

Well great news, the 2018 Max I am looking at has the WM upgrade already installed! Now I just need to get the CFO/Event Coordinator (wife) to sign off on the deal!

Thanks for the great info guys!!

[DNIXD99]

Agree!



How do those look in the compartment once filled? I think those are 900 lb bags but some say they are 1,000 lb rears and 1,000 lb center'bow bag. I don't know about you guys but my center bag always takes longer to fill than the rears which always makes me think the center/bow bag is more like 1,200 lbs and the rears are 900 but who really knows unless you weighed them from after draining lol.

https://i.imgur.com/V0jgIt9.jpg

[Tt tbss]

How well does your max pull with all the weight? Mine struggles to reach 10.7 when With all my ballast filled. Have wakemakers kit and another 800 in bow for surf. I also like wakeboarding with a lot of weight and can not plane with just factory and wakemakers upgrade filled. Currently has 15x12.5 prop. Ordered a 15x10.5 per acme recommendation.

[DNIXD99]

How well does your max pull with all the weight? Mine struggles to reach 10.7 when With all my ballast filled. Have wakemakers kit and another 800 in bow for surf. I also like wakeboarding with a lot of weight and can not plane with just factory and wakemakers upgrade filled. Currently has 15x12.5 prop. Ordered a 15x10.5 per acme recommendation.

I was having the same issues, but I changed the prop to a 2419, and Its working great. I believe its a 15 X 12 https://www.wakemakers.com/moomba-wakeboard-boat-propellers

[haknslash]

I have the OJ945 and it did great when I had 15 people in the boat and no issue getting on plane. We are at sea level elevation as well.