How long to break in before you can surf?

I recently purchased a new 2017 Helix. My sales guy went over the necessary break in period with me and how it was important to slowly break in the motor. He said something about not filling the ballast and putting a lot of strain on the motor. I've read the owners manual and haven't been able to locate anything that tells when it's safe to use ballast and start surfing. Sorry for the newb question but this is my first inboard, I'm still learning the ins and outs,and I want to make sure I do the right thing for the motor long term.

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Originally Posted by LAwake

I recently purchased a new 2017 Helix. My sales guy went over the necessary break in period with me and how it was important to slowly break in the motor. He said something about not filling the ballast and putting a lot of strain on the motor. I've read the owners manual and haven't been able to locate anything that tells when it's safe to use ballast and start surfing. Sorry for the newb question but this is my first inboard, I'm still learning the ins and outs,and I want to make sure I do the right thing for the motor long term.

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I read 10hrs in the Indmar manual but wasn’t sure if that was a bit overkill I would love to know what everyone else has done and results?


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My dealer said 6 hours to break in before putting the motor to work, but others here may know better

I did 20 and the service at 20 before I surfed, as it’s the hardest on the engine due to the large amount of ballast etc.


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My dealer pulled a wakeboard comp with mine as a demo before it was sold to me. Can’t imagine they were gentle on it.

A good friend is a Tige dealer and he runs new ones out of the box with surf weight.

Who knows what the actual best practice is?


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I've been waffling on this, and it's about to get real since my boat delivers next week! I've always subscribed to the"break 'em in the way you plan to use 'em" philosophy, but NO manufacturer is going to put that in their manual. I've done both of my F150's that way and and no problems with a combined mileage of 100k hard towing miles! Modern engines are magical things! I talked to my buddy at a moomba dealer and he said, "I tell my customers 6-10 hours, but we don't usually get that long with the boats, so completely ignore that when we get a new boat out."

Manual says 10 hours of break in and there are certain rpm limitations as well. For example don’t exceed 2000 rpm for the first two hours, 3,000 rpm for the next 2 hours, then like 4,000 for the remaining break in period. You are also supposed to vary engine speed while drive so you don’t just run the same rpm the whole time


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My 1st surf boat was a 2016 Mojo, when I boat it there was 3 hours on it. The dealer took us out for a demo on it and loaded the ballast to show what the wave looked like. Fast forward to the day I went in to sign the paperwork...on the final demo they told me to bring my surf wave so they can show me and my wife how to set everything up. We were out for 2 hours on that final demo we both surfed and stayed out on the lake and surfed the rest of the day...never looked back.

I say fill that puppy up and surf the s--t out of it.

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Originally Posted by rdlangston13

Manual says 10 hours of break in and there are certain rpm limitations as well. For example don’t exceed 2000 rpm for the first two hours, 3,000 rpm for the next 2 hours, then like 4,000 for the remaining break in period. You are also supposed to vary engine speed while drive so you don’t just run the same rpm the whole time


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4 to 5 hours like David is saying gets past all the rpm requirements. I have done this strategy several times and no problems. And normally your boat will have an hour on it already for dealer prep at full ballast which most likely broke rpm rules!


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Don't forget, these are great wakeboard boats!!

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Originally Posted by KnoxMojo

Don't forget, these are great wakeboard boats!!

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Glad you said it! Lol


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Thanks to everyone for the great input. I just wanted to get some feedback from some of you that have experience. The boat actually had close to 8 hours on it when I took delivery since it was a 2017. We put a little over an hour on it demoing it and I'm sure it had been prepped by the dealer when they first received it as well as being demoed by others before I found it. I've kept the RPMs below 4000 for the last 5 hours of use, with no ballast being used, and no wakeboarding/surfing so I'm around 12-13 hours. I read back through the Moomba owners manual and the Inmar motor manual and they state what a few others have already said, follow the break in up to the 10 hour mark. I've got my 1100s bags due in next week so I'm planning to get them in and hopefully be up and running soon.

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Originally Posted by LAwake

Thanks to everyone for the great input. I just wanted to get some feedback from some of you that have experience. The boat actually had close to 8 hours on it when I took delivery since it was a 2017. We put a little over an hour on it demoing it and I'm sure it had been prepped by the dealer when they first received it as well as being demoed by others before I found it. I've kept the RPMs below 4000 for the last 5 hours of use, with no ballast being used, and no wakeboarding/surfing so I'm around 12-13 hours. I read back through the Moomba owners manual and the Inmar motor manual and they state what a few others have already said, follow the break in up to the 10 hour mark. I've got my 1100s bags due in next week so I'm planning to get them in and hopefully be up and running soon.

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Originally Posted by stazi

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This post literally made me LOL.;-)

If I had a brand new boat, I'd give it at least 8 to 10 minutes... Ya know, just to be sure that the ballast was filled completely.

When I bought my 2016 Craz, we tested a different boat that was already ready for the water. The one I bought was a different color and had never been in the water. We filled ballast on very first trip to lake about 5 minutes after putting it in water and never looked back. Now has over 120 hrs. on it and, “knock on wood”, no problems at all. I’m not saying “breaking in” is not a good idea, but I’ve never had a car dealer tell me to “break in” a new car. When you test drive you usually “see what she has”. I don’t know if it’s right, but my salesman told me to “drive it like I stole it“!!


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Originally Posted by trayson

if i had a brand new boat, i'd give it at least 8 to 10 minutes... Ya know, just to be sure that the ballast was filled completely.

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LOL! I’m hearing this from a lot of people.

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Originally Posted by hawgtitan

When I bought my 2016 Craz, we tested a different boat that was already ready for the water. The one I bought was a different color and had never been in the water. We filled ballast on very first trip to lake about 5 minutes after putting it in water and never looked back. Now has over 120 hrs. on it and, “knock on wood”, no problems at all. I’m not saying “breaking in” is not a good idea, but I’ve never had a car dealer tell me to “break in” a new car. When you test drive you usually “see what she has”. I don’t know if it’s right, but my salesman told me to “drive it like I stole it“!!


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That’s good to know.

I’ve had a few new boats. Never done a break in period, never had an issue.

Some of us live in the northern part of the country we don’t have time for silly 10 hour break in periods LOL. Summer would be over!

But seriously I’ve never really done a formal break in on anything that’s new.. Good or bad.


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Originally Posted by dakota4ce

Some of us live in the northern part of the country we don’t have time for silly 10 hour break in periods LOL. Summer would be over!

But seriously I’ve never really done a formal break in on anything that’s new.. Good or bad.


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I can imagine. You really don't have a lot of time to be wasting when you're up north. Our water temp right now is 69 and I thought I was going to freeze when I got in a few days ago but I didn't dare complain on here because I'm seeing pictures and videos of people surfing in dry suits and wet suits!! We are spoiled here on the Gulf Coast. We can pretty much be in the water from mid-April until October so I keep it in perspective.

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Originally Posted by LAwake

I can imagine. You really don't have a lot of time to be wasting when you're up north. Our water temp right now is 69 and I thought I was going to freeze when I got in a few days ago but I didn't dare complain on here because I'm seeing pictures and videos of people surfing in dry suits and wet suits!! We are spoiled here on the Gulf Coast. We can pretty much be in the water from mid-April until October so I keep it in perspective.

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That’s about the same season we run but with heavy warmth aids in play! This year we got hosed with late late ice.


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