Ballast Shift Idea

[bandit628]

I mainly wakeboard. I'm pretty good at setting up the ballast for what I want to do. But it still takes time. When I'm riding sometimes the boat is slightly off sides, so you have to have people shift some. Not a big deal but annoying.

I know Nauty on the newer models has the 50lb ballast increase, but even with a ballast king this would take 30 seconds (at rest, not for sure about underway ).

My idea is to have a 100lb lead weight on a rail in the bilge. To where it can slide one way all the way to the port side wall, or the other. On an electronic rail, points could be programmed into the touchscreen. You could move ballast in just a few seconds. Plus since you are shifting weight from one side to the other it's an affect of adding 200lbs to one side.

I'm not making this, just an idea I think would be nice. I'm picky, when I'm riding I want the wake perfect. This would do that quickly, so you aren't behind the boat wasting energy waiting for the wake to clean up.

I know you can do the same thing manually with lead bags. But again that's a pain and sometimes when it's busy you can't.

[thejean]

I think this is a great idea!

[GMLIII]

I mainly wakeboard. I'm pretty good at setting up the ballast for what I want to do. But it still takes time. When I'm riding sometimes the boat is slightly off sides, so you have to have people shift some. Not a big deal but annoying.

I know Nauty on the newer models has the 50lb ballast increase, but even with a ballast king this would take 30 seconds (at rest, not for sure about underway ).

My idea is to have a 100lb lead weight on a rail in the bilge. To where it can slide one way all the way to the port side wall, or the other. On an electronic rail, points could be programmed into the touchscreen. You could move ballast in just a few seconds. Plus since you are shifting weight from one side to the other it's an affect of adding 200lbs to one side.

I'm not making this, just an idea I think would be nice. I'm picky, when I'm riding I want the wake perfect. This would do that quickly, so you aren't behind the boat wasting energy waiting for the wake to clean up.

I know you can do the same thing manually with lead bags. But again that's a pain and sometimes when it's busy you can't.

Not a bad idea. I have the ballast shift option on my 2017 but never use it. Just have steel shot bags and stock ballast

[jtryon]

i've thought of the same thing before...couple hundred pounds of lead on an enclosed rail with some sort of electric actuators to move it. great idea if someone can think of a way to implement it!

[SoCal G-Man]

Great idea. I imagine that has been tested, or it may be on the engineering to-do list for R&D on future models.

[Skidave]

This would be rather easy to do using an Arduino as the controller. They have touch screen interfaces and lots of displays. Sensors and power supply is all low voltage stuff; perfect for a 12-14 volt system.

I'm not sure about actuators Vs a threaded shaft as the carrier for the weight. Using a servo motor to turn a shaft would be one electro-mechanical device. You could set points for end to end for the weight (touch screen/button shift all the way port or starboard), have an infinite amount of set points in between or total user manual control to adjust as needed. Or all of the above.

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[Kenv]

You guys are really on to something. It is very doable. This is what I see when I read these comments.....LOL imagine if each ball was tennis ball sized and weighed 10 pounds!!!

[bandit628]

I'm just spit baling here, please don't take offense just thinking out loud. How would you control each ball? I think 1 big weight might be easier. If lead is used 100lb solid bar is not that big.

...i really like the idea about the screw drvice. Have an encoder on the motor so it can be programmed linear inches per rev. Like you said user could control it. Maybe a knob by the throttle to move it back and forth, instead of in the touch screen.


....before posting the original I also thought of the following but I think it would take too long. Have 2 ballast tanks that are long and skinny on the very port and starboard walls of boat. Then have a transfer pump between the 2. Fill them up half full with antifreeze at factory and seal them. Then you can shift weight all way port or starboard with a pump. But even a ballast king would take around 30 seconds, so I didn't like this idea. I want the weight shifted fast. Having the tanks all the way out gives you the most lever arm to lean the boat the desired way. I thought AF and seal it, so the levels are never messed with and it doesn't need winterized.

[xrichard]

Weight on a rail might work for a factory solution, but I like your last idea as a retrofit for pre-2016 boats: put a FlyHigh Fat Brick in each rear compartment, connect the two via a hose with a Ballast King in between, fill one with antifreeze (or just water if you're in an area that doesn't pose freezing risk) and use it to shift weight from side to side. If the Ballast King is hooked to a variable timer, you could easily have it run for 30 seconds at a time. It could take the place of the lead I keep in the rear compartments.

[Kenv]

My circles were more of a joke as to what i visualized....BUT....when you think about it....something like i posted would let you customize either side. If you had one big weight moving on a screw type rod....it would be all or nothing with that extra weight on one side of the boat. With the sliding tennis ball weights....you could do 50/50 20/80 etc.to one side or the other. Slide 1000 pounds to Port Matey!!!! Hey....let's name it the Weighty Matey. Mount this way back behind the engine....or better....up in front of the engine They would have a rubber/plastic center of each weight that would "grip" them to the bar so they wouldn't move. It would be manual....but really not that hard to slide a few 10 pound weights left or right about 5 or 6 feet left/right along the bar. Seriously....this could be EASILY hidden right behind the seat back right in front of the vdrive compartment...that way it would be easier to slide the balls than reaching way back to the back of the boat. They could probably make a 500, 750, and 1000 pound versions. Remember me when I'm famous....LOL. Note...of course would be in addition to the normal G Series factory ballast.

[SoCal G-Man]

uspto.gov Patent it, then license it to the boat manufacturers. They do it all the time!

[preston]

This idea has already been thought of. It's actually already got a U.S. Patent.

www.wakemgmt.com

[jondavis08]

Ha, countless time me and my buddies have came up with these great ideas for boating to find out that the patent is already out there. Wish some of these companies would put these ideas in motion but truth is they simply get the patent with no intent in putting the idea into production. Just waiting for someone to buy the idea from them...


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