2009 216V ballast recommendation for surfing

[DrMitch]

Hi all,
Picked up a '09 216V TE last week and finally got it out for a bit - LOVE the layout, drive and quality! Terrific wake for wakeboarding, haven't tried skiing yet We tried some surfing, first with just factory ballast and a wake gate - was okay, but my son son had a hard time letting go of the rope as the wake was not very tall. Borrowed my friends fat sacs - placed about 550 in each rear (the size of the bags wasn't a perfect fit) and about 300 in belly) - MUCH taller wake, just not very long - but definitely can surf and do 360's etc.
So, my question, has anyone used the piggy back system sold online - how did the belly bag fit in the ski locker area? Was it difficult to set up? I'm probably 8/10 in the mechanically inclined abilities. Thanks for any links / recommendations - the site I was looking at was Wake Makers btw - just under $1000 for two 750's and a 500 belly...

[cedarcreek216]

We had the same boat a few years ago and the walkthrough, while awesome to have, makes it difficult to set up with a plumbed system. You just can get that large of a bag in the starboard rear locker. I would recommend yanking the tanks and putting large bags in the rear lockers and do the piggyback in the bow and get a wake shaper of some sort.


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[DrMitch]

We had the same boat a few years ago and the walkthrough, while awesome to have, makes it difficult to set up with a plumbed system. You just can get that large of a bag in the starboard rear locker. I would recommend yanking the tanks and putting large bags in the rear lockers and do the piggyback in the bow and get a wake shaper of some sort.


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Thanks fo rthe advice - for the bow piggy back - would you do the V bag under seat? Or arrow head in ski locker? (I can do one or the other - not both)

[cedarcreek216]

Thanks fo rthe advice - for the bow piggy back - would you do the V bag under seat? Or arrow head in ski locker? (I can do one or the other - not both)

I would do the arrow head in the ski locker, only because we used the storage under the seats up there more than we used the ski locker since it seems to stay dryer. The challenge with the rear lockers with the walk through is we were pushing getting much more than 400 pounds in the port side. I apologize, I referenced the starboard as the challenge in my first port, but of course it's the port side with the walk through. If you remove the tanks you could easily put 750's or 1100's in there and still have room to store jackets. The plus about this is you would not have to piggyback either, you could use all existing plumbing. The challenge is getting the tanks out of course. We loved our 216V as well, it's a great all around boat.

[bradscheide]

For the bow, what size ballast bag would you get for under the seats? 300?425?500?. Does anyone have any installation pictures of the piggyback system installation? Thanks

[cedarcreek216]

We did not have under seat sacs so I apologize, I cannot help here. We just threw two 150 pound fat sac bricks up there. The 300 pounds seemed to be enough so I would think you are good with any of the sacs listed in your post. Of course the more the better, but I don't think a 500 is filling up all the way under the seats.