weighting a 226 for surfing

[J]

How do you weight your 226 for surfing?
Just took out our 226 for its first surf session and we couldn't get alot going on. We filled the middle tank about 1/2 full, rear tank on one side full, and had two passengers on the rear corner as well.
Do I need more weight??

We have surfed for years on my Tige 21V, so we can surf, but just lookin for a little weight placement tips for the 226.

[clubmyke]

i run a 1750 lbs in my 211 for a great surf wake.... i would expect at least 750 lbs to 1200 lbs more for the 226... btw, lose the belly tank and experiment the hydrogate on (mine is at 2 1/4).

here is my 211 is weighed as followed for goofy setup:

8 pop products bags (8 along the side and 1 centered) in the rear locker
3 pop product bags on drivers side
4 pop product bags in side of bow placed far back as possible
1 pop product bag alongside cooler on floor
factory ballast rear
300 lb flyhigh fat sac in rear locker
300 lb flyhigh fatsac in bow (side)
150 lb flyhigh brick next to cooler (optional..will use with 3 peeps)

[JoeCos]

Unfortunately your stock ballast is not enough. I also have a 226 and I use the stock ballast PLUS Fat Sacs. I have pop bags but have not tried them yet. If you add Fat Sacs to your stock ballast, it will be a big improvement. If you add pop bags Plus fat sacs Plus stock ballast, then you will be very happy.

Follow Club Myke's weight distribution formula above and you will have a tsunami.

Post pics of your 226!

[J]

Thanks for the input bros....I'll get pics after this weekend....I threw a 400lb sac deep in the starboard V drive compartment and about 200lbs lead behind driver.... along with starboard factory ballast in the rear, (nothing in the belly) with about three dudes sitting on the back platform...it was now surfable. Quite a nice wave, but I think I'll experiment somemore this weekend. I want to plumb in a/some hard tanks this winter, and I only got another 1-1.5 months left in my season. (wich means about 4-6 boat sessions).
I haven't added any weight up front, I never used the belly ballast either, thiink I should??
I want everything plumbed in on switches cause I moore my boat in the water pretty much all season.

You guys surf the port side at all?? If so....do you just throw a sac in the walkway????

Can a person remove the factory ballast tanks in the rear and add larger ones?.....I'm thinking if I made them out of aluminum, I could possible still use the same fittings/gauges/sending unit etc that the factory had put in.

[frozone]

looking for more guidance on weighting the 226 for surfing

I'm resurrecting this old thread on surfing the 226. I spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon trying to dial in the surf wave on my '06 226 TE.

I've been reading the surf threads but I guess I'm kind of hoping for something more paint by the numbers. I don't really want to do the pop option because I don't want the permanent weight in my boat.a

I've seen a 226 surfed with belly and starboard full, an extra 400 lbs in the starboard locker and 2 Fat Bricks (300lbs total) in the bow walkway. This produced a nice, clean, long wave, with relatively few people on board. On the same boat, I surfed port by just moving the Fat Bricks to the stern walk through emptying the starboard and filling the port ballast. I was able to surf ropeless no problem but would definitely want a better wave.

So now, a week later, I own a 2006 226 TE. On Saturday I took out my son and nephew. After a long wakeboarding session, we got to work on the wave. Surfing port side I filled the belly and the port ballast tanks, added a 400 lb sac to the stern walkway and two fat bricks to the bow walk through. This wave wasn't very impressive, rideable but short and not very steep.

We messed around moving the fat bricks around, emptied the belly tank, messed with speeds from 10-14 mph. We settled on 13 for the cleanest wave but still not a great wave, 13 seems fast based on other's experiences but any slower and it feels slow and the wave is just bubbles, not clean at all.

Finally, I threw a 750 lb sac on top of the 400, didn't fill it all the way but probably 3/4 full. This seemed to improve things a bit, but still nothing like I saw on the other 226 I was on a week ago.

Any suggestions? Am I fighting a losing battle on the port side? Do I need to learn to ride goofy (my family is half and half, 3 goofy, 3 regular stance) I would think there's a way to dial this in, but I didn't find it during about 2.5 hours of solid effort with quite a bit of extra weight to throw around.

[lefuller]

RE: looking for more guidance on weighting the 226 for surfi

Frozone, We purchased a 2006 226 this year as well and were a little perplexed with how to get the wake just right. Here is what we ended up with, I don't know that it is the best wake ever, but it is pretty clean. I think with adding some weight to the bow walk through, it might lengthen the wake some, but we have not tried that.

We ski on the port side.
Fill up the belly and port stock ballast tanks.
Throw a 750lb fat sac in the transom walk through and fill it up almost completely.
Add a 150lb brick in front of the fat sac sitting on the battery cover. Anyone in the boat sits on port side. Hope this helps... Enjoy

[lefuller]

RE: looking for more guidance on weighting the 226 for surfi

Forgot to tell you. We pull at about 9.5 - 10.0 mph and the wake does not wash out. It changes very quickly from all washed out to perfect. The water condition is very important as well, the 226 seems to be very touchy with a little rough water, the smoother the water the better....

[Red57Bird]

Also keep in mind that water depth is critical. I just finished up replacing the hard tanks in my 03 SAN with 750 pounders in both rear lockers and it is a real wave machine. When we are in the deep parts of the cove (15 ft. or more) and out in the main lake with plenty of water depth, the wake is huge. However, when we get in shallow water (less than 10 feet), the wake goes to crap.

[tac7l539]

Here is setup for our 2007 SV211

I have an 2007 SV211 and have found that all of the above can be true, but the one statement that really says it all is what is suitable and great.
Here is the wave we got by using the following setup, mind you this is only in 6.7 ft of water which is Utah lake at its finest, when we get over 9 ft of water the wave lengthens out tremendously.This is a big and Thick wave that will launch you if desired and thats where the suitable part comes in, if you have surfed allot then a mushy wave is not that fun to surf, but if your new its what you probably want.

Some of the more important variables are the wake plate and any wight on the opposite side of surfer
500 in port walk through locker,
450 on top of port walk through locker
375 in the ski locker
500 on the floor stretching from front of engine compartment forward on the side of surfer
150 on bow seats on the side of surfer
stock port ballast full
9.5 MPH
slight left turn while driving
no one but driver in boat
PLEASE READ THIS IF NOTHING ELSE:
This is more weight than one should have on an sv211 and if you don't klnow how to drive and hit some wakes you could swamp or sink your boat. I am simply posting results from testing and do not suggest this as a good setup for a fun day on the lake trying surfing.


Surf Pics 155.jpg

[BPSKI]

RE: Here is setup for our 2007 SV211

Port on a 226 is MUCH more difficult that starboard for a good wake. Also, water depth makes a big difference. Our lake has some spots that go from 60 ft to 8ft and right back to 60 and you can tell exactly when you hit 8ft without looking at the depthfinder as the wake just disappears into washy junk. One thing we noticed with the port side is it can take a little bit to set up. It will look like garbage for about 50 yds or more and then a nice clean wake will come from nowhere. Also, the 226 Likes alot of weight.

[chodeidaho]

update?

Frozone - I just bought a 226 and took it out for a surf run for the first time last weekend and ran into the same issues. I was port side surfing with the stock ballasts and couldn't get it going. From reading this thread I'm definately going to be making some fat sac purchases soon. We are port side people. What did you end up doing and how's your wake?

I'm resurrecting this old thread on surfing the 226. I spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon trying to dial in the surf wave on my '06 226 TE.

I've been reading the surf threads but I guess I'm kind of hoping for something more paint by the numbers. I don't really want to do the pop option because I don't want the permanent weight in my boat.a

I've seen a 226 surfed with belly and starboard full, an extra 400 lbs in the starboard locker and 2 Fat Bricks (300lbs total) in the bow walkway. This produced a nice, clean, long wave, with relatively few people on board. On the same boat, I surfed port by just moving the Fat Bricks to the stern walk through emptying the starboard and filling the port ballast. I was able to surf ropeless no problem but would definitely want a better wave.

So now, a week later, I own a 2006 226 TE. On Saturday I took out my son and nephew. After a long wakeboarding session, we got to work on the wave. Surfing port side I filled the belly and the port ballast tanks, added a 400 lb sac to the stern walkway and two fat bricks to the bow walk through. This wave wasn't very impressive, rideable but short and not very steep.

We messed around moving the fat bricks around, emptied the belly tank, messed with speeds from 10-14 mph. We settled on 13 for the cleanest wave but still not a great wave, 13 seems fast based on other's experiences but any slower and it feels slow and the wave is just bubbles, not clean at all.

Finally, I threw a 750 lb sac on top of the 400, didn't fill it all the way but probably 3/4 full. This seemed to improve things a bit, but still nothing like I saw on the other 226 I was on a week ago.

Any suggestions? Am I fighting a losing battle on the port side? Do I need to learn to ride goofy (my family is half and half, 3 goofy, 3 regular stance) I would think there's a way to dial this in, but I didn't find it during about 2.5 hours of solid effort with quite a bit of extra weight to throw around.

[chodeidaho]

update?

Frozone - I just bought a 226 and took it out for a surf run for the first time last weekend and ran into the same issues. I was port side surfing with the stock ballasts and couldn't get it going. From reading this thread I'm definately going to be making some fat sac purchases soon. We are port side people. What did you end up doing and how's your wake?

Anyone else have any comments?

[TxHr]

Resurrecting this old thread once again. My Wife surfs goofy and the stock ballast, starboard w/ belly just isn't cutting it. The 226 is a right hand prop and I am looking for suggestions on what sacs/setups others have used to get a good surf wake from the 226.


Thanks in advance,

Brandon

[HS]

Brandon

From boat to boat, there are a number of set ups that folks believe present the magic formula, but it is all based on two simple principles.

To get the wave to stand up and provide more "push" put at least 750 on the back corner (in the locker workes best) where the rider is. Piggy backed onto your stock tank is a great way to go.
To lengthen the sweet spot, you'll need about the same amount of weight forward, between the belly and an additional sac.

You can experiment with people to figure out if what I am suggesting works!

[TxHr]

Brandon

From boat to boat, there are a number of set ups that folks believe present the magic formula, but it is all based on two simple principles.

To get the wave to stand up and provide more "push" put at least 750 on the back corner (in the locker workes best) where the rider is. Piggy backed onto your stock tank is a great way to go.
To lengthen the sweet spot, you'll need about the same amount of weight forward, between the belly and an additional sac.

You can experiment with people to figure out if what I am suggesting works!

HS,

Thank you for the info. Do you recommend installing the 750lb integrated bow sac under the seats in the bow?


Thanks again,

Brandon