Weighting an X45

I am new to the mastercraft community, as we sold our Malibu this winter and recently purchased an X45 salt water series. We ordered it a few weeks ago and it is currently in the process of being built. With that being said I'm eager to get the boat and start using it as summer is approaching. We ordered the boat with the plug and play ballast and I'm looking to order the bags that way we have them when the boat arrives.

My question is what is the best ballast options for the boat. If someone with experience could help me choose the right bags that would be great. I know the plug and play comes with three connections two in the back and one in the front. I was curious as what everyone else was using and how they have there plug and play set up. When we test drove the boat the guys told us to put two 750's in the rear and one in the middle walk way. I would prefer that the ballast be hidden so I was thinking about the two separate bags in the front but they said that we don't want to put two much weight in the front of the nose because of the hull design. So with all that I kind of need some help Thanks for the help in advance.

David

Shouldn't the plug an play hav e2 connections for the front? One on under each side bow cushion? If not that is pretty lame. I don't have any experience weighting an x45 but a friend use to have one that we surfed. That boat needs lots of ballast to get a really good surf wake. If you are planning on surfing I would get atleast 750's or whatever the biggest bags you can for the rear and whatever the biggest bags there are for the front. I would think you could get 350's or so under those front seats. I would think these 2 options would be your best.

http://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-m...-bow-sacs.html

Not sure this will fill up all the way but may come somewhat close.
http://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-m...rough-sac.html

With 750's or so in the rear you have the start a good surf wake and a good start for boarding you would fill the front and maybe try the rears about half full. Play with the trim tab. Then decide if you need more weight in front or rear? I would probably keep an extra 500# sack or maybe 2 to use if you want to get more weight in the front for boarding and more weight to side for surfing.

Now if you don't surf and don't plan to I would probably just go with 350-450 sacks in the rear so you can just fill everything completely full.

I am not sure about the new hull deign but I am pretty sure MC's like a lot of weight in the front. I have a 2009 X2 with the fly high kit and always run at least an extra 300# in the front.

Lots and lots of weight. Depending on how skilled of a rider you are you could do 450's in the back storage lockers and then put as much weight as you can in the front. For the best wake you will want a 750 in the walkway, but if hidden ballast is a priority then just put as much as you can in bags under the front coushins.

Originally Posted by polarbill

Shouldn't the plug an play hav e2 connections for the front? One on under each side bow cushion?

There's only one connection because there's only one KGB pump. It takes a little creativity with your plumbing but it's very possible to get two smaller bags under the front seats. We took the fill/drain hose and put it into a T under the bow cushion and then each of the legs off the T went into a bag under the seat. To give it the tunability that two pumps would have allowed, there's a shut-off valve on each leg of the T should we only want to fill the port or starboard.

Now for my unsolicited opinion: A solution that requires exposed bags is no solution at all. I'd skip plug and play if I were building a new MC and install a custom system...

David, i run 500lbs of steel in the nose of the boat at all times. At most, I fill twin 400's in the back lockers on top of the factory ballast with the trim tab 3/4 of the way down. If you were to run more weight than this you will have to run over 25 mph for a clean wake, depending if you have a fair number of people in the boat. I do not have a plug and play ballast, so I would not be able to help you on suggestions there. What engine do you have in your boat?

Thanks guys for the feedback. We're still trying to figure the system out. I'm thinking about ordering the wakemakers kit and seeing how that works. I'm going to run the two sacs under the seats and the two 500's in the rear. Does any one have pics of their wake

Brett- we ordered the illmor 6.2 that way we wouldn't have uo worry about being underpowered. The first boat our family owned was a underpowered chaparral that we didn't keep longer than one summer because it couldn't pull my father out the water. Therefore after that any boat that we purchase we get the biggest engine that way we don't have that problem.. Any pics of your wake?

I will look to see if I have any wake pics, if i do i'll try and post em tonight.

Here's how I weight my x45. 550's in each rear locker, ~300 in each bow locker, and ~350 on the bow floor. This setup works great at my riding speed/length of 80' at 26.4mph. Sometimes we ride without the 350 on the bow floor but the wake is very steep and although throws you very high, its tough to do tricks out into the flats. Check out the mastercraft team talk forum and you'll see some pictures of my wake at this setup and others.

PS - the xstar kit bow bags are the best for the bow, but I use 450s in the front, not filled all the way.

Best i could find. #1 TS wake, rider maybe 5'11",#2 HS wake, rider 6,1'',#3 wake width and i think # 4 is a double up

Oops just realized i labaled the pics Ts and Hs, sorry thats from a regular footed riders perspective, i guess i should have said port and starboard. the first pic is a goofy footed rider

Here's some more pics of X-45 wake...

That wake looks really wide which isn't a surprise I guess with how big the boat is. It kind of looks like it has a very short(front to back) area that is clean with a little lip before it curls. Looks like you have your speed and length dialed though so you are hitting it at the perfect spot. Looks nice where you are hitting it as well.