Anyone built ballast

Just want to know if anyone has made welded there own ballast tanks to fit where the bags are think it would be nice to have hard tanks verse bags any pros cons and picture would be appreciated thanks

Our first inboard had a custom stainless tank that replaced the rear seat.... we did put the seat on top of this tank then so we didn't lose seating.

It was basically just a big rectangle that fit under the gunnels. One large pump filled it from the bottom and there was a vent on the top. 1 main baffle ran down the middle to keep things from sloshing too hard. It held ~1000 lbs.... WAY better than trying to deal with bags in a direct drive. Welding in hard tanks to a V-drive seems foolish though since that area is out of the way.

Unfortunately this is the only photo I have that kinda shows it (the metal under then seat) -

I built some out of ply. The have held up pretty well, 8 years old now I think. I'll see if I can find the archive post

Hard tanks - need to be able to fit down through the locker opening after completion
soft sacs, even larger ones, fit right in when empty
Hard tanks - take up the same space full or empty. Soft sacs lay flat and can even be pulled out
Hard tanks - need more ballast, weld new tank that will likely not fit through locker door when done. Soft sac - sell old sac. buy larger sac that still fits easy.

Yeah, here we go. 2004!

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...ight=tank+V210

I would never go back to sacks after having tanks. The V210 doesn't need a huge amount of weight in the rear tho

Originally Posted by chpthril

Hard tanks - need to be able to fit down through the locker opening after completion
soft sacs, even larger ones, fit right in when empty
Hard tanks - take up the same space full or empty. Soft sacs lay flat and can even be pulled out
Hard tanks - need more ballast, weld new tank that will likely not fit through locker door when done. Soft sac - sell old sac. buy larger sac that still fits easy.

^^^This^^^ We always removed the hard tanks and replaced them with bags.

I wouldn't do hard tanks unless it was an older boat that I was making a seat out of it. Like above.

I actually just removed my 250lb hard tanks from my boat a few weeks ago and I'm plumbing in 1100lb bags. I'm a bit torn on the idea of hard tanks vs bags but I wanted the extra weight from the bags.

I have never welded tanks but I have bought poly tanks and plumbed them on many boats. Super easy and the right way to do it of sure

i like getting storage space back when we drain. jackets, another ballast bag or two and a ton of "stuff" will fit in there with when bags are empty.

If you do have a V-drive I wouldn't recommend for maintenance access too. If you're out on the lake if you have to dig in there you would have to drain, disconnect, and remove the tanks to access just about anything.