How big of a difference will a few hunded lbs of ballast make?

We have a 21.5' ebbtide I/O that I ride behind. I rode behind it for a summer and it was fun but I had a lot of trouble going wake to wake. Then I got a chance to ride behind a friends 24' chaparral and it was a huge difference. They also had a tower so I'm not sure if the difference I was experiencing was the bigger wake or a combo of that and the tower. Behind their boat I was going much bigger then I have ever before with easy.

So I guess what I'm getting at is can I get the same ride by adding some ballast bags? It's hard to justify spending so much money when I dont know how much better it will be.

580 lbs makes a pretty noticeable difference in my 23' MasterCraft. That's the equivalent of having 3-4 more adults in the boat so if you actually have 4-5 people your wake should be starting to get pretty large.

1,600 lbs+ people obviously makes an even bigger difference. I only own a pair of 280 lb Fat Buddies right now but usually when we do a boys outing somebody will bring more bags and we usually run 12-1600 lbs. If I'm going out with the wife and kids I only bring the Fat Buddies because I don't have the time or the space for a bunch of bags all over the place.

I'm in the late planning phase of a 2,500 lb automatic ballast system right now though. I'm not really going that route because I absolutely have to have more weight but because it's going to cost me $6-700 to plumb and wire the system regardless of what bags I put on there. So, I might as well spend the extra $150-200 to get the bigger bags and have more flexibility.

It will make a lot of difference. I/Os like weight in the bow, so have a fat friend or two sit up front to get an idea, but I can promise it will be worth it. Also, you can find sacs for 50 and a pump for under a bill. Not really a ton of $$ to get your wake right.

Not as much difference as proper edging. But yes, if it didn't make a difference we would not add the ballast.

ya cant edge thru a marshmellow no matter how hard you hit it...

True, but Byerly was doing just about everything imaginable behind an outboard with virtually zero wake many years ago.

Thats just because Byerly is a god on the water.... Put any other pro there.... They wouldnt be nearly as successful, as Scotty B