Hey Tim, since your upgraded bags have so much more weight, I agree with you that I don't think you're going to need as much lead, or any lead, at least midship. Because the bags are subfloor, the additional water/ballast can only be pushed forward towards the midship area of the boat. So you may need some lead up front to balance everything out, otherwise, the wake might get washy from so much midship/stern. Also, when other brands went to the all subfloor system (so rear lockers were now not loaded with ballast but had storage space), it seemed that having 1-2 lead bags in each locker towards the rear corners really helped with wake size and shape. I found not having ballast in those rear lockers actually made the wake worse. Look forward to your follow-up and see what you find out with your upgrade.
Hey WM - Don’t bleed too much on the GatorStep 😂😂. You reminded me of one big reason why I love my Centurion Ri245 so much - tons of ballast (literally)!! Good luck with the rest of the project!
Congrats on a job well done! :) I did our 21' G last year and can confirm that Blake made it look way easier than ours turned out to be! Port side went fairly smoothly but the starboard side was rough. One of the "finger tight" plastic nuts would hardly budge. No tools or ratchets in my shop would fit on the nut to provide enough leverage. Finally a buddy of mine McGyver'd a solution by cutting up one of my plastic shop-vac tubes and layering the inside with tape in a hex pattern. Once he found the right length of tube that would fit at that weird angle, upside down, he was able to grasp and put enough torque on the makeshift tool to break the nut free. I was starting to think it was gonna be impossible. But now the wave is so plush and the larger bags give us much more options to choose from.
Thank you Jeff! I feel for you, there were definitely points wher I thought it wasn't going to happen. I feel lucky about the nuts based on your story.
Hey Tim, I think that what you’re doing is certainly a smart idea! So much lead weight on the trailer definitely puts a lot of pressure on the trailer, and also just the fiber glass that it’s resting on the whole time!😅 I hope it all works out great, and you don’t need any steel shot! Blake also makes everything look so easy haha! We don’t work on our boat for these exact reasons.. everything is hard to get to haha!! 😂 Enjoyed watching the video, hopefully you can get out to the lake soon!
I’ve had the system for 2 years on 21 G23. The Swell system works as promised and makes the difference with a light crew. Enjoy the upgrade.
Awesome, great to hear! Thx
Hey Tim, since your upgraded bags have so much more weight, I agree with you that I don't think you're going to need as much lead, or any lead, at least midship. Because the bags are subfloor, the additional water/ballast can only be pushed forward towards the midship area of the boat. So you may need some lead up front to balance everything out, otherwise, the wake might get washy from so much midship/stern. Also, when other brands went to the all subfloor system (so rear lockers were now not loaded with ballast but had storage space), it seemed that having 1-2 lead bags in each locker towards the rear corners really helped with wake size and shape. I found not having ballast in those rear lockers actually made the wake worse. Look forward to your follow-up and see what you find out with your upgrade.
Good info, thank you Ryan. I will put it to work.
Hope i make it down to get behind this massive wake and wave again.
Hell yea, me too!
I want to do something similar to my 18 mastercraft x46.. I couldnt find anything on swells site. Any ideas?
Try wakemakers, they have a ton of factory ballast upgrade options.
I watch all your videos, what a pleasure it is to see your happy family)
I enjoy your hobby)
Thank you! I appreciate your kind words and support.
Hey WM - Don’t bleed too much on the GatorStep 😂😂.
You reminded me of one big reason why I love my Centurion Ri245 so much - tons of ballast (literally)!! Good luck with the rest of the project!
Haha, thanks Joe! I made sure not to get any blood or tears on anything important.
Congrats on a job well done! :) I did our 21' G last year and can confirm that Blake made it look way easier than ours turned out to be!
Port side went fairly smoothly but the starboard side was rough. One of the "finger tight" plastic nuts would hardly budge. No tools or ratchets in my shop would fit on the nut to provide enough leverage. Finally a buddy of mine McGyver'd a solution by cutting up one of my plastic shop-vac tubes and layering the inside with tape in a hex pattern. Once he found the right length of tube that would fit at that weird angle, upside down, he was able to grasp and put enough torque on the makeshift tool to break the nut free. I was starting to think it was gonna be impossible.
But now the wave is so plush and the larger bags give us much more options to choose from.
Thank you Jeff! I feel for you, there were definitely points wher I thought it wasn't going to happen. I feel lucky about the nuts based on your story.
Hey Tim, I think that what you’re doing is certainly a smart idea! So much lead weight on the trailer definitely puts a lot of pressure on the trailer, and also just the fiber glass that it’s resting on the whole time!😅 I hope it all works out great, and you don’t need any steel shot!
Blake also makes everything look so easy haha! We don’t work on our boat for these exact reasons.. everything is hard to get to haha!! 😂
Enjoyed watching the video, hopefully you can get out to the lake soon!
For sure, should help. Blake does make it look easy. Thank you for checking in!