How to Install a Wakeboard Ballast

Adding ballast to your wakeboard boat increases the size of the wake.

When it comes to installing ballast in your wakeboard boat, more is not necessarily better. A good rule of thumb is that your ballast should be no greater than 25 percent of your boat's total weight. You need to keep the weight evenly distributed to keep the wake nice and crisp; if one side is weighted differently than the other, the wake will wash over and will be sloppy. Most ballast systems utilize a water bladder with a three-way switch to fill and empty it.

Things You'll Need

• 2 water ballast tanks
• 12-volt water pump
• 1-inch check valve
• Waterproof glue
• 1-inch plastic tubing
• 3/4-inch plastic tubing
• 3/4-inch PVC T-fitting
• Hose clamps
• Screwdriver
• 3/4-inch quarter-turn ball valve

Instructions

1. Position the two water ballast tanks in the boat. It is important to do this when they are empty because when they are filled, they will weigh several hundred pounds and can be immovable. Place one across the rear of the boat in the storage compartment and the other lengthwise down the center of the boat, preferably in the ski locker.

2. Slide 3/4-inch tubing over the inlet fittings of the ballast tanks. Secure them in place with hose clamps.

3. Connect the tubes to the arms of a 3/4-inch PVC T-fitting. Use a male-male barbed adapter that slides in the tubes and the fitting, and secure each arm with a hose clamp.

4. Install a check valve in the body of the T-fitting, using waterproof glue to hold it in place. It should point in the direction of the arms and swing open so that water flows in but cannot flow out of the tanks. There should be an arrow on the valve that indicates the flow direction.

5. Connect the T-fitting to the outlet of a small 12-volt pump. Slide a 1-inch male-male fitting in the body of the T-fitting and in the end of a small 1-inch section of plastic tubing, and hold it in place with a hose clamp.

6. Connect a piece of 3/4-inch tubing on the inlet end of the pump, securing it with a hose clamp. Install a quarter-turn ball valve on the other end of the tubing. Give the tube enough length to reach the water outside the boat.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not exceed the weight limit specified on your boat's capacity plate.

References

• Wake Pics: Building a Ballast System on a Budget
• Wake-Boarding: How to Put Ballast in Your Boat
• Wake-Boarding: Where to Put Ballast in Your Boat