2015 R20 ballast upgrade questions

[Bobert]

I've been reading as much as I can on previous ballast discussions, particularly those pertaining to the RZR and R20.

I have the stock 900# ballast system which is 2 200# tanks in the bow under the seats and 2 rear 250# under the floor in the aft.

I'm looking to add upwards of 900-1100 in each corner of the rear for surfing. This weight could be overkill for my boat, but I'd rather be able to bleed off ballast weight than under buy and end up having to upgrade again. I'm not plumbed for the additional ballast since I did not get the 1600# surf system that tigé offers.

So this leads me with what I understand to be 3 options.

1 get the wake makers piggyback system which I keep seeing chpthrl commenting on post after post that he isn't a fan of piggyback systems.

2 set-up 2 new pumps and intakes on the bottom of the hull and vents on the sides.

3 get a 12v pump and swing the fill lines over the side of the boat.

I'd prefer the ease of option 1, but am open to suggestions. I am also going to grab up an on-seat bag and 12v pump for the bow to help keep it down when I don't have enough people-ballast.

2015 R20 900# stock ballast. No VX, no surf flap. Will be glassing in the bottom of the swim platform if I find it ends up being necessary. I surf goofy and so do 2 of my friends. The rest surf regular. I usually have 4-8 people out at a time. All adults ranging from 100-220#

[dilpickle]

I would suggest adding the W005 sack to the system just like the Surf or Pro system is setup. You already have the pumps, the other systems simply Y into the sac for fill & vent. There are two hoses that connect the bottom of the sac to the top of the tank allowing the sac to drain into the tank as the drain pump pumps the water out of the tank.

Someone recently put up a very good pictogram of how the system is laid out & I'm sure Mike would happily sell you the correct parts to install.

[Z3CO23]

W005 is awesome.... it will take away all of your storage when filled because the leg goes all the way up the side. The W004 is an option and it only takes up the rear lockers as the leg stops at the opening to the side locker but your giving up 200 lbs per side with the W004 vs the W005.

[chpthril]

I'd prefer the ease of option 1

A traditional piggyback schematic always seem to be problematic with aerator pumps, not to mention horribly slow to to the created head-pressure. The Tige surf and pro setup is one-off piggyback configuration and works much better then a universal one size fits piggyback kit. Mimicking the OEM plumbing would be about 10-12 minutes fill and drain time.

If fill time is important, then adding supplemental fill pumps is the way to go, but new thru-hull pickups is not necessary.

[Z3CO23]

Chp is right on. Factory plumbing in my boat fill fill w004 and hard tank in about 10. Takes longer to drain.

[Bobert]

Chp is right on. Factory plumbing in my boat fill fill w004 and hard tank in about 10. Takes longer to drain.

Thanks for the input! I messaged Mike about upgrading to the w005's. He's putting a quote together for me.

[SurfTN]

I'm going to piggy back on this thread ... My 2014 R20 has the 1,600# factory system and it's great, but a friend of mine brought a 400# Fly High 42x16x16 sack onto my boat yesterday and we just laid it on the floor (took up all but about 8 inches of floor space along the length of the main seating area) ... there were only three of us out surfing, so one driver, one spotter and one surfer, so the sack on the floor wasn't an issue, but WOW! 400 lbs on the floor was HANDY with only two guys in the boat. My situation is that it's pretty common for just my family to be on my boat ... my 120# wife and two kids (4&7 who don't even weigh a combined 100#), so I started thinking that one of those 400# sacks would be nice in that situation where dad (me) wants to surf and I've got less than 200# of people on the boat. So to my question: Is there a sack out there that I can put under the port-side bench that will add some meaningful weight (I know I sacrifice storage), or is my best option a sack on the floor when I want a little extra weight? For obvious safety reasons I'm reluctant to put a 400# sack on the seat itself with two little kids on the boat. Anybody have any input??

[chpthril]

SurfTN,

Since your boat has the 1600 surf ballast option, I would suggest swapping the 350lb OEM surf sac for the 1000lb Fly High W005. Thats a net increase of 650 lbs that will fill and drain via the factory plumbing.

[SurfTN]

Thanks chpthril! I didn't even consider the W005 because the 20' RZR/R20 isn't listed as compatible, but it says, "may work with other models..." So are you thinking it will fit the 20' models (I imagine port side would be less of an issue)? If it did fit, then that would be a great solution ... and it also leads me to a second question: is it possible to upgrade the pumps? The surf setup on the R20 is 2x600# in the stern and 2x200# in the bow (1,600# total). It takes a good 10 minutes to fill the rear 600# sacks, so adding another 400# gets me close to 20 minutes. Not the end of the world since the alternative is messing with another pump and slinging a hose over the edge, but if I could upgrade the pump and get that 930# bag full faster then I would look at that for sure. Thanks again chpthril!

[chpthril]

Not the best info over there sometimes . I dont think it fits, i know it fits and have shipped out quite a few of the W005 and W004 sacs for the RZR and R20 boats. That sac is actually such a good fit for the RZR/R20, I didnt even bother with designing our own custom for those boats.

Yes, the pump system can be upgraded. What we do is leave the factory pumps in place and add a supplementary fill pump for the new sac.