SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 UPS delivered a nice package today. Went will all 1" lines for everything. Started with three 1" mushroom fittings and ball valves, 3 Johnson pumps, and 6 (9) 1" thru hull "standard" fittings. A bunch of other stuff too. I went with separate vent and drain fittings. I am going to replace the current 3 ultra small fittings on the boat with the larger ones - hence ordering 9 fittings (two stock tanks vents and bilge pump thru hulls). Let the drilling begin..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Very nice... I am getting very anxious.. Still have another month or so before I can drag mine out and get to work on it.. So I am assuming you are plumbing something up front. What bag are you using? The center walkway or something under the seats? You still planning on FAE? John Fouch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 I am going with the same center walkway bag that I have now - 400lbs. I have two thoughts about the front that I am going to try. One is the bag I have now - it is twice as long as the center cushion. I am thinking about getting 200lbs of lead and getting another bag that is half the length of my current bag. This would be nice so we could get up front easier with the bag in the front full. FAE - ordered that last week. Larry said it would be about three weeks or so before it shipped. They were cool and have me the $50 off from their Facebook promotion. I am racing the coming AZ heat. Projects need to get done before that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1AHD Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Nice. Take pics of the install processes. Where are you going to install the switches? (the factory 'acc' switches?) or somewhere else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 I will take as many pics as I can. I haven't decided where I will put the switches yet. I bought there switch bezels so I could mount them next on the wall, but I may put them in the dash. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 How are you going to plumb the front bag? how will you run the hoses I mean. What did you decide to do with the extra exhaust port for the FAE? plug it? I am anxious to hear about your results on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 I am going to just run the lines up the front from the back where I mount the pumps. From what I read, the pumps will suck the bag dry, so I will leave the bag connected. I will just leave the bag in under the front starboard seat like I do now. I thought about installing a plastic box, like for a shower, and leaving the lines under there and then connecting the bag every time, but I think it will be fine just pulling the seat up an throwing the bag on the floor to fill. This will also be good (leaving front bag connected all the time) in case someone flips the wrong switch. I thought that if I removed the fittings from the bag every time I would have to loop them together, again in case someone flips the wrong switch. I am going to run the lines up the starboard side since the bag goes there and the bilge thru hull is there too. In the end, I will replace the bilge port hole, add front bag vent and drain thru hull fittings. Then do the same with the stock hard tank vents. As far as the FAE goes, after talking with Larry, I believe the extra 2" exhaust port will close shut once the FAE Venturi starts pulling the exhaust out. Worst case, Larry said I could return it. So, it's a win, win situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 oh I see.. I was thinking you were running the front bag in the walkway instead of under the seats. does that mean you always run your front ballast on the starboard side? Right now I run mine in the walkway and fill it manually. Im thinking of getting a custom bag made that fits the entire space up front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry - I do run it full in the center walkway, but I store it empty in the starboard front under the seat. I would like to find a smaller 200lb bag that I can put under the front middle cushion - removable cushion. Then put 200lbs of lead under the seats - 100lbs under port, 100lbs under starboard. It would make getting to the front easier. I have to jump over the bag now because it is so long. With a bag half as long would be great. I talked with wake makers about getting one U shaped bag for the front to fit under the seats, but they said it wouldn't work. I guess they use a tomcat from time to time and said they tried with no luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Im not sure why a U shaped sac would not work up front if it was built and plumbed right. Im thinking 2 ports at the front top of the bag (fill and vent) and a single port at the bottom of each of the legs for drain should work. Im with you, I dont want to block the walkway and have to climb over the bag all the time but I also dont really want to put lead in the boat either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 We are on the same page. If you get something to work, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smeltzer Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 i just put one of the 650LB U shaped ballast bags in my 23twb. it fits perfect up front and doesnt take up any room since its under the seats. i havent been to the lake yet(few more weeks) to see exactly how full it will go but from what ive read online you can fill it up completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Nice! lot more room up front in the TWB's to fit a bag that big. Unfortunately the Tomcats loose a bunch of space due to the pickles.. How do you have your bag plumbed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaddiction Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 i just put one of the 650LB U shaped ballast bags in my 23twb. it fits perfect up front and doesnt take up any room since its under the seats. i havent been to the lake yet(few more weeks) to see exactly how full it will go but from what ive read online you can fill it up completely. I am interested to hear how 650# in the front works for you....We have a 21 Tomcat with 250# of solid weight up front. A couple of times I have turned around to quick to pick up a rider and created a rather large "wave" over the bow... TWB's may not react that way, but I would be carefull anyway. I was suprised even how much 250#'s squats the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Trying to get the spacing worked out. Probably going wit the closer spacing. The top is about 3/4 inch spacing and the lower is the 1/2 inch spacing. May go closer in the end, but with the backing nut on the fitting I can't go too close. Glad I looked at this today. Received 1 wrong fitting in the box. Didn't realize it until I opened all of the packages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 That is not going to be very fun oversizing the existing vent holes. better take it nice and slow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 That is not going to be very fun oversizing the existing vent holes.better take it nice and slow You are correct Sir! I was looking at it pretty hard today. That might be the hardest part of the whole thing. I am not 100% sure yet, but I might get lucky and be able to get the drill bit to bite without hitting the whole after removing the existing thru hull fittings. I won't be able to tell until I remove the fittings. If I can't get a bite, then it will be extremely slow going with the whole saw. Worst part is, I think I need to keep the top part of the existing holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawndoggy Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Can you remove the existing through hulls and temporarily mount a piece of wood on the inside of the hull to give the pilot bit something to bite into for your hole saw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 It's pretty tight back there, but I might try that option if I run into problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallsDeepMB Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 you guys are hardcore! maybe next year, after my first season with this boat, I'll be a little more into this stuff. I'm sure I will if I hang with Cole at the lake any this season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySki Posted March 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Just looked at the weather report. Not sure I want to start drilling in the boat tomorrow. Need to be done by next weekend. metalfabguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidnightMax Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Can you remove the existing through hulls and temporarily mount a piece of wood on the inside of the hull to give the pilot bit something to bite into for your hole saw? This is a pretty good idea if you can get something behind that hole.. I was thinking about making a drill guide out of a piece of wood that could be used on the outside of the boat. You could hold it up against the rub rail and mark your hole location and then take it down and core a hole through it, put it back up to check it and then you would have to have someone hold it up tight in position while you core through the boat.. It could act as a guide to keep the bit from slipping all over the place while you were establishing a bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smeltzer Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Nice! lot more room up front in the TWB's to fit a bag that big. Unfortunately the Tomcats loose a bunch of space due to the pickles.. How do you have your bag plumbed? for this year im going to just use the tsunami over the side to fill it up. save up some money and hopefully next winter plumb everything in thru hull and switches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smeltzer Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 i just put one of the 650LB U shaped ballast bags in my 23twb. it fits perfect up front and doesnt take up any room since its under the seats. i havent been to the lake yet(few more weeks) to see exactly how full it will go but from what ive read online you can fill it up completely. I am interested to hear how 650# in the front works for you....We have a 21 Tomcat with 250# of solid weight up front. A couple of times I have turned around to quick to pick up a rider and created a rather large "wave" over the bow... TWB's may not react that way' date=' but I would be carefull anyway. I was suprised even how much 250#'s squats the front.[/quote'] last year i ran a 400lb bag sitting on top of the seats up front and never had a problem. so im not expecting much difference out of the 650 bag. i wouldnt think the tomcat would have that much difference in the front but maybe the pickle fork front is the reason since you lose a little bit of area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawndoggy Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 In the 23 twb I'd be real surprised if the 650 sack fills more than a 400 on the cushions. The 23 is real shallow under the seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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