Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

Idle back to rider on falls but that's about it. Engine off during rider changes.

not much, I only idle back to pick up the rider, and idle back to the dock (a few hundred feet at most). I always shut the motor off when changing riders or when picking up/dropping off at the dock.

Last week we had another ride day. I put 8.0 hours on and used 35 gallons, thats 4.35 gph. The only differences this time was I surfed a few people fully weighted, pulled a lot more first timers and beginners, and had 9-10 people in my boat at all times… I think this is why my fuel consumption went up a little bit. And I pulled a couple semi-pros after it was over with full ballast.

Yesterday me and 2 friends took one set each fully weighted, guessing 30 minutes each, did not calculate. Pulled the boat out and dumped a 5 gallon can of gas in, then my buddy tried to put in his 5 gallon can and after 1 gallon the tank began to overflow. So we used 6 gallons for 3 sets… I am very happy...

Differences in economy other than ballast could include wedge and "fuelgate". With both deployed I can hear and feel the difference in engine load.

Sure that's understandable, but the alternative to those things is more weight which will also result in higher fuel consumption

LOL at "fuelgate". Yeah surfing, whether it is with surf gate or listed only, absolutely kills the fuel economy.

It would be interesting to find out how much rear ballast weight at 23 mph is equivalent to wedged displacement at 23 mph. I always found it curious when malibu claimed 1200 lbs or so with the wedge, but it was a fixed wedge and they did not specify at what speed. I would assume that due to the angle of the wedge, when you are going faster and the boats bow is lower, the angle of the wedge is also less, creating less downward force BUT at higher speeds the wedge should create more downward force… so was the 1200 lbs a close average as far as downward force from speeds 18-24?? I know the floating wedge "adjusts" to keep a most desirable angle, so does that mean the angle is always the same in relation to the surface of the water as the boats attitude changes with speed increase? if so, then the downward force will increase as the speed does. Maybe this was the improvement that is seen at all speeds with the floating wedge. Just food for thought.