Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

So we all know the bow bags simply don't have enough room under the seats to fill to capacity, so I'm thinking of ideas to get more weight up there.

I read a thread on wakeworld that tested the bag capacities and the SL650 bow bag that I have filled to just over 800lbs! I've read plenty to know I'm probably lucky to get HALF that under the seats. So I'm thinking of a way to move that bag on TOP of the seats and take advantage of that additional ~400lbs capacity I can have. This would save me from having to manually fill a separate bag I have w/ a pump over the side.

My question is 2 fold...

First, has anyone re-routed the fill/drain lines from under the seats to up in the gunnels, possibly in the area of the cupholders on each side? I was thinking about simply extending my fill/drain lines up into the area by the cupholder and having them accessible there to hook on the bag. I could just burp the air out of the bag manually since it would be sitting out in the open.

Second, if that idea won't work, has anyone Y'd off the lines or installed a completely separate pump/line setup for a bag setup on top of the seats and wired it up to a switch on the dash?

Just thinking out loud here, might tinker in the garage this winter.

Thanks!

Do you plan on keeping the bag under the seat as well? (personally I would and did as when we have a bigger group I still want to be able to add weight)

If I was going to do it I would want it on its own system... I would add a pickup and possibly a 2 way pump so you only have to hookup one line to minimize the clutter when using the bag.

You could also add the bag inline on the vent line but again you would have to have multiple lines and unplug and re plug in stuff every time you changed the setup.

I wasn't planning on having a bag under the seat as well on the FIRST idea. If anything I'd put some lead bags under the seats.

Basically this is something for when we have a light crew. My thoughts were to just be able to pull the bag out of under the seats and throw it on the seats when we only have a couple people on the boat and therefore potentially adding ~400lbs of ballast for no cost since the bag would be able to expand more.

Then if we had a good sized crew I could just put the same bag back under the seat, have more seating and make a few people sit up front effectively adding similar weight between the bag under set and a few people weight.

In the SECOND idea then yes, I'd leave the bag under the seat and add everything necessary to fill/drain it on a switch. Not sure on the cost for that but I'm sure between the bag, pump, lines, fittings and wiring it'd probably be $500-$1000, and again not something I would use EVERY time so that's where I'm having a hard time justifying the effort/expense.

I added line to the front arrow sac on my old 2010 A22. It wasn't perfect but it filled all the way up when I wanted extra bow weight. It was kind of a pain pushing it in and taking it out of the front hole. Although, FWIW it's probably easier on any of the newer boats with the horseshoe front sac.

Personally I would just add some lead with the under bow sack.

I have lead, still sorting it and figuring how I want to bag it to keep it dry but my concern with just leaving lead in the bow under the seats is issues getting it on the trailer and then a heavier tongue weight while towing.

Yea valid concerns for sure.

I use lead up there but there are concerns with that as well. Tongue weight when towing is one, but doesn't bother me... loading the boat on the trailer isn't an issue either as i just put a little bit of water in the rear sacks to load it. no biggie. The main one is that it is always there. So when just hanging out your bow sits lower than usual. This is the only thing that bothers me, but it is very rare.

If I were you, I would buy another bow sack, whichever one you want, and keep one permanently under the seats. Do not change anything to your current set up.

1. Buy a bow sack that has the LINK style fill so you can burp it easily (with the push down-spring vent)
2. Connect a fill/drain line to the lowest part of the new bag, route the hose so it snakes around the chillax front seat and down into that chillax compartment. Put a 90 degree elbow quick connect on the end of this fill/drain line.
3. Fold this up nice and neat and store it in your boat somewhere.

When you are with a light crew, or you want a bigger wake then:
1. Lift chi lax seats and disconnect your bow sack Vent line from sack.
2. Roll out your top bow sack onto seats
3. connect fill/drain hose from top bow sack onto the open vent connection on your bottom bow sack.
4. As the top bag fills burp it with the LINK style vent/fill port.

You will have to be patient as it will take about 15 minutes (just guessing) to fill the integrated bow sack and overflow that into the top bow sack. And when you drain, it will be gravity drain from top sack down into bottom sack... HOWEVER... there will be no pumps over the side, will be no lead in your boat, no rerouting hose lines, no adding or moving pumps, and it will keep the stock PNP configuration. I think it is the cheapest and cleanest way to go, as long as a 12-15 minute fill/drain time is not an issue.

This is actually something that I am going to be experimenting with this winter so I can move my lead out of my bow into the mid-ship area...

I just looked at the sumo 650 bow sac. I see the LINK fill/vent/drain and one 1" threaded connection. I cannot find any information or pictures of the sides of the sac... in order for my idea to work, you will need a drain port, on the bottom of the sack. I suppose you could just buy the sumo arrow sac and fill it as much or little as you want, it has the low drain port on it and the "stem" of that sac will end right at the opening of the chillax seat compartment, so it will work great. was just trying to save a little money and go with the 650, but I do not think it will work now.

Johhny....I like your thought process, totally makes sense how it would work, albeit slowly. My issue is I've got a T22 so therefore so chillax seat in the walk-thru or even a seat there. My access the bag below the seats is under the center bow cushion, which would be completely covered by the bag on top of the seats and no way to get the lines down to the bag under the seat.

I also don't think I would need TWO bags worth of weight in the bow, I feel like that would ride really low in the front and be overkill.

How much lead do you have up in the bow? Any lead elsewhere in the boat? The always there thing concerns me as well.

My 650 SL bow sac has 3 ports and a vent w/ the push down spring thing. 1 port on top, currently my vent and 1 port on each rear corner/side of the bag, currently my fill is one and the drain is the other. I think I can make it work how I'm thinking without my work on the boat itself, just obtaining some more ballast line and a few more connectors.

Basically I'm thinking about having THIS stuff in both sides of my bow panels, where the cupholders are, with a valve in-line to open when I have it hooked up. That way I either use an additional bag on top of the seats or just pull my current one out from under the seats. Having a 2nd bag would be the easiest I agree.

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