Homemade "suckgate" success story.

[13randon 6]

A little backstory, bought a new to me 2004 escalade in May and coming from a sport bowrider I had been extemely excited to just throw some weight in the port side and surf like a madman.. A month later and many different ballast setup attempts and I was still unable to go ropeless.Until last weekend that is ?. I made a homemade suckgate off of some schematics I saw on other forums for 20$ and it worked like a charm. I tossed on the suckgate,filled the 1100 in my port locker,500 under my walkthrough and the stock center ballast and the wave literally came alive. What an exciting feeling to actually be surfing ropeless,needless to say im hooked. Ive surfed behind a buddies brand new mojo and his wave didn't compare. Now to just get the girlfriend behind the boat once in a while ?

[RhuntIII 555]

Pictures of this suckgate please.

[lifesvr 3]

I have a homemade suckgate and it's super ugly but it makes one hell of a surf

[gravity12 83]

Sweet let's see them guys.

[RhuntIII 555]

Found lots of info on suckgate, google search.

[Tommywalton1974 175]

Show the waves!

[chenige 84]

I think with the older hulls (my 2000 elite) the surfgate can really help. Put all the weight in you have (850# both sides, 700# surf seat area) and in the bow. I have a 650# bag in the bow (under seats so it probably is not filling all the way) and would like to try more weight to see if that lengthens the wake. Last year I did not have the surfgate and only filled one side. You cold only surf right behind the boat.

 

We also have a rather shallow lake. 6'- 15' in surfing areas.

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by chenige

[BigFoiz 23]

I'm getting ready to make one tonight with the HOD handle and HDPE so we'll have to see how it turns out. I'm basically doing it in an attempt to see if I can lengthen my wave out a bit. I've got a 2012 SV233 and have about 2000# ballast on the surf side but the wave is way too tall and short (length-wise) and adding bow weight just isn't quite doing the trick. I'll let ya'll know how it works out...

Edited July 14, 2016 by BigFoiz

[Tommywalton1974 175]

I'm getting ready to make one tonight with the HOD handle and HDPE so we'll have to see how it turns out. I'm basically doing it in an attempt to see if I can lengthen my wave out a bit. I've got a 2012 SV233 and have about 2000# ballast on the surf side but the wave is way too tall and short (length-wise) and adding bow weight just isn't quite doing the trick. I'll let ya'll know how it works out...

How fast are you going?

[BigFoiz 23]

How fast are you going?

We usually have to stay between 11-11.5 in order to get any good push. If I drop below 11 the wave sucks for some reason.

[Tommywalton1974 175]

Exact Same thing with my 230. 11.5-12 is awesome. Below 11.5 wake widens out and wave is at least 4' tall wall of suckfest. I've also noticed on glass the wave is epic.

 

I learned about zero bow weight when no one was up there and it was going great, all of a sudden wave lost push and I fell out.. Looked up and my gf had walked to bow. She's 135lb so I never would have though that little weight would cause that much difference

[DarksideR 1,679]

Try adding some counterweight in the back corner non surf side. 500lbs or less. Add the weight, if it's washed out, start draininit till it cleans up.

[DarksideR 1,679]

@chenige

That looks to have done an amazing job!!! Never thought I'd see a wave like that from that model boat. Well done!

[chenige 84]

@chenige

That looks to have done an amazing job!!! Never thought I'd see a wave like that from that model boat. Well done!

Thanks. surf gate really works. And I did find that the 850# on the non surf side helped.

 

Do you think adding more weight to front would give me a longer wake and would I lose the push? I have a 650" bow bag but I do not know how much I actually can get into it. Need to get some more people in the boat and try moving them around.

[DarksideR 1,679]

Typically, adding weight to the bow will lengthen the wave. And sometimes it will reduce push. Moving people around is a great idea and would be ideal in figuring out what you need. Be careful not to overdo it though. Just heard a funny story of some guys with a new Supra who put 3000lbs of lead in the surf side corner ON TOP of the stock ballast! The wave was apparently almost shoulder high! ... The transmission blew up the next day. Oops.

[chenige 84]

Yea, my old boat is working pretty hard. Cannot go much faster than surf speed. I have the prop just below the 911? That the prop guy recommended. Not in high altitude.

 

Are you guys getting up to "plane"? I have to stand up to see over bow. I need to get someone to video my boat as we are surfing.

[Cdifranco 463]

... The transmission blew up the next day. Oops.

Ummm good thing we have the "best warrantee in the industry???" Lol

[bluesman280 99]

Yea, my old boat is working pretty hard. Cannot go much faster than surf speed. I have the prop just below the 911? That the prop guy recommended. Not in high altitude.

 

Are you guys getting up to "plane"? I have to stand up to see over bow. I need to get someone to video my boat as we are surfing.

If you are having trouble getting up to surf speed and can barely see over the bow you need to try adding some weight/people to the bow or start decreasing your rear ballast a little. We kept increasing the weight in the rear and on the side seats and struggling for enough speed in our old Typhoon chasing the perfect wave. We found we were actually using too much ballast. Once we started adding bow weight and decreasing the rear weight, the bow came down, the boat quit working so hard, we gained the speed, and then found the wave. The typhoon liked way less weight and more speed than we were using. (figure the speedo was off a bit). But once we got the nose down a little, got the speed up to where it needed to be, this awesome wave showed up. The best way to find your wave is to show up with a boat load of portable ballast......aka a boat load of friends that can easily move around to help fine tune things

[BigFoiz 23]

So here's the story with my DIY suckgate. First trial was a failure because the HOD suction cup was completely worthless. I bought a similar aluminum set-up from Amazon and that sucker holds on like nobodies business!! Yesterday I filled both sides QF, PnP, and starboard Pro and then put a 350# bag up front in the center. The idea was to have a slight list on the boat, but not much. Let me tell you that this wave was the best I've ever seen it!!! This little thing works, it's crazy but it does. Plus my wife didn't complain all day about driving the boat with one side under water lol. The odd thing though, if we kept the A-plate at 100% down like normal, it created this massive amount of spray right behind the boat and the wave was all washy. Once we put the plate all the way up, the splash died down and wave got a wicked nice curl about 25 feet behind the boat. Then I took about 5 minutes to switch sides (drained Pro on one side and filled the other) and we were off to an even better regular-side surf wave. I gotta tell you, I'll never go back guys (even though I know its tantamount to blasphemy to promote not listing the boat on this site). Anyways, take it for what its worth...

[gravity12 83]

Got any pictures?