Ballasts in compartment under swim platform?

[VONCE]

Last night I took out the tray under the clean-out plug access cover. I am going to be running some wire for a new transom stereo remote and a new depth finder. I also plan on replacing the scupper and running some additional wire for a future LED project. I was peeking around under there with my flashlight and starting thinking about installing ballasts back there. There are some bolts sticking out for the table mount and the ski hooks, but I think they could be covered with some heavy foam mat or something to prevent rupturing the bags. Has anyone mounted ballast in that compartment? I'd love it - out of sight, out of the way. It would take up absolutely none of my storage space. The shape of the compartment is a little strange, but would the ballast bags conform to the walls or shape of whatever you place them in? Should ballasts be placed that far back in the boat? Perhaps they wouldn't get completely full, but I don't really care about that. How durable are the bags? Could they withstand being pressed against bare fiberglass? Maybe I could get some heavy tarps or moving blankets (but those would hold moisture) to line the fiberglass walls.

 

[VONCE]

Here are some pictures of the compartment.

 

[swatski]

It is tempting! I envy you for all that space back there, in the new boats that compartment is totally cramped. I have looked into this a bit in my 190 and, yes, it would be ideal from the placement perspective (in addition to placing ballast up front -- ski locker), but IMO it would have to be done as a co-production, or planned REALLY well. I would be more worried about damage to parts of exhaust and drains than the bags, not sure I would place bags over any intakes or other fixtures, those bags can exert huge pressure.
Incidentally, @dan144k has a neat method of protecting bags from bolt puncture:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/2016-240-ballast-setup-question-valves.12541/page-4
"Best picture I could find with boat in storage 6 hrs away. I think the wood is 3/4" thick. Just caulk it to the carpet over the bolt threads and it will protect the bags"
"
The way I got around all the grinding and cutting bolts; is I took some say 1" by 2" lumber, like fur strips. If I was covering 1 hole, I made the piece about 2" long drilled a hole where the bolt would be, and then caulked it over the screw, tape the wood on over night and you are puncture proof.

If it had 2 holes, I drilled 2 holes in a longer piece of wood. Also I used a grinder and rounded the edges on the wood.

Protects the bags from puncture, but the caulk and wood could be pulled off the carpet, if you ever needed access to screw."

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[VONCE]

Cool! Thanks for sharing that with me. If I could get the bags to stay on the rearmost "shelf" they wouldn't interfere with the exhaust or drain hoses. It seems like I would need to build some sort of wall or barricade or strap to hold them up there, though. To the drawing board! Once again, I totally foresee the ballasts not getting completely filled. But I don't really care, the ballasts are there to add some weight. Which they will do - completely filled or not. Maybe I just won't get the maximum weight I paid for.

 

[RightStuff]

To me that space looks like a great spot for lead/steel ballast bags instead of liquid ballast. Just another option...

 

[swatski]

To me that space looks like a great spot for lead/steel ballast bags instead of liquid ballast. Just another option...

I agree.
But then you need to be willing to take those in and out..., I guess.

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[VONCE]

There is absolutely no way I'd be willing to take those in/out. And I don't think you'd want the weight in there all the time, would you?

 

[RightStuff]

Depends on how much weight you would be looking to add back in there. I wouldn't have a problem with keeping 200+ lbs down in there, would be like having one additional person on board, not that big of a deal...

Now if you were getting into the 400-600 lb. range then yeah maybe not ideal, so like I said just another option to consider.