Please reach us at wakeboatselevated@gmail.com or 801-514-8982 if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Boat buying is an emotional purchase. It's best to remove emotion and decide what you want to do on the water. Example: 1- If you just want to surf, buy the biggest v-drive that fits your budget and make modifications to maximize the surf wave. 2- If you want to ski and surf, buy a smaller v-drive sometimes called a "crossover boat". 3- If you want to cruise in comfort and occasionally wakeboard, tube or ski, buy an inboard/outboard or runabout.
Check NADA boats. Don't add all the "extras". Look at base value. Selling price should be below "average retail" unless it is immaculate with low hrs.
For a small fee, I can travel and evaluate a boat and trailer for you including running a computer diagnostic report to show fault codes, ECM engine hrs and histogram which catagorizes how many hours the engine has run at different RPM ranges.
Many factors affect your boat's surf wave height, length and shape. Generally, any v-drive can make a surfable wave by loading weight in the rear trunks to the point where the boat can still reach 11-11.2 miles per hour. If the bow goes high, the max weight your motor can push will be lower and the wave will be steep but short lengthwise. Adding weight or people to the bow, adding a wake plate can provide attitude adjustment to bring the nose down.
Contact us for more free advice on getting the best wave out of your boat.
These two maintenance items are the most critical to the health of your motor. That said, the answers often depend on who you ask. General industry practice would probably be every 50 hours of use or once per year whichever comes first. Newer boats under warranty have a specific manufacturer's schedule of maintenance that should be followed. Common sense also should prevail. If your impeller is very worn or missing pieces after 50 hours, replace more often.
The quest is to produce the biggest surf wave possible with the boat you have now. Loosely defined, that would happen when the boat is loaded with ballast to the point that wide open throttle only gets to 10.8-11.5 mph. Changing a few affordable things can allow additional ballast and hence a bigger wave. Surf props have lower pitch and decrease load on the motor allowing it to push more weight in the same way that shifting your car from 3rd gear to 2nd allows you to climb a steeper hill.
This question is often followed by, "How do I select the right surf prop?"
Contact us for specific information on how to select the right surf prop for your boat.