MONSTER WAVES: Moomba Max Wake boat with a Swell suck gate ... better or worse?

My buddy has a Moomba Max and he's been struggling to get a big wave. He asked if we could take it out and figure out how to make it bigger to give them more push deeper in the wave. We grabbed some wake makers ballast bags and a Swell surf gate to see if we could make the Moomba Max better. After a couple of days of testing, we had a really strong wave. Make sure to subscribe to BTUFF if you like wake surfing or lake content. we do board reviews and boat reviews. You'll notice the video has an orange tint to it. That's from the fires around Sequoia National Park. It was bad.

[@SupremeSurfers]

This video is nicely done. Very interesting, that wave with the surf system was was too small. I know the moombas need a ton of extra weight. Tell your buddy to check out wake 9, he knows how to set these boats up. In my opinion you need to get that pitch up. I’m a huge Supreme guy, I just got a new S220. The wave is huge and amazing right out of the box. No need for extra weight, the surf system and center plate make the wave super adjustable. I just fill everything 100% no offsetting. But like I said, go watch wake 9, I’m positive you can get the wave bigger then that. But it was very cool to see how much that suction cup helped.

[@btuff]

Thanks. I know some people will laugh at the idea but the gate systems work very well with not much adjustment.

[@jay19dbfl]

Hey man I hear you got the new s220. I’m trying to decide on that vs a Moomba mojo. Do you have any videos of the wave? Not much info out there on this new line of boats.

[@briandhoward6137]

We had a 2018 supra SL, stock ballast, 1500 in lead. Wave had weak push, soft face. Suck gate bam tons of push, hard face. Funny I tell people this all the time and they think I am foolish. But like you just proved gate it better then the tabs 100% . Solid video.

[@btuff]

I agree. When I see people put tabs on on their boats I think these people are going to spend a lot of money for a bad wave.

[@ShadyOne9]

Lmao the little girl killed it!!❤

[@jondean1144]

Thanks for the vid!

[@joshh205]

I’m in the market for a surf boat and was looking at the moomba max but I was turned off by the stock wave. I know you can add tons of weight to the boat to get it huge but IMO spending $80-$100k on a surf boat it should have a decent wave right out of the box. So I’m leaning more towards Axis right now.

[@SupremeSurfers]

I encourage you strongly to check out the Supreme S220. It’s an amazing boat, with awesome features. The stock wave is pro level, fill the 4,400 lbs of ballast and you got a 200k wave in a 100k boat. I have it, by far better than the other boats I’ve ridden. Axis is nice too, but this boat burns way less gas, makes a more adjustable wave, better ride, better vinyl, better tower, better wave, go check it out!

[@RecreationCertified]

Check out the Axis T220 video on my channel of the wake. That was shot with bone stock ballast, no people on board, with no added PNP. With the PNP installed its massive. Absolutely massive. No playing with weight just click surf left or right and go. Under $100k if you build it without clicking every option. spend a little more and you can get into the axis T250

[@blakeeckel5056]

I agree with the SupremeSurfers account, obviously they are biased, but they are the affordable version of a Centurion which has the best surf wave in the game. I own an MB, and if you're willing to spend an additional 15k, that would be the way to go, surf wave is almost comparable to a centurion ri245

[@riotis54]

I agree totally with JH. I went with an older mb tomcat and I’m very happy for half the price. Great videos keep them coming!

[@mario3804]

Wow amazing never seen a video about a boat very interesting.

[@haknslash]

The Max doesn’t wake up until 5k lbs of ballast or more. That’s what it took for mine and other guys. I run a light crew of just my wife and daughter on the boat so I need the extra weight to sink the big girl down. I’ve thought about suck gates but don’t care for the way the boat handles with it. Your buddy needs to ditch the stock rear bags and upgrade them to Wakemakers bags and larger Wakemakers midship bags if he wants to get the most out of it and using the surf system. I run around 5300 to 5500 lbs on mine and it’s great. Your suck gate wave looked nice too and as you said doesn’t matter how you get a good wave as long as you have one to have fun on. That’s all that matters.

[@btuff]

One thing about excessive weight is it eats up more gas. Immediately the gate was better so if you can get a good wave with less weight, it might save you $$ . I’d like you to put a gate on the side with all that weight and see if it’s even better.

[@haknslash]

@@btuff I wouldn’t really say that it’s excessive weight IMO. The Max comes stock these days with 4,000 lbs of ballast and is rated for 17 people capacity in addition to the ballast. So I’m only like ~1500 lbs over stock ballast which is equivalent to a couple of good sized buddies and gear in the boat. My RPM’s with that weight it around 3800 so it’s not screaming or anything but is working some. I run the OJ 945 prop which seems to be good for my altitude or lack there of since I’m near sea level. I wouldn’t mind trying a gate but I can’t see myself buying one because I really didn’t care for how an Axis handled that I demoed which of course has surf gate. I don’t see how adding all the force on the side of the boat is any more efficient than the extra ballast I run. I mean it could be but who knows lol and likely splitting hairs I’d imagine but someone should science that and see ;). We don’t surf all day or anything so saving the gas it likely moot for us since we only surf an hour or so a day and the Raptor seems to do pretty good on fuel for the amount of total displacement I’m running (over ~11k lbs). The only other thing I have with the gates is my wife is goofy and I’m regular so switching sides isn’t as easy and if you wanted to surf backside on the fly it’s not possible like you can with the surf system. Take care and I always enjoy your vids.

[@btuff]

@@haknslash If you try it, make sure the system is off. A gate skews the boats into the water. The plates lift one side up to get the other side down. Malibu owns the right to the gates, they were first to put a surf system on. That's why other companies can't use a gate.

[@joshh205]

I can’t wait to test drive and surf behind both to help me make a decision but I can honestly say if I can’t surf it stock then it ain’t for me. I can’t justify spending that much money in a surf boat that doesn’t surf stock. I had a chance to surf behind a 2019 Heyday (can’t remember what model) but it had stock ballast and suck gate, no surf system, and I could surf it on a short skim board doing 360’s with no problem staying in the wave boat cost $71K brand new out the door. I personally wouldn’t go that route I’m going to stick with a more reputable brand but point his boat surf very good stock.

[@haknslash]

@@joshh205 The thing is any boat can make a wave with a surf gate. Keep that in mind. They also don’t drive well with a surf gate or wedge so also keep that in mind. If you’re demoing boats to buy then I hate to be the bearer of bad news but all of the “budget” boats will likely need more than stock ballast (this goes for factory optional pnp ballast too) to make a big wave. Sure you could surf them stock waves but why when it can be so much better? The budget boats typically weight 1,000-1,500 lbs less than the premium brand boats. That’s a significant amount and makes a big difference In wave power. That heyday you rode on wouldn’t make a wave without a surf wedge since it doesn’t have any surf system at all. I would just say to go into this knowing that unless you have a big crew with you all the time on the boat then you need to expect to have to upgrade to larger ballast bags to make a wave. There is no replacement for displacement.

[@hiddenclips2607]

too bad theres no way to "cut" down waves in front of the boat (OR SHIPS) especially in oceanic traversal.

[@austinmclaen4007]

I can’t believe you wear life jackets.

[@btuff]

Big fine not wearing one. It’s not like surfing in ocean because you’re dealing with co2.

[@twistingiron7285]

Oddly watching this as I am uploading a overview of the H3X slim plus I bought after watching your H3X review. I liked what you covered there so went for it. I think I will add that video as an end screen to what I'm about to publish. Great video here as usual.

[@stevetaylor2043]

What would happen if you put 3 Suk gates and more weight on one side? Would that create greater displacement and greater drag? Bigger wave perhaps? An asymmetric boat that lists in one direction may do the same thing

[@GearsAndTech]

If you try it again I would suggest to ditch the front ballast all together. Get all the weight you can in the back. List it slightly to surf side like you did. Use the surf system, but put your suck gate on the side of the boat in line with the tow point on the tower as low as possible. If the wave is not long enough then speed up the boat until you get the length you want. Only time you ever run bow weight is when the boat cant maintain speed. Otherwise, ALL the weight behind the tow point and as far back as you can get it. You will get the tallest, meatiest wave ever and gain a little more length when you jump to 11.5 - 11.7 on that boat. I made a video showing all those settings on my Centurion. You're right about the new boats through. they have more weight but they NEED more weight to move the water. Thats why your Malibu makes a good wave with less weight.

[@TheJimmysGarage]

These newer hulls love bow weight, really makes the wave longer.

[@ataft85]

No idea how they went nearly 2k in the front. Should have tried with 0 and moved up from there if the plates or speed couldn’t lengthen it enough first.

[@edadams4446]

Where would you put the second gate? Does it help more than adding additional weight?

[@btuff]

Look at my video: "Monster Waves 2020 with surf hack.

[@curtisbenzie6021]

What’s the best wave gate and did u already make a video I have a Mastercraft prostar 205

[@btuff]

probably the Swell, just because it's the smallest of the gates. Original, non adjusting if you can find it.

[@curtisbenzie6021]

@@btuff Hey what shop do you go to in Bakersfield to get Engine work done besides Gillies

[@jacobsolomon2478]

how much does all that extra weight cost

[@btuff]

you can check out wake makers. They have a lot of different options. For a piggy back system, I'd say 1500

[@craigmolson1407]

Max is a different breed too big of a boat for me I like the older looking boats.. but the best setting for these boats is around 9 pitch and +1 roll for regular -1-2 roll goofy.. but your right these things take so much weight in them to get them to that point.. buddy of mine has a new mojo and we set it up with all stock ballast 1000lbs of lead and the wave is insane.

[@craigmolson1407]

Cool to see adding yaw helped that much.. dude could modify his tabs to add more yaw

[@craigmolson1407]

Pitch and roll setting I stated are for the mojos and supras not sure about the max like I said it’s a different animal

[@craigmolson1407]

I’d just buy a older Malibu

[@craigmolson1407]

I want to try my suck gate on my buddies mojo now.. his boat isn’t like other tan boats iv rode in you can’t feel the tabs “work” most boats when deploying the tabs you can feel the boat like twist up his you can’t at all.. I wonder what alittle more yaw would do to it… Billy is the man btw 👍