Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

Hello! Been lurking here for a few months and have found a ton of help in this forum. Especially when it came time to locating my cigarette lighters! Anyway, two months ago I purchased a 2009 Axis A22, which has the Indmar 335hp engine, with just under 100 hours on it. At Utah Lake (~4300' above sea level), it will run with no ballast and 2 adults/4 kids, at 37 mph and ~4550 rpms at WOT (Indmar says it should run at 4600-5200 at WOT), using the Acme 1235 prop. At Echo Reservoir, our normal lake (~5600' above sea level), that drops to about 34 mph and 4400 rpms at WOT.

I just added the Wakemakers' piggyback ballast, and when fully loaded, I'm 1500lbs in rear sacks plus 500lbs in the hard tanks, with ~800lbs in the bow sack plus 400lbs in the center hard tank (roughly 3200 lbs). Without the wedge, and with the Acme 1235, I struggle to break 10.5 mph.

I purchased the Acme 2315 at Acme's and Wakemakers' suggestion, and found no change whatsoever. Still struggling to break the 10.5 mph mark, and 3000 rpms fully loaded.

Any thoughts? Do I have too much weight at my elevation? Do I need more weight up front? Do I need a different prop? Any solution other than a bigger engine? The hole shot with the 2315 is better and it holds speed a little better, but in terms of rpms and mph at any speed, and especially when surfing, there is no advantage whatsoever to the 2315.

Any help is much appreciated, so thanks in advance!

Do you mean 2315 and not "2135"? Just my opinion, a couple others may agree, but at your elevation and your med-heavy ballast you need more horsepower. Your next choice of prop is the Acme 2419 or one of their 22xx model props.

Yikes--yes, the 2315 (fixed it in the post--thanks). Any problems with those props and clearance? Would love more horsepower, but that's just not happening as long as I want to stay married. Thanks for your help!

That's a lot of elevation, need more power, I doubt a prop will get you there.

You're in my neighborhood, so I'll see if I can help.

# 1 Don't surf at Utah Lake. It's too shallow. It's 8 feet deep at the most and a lot of it is 4 feet deep. We used to go there a lot but not since buying a surfboat. Better to wear a wetsuit at the reservoirs. You need 15-20 feet of depth before the dampening effect on the wave goes away.

# 2 You're at high altitude baby. All the stats people give here all the time don't apply to you. Big engines, big props, and you still will end up having trouble getting to surf speed with big weights.

# 3 Bow weight works wonders. The usual problem when you can't get up to surf speed is the rear:front weight ratio is too high. Sit a couple of people in the bow and it'll probably fix the issue.

# 4 The 2315 is definitely a step up from the 1235 in surfing performance. I'm surprised you don't notice a difference. You're going from 14.25" to 12". I own both props. Big difference. The fact that this isn't fixing your issue indicates to me that you are either overloaded or have too much in the rear compared to what's in the front. You almost can't put enough weight in the front of these axis boats. I've got all the hard tanks full on my T23, only 900s in the back, 650 in the front, 300 lbs of weights in the front and I still have to put a couple of people in the bow to really stay at 11.8 at altitude. And I've got the 409.

So try shifting weight forward, and if that doesn't work, dump weight. You're maxing out the capabilities of that engine at this altitude. Go to Scofield Reservoir (7800 feet) and it'll be even worse. I can't even use the wedge there.

P.S. Go to Lake Powell. At "only" 3600 feet it will feel like a whole new boat.

Thanks @SomeYeahoo!

We definitely don't surf at Utah Lake--too shallow and I have to spend too much time cleaning the boat afterward It's our early season spot when the water temp is 70 and everywhere else is in the 50s, but otherwise we keep the boat at Echo. That said, I have yet to find a place where it gets to 8' deep--most I've found is 6'!

Good to know the altitude and weight info--I put in a little less weight at the rear this weekend and had better luck with the 2315, but still need more weight up frond! Will give it a shot. Acme and Wakemakers suggested the Acme 2937, so I'll give that a shot as well. Not sure if it will make a difference, but worth a try I guess. I can't imagine how things would (wouldn't?) go at Scofield! Headed down to Powell in a couple of weeks--can't wait.

Thanks again, and see you around!

I concur with previous the previous input. More bow weight will help a lot but it will always be a little bit of a challenge with the smaller engine at those altitudes. Try putting a 750lb sack in the bow and maybe a few hundred pounds on the aisleway seat. Good luck!

Glad I found this thread. I currently have a 03' VLX with the Acme 2079. We mostly ride East Canyon and Jordanelle. My boat is pretty much maxed out at 3000lbs ballast, no wedge, 3 people in the boat. I've been checking out A22s for my next boat and have been bouncing back and forth on engine options. So many of the 335s out there and not many of the raptors or ls3s. Sounds like it is worth waiting till the right size engine pops up. Any opinions on the 2015+ with the new gearing?

@Someyeahoo - What are you findings with wakeboard speed / weight configurations? Do you have issues with the 409 at all?

Thanks!

We ride at Jordanelle or Rockport in my 2015 A22 with the 350 & 1235 prop. With 3000 in ballast and usually about 5-6 adults, the engine is working hard to get us up to 11mph but it gets there and will hold. That being said, it's at a high rpm.

I haven't had a lot of issues with wakeboarding just because I'm not good enough to need a massive wake. It won't get on plane (409, 2315 or 1235, 6000+ feet) with all the ballast full and wedge down though. I think it does with full ballast (900 + 900 + 900 + 650) and a small crew though.

I think if I had it all to do over again, I'd get the 450. But who knows, then I'd just put more weight in and complain about it all the same.