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WakeMAKERS Ballast Hose vs. the Other Stuff

Times are tough these days which makes saving money more important than ever. But saving money and buying an inferior product is never going to be a money saver in the end. And sometimes it’s even easy to think you’re saving money by shopping at the bigger discount stores without doing the due diligence first, and finding out you could have spent less and gotten more somewhere else. Which brings us to the topic of this post. The difference between the PVC Hose you’ll buy at Home Depot vs. the Ballast Hose that we sell here at WakeMAKERS.

We have two types of ballast hose here at WakeMAKERS; standard and premium. The standard ballast hose is just that, the industry standard. This is the hose Centurion, Malibu, Sanger, Supra, Moomba and others use from the factory on their wakeboard ballast systems. It’s heavy duty walls and thick internal reinforcing spiral minimize kinking when put into tight turns and corners and also do an amazing job of withstanding exposure to any compounds in the bilge of your boat. This hose is going to give you the performance you need without compromising that OEM look.

Our premium ballast hose goes above and beyond the industry standard hose without going above and beyond your bank account. This is the highest quality marine ballast hose we could find. The PVC hose has rigid spiral reinforcements which allow it to remain unkinked around some of the tightest corners and bends. On top of this, the premium ballast hose offers partial visibility. This is going to come in hand when you’re troubleshooting your system and want to see the flow through the hose. And if those two attributes weren’t enough, know this; this hose was made specifically for the marine environment. Meaning this is THE hose to use for your bilge. Things like salt water, gas, oil, and heat certainly won’t weaken or destroy it.

So what about the generic PVC hose you can get from Home Depot or Lowe’s or wherever. Well first and foremost you might think you're saving money, but you’re not. Last we checked, Home Depot’s price on PVC hose was $1.72 for 3/4”, and $1.92 for 1”. Compare those prices to our industry standard ballast hose, which is now on sale for $.99 for 3/4" and $1.49 for 1”. So by doing the research and reading this blog, you just saved yourself some cash, saved yourself a trip to Home Depot (now you can put that gas money in the boat), and got the best quality product available! Other than being more expensive, generic PVC hose isn’t built to handle the pressures or vacuum of marine grade ballast hoses. It will kink when bent too sharply and won’t stand up to the elements of the environment you’re putting it in. Plus, it’s not going to even come close to looking like it was factory installed. Stick with something that’s going to give you that OEM look.

Got questions? We’re always around and glad to help! Hopefully this post will help make the right decisions when it comes to which hose to use on your install. Even if you do find some generic hose on sale somewhere, the few bucks you save isn’t going to be worth the hassle of reduced flow and durability. Stick with a hose you KNOW is built specifically for your boats ballast system.

3/4" Ballast Hose

1" Ballast Hose

3/4" Premium

Ballast Hose

1" Premium

Ballast Hose

Starting at $.99 Buy Now» Starting at $1.49 Buy Now » Starting at $1.49 Buy Now » Starting at $2.49 Buy Now »

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