jet boat
- Thread starter the runt
- Start date
tyeegalore
Active Member
Hey Runt, don't know about the jet drive itself but I have spent a lot of time in a jet boat in all water conditions and the big concern I would have with the boat itself is the rough, rough ride when the water is not flat. You take a pounding for sure because of its flat bottom.
My good friend with a jet boat was down this summer and we went out off shore in rough water and through Barkley S in lots of 1-2 ft chop in my boat for 4 days and he couldn't believe how nice the ride is in comparison.
He loves the jet boat for river running and hunting but does take it 2 weeks a yr to Hyder and Prince Rupert to the chuck and has had no problems that he knows due to the jet drive being in salt.
My good friend with a jet boat was down this summer and we went out off shore in rough water and through Barkley S in lots of 1-2 ft chop in my boat for 4 days and he couldn't believe how nice the ride is in comparison.
He loves the jet boat for river running and hunting but does take it 2 weeks a yr to Hyder and Prince Rupert to the chuck and has had no problems that he knows due to the jet drive being in salt.
S
SIR
Guest
We had a guest bring a brand new 22' jet boat to the Resort this summer. It was just over 400hp and sitting in it at idle was like sitting is a dodge viper. The whole boat had a nice little vibration going on and as as the engine compartment was not insullated the burble of the engines was AWESOME.
The captains chair was suspended on full hydraulics, your feet were up on foot pegs and the steering was done via the right hand using a deck mounted three foot long lever just like a swamp boat. Left hand managed throttle/gears and right hand steered by pulling/pushing the arm.
The boat was WAY fast, ultra manuverable and drew less than 2 feet of water. You could spin the boat 360 degrees in place in the water. It was the funnest boat I took for a spin all summer but docking took a little getting used to as the boat slides all over the place and there was not a tonne of control in reverse.
I'd have to say that I'd never consider running one here in the winter time as without a deep V hull the ride and handling in the winter would be very scary, but in the summer time....... WAY COOL BOAT
Local dive company used a jet boat for a while but had lot's of problems with weed in the impellers. We have a lot more floating crud in the water during the summer on the inside Strait than you are every going to see in a lake/river or on the outside of the island.
The captains chair was suspended on full hydraulics, your feet were up on foot pegs and the steering was done via the right hand using a deck mounted three foot long lever just like a swamp boat. Left hand managed throttle/gears and right hand steered by pulling/pushing the arm.
The boat was WAY fast, ultra manuverable and drew less than 2 feet of water. You could spin the boat 360 degrees in place in the water. It was the funnest boat I took for a spin all summer but docking took a little getting used to as the boat slides all over the place and there was not a tonne of control in reverse.
I'd have to say that I'd never consider running one here in the winter time as without a deep V hull the ride and handling in the winter would be very scary, but in the summer time....... WAY COOL BOAT
Local dive company used a jet boat for a while but had lot's of problems with weed in the impellers. We have a lot more floating crud in the water during the summer on the inside Strait than you are every going to see in a lake/river or on the outside of the island.
tyeegalore
Active Member
We have run several rivers like the Liard,Turnagain and Kechika Rivers in less than a foot of water in spots and no problem as long as the throttle is pinned. Sitting in camp one lunch hour while Elk hunting, one boat on the Liard missed the main flow channel and shot across about 30 ft of dry sand bar right in front of our camp and never missed a beat (plastic runners on the bottom!) and kept right on goin up river!
The 360 degree turn is done at full throttle and is called a "Victory Roll", some jets will actually dig such a big hole when doing the roll that most of the boat is under the water level of the lake or whatever your on. And lack of steering control especially at low speeds ( no or little keel) is a concern and a hassle. But like SIR says they are by far the most fun boat and are usually tougher than nails.
Hi Sir,
That was the same boat i was looking at.The boat had 3 seats abreast and the center chair had the control stick, with the throttle on the left.The name of the boats are called thunder jets. When i was in Edmonton yesterday, i also saw new thunder jets for sale but none with a stick. The salesman said they work great in the salt.But we also
know Edmonton is a long way from the bay.
That was the same boat i was looking at.The boat had 3 seats abreast and the center chair had the control stick, with the throttle on the left.The name of the boats are called thunder jets. When i was in Edmonton yesterday, i also saw new thunder jets for sale but none with a stick. The salesman said they work great in the salt.But we also
know Edmonton is a long way from the bay.
westcoast advneture
Member
I have worked on a number of jet boats through the years. The most fun part was the test runs after fixing them. It was probably more fun than I should have been having working but when you fix something you should make sure its fixed well. All joking aside the fuel consumption on jetdrives is insane. I remember putting most of a 45 gallon drum into one and burning it in no time. The boats do not have reverse. They have a deflector plate that drops down to redirect the water flow as the jet impellor only turns one way. Backing one up is possible but not fun. The actual drives are pretty tough to kill because they are above the bottom of the hull. The most common issue is dulling the impellor blades or sucking debis into the impellor. One thing is that I have found though is that these boats eat engines. The motors are running at peak horsepower all the time. Good luck in your search. The smaller boats are a blast to run. As far as running a jet in saltwater I cant't see why it would be a problem other than hull design. Every time you see a jet ski take a look at what is driving it. Hence the name "jet" ski.
S
SIR
Guest
I wish I could remember the name of the dealer he bought the boat from as their mechanic new NOTHING about wiring a boat so I would not receommend buying from them.
While our guest was out he had a problem where he couldn't get the boat to start. He ran back to the Resort on his kicker and I had a look at it. The boat had two batteries in the stern one to port and one to starboard and two up in the bow dedicated to feeding the invertor for AC power. When they wired the boat rather than using one of the stern batteries for starting and one as a house battery they just ran the wires from all the gear to the closest battery. Also, rather than running everything through a DC distribution panel, so you could diagnose and fix things quickly in an emergency, there was a mass of inline fuse holders dangling from each battery with no labels on any of the wires. Running direct is okay for things like your downriggers but his bilge pumps, lights and electronics were all run direct as well.
So what he had done was plug in one of those refridgerated coolers and killed his starting battery. I couldn't believe a dealer would wire a boat that way..... Morale of the story make sure you know what your buying even if it's from a dealer!
While our guest was out he had a problem where he couldn't get the boat to start. He ran back to the Resort on his kicker and I had a look at it. The boat had two batteries in the stern one to port and one to starboard and two up in the bow dedicated to feeding the invertor for AC power. When they wired the boat rather than using one of the stern batteries for starting and one as a house battery they just ran the wires from all the gear to the closest battery. Also, rather than running everything through a DC distribution panel, so you could diagnose and fix things quickly in an emergency, there was a mass of inline fuse holders dangling from each battery with no labels on any of the wires. Running direct is okay for things like your downriggers but his bilge pumps, lights and electronics were all run direct as well.
So what he had done was plug in one of those refridgerated coolers and killed his starting battery. I couldn't believe a dealer would wire a boat that way..... Morale of the story make sure you know what your buying even if it's from a dealer!
