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Any experts on jetboats here?
What i want is something big enough for 3 guys but probably most use will be two guys and a bit of gear.
Will be used for river bashing.
What should i look for in terms of hull size and more importantly engine size? How much am i going to spend?
@scottrods @mohawk @Spanners
$10-50k
10 will get a used jetski motor wee boat..50 will get you a lot of overpriced bits in pretty colours that are better suited for some brand worshippers than actual use. Lol
3.5m ish is my suggestion for 3 up light and as a hunting setup. Any bigger and you are starting to get into real boat size.
Heaps of vids on YouTube of wee boats. Most around 3m though
yeah i was thinking 3.5-3.7m. Powerplant @Spanners? what do i need to start looking for bearing in mind being reliable is a must
I'm a BIG fan of the seadoo 4st motors. Heaps of grunt, reliable as hell.
Marinised obviously, closed loop cooling, compact, reasonably light, wiring designed to be wet etc
Basically the same engine in 130, 155, 185, 215, 255 and 260 hp. Supercharger, mapping and injector size is about it.
I have just brought another 2x 215 engines. That's makes 4 215s and a 155 available :)
Got some bits to poke 1 well over 300hp also.
In saying that, you won't find a boat with one in for under $17k I wouldn't think simply due to engine price. Skis are around $10k if you buy one to wreck down for a boat thus bumping the price up.
This topic will turn out to be a Chev v ford v nissan as no 2 people will have the same opinion.
Basically you need something to cart around 300kg of blokes. 100kg of fuel and prob 100kg of crap. And it needs to get on the plane easily and be stable. So anyone reccomending a jetski powered unit should catch a reality pill. you will need a boat with a decent freeboard with all that weight on it. If you're running rivers then a Hamilton 212 will be too pricey for you. Look for a multiple stage older hamilton 752/772/773 or colorado 3 stage
Min V6 pushing it.
If I bought another river boat I would buy another Rakaia Marine with a Legacy or WRX power plant and single stage Colorado unit.Quote:
Originally Posted by PerazziSC3
Go out and have a look at what Keith does. Great Boats for SI rivers especially the coast.
They get where other boats can't and are light enough to move yourself when in strife. Mine had a 2.2 legacy and could get up with 2 blokes 2 deer couple of packs and a dog.
I went everywhere in mine.
I still have the use of a mates one that has a smaller motor in it and it does everything we need it to do.
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PM me your email address & I'll send you a copy of an article I wrote a few years ago for the club on getting your first Jetboat.
Depends what you want to do with it & where? Fishing, playing, family boating, whitewater, adventure boating, hunting, water skiing, etc? A lot of people naively end up buying the wrong sort for what they want to use it for, I'd also strongly suggest you join Jetboating NZ & do there new boaters program & go on a few club runs, at least until you get a bit of experience.
Jet Boating New Zealand check out the forum, there's a section on project builds, etc
And lastly learn the river rules! It's not nice when some idiot who doesn't know them comes barreling at you on the wrong side or doesn't give way!
Are they the same as international boating rules IE pass port to port?Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoorlad
Noah called.. He wants his Ark back...Quote:
Originally Posted by scottrods
It's pretty ignorant to think that ski powered boats don't have their place.
There is prob a lot more ski powered boats getting built at the moment than real sized boats.
2-3 people and gear for a hunting boat is exactly what everyone is building the mid 3m boats for.
I'd like to hear why 4 stroke 130-300+ hp all day long in a 100kg package, designed from the ground up as a marinised unit with a closed loop cooling system, waterproof wiring etc is not a reality?
400kg skis, with 60 litres of fuel on board with 3 people up doing 60mph effortlessly.. All day long.. Fair cry from a dirty old Holden v6 or a cabbage cutter engine in all respects..
Scottrods , R93 , and outdoorlad (tony?) are very wise people and speak from experience spanners (that you don't seem too have alot off ).
Stay far away from the jetski rubbish if you want a decent reliable boat.
The perfect first boat is about 3.6 -4 mtr , commodore 3.8 , and a 2 stage pump . Well set up it will pack any load you can fit in it and get close too 50 mph light. Motors are cheap as hell and idiot proof too and the pump will eat jetskis hole . (im running an LS1 on a 2 stage and getting 60mph @4800 if you wana go faster later on ).
Expect too pay 12 - 15 k for a good one and get someone from your local nzjba or your local jb shop too look first.
.
Read from it what you will - I said at the start it would be Holden v ford v Nissan.
As I said, I'd like to hear why the suggested engine packages I listed aren't a reality and why they are 'rubbish'
I'm with Spanners on this.
We have a 17 foot alloy with a Nissan V8 running through a berkley unit.
The berkley cavatates?? "Bad spelling" a bit in big white water but shit she flys, 60mph.
Seats 5 but it takes 5 too push her aswell.....
My mate and neighbour has a 12 foot alloy boat with 3 seats and and 225? Sport jet in it I no which I'd rather have.
Either way you'll throw lots of $$$ at it and have lots of fun:)
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The pumps are rubbish spanners . The motors are great , but they lack the durability and life span that the bigger auto engines have.
Post of mine went missing? @PerazziSC3 have a look at Josh James Kiwibushmans new boat. Bit small for my liking at 10ft - 13 would be ideal
Attachment 32478Left putz right mintAttachment 32478
Kiwi jameses boat ???
If thats realy what you think you want , but even new they struggled too hook up and i saw the blade fly too bits on an aquatrax last year . Its normal for 6 inch pumps too eat themselves when the going gets tuff , and the harder they rev the faster they puke.
little boats are cool if you already have a propper one !!!
Yes, stay right in the channel your in, boats heading upstream give way to boats coming down stream, powered boats give way to all unpowered craftQuote:
Originally Posted by veitnamcam
Umm , no ones told him too buy a 17 with a mixed flow pumpQuote:
Originally Posted by BRADS
Chill out bro, I merely was passing on what we had:)Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
Have successfully boated most nz rivers with it:)
Was merely saying if we started again like he is I'd look at a sport jet.
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Subjectively...the pumps arnt all tarred with the he same brush.Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
Yes - there are some junk.. However 6" 10 vane stainless stators don't wear At all, and the ally bronze ones are very resilient.
Not uncommon to see 400+ hrs on the NAs with ECU data showing 50% rpm use above 5000rpm.
supercharged will do the same with the required interval maintainance.
I know of as many failures from them being used infront of Scott 612s that have fallen apart, to actual witnessed engine component failures.
I do ALOT of work with them hence a bias obviously.
It makes little sense to me to put 200, 300?kg of engine and pump into a 12-13 ft boat. As said prior by someone, all adds to draft ultimately.
Majority of car engines underperform comparatively, are heavy and less fuel efficient. Why not evolve into the 2000s a bit?
Has to be others that agree with me as there are a bunch of ski engine specifics in production and getting developed - nozzles, intakes, reverse buckets, sand traps, complete jetunits..
As much as I hate what sportjet does with their intakes and exhausts, there are a couple of companies overseas doing some cool, stuff with them in regards to the pumps.Quote:
Originally Posted by BRADS
I believe the new impellers are designed in Canada, made here and shipped back... Performance gains are really good. Pity they are backwards and can't be grafted into other stuff.
Stainless stator inserts are the dogs bollox so im told.
Its not uncommon for well maintained marine engines too clock over 4000 hrs spanners . Its also not uncommon too find perfectly good carburated engines fitted brand new into jet boats , and the people putting them in there aint as dumb as you might think ;)
You mean 200,000hrs... It's my job... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
Show me the man with 400 trouble free hrs on his dunny door or cabbage cutter engine in a boat and I'll buy him a beer.
Show me the man with 4000 on it, and I'll buy his boat :)
You make toilets ?
Never said they were dumb, just in now day and age there is room to progress to different options especially technically based in a certain class; that being bigger than a traditional wee boat and smaller than a 'real' sized boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
If you want to put a $500 scrap yard engine in your boat with a 1970s pump and fit it out on the same theme, then Whatever floats your boat literally, but at least open your eyes and experience other options before rubbishing them.
Not everyone is stuck in the 90s :)
Thanks for that Mohawk just what I'm after. Can you give me an accurate estimate on costs or where the savings can be made. Eg 3.6-4m Ali hull, engine and jet unit, trailer, seats wheel etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
I see you're in Hamilton, I'm up that way for the next couple weeks if you no of any where I can go to see some boats
I'm thinking best bet is to buy a 2nd hand turnkey our budget is 15-20k and I see a few on trademe for that. Seems to be a few long boats like 4.5m plus and don't think we are interested in then as no doubt wouldn't get up a lot of tighter place. 4m hull would be Macx I reckon.
A little over budget but you wouldn't regret it.Quote:
Originally Posted by PerazziSC3
These boats do everything very well:)
https://touch.trademe.co.nz/motors/l...view/823731465
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Yeah mate seen that one and was interested, looking closely at another similar on there, slightly smaller
Yeah that impala is also a good all round river hull:)
Those 132s are both cheap but not enough seats for your needs.
If anything in Hawkes Bay catches your eye let me no I'll go have a gander....the jet boating community is rather small so most boats are known.
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Yep , theres no way you can go wrong with a 151 . Great hull , excellent pump , good trailer but the motor is very old , very heavy and not that grunty.
I would offer him 3 grand less , use it as it is and putt together a Lexus, comy 3.8 , small block chev, or ls1 for it too replace the 3litre at a later date.
With the 3 liter in it Id pay 15-17
With an ls1 youd ask 20- 25 at a guess.
I'm thinking that 132a, the blue one and put a bench seat upfront or just a make shift 3rd seat in between. It's in Christchurch so can take for a test most likely. Yeah will do cheers for that.
Went and saw Mohawk yesterday and had a look at his big boat and also small boat. Gave me a good idea of what I'm after
Old man has a 141a with genuine 1200 hours on its current motor . Originally had a "marinised" Toyota Lexus V8 in it but it let go in the bottom end. Old man was so pissed off that he replaced it with a Brand New Volvo Penta 4.1 (carburetor-ed) and no issues at all since. Doesn't like electronics too much cause he reckens he is less likely to be strandedQuote:
Originally Posted by mohawk
Yes you couldn't wrong with that 132 at that price. Just check the chev looks ok and the bottom of the boat is not destroyed.
As Mohawk said that 151 is a little underpowered but would be a very nice boat:)
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Yep the 151 ticks the size box but with size you get weight and probably a bit harder to get unstuck! I think the 132 will be about perfect size with a bit of seat rearrangement and should have gruntQuote:
Originally Posted by BRADS
Maybe try fit a bucket seat in the middle set back a bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by PerazziSC3
Our first jet boat was a jet 32 it had a bench seat......unless you have a full seat it's hard to stay in one spot when you are throwing it around/bouncing of stuff. Buckets are better IMO
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Yeah I think there is a little bench in the engine cover behind the seats already. Good point about the bench that could piss you off
From personal experience over 40 years " its always a little harder to get unstuck" no matter whatQuote:
Originally Posted by PerazziSC3
Note: I am the only one in the family to have a real boat, Father and brother both have Jets
If you put alittle thought into it a bench could be quickly swaped in and out too suit your needs. You also have resale on your side if you find its too small at a later date .
Both boats will be heavy bastards when properly stuck any way .
Fixed:)Quote:
Originally Posted by mikee
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