Question for jet boat hunters.

[allan]

A question for those of you who use jet boats on BC's northern rivers.
What type of boat do you use?
Length, engine, dead rise ect?
What would you do differently if you could buy a new boat?
I'm curious to know before I seriously start looking for a boat what it is that
makes your boat good or bad.
Thanks

[browningboy]

This is a broad question however if it is just a rock pounder I would go 18 ft, LS6 with either a Scott with modified bucket or Hamilton 212 with modified impeller, your holeshot will be a boat length! Also be beamy with 10 degree hull!
hull should be min 1/4" thick but best 3/8", 11 hull stiffeners, full Uhmw or have t100 steel at the rear bolted on, stomp grate, pump protector, tunnelled, acoustic K-flex lined doghouse, flo-tech steering, sand trap and decent stereo.
this would be a 80k boat though!

[Rock Doctor]

18'4" long
6'6" wide
6 deg 1/4" thick bottom, Armoured Keel
3/8" UHMW, Keel Strip and 2 steering strips on each side of keel strip. Bolted, NOT welded or Glued.
NO Trim Tabs, NO Planer Boards, NO Swim Grid
Full Engine Cover, not Dog House
Full walkthrough Windshield with a good hasp and a step in the dash, not Console
Short Nose with handrail around it, or tie down points
11 Stringers
175hp Sport Jet, with a few mods
Eze Clean Intake
Wood Floor, not aluminium
Easily removeable seats, Kick away seat for driver side
Right side steering
Touch Lights (LED) under nose, engine cover, and gunnels
twin Bilge pumps with off/on/auto (Not recommended to leave on Auto, as the float can stick and kill battery when away from boat for longer periods)
2 Bow Lines {ALWAYS tie boat with 2 lines to 2 different anchors (Trees, ect)}
Camper Top
Heater
Engine cooling water "tattle tail" directed so you can see it from drivers position (IE, you don't have to go to the back and look over transom to see if it's flowing)
Glove box (or two if you can fit them)
Easy access fuel caps, so you can fill up from outside boat at pumps, but can easily access from inside boat as well.
Jet Guard
No Slip Gunnel Tops and boat nose (If you want to paint the boat, put a piece of Aluminium Checker Plate on the nose to walk on)
Windshield Wiper
Several "Power Points" 12V DC and a small inverter for 120V AC
Holy Shite Handles across top of windshield
Large fuel tanks in the sides, or smaller fuel tanks in the rear. No Belly Fuel Tanks
Cargo Net Anchor Points behind Driver/passenger (You don't want to have all your gear pile up behind your legs when you hit a rock ledge or mud flat.......... Trust me, the boat will stop fast, the gear in it will NOT)
Good "Breakaway" river anchor
Pike Pole and Paddles
Tinted windows on the front
Steering wheel and Throttle should be comfortable hight sitting and standing (Tilt is nice)

RD

[allan]

Thanks RD, I think I've seen most all your you tube videos already. Very cool.
Do you find the sportjet too loud? Opinions seem divided as I talk to boat shops and owners.

[Rock Doctor]

Mine is very quiet, it has foam inside the engine cover.
Ive been in some obnoxiously loud ones though. Some are especially loud with the top on.
Cant get the 175 anymore, but the 200 is nice. The problem is that the price if the SJ's is getting a little rediculous. Some of the small block options with traditional pumps are also very nice. I don't have much experience with those though.
My boat is not exactly as I listed above, some I have, some I would like to have. For the most part though, I like my boat the way it is.

RD

[nap]

I have a 20' Omenica
200 sport Jet with a high skew impellor
1" x 12" UHMW keel plate runs 2/3 the hull
1/2" UHMW from the keel to the reverse chines & 3/8" UHMW up the front
12 degree but now would go with a 10
left hand drive with a hand and foot throttle
walk through windshield with lots of room under the bow
2 quick detachable seats
alluminum floor
dog house over the engine
fuel tanks are in the gunnels
2 bilge pumps
grab handles all the way around
no paint, just a few decals
as for engine noise, it is definetly not the quitest but as well not the loudest.
a little bit of video posted by Pete_k on double header grizz (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?107601-double-header-grizz&highlight=pete_k) here on HBC
The only thing I would do different would be a 10 degree rather than a 12, it would just let me go on a wee bit less water.

[hunter1993ap]

hey nap, what do you figure the fuel difference is between the 175 and 200 sj? or what is the fuel economy you get in your boat loaded going up river?

[ryanb]

hey nap, what do you figure the fuel difference is between the 175 and 200 sj? or what is the fuel economy you get in your boat loaded going up river?

Fully loaded for a 2 week hunt and lots of fuel I can get about 5km per gallon averaged over the trip. This is in a small 14.5' center console with 200 sj. I have ran the same trip with guys in an 18' conventional windshield 200 sj and they burn at least 50% more.

You can save a ton of fuel by learning how to run the river so you're not fighting the river going upstream and using the river to push you when going down. Sounds simple but takes a while to figure out.

[Rock Doctor]

The fuel difference is a little difficult to call, totally depends on load, driving style, tuning, ect.
I try to run between 46-48 hundred RPM, get about 6 gals per hour, but, I have aftermarket Reeds and my Carbs are jetted down 2 sizes from Stock. Running a 4 Blade Imp also helps.

RD

[nap]

hey nap, what do you figure the fuel difference is between the 175 and 200 sj? or what is the fuel economy you get in your boat loaded going up river?

I have never ran a 175, as for fuel economy, no such thing in a jet boat, some just get better than others, When I run the Tuchodi with 3 guys and hunting gear, at 4600 rpm to 4800rpm, the merc smart craft (meter) is saying I am using on the average 7 american gallons per hour. The whole trip fom Kledo creek (boat launch on the Maskwa) to the hunting area just below the outfitters and back I use roughly 75 american gallons, not by far the best but you just can't beat the fun.

[Kapow]

I have a small block Chevy v8 in a 17.5' . 3/8" and 1/4" bottom with uhmw. Love the v8. 6 gallons per hour on average. Super fast and hauls a big heavy load........until it gets beached on a sandbar. Needs about 4 guys to unbeach it. An all aluminum v8 (ls3) is going in as soon as I can afford it.