# ALUMA-JET- Duracraft 1648 SV Jetboat Conversion



## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

Here's some photos of my project that I did back in 2005:


It began as a 1997 DuraCraft 1648 SV that someone painted with copper paint and left in saltwater. I bought it for 50 dollars 






As you can see, this hull was severely pitted and corroded. However, the only place the corrosion went entirely through was basically along the center V of the hull. Everywhere else was just pitting.

So, I repaired the damage along the center V like so:








First modification-hatches for fuel tanks 








For my next modification, I wanted a false bottom, with a layer of floatation foam between each set of ribs, along the sides, as well as the bottom. So, I made a false bottom out of 1/16" diamondplate, with the sides being 1/16" smooth aluminum.



Foam:




False bottom installed: 


False bottom, looking toward stern.
Notice there is a gap between the rear bench seat and the back edge of the false bottom. This is where I have to extend the rear bench seat for the length of the engine. That's next..............


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

OK, next step...extend the rear seat area:

I used some 16 ga aluminum sheet, along with some internal bracing, to make these extensions:



One on each side:



Next, I made the engine cowling, using some 1/8" aluminum plate. I used that thickness, because I wanted it to be strong enough to walk on it:


With all that done, it was time to build the console. I fabricated this from 1/8" aluminum plate, as well, because I wanted it to be stout.





Next, I decided that all wiring and cables should be routed above deck to the console, to simplify replacement or repair, but I needed a cover for the area where the wiring and cables crossed the floor, even though I planned to put it all inside of non-metallic watertight electrical conduit. So, this is what I ended up doing: 




With all the cosmetic work done on the interior, it was time to get busy installing the jet unit and the engine. That's next........


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

Mechanical time......this is where it gets tricky:

1998 Yamaha XL1200W pump





The point of no return.....getting ready to cut out the hull tunnel








Notice the 1/4" plate now in place over the hull. The 2 will be tied together, to make the hull more rigid, and the plate will give me a place to mount my engine. Engine mount rails will fit in the slots along the sides of the 1/4 plate:






At this point, I now have to tie the hull together with the 1/4" plate:



But keep in mind that the XL120 pump has a taper to its shape (of course it does, why would they make this easy?!) so, that shape had to be built in to the hull with a lot of welding, grinding, and cussing! Enough cussing to make a drill instructor blush. A real PITA, and I do NOT mean a type of bread!!





OK, now I had to build a tunnel box for the pump to bolt into:




Also had to have a 'horseshoe' shape to fit the intake scoop of the pump:



That orange line you see is the waterline of the boat, tested with the amount of weight, distributed as it will be in the boat when completed. To find the waterline of any boat, simply dump some orange powdered chalk in the water and it will cling as a scum line to the hull, giving an approximate water line.

With this done, I bolted the pump in place, and made the mistake of using 5200 instead of RTV ultra black. NEVER, and I do mean NEVER, use 5200 on anything you don't intend to be permanent! I found this out the hard way then I had to replace this pump scoop after I burned out the thru-hull bearing by having the engine mis-aligned. Needless to say, it came out in pieces, and it was a PITA to get those loose. 5200 is some tenacious stuff! But I digress.

Pump bolted in:



The next step was to install the engine...........


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

With the jet unit taken care of, it was time to get on the engine.....

Got a 1995 TS900 for 600 dollars, and it was a running ski! First step, pull the engine. 


Doing some initial measurements


I wanted to have a rail design, while keeping the mounts as low as possible. So, the best way was to notch the tubing and inset the mount plates








mounts secured with carriage bolts



After notching the 2x 1/4" square tube, I used some 3/8" x 3" flat plate for the inset:











With the engine and pump now installed, I had to fabricate the fuel tanks, then start hooking up wiring, hoses, and cables.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

For the fuel tanks, I used a factory made tank, but it had to be modified, because of the angle of the gunwale.




I found out later that putting foam around a fuel tank is a bad idea, especially in salt water, as it sets up perfect conditions for crevice corrosion. The foam has since been removed, and the tanks now sit on risers made out of square aluminum tube, with rubber dampeners. 


Anyhow, with all this done, I had to get to work on my controls.

For the steering, I used the heavier Teleflex CC694 series cable (I think they've changed the number to a '640' prefix now.) It's a stainless push-pull cable, with a 4" travel, and a 5/16"x24TPI end. I also used a teleflex jetboat steering helm, with the 270 degree turn radius. They also have a 135 degree, but I figured that would be a little too sharp, I wanted a little more room for error, I didn't want the steering to be over-responsive to movements of the wheel. So, that's why I used a 270 helm.

For the reverse gate, I initially used the flimsier CC633 series cable (that has 10-32 ends, instead of 5/16) but found that it would get bent under the thrust of reverse, and after replacing it three times, I went to the 694 series cable for reverse as well.

For the throttle cable, I bought some throttle cable conduit from a source online, and then I bought some 1/16" stainless cable from McMaster-Carr. For the throttle body and control handle ball ends, I used some 1/4" brass round stock, with a 1/16" hole cross drilled for the cable, and then on each end, I drilled and tapped for a #6 setscrew.

But I needed a control box. After looking around online and not finding what I wanted, I built my own. It's basic, it's simple, but it works....


The outer lever is for the reverse gate. The inner lever is for the throttle. Both levers have enough travel to accommodate the cable assemblies for full travel.





Then I had to fabricate a new wiring harness 20 feet long, to run from the console back to the engine.





Then I had to install the engine


Upon completing that, I was ready for my test run!


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

Needless to say, I was very happy to see my hard work pay off:



And even more happy to be a part of something bigger, with my boat making its debut, as well.....
From the History Channel show "Only In America" with Larry The Cable Guy, Episode-"Larry In Hillbilly Country" filmed Nov. 22, 2010 on location in South Carolina.

(Yeah, the guy wearing the green T-shirt in the mud with Larry was yours truly)







I've always thought my jetboat was cool, but I NEVER thought I would see it on national TV! When they showed it going through those oyster flats, I can't tell you the sense of pride that I felt. They had numerous other shots of the boat throughout that episode. 

And yeah, it was pretty funny watching the camera crew and Larry scrambling around in pluff mud (if you aren't used to walking in the stuff, you can get stuck really bad, as seen on that episode)


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

Like what you see so far? Want to see more? How about a series like "American Chopper" except, geared towards jetboat building? 

Check out my youtube channel, there are a lot of videos of the Aluma Jet, both in it original version from 2005, and now in its new High Output 4 stroke configuration, just this past year. 

I also have 2 "seasons" of my series I call "American Jetboat" Season 1 is the original build, back in 2005. There are 3 10 minute episodes of season 1.

Season 2 is called "High Output" and that was done this past summer. The old Tigershark engine died a horrible death after some POS with no CFC (common friggin' courtesy) in a para-sailing boat swamped me with a 3 foot wake, and blew the engine up, so, it was replaced with a Yamaha MR-1 High Output engine. There are 6 10 minute episodes of season 2.


Check it out at:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/HKPSG1Shooter?feature=mhee


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## fish2keel (Sep 17, 2011)

Wow that is pretty amazing! What a boat find as well and you did one the best builds ive ever seen! I sure would like to build one of these jet jons but they sure seem like alot of work if youve never done it before!

More pictures of any other builds would be great! Also where did you get you switches? 

Thanks and great job!


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2011)

Yeah, they are a lot of work. You pretty much have to have your own welding and machining equipment, and the know-how to fabricate and design.

If you had to pay for a welder and a machinist to do all of this, you'd go broke real quick!


As far as my switches, they are regular toggle switches I picked up at west marine, they are the type with the illuminated tip. The switch is wired to the ignition circuit, so when the boat is running, all switches glow white, unless turned on, then they glow red. Looks pretty cool at night. Also, I replaced all of the bulbs in my gages with LED's, to minimize power usage at night.

The labels you see mounted around the switches, I fabricated, by cutting thin strips of aluminum, and then using a letter stamping set, then securing them with 1/8" rivets. The switch labels and the control handles have since been changed out for bronze counterparts, to dress it up a little.


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## Ranchero50 (Sep 18, 2011)

Looks like a good fuctional build. I certainly is a good feeling to see your hard work earn some recognition. Your boat is about the same size as mine now. How much better is the high output engine vs. the old tigershark? I guess if my Seadoo engine ever dies I'll look at getting a water cooled street bike engine and mounting it in the hull.

Jamie


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## PSG-1 (Sep 18, 2011)

Ranchero50 said:


> Looks like a good fuctional build. I certainly is a good feeling to see your hard work earn some recognition. Your boat is about the same size as mine now. How much better is the high output engine vs. the old tigershark? I guess if my Seadoo engine ever dies I'll look at getting a water cooled street bike engine and mounting it in the hull.
> 
> Jamie





Yeah, like I said, I've really enjoyed this boat, I've had more fun with it than with any boat I've ever owned, including the Sea Doo Speedster jetboat.....at idle, it had about 2 feet of draft, it could never go into the areas that the aluma-jet will travel. And then to see it on the History Channel was just awesome, knowing that it was a boat that I built from scrap into what it is.

My hull is 16' 4"...and then I have the platform on the transom, so, total length is probably about 17' 6" or so.

As far as how much better is the High Output than the Tigershark, I can't even begin to describe it! If you check out my youtube channel, there's a video showing the sound levels of the 2 stroke and the 4 stroke engines in this boat. And then I have a video showing the hole-shot, where I blast a 18 ft Sea hunt outfitted with a 150 Mercury Optimax. Granted, the Sea Hunt has the top end, but out of the hole, the High Output rockets past the Sea Hunt. Top end of my boat is about 10 MPH faster than the Tigershark, and I think I could probably get that higher if I experimented with impeller pitch. Right now, I'm running a 13/19 Concord swirl impeller, which gives me a lot of hole shot, but I think may be limiting my top end somewhat.

The difference between the 2 and 4 stroke is very noticeable. Ya know how when you rev up your 2 stroke jet ski engine out of the water, how it winds up to a high RPM, then slowly winds back down, with the familiar pop-pop-pop as it winds down? None of that with the 4 stroke. The second you bump the throttle, it responds, there's no lag to it. And the RPM winds back down instantly, there's none of that lag like with a 2 stroke.

There's no smoke, either, as it's a 4 stroke. So, no gagging on fumes while idling with the wind on your stern. 

It's also much quieter, being a 4 stroke. Also, if you check out "American Jetboat High Output Part 3" you see that we have taken out the original jet unit tunnel, and made it 4 inches wider, which gives room for the exhaust to run into the tunnel. On the Tigershark, we had the exhaust running out the back of the boat. Yamaha routes the exhaust through the tunnel, as we did, and that also helps to quiet down the sound signature. The platform on the transom also helps to muffle the noise.

And it seems to be better on fuel consumption...roughly 3 gallons per hour, or 5 MPG, is what I'm getting with the HO engine, with 2 people on board.

The High Output is also equipped to carry weight better. The Tigershark was a 2 person jet ski, the HO engine came out of an AR-230 jetboat. These boats have 2 engines, and the boat weighs 3000 pounds empty, then its capacity is another 1800 lbs, for a total of 4900. Divide that by 2, because there's 2 engines, and you come up with 2450 lbs max load for each engine. My boat might weigh 1000 lbs, so, that gives me another 1450 lbs before it's totally maxed out on weight.


As far as a water cooled street bike engine.....that's what the MR-1 High Output is. It is the marine version of their R-1 motorcycle engine. These engines are actually designed to run at 14K RPM sustained. The HO engine runs at 10K RPM, so, it's not even maxed out. It also uses a 1.47:1 reduction gear which steps the impeller's top speed down from 10K to about 7,400 RPM, as the average jet pump can't sustain that kind of RPM without damage to bearings or thru-hull seals. not to mention once they reach a certain RPM, they will actually begin to lose efficiency.

If I do another jetboat build, I'm probably going to use a Sea Doo 4tec intercooled supercharged 215 HP engine. With the closed loop cooling system, you never have to worry about sand or mud clogging it and running it hot, nor do you have to flush it every day you use it in salt water, you could leave it tied up at the dock a couple of days, with no ill effects (as long as you have galvanic protection of your hull and jet unit with a lot of zinc anodes) 

And just a side note FYI, a 16 foot johnboat needs about 36 sq inches of zinc for proper galvanic protection in saltwater. In freshwater, instead of zinc, you use magnesium anodes for protection. Because the bottom of my boat had some pitting, one of the first things I had to do was to sandblast the entire bottom with a 60/90 grit of 'Starolite' blasting media, to remove every trace of that copper paint. Then, the entire bottom was painted with a 2-part polyamide epoxy (submarine paint) to seal the pitting. Then a coat of Copper Thiocyanate paint every year, for antifouling. (Copper Thiocyanate for aluminum boats, Cuprous oxide for fiberglass.....NEVER use cuprous oxide on aluminum, it will destroy the boat!!)

But, six years later, a lot of that paint is wearing out, so, I plan on having the bottom sprayed with Line-X truck bed liner. The guy told me that it can actually be applied with a surface as smooth as paint, the texture you see in truck beds is created by standing back from the surface to spray the coating. I know a few people that have had their hulls done like this, and I'm probably going to do the same in the next few months. This would give the hull some long-lasting protection.

At any rate, I enjoyed the thread on your boat build, as well. Reminded me of the long process I went through to do mine. Lots of long days and long nights, and a lot of trial and error, and going back to the drawing board. Heck, my girlfriend was about ready to file a missing persons report on me, I was spending so much time in the shop....LOL 

And it seems like every time I say "it's done"....I find yet something else to improve or change. Seems to be a never ending work in progress, always changing and improving.


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## BearwoodBoats (Sep 18, 2011)

Hey 
Thats a wild looking boat. Bet you have fun with it!
Later


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## PSG-1 (Sep 18, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments! Definitely a fun boat, and it works great for fishing and flounder gigging, too!


When I initially built the boat, I knew it needed a stomp grate, but I got by for about a year or so without one. Then, I got something fouled in my intake grate on the river one day, and had to idle about 5 miles back to the landing. So, I knew it was time to make the stomp grate.

Having owned a Sea Doo Speedster, I was familiar with their design, and wanted to incorporate something like this on my boat. 


So, I ordered a few of the parts from Sea Doo. Specifically, the tapered rubber bushing, and the 2 plastic half-collars that clamped the cable in place in the thru-hull fitting. I also ordered the plastic nut for this assembly, as well as the cable end fitting to attach to the weedless grate.




However, I was not able to find that wedge-shaped piece of aluminum with the internal threads, that bolts to the top of the intake scoop, for the cable to fit into. I looked for a while, and then decided to just make my own. 

Also, I found that the plastic nut from Sea Doo was not an NPT thread, it was some screwy thread, I have no idea what pitch it was, or if it may have been a metric pipe thread. 

So, I tossed that part aside, and instead used a plastic 3/4" NPT plug, drilled a hole in the center for the cable to fit into, and then shaved a little bit of material from the inside, for the plastic half collars to fit in.

Also, I had to make the threaded thru-hull fitting, with 3/4" NPT threads for the plug.

So, I proceeded with some large diameter solid round aluminum, and I contoured the bottom of it so that it would fit the top of the intake scoop, and be perpendicular, not skewed to the side.

I center drilled it for the diameter of the cable, then, I machined a taper in it, to fit the taper of the rubber plug, and finally, I cut 3/4" NPT threads.

Next, I had to have a way to secure it to the intake scoop. So, on the bottom side of this block of aluminum, I drilled and tapped for 1/4" threads. 

Because of the contour shape on the bottom of the block of aluminum, it had to be positioned a certain way to remain perpendicular, but how to do this AND get the correct location for those blind holes?

Simple.....I took a couple of 1/4" stainless screws, cut the ends off, then ground them to a sharp point. I threaded the blunt end into the threaded holes of the aluminum block (basically, I made a set of transfer punches) I positioned the block of aluminum where it needed to go, then gave it a light tap with a hammer, and I had my locations for my mounting holes.

Using RTV ultra black, and some taper-head phillips stainless 1/4" screws from the underside of the intake scoop, the block of aluminum was secured in place. Then the cable assembly was installed with the locking half collars, the rubber bushing, and the 3/4" plug cap, with RTV applied to the tapered end of the rubber plug, as the sea doo manual calls for.

Once it was done, this is what it looked like: 

A few shots of the thru hull fitting, with cable installed, you can see RTV used to seal under the fitting, as well as the 3/4" NPT plug. 








A shot from the underside, showing the mounting screws:


Also note the cable end.

Next, I needed to make the intake grate pivot. I cut all the tines loose from the factory aluminum grate. I kept the front end of the assembly. Next, I took some 3/4" round stock, and cut 3 pieces about 1/4" thick from this. Then I welded these 3 pieces onto the front flange of the intake grate, one on each side, and one in the center. This would create a pivot point.




Then, I took some 1/4" thick by 3/4" wide stainless flat bar, used the belt grinder to remove the corners and do some shaping and rounding of edges, and made 4 new tines, and drilled a hole at the back end of one of them for my cable end.


Lastly, I needed a control lever at the console for operating the grate. Using the same concept as the reverse gate lever, I came up with this: 


As you can see, this lever is bronze, as are the other control levers. To operate, cut off the engine, then swing the lever down. This pushes the back end of the intake grate down by about 4", allowing debris to clear itself. Return the lever to its upright position, and it retracts the grate.


Once all of this was done, I performed a watertight integrity check (fill boat with water until it's above the area you want to check for leaks) and found it to be OK, no leaks.

Works like a charm, and it's simple to operate!


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## Anonymous (Sep 19, 2011)

All kinds of awesome ! 

More and more i'm starting to recognize these jet builds.


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## fender66 (Sep 19, 2011)

Nice build. Wish I had the tools to do stuff like that.


=D> =D> =D>


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## PSG-1 (Sep 19, 2011)

Here's a couple of videos that compare the TS1000 2 stroke engine to the 4 stroke High Output.


2 Stroke vs 4 Stroke Pt. 1:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfPFCA9wjj4 


Part 2:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dsxNAN0QL8


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## Ride_Klein (Sep 23, 2011)

Great post, great project. Thanks for sharing it. 

Couple questions for you as I'm contemplating a project just like this. 

1. You mention in one of your videos that you didn't use the fiberglass bottom. Was there any particular reason for that? Was it simply the metal shoe and your fabrication skills made it unnecessary, or that you saw a big downside to using/incorporating the fiberglass bottom into the project?

2. I've got a 110hp 787 seadoo motor that I'd like to use. The 4 stroke motor you put in your boat is obviously much quieter, you picked up some top end, and it seems like the hole shot is a little better. Any other feedback you can provide between the two? I've got the 787 motor, so I'm probably going to start with it. If you were to stick with the 2 stroke what would you have done differently?

3. How much water do you need now (with the 4 stroke) and did you need then (with the 2 stroke) to get up on step? 

Thanks again for a great project. Your fabrication skills are impressive, and far exceed mine. Nice to see another functional boat getting used and enjoyed. I hope my project gets there quickly.

Thanks


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## Ranchero50 (Sep 23, 2011)

Klein, maybe I can answer some of your questions based off my build. 

1. On the Seadoo motor / pumps splined shaft alignment is going to be more critical vs. the Yamaha's love-joy type coupling so it may be easier to avoid that mess my fabbing the glass hull into the bottom of the jon boat. Usually the joint looks like crap and I would suspect corrosion issues down the road if used in bracket waters. I chose all aluminum on my install, including making the pump inlet, which was a bit of a pain but also a fun learning experience.

2. On mine when I had the exhaust exiting above the water line at the pump it was louder. I've since ran the exhaust down and out of the pod and it's much quieter even though the exhaust is still out of the water at speed.

3. On mine I need 30' of 2' of water depending on where the trim tabs are set. Before adding the tabs it was 20' but it seemed to dig a bit deeper.

Jamie


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## Ride_Klein (Sep 23, 2011)

Thanks Ranchero,

I just checked out your build, another great project. Thanks to both of you for chronicling them so well. 

You've hit on my concern with the pump/engine alignment. I'll try to stop hijacking this great thread.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 23, 2011)

Ride_Klein said:


> Great post, great project. Thanks for sharing it.
> 
> Couple questions for you as I'm contemplating a project just like this.
> 
> 1. You mention in one of your videos that you didn't use the fiberglass bottom. Was there any particular reason for that? Was it simply the metal shoe and your fabrication skills made it unnecessary, or that you saw a big downside to using/incorporating the fiberglass bottom into the project?






Originally, I did plan to do the 'cut and splice' method (cutting the fiberglass bottom out of a ski and doing some glasswork, and making a flange to bolt it into the bottom of the boat) But, I'm a better welder than a fiberglass man, so, I didn't have much confidence in that plan. Also, fiberglass and aluminum have different flex rates and yield strengths, which may not be a problem on smooth water, but here in a marine environment, the wind is ALWAYS blowing, and it is seldom glassy, it's almost always choppy. 

Thinking back, I can't remember if it was my idea, or my friend's idea to go with the XL1200 pump. I'm thinking that it was suggested to me by my buddy who is a jet ski mechanic, that I bought the ski from. But anyhow, I had to buy that in addition to buying the Tigershark for 600 dollars. I think the entire XL1200 pump assembly, including impeller and driveshaft, cost me about 800. 

Cut and splice would have been a little more difficult, although, having to build that wedge shape in my cutout to accommodate the slope of the pump was a major PITA (wouldn't have been so bad if that had been the first thing we did, where we could have had the boat upside down, instead of having to work upside down!)






> 2. I've got a 110hp 787 seadoo motor that I'd like to use. The 4 stroke motor you put in your boat is obviously much quieter, you picked up some top end, and it seems like the hole shot is a little better. Any other feedback you can provide between the two? I've got the 787 motor, so I'm probably going to start with it. If you were to stick with the 2 stroke what would you have done differently?




The one thing I would have done differently would have been to use something besides a Tigershark! There's a reason why Arctic Cat no longer makes Tigershark. They need to stick to what they know...snowmobiles. So, if I had it to do over again with a 2 stroke, I probably would have bought an XL1200 outright, then I would have had the engine, as well as the pump.

Also, one thing I would suggest to make a 2 stroke quieter, is to build your jet unit tunnel large enough where you can route the exhaust outlet into the tunnel, where the sound is absorbed into the water being thrusted out of the jet pump. Also, use a rubber curtain around the back end of the box, notched to fit the pump nozzle. This acts as a baffle for the sound. You can see this in my "American Jetboat- High Output" videos...(I think it's episode 4) This is what Yamaha does with their 4 strokes, and it is very effective. On my 2 stroke configuration, we simply had the exhaust routed right out the back of the boat. However, that platform did help to minimize the sound a great deal when the boat was in the water. Still, the 4 stroke is a fraction of the noise level of the 2 stroke.

The 787 is a good engine, BTW. The 951 is a miserable POS, don't use one of those, everyone I know that ever had a 951, had nothing but problems. and again, avoid tigershark. Mine ran good when it ran good, but it was a very tempermental engine that had a history of issues, even being rebuilt 5 times in the 6 years I had it. I'd get about 140 hours on average, and then I'd have to rebuild it. With this 4 stroke, I only need to lift my engine cowling to do maintenance every 100 hours, and that's to change the oil and plugs. I bought it with 68 hours on it, right now, I have 85 (I did change the oil twice, once I got it running, though, simply because it sat for a while before I bought it, and I wanted to run the old oil out)

You may need to experiment with impeller pitch that allows for a good combination of hole shot and top end, although, you can never have the best of both worlds. If you're operating in shallow water, or carrying heavy loads, you may want to stay with a lower pitch, for better planing, and planing off at lower speeds. If your boat is going to be lightweight, and you operate it on flat, deep water where you can run at WOT a lot of the time, you may want to go with a higher pitch. Impros is a company that can adjust the pitch of your impeller to your specs, as well as being able to rebuild impellers with nicks, dents, and worn-down O.D. 







> 3. How much water do you need now (with the 4 stroke) and did you need then (with the 2 stroke) to get up on step?



Initially we were worried about the added weight of the 4 stroke requiring more draft. But, because of how we have the exhaust system routed, we moved the port side fuel tank, and the 120 lbs it weighs when full, forward by about 2 feet. So, this seems to balance it out somewhat, as it doesn't draw any more draft than it did before, which was a surprise, and a relief, to me. 

I need 8-10" of water to be able to float. With 10-12" of water, I can idle. I can plane off at that depth, too, but at that depth, it must be done quickly, and not over shells or gravel, as there is the possibility of the pump ingesting foreign objects. Once it's on plane, it only needs about 4" of water. But always remember that just because you can cross an area at planing speed, you must always know at what point you have to back off, because if you have to slow down to displacement speed, it can get ugly. 



> Thanks again for a great project. Your fabrication skills are impressive, and far exceed mine. Nice to see another functional boat getting used and enjoyed. I hope my project gets there quickly.
> 
> Thanks




Well, thanks for the input and compliments. Glad to help out any way I can with advice or other info about the design and other idiosyncrasies that come along with such a project. Hopefully, I can save others doing such projects a lot of needless time racking their brains trying to figure things out through trial and error, like I had to do.

For further questions or info, y'all can contact me at [email protected]


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## PSG-1 (Sep 23, 2011)

Ranchero50 said:


> Klein, maybe I can answer some of your questions based off my build.
> 
> 1. On the Seadoo motor / pumps splined shaft alignment is going to be more critical vs. the Yamaha's love-joy type coupling so it may be easier to avoid that mess my fabbing the glass hull into the bottom of the jon boat.





I have an old repair manual for the Sea-Doo Speedster jetboat I used to own, I couldn't find a spec. for engine alignment, but it states that the max. permissible driveshaft deflection (how straight it is) is .020" 

For the alignment of the Yamaha coupler, max. permissible mis-alignment is .020" I would guess that the Sea Doo is probably somewhere in that range. With the sea-doo, observe that you have metal-to-metal contact with the spline drive. While it does indeed work, I think the spartan jaw, or love-joy coupler design is better, because it uses that rubber spider to eliminate the metal-to-metal wear.

Also, sea-doo uses that massive, heavy 'harmonic balancer' on the driveshaft. This extra weight robs a lot of power on take off. (I have shaved these down on the lathe a few times for people looking for quicker hole shot)


Special alignment tools may be needed for the Sea Doo. For the Yamaha, you simply lay a straight edge across both sets of jaws of the coupler, then use a feeler gauge to check the gap, and check it at 3 points, about 120 degrees apart. I managed to get mine within about .005" The closer you get it, the longer the life of your bearings, driveshaft, and thru-hull seals and bearings. Get it too far out of alignment and at the very least, you'll 'waller out' the thru hull seals and get a slow leak.....or it can be severe enough to damage bearings in the pump or thru-hull. Again, you want it as close as you can get.



> Usually the joint looks like crap and I would suspect corrosion issues down the road if used in bracket waters.



yes. It would set up the perfect condition for 'crevice corrosion' which occurs when aluminum is against another object, and salt water can get in between. It begins to swell the aluminum, and the metal actually begins to absorb moisture (aluminum is very porous) and it begins to form 'sugar' (white powder) Once it starts doing this, it's nearly impossible to repair by welding, unless you use TIG, and you burn the crap out of it, you may have to make 2 or 3 passes to float the impurities out of the metal.



> I chose all aluminum on my install, including making the pump inlet, which was a bit of a pain but also a fun learning experience.



That looked like one helluva challenge, for sure! You probably would not be able to build an intake scoop without some type of CAD program, and a LOT of machining experience, which I do not have. I do have a lathe and a mill, and I know just enough to do basic things, but that's about it.



> 2. On mine when I had the exhaust exiting above the water line at the pump it was louder. I've since ran the exhaust down and out of the pod and it's much quieter even though the exhaust is still out of the water at speed.



When you say 'out the pod' do you mean out of the jet tunnel, like I did with mine? This is by far the best way to do it, in fact, that's what Yamaha does on their jet skis now.



> 3. On mine I need 30' of 2' of water depending on where the trim tabs are set. Before adding the tabs it was 20' but it seemed to dig a bit deeper.
> 
> Jamie




I've never measured the distance I need to plane off, or the exact depth I need to plane off. But it does seem that I can plane faster in shallow water, and I think this is because of the pressure cushion that forms between the hull and the bottom, which gives added lift. 

You can see this occurrence with ANY boat. Simply get on plane in water about 1-2 feet deep, and run just fast enough that you are on plane. Go into an area where the depth is deeper, like 3-4 feet, and you can feel the stern squat lower in the water. And it works vice-versa, too. When you start getting into a shallow area, you can actually feel the boat begin to rise. I use this method a lot when I'm in an unfamiliar area, particularly with my 16' Triton with the 50 Merc.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 23, 2011)

And speaking of shallow water, as you can imagine, this is a GREAT boat for gigging.



And, it works good for trolling, too, as the reverse gate is like having a trolling plate on an outboard motor, except, with the ability to adjust to any level of thrust, to fine tune speed. Also works nicely for getting me to those secret fishing holes. 

Here's one that I took one one of those rare days when I hit a limit on winter trout.


Funny story about this. The largest one, I had caught earlier in the afternoon, trolling at the jetties. I only had that one. A buddy of mine was also out there, he had three in his livewell. It was getting near dark, and he said he was going to head back in. I said I was going to probably head in as well. So, we left the jetties. 

But, on my way home, I passed a spot that I sometimes fish in, it's only productive at certain times of the year, but every once in a while, it can be really productive. Well, just for sh!ts and giggles, I decided to pull up to that spot, cut the engine, and try casting for a few minutes. On the first cast, I had a hit! And it was a trout. Well, it seemed like just about every time I threw out, I had another fish. I've had good days in that hole, but this was one of the best! In just 45 minutes, I caught 9 trout, hitting my limit. I could have stayed and caught more and released whatever I caught, but trout are delicate, and I don't fish for them unless I am keeping them, except for undersized ones, and I always handle and release them very carefully.

So, I went home, and called my buddy, and asked him how many he ended up with. He said just the 3 he had when he left the jetties. "That all?" I said. "Well, I caught a limit," I said.
"No way. You only had that one when you left. You didn;t catch 9 that quick." 
"I'm looking at them in the cooler right now," I said.
"Bring em over, I gotta see this," he said.
So, I went over and popped open my cooler, revealing 10 legal size winter trout. He couldn't believe it.

Anyhow, after he saw that, he said "Well, I might be the man for the rainbow trout and the sheepshead, but you got me beat on trout."

Indeed. It was a good day. And what made it even better, was that I had caught those fish from aboard my jetboat. Nice to enjoy quality time from something I invested a lot of time into.


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## Ride_Klein (Sep 24, 2011)

More great information. Thanks for saving me some headaches along the way. No 951's for me. (Although the 787 is currently completely disassembled on my bench right now)

I'm a better fiberglass man than I am a welder, but I appreciate the heads up on the corrosion issue. Mine will be a 99% fresh water boat, but we get down to the coast once or twice a year to chase those pintail.


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## joshfish (Sep 24, 2011)

im glad i found this site. i parted out one of my kawasaki jet skis but still have the motor. i decided i want to biuld a small jet jon using the kawi 750 motor i have. i was origianally going to do the bolt the hull into a boat thing but then i found out that berkeley made a 120mm pump at one time. i did some research and found that wasnt the greatest pump. i ended up talking to a guy at scat trak about impellers for the berkeley pump. he was the one that told me i would be better off using the yamaha pump like you did. i picked up a pump from a gp760 which is a 144mm instead of the 155mm you used. the 144 will be better for the 750. ive been trying to figure out how to mount the pump and then i came across your build. now i know how to mount my pump. of all the jet jons ive found on the internet yours and rancheros are the cleanest and most detailed builds. i cant wait to finish collecting parts and get mine built.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 24, 2011)

I think you'll be OK with the 750, as long as you keep the total weight down to less than 500 lbs.

The Kawasaki 750 is also a good motor, I owned a 750SXI stand-up ski before I bought a Yamaha Super Jet a couple of years ago. The motor in my 750 was a great engine, but the mounts were POS's, and very expensive, like 90 dollars a piece for factory mounts. Aftermarket mounts were about 40 dollars a piece, they were even bigger POS's...and might last me one session of wave jumping, then they'd fail. That, and the handle pole of that jet ski was not built rugged enough (at least not for how I ride) and I broke my handle pole about 5 times, then the nose cone began to crack, so, it was time for a better ski. 

The Super Jet has very durable motor mounts, a very durable hull, and an equally durable handle pole. I've yet to break the handle pole, and in 3 years of running it, I've only replaced motor mounts once (and they are 30 dollars a piece, not 90)

But again, I'm VERY abusive on a stand-up ski (watch my youtube video "Super Jet", and you'll see what I mean)

So, as your motor is going into a boat, I don't think you'll have the issues of breaking mounts, unless you plan on jumping waves and launching 10 feet into the air!

For your mounting system, I'd go with a rail design, like ranchero or myself used on our builds. Basically a rail that runs just to the outside edge of the engine cradle, where you can put your 2 mounts on the port and starboard sides. (I like the way ranchero did his, you could further modify that type of design to allow all kinds of forward-rear adjustment)

And you are correct with the 144mm pump. The 155 would be too large for that engine, it would be over-lugging it, which could cause it to twist the crankshaft, or even seize up. Imagine putting a 7 inch grinding wheel on a 4 inch grinder. It can be done, but you're over-loading the motor, because you're not allowing it to operate at full RPM under a rated load, you are running it at a reduced RPM with a very heavy load. Same thing with too large of a pump on a jet ski engine, or too high of a prop pitch on an outboard. (I ran a 24 pitch one time on a 25HP Merc, it would fly, but it reduced the WOT RPM down to about 3 grand, it was severely over-loading that engine)

I think with the previous configuration of the Aluma-Jet, I had a similar condition, honestly, I think that XL1200 pump was too much for that 1000 c.c. engine. 

But now with the High Output, which is 1100 c.c., and a 4 cylinder, instead of 3, I think it's a closer match for power ratio, it's definitely not going to over-lug that beast of an engine!


Anyhow, if you need any advice on installing the pump, or any other problems you may run into, shoot me an e-mail, and I'll be glad to help out.


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## joshfish (Sep 24, 2011)

as far as weight i think ill be ok. im looking for a 1448 boat and im going to do a simple joy stick steering. im not going to have the added weight of a steering console. i had planed on using some aluminum square stock for my motor mounts rails. my plan is kind of a crappie style boat. it will have front and rear decks and open in the middle. one thing with going the kawi 750 route is a guy on pwctoday makes a bed plate for putting the 1100 tripple in twin cyl skis such as the x2 and 750 sxi. if down the road i want more power all i have to do is buy his bedplate and find an 1100 and ignition box. bolt it up and off i go. my overall goal is to be able to run shallow for the river, small enough to get into back sloughs of the delta and have a decent top end for lake fishing.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 24, 2011)

Wow, you mean it's possible to put an 1100 in a 750 jet ski?! I bet that thing would fly!

Anyhow, as far as the motor mounting plate, I know exactly what you're saying. The Tigershark 900 and the Tigershark 1000 had different mounting plates, the 900 used a cast aluminum plate, and the 1000 used a steel frame, but the bolt pattern of each engine was the same, and each engine was the same size and used the same components, so, you could easily switch a 900 block for a 1000 block in a ski.

I'm over there on pwctoday sometimes, under this same screen name. A great board for jet ski enthusiasts, lots of useful info.


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## joshfish (Sep 25, 2011)

1100 swaps are nice because you get big power but keep reliability. you dont have to mod them as much or at all. the 1100 has a different bolt pattern than the 750 so the guy on pwc is building aluminum plates that have both bolt paterns. plus the aluminum plate is alot lighter than the stock steel one.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 25, 2011)

Also, the aluminum engine plate won't fill your bilge up with chunks of rust and clog your bilge pump/strainer!

Another problem the Kawasaki 750's had with the steel engine plate is that once it began rusting and lost a little thickness, the force generated by jumping waves would be enough to cause that plate to buckle, and throw things out of alignment (I know all of this because if there is a way that a stand-up jet ski can be torn up, I've probably done it, I've been riding them since about 1986...LOL)


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## Anonymous (Sep 27, 2011)

Man, oh, man ... that's a great looking flounder !


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## PSG-1 (Sep 27, 2011)

Yeah, that's the biggest flounder I have ever caught or gigged. And he was only in about 6 inches of water, in a little depression of mud between some oyster beds. Hard to believe. The tide was rising, so I guess he was there, staging, waiting on it to get up to the edge of the grass (right as the water begins to flood into the grass is when you have the best luck gigging)

I actually went past him before I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and then I doubled back. So, this is the big one that ALMOST got away....LOL


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## Billvsthefish (Sep 28, 2011)

Fantastic job on the boat. Very high quality. Thanks for sharing your ideas and pics.


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## PSG-1 (Oct 19, 2011)

I have plenty of video of the Aluma Jet with the HO engine, but I hadn't taken any photos yet.

Here are a few:

Looking at the bow:






A shot of the console, as seen from the helm:



Looking toward the stern, from the helm:




Looking toward the bow, (note the deck lines faked down)




Standing on the bow, looking toward the stern:




Note the hatch on the bow. I have it designed so there is a channel under the front edge, that locks the hatch in place as you slide it forward and close it, to keep it from blowing open. No hinges to tear up, or get sticky and start bending the sheet metal.



This hatch is also at the bow. Used for storing ropes, life jackets, waders, or anything else that will fit through the opening. Unfortunately, it is not a watertight hatch, because of the seat mount deck plate above that lets water run through the hole. I guess I really should seal that, then this would be a relatively dry compartment. You can also see the pink extruded styrofoam paneling, this is 1.5 inches thick, and I have a piece between every rib on the boat, in the bottom, as well as along the gunwales.




Another shot of the console. Note the glovebox on the bottom shelf, for storing items such as a phone, camera, keys, etc. The upper shelf contains the stereo, as well as a small amount of storage shelf to the right of the radio, but if I start sliding around, things tend to shift around on that shelf, so I usually don't put anything there. And finally, underneath, you can see my drybox, that contains all my compliance gear, such as air horn, flare pistol, registration, as well as my first aid kit, extra cap and screen for the water strainer, a few tools, etc. Also note the battery box next to the dry box. This holds my spare group 24 size marine battery, it's there to add more weight forward to keep the boat from porpoising, and also as a spare battery in case my other one goes dead, I can use this one to get home:


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## PSG-1 (Oct 19, 2011)

Here's a shot of the starboard stern hatch. This gives access to remove the fuel tank, as well as some storage for another dry box. This dry box has some bottled water, food and other survival gear in it. Also, note the inline water strainer located on top of the fuel tank. I figure it's a lot easier to lift this hatch to check my strainer, than having to remove the engine cowling, and stick my hand down amongst all the razor blades (hose clamps) 



This one shows the front of the engine. You can see how there is a 'bulkhead' at the front of the engine. The water has to be this high on the deck to flood into the engine compartment, and even then, because the cowling overlaps this bulkhead and there is a seal all the way around the cowling, that isn't likely to happen. because the round object right in front of the bulkhead is a cover with a strainer screen for a 500 GPH electronic bilge pump. Also contained in this area is the siphon bilge pump that hooks to the jet pump, so it is pumping whenever the engine is running.



I set the engine back as far as possible by cutting the driveshaft shorter, but even so, I couldn't get it back that last 2 inches so the entire engine would be behind a bulkhead.



A shot of the engine from the starboard side. 


On the 2 stroke design, both fuel tanks were located all the way to the rear. But, because of how the muffler comes off the HO engine, the fuel tank had to be located forward. As a result, the hatch for the fuel tank access had to have the filler neck hole cut into it, so, it is not a removable hatch like the starboard side, it is riveted in place. The vent to the rear is for the blower, and because the slot faces forward, it also acts as an air intake while underway. This was the location of the original filler neck for the port side fuel tank. When I moved the tank forward, I utilized this existing hole for the blower by enlarging it to 4" diameter.

The vent in front of that faces to the rear, and allows air to flow out. The only reason the forward vent is there to begin with is because of the height of the fuel pump, I had to raise my deck up about an inch or so to give clearance for the wire harness plug. If not for that, this vent would not be there.



A shot from the port side. You can see the driveshaft coupler guard, I fabricated this from some 1/8" aluminum sheet, bending it in my brake. I used yamaha's pre-existing bolt holes for their coupler guard to bolt a set of clips to, for the guard to slide down onto. Works pretty good.




Although the cowling sticks up a good 6 inches higher than the rear reck of the boat, when you look at it from the side, it's not really that noticeable, and the 'High Output' lettering breaks it up, so it doesn't look as big (the lettering is factory Yamaha, for their SX230 jetboat) 





Here's a shot of the stern, that shows off the platform. The platform attaches with 4 bolts.




A shot of the transom, showing the jet pump tunnel with the rubber skirting that acts as a sound baffle.


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## Billvsthefish (Oct 20, 2011)

Outstanding build and pics. I'm curious about the foam you used in your engine compartment. It looks like egg crate foam. Did it help with engine noise? Fire resistant? Where did you get it? Does your flotation foam help with this as well? Reason is, mine is pretty loud, have to almost yell at wot just to be heard. Not as bad cruising, but i want to make it much quieter.


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## PSG-1 (Oct 20, 2011)

Billvsthefish said:


> Outstanding build and pics. I'm curious about the foam you used in your engine compartment. It looks like egg crate foam. Did it help with engine noise? Fire resistant? Where did you get it? Does your flotation foam help with this as well? Reason is, mine is pretty loud, have to almost yell at wot just to be heard. Not as bad cruising, but i want to make it much quieter.




It's like egg crate foam, but it's fire retardant. I ordered it from McMaster-Carr, it was about 100 dollars for enough to do the inside of the engine compartment, as well as lining the inside of the cowling.

And yes, it definitely helps with toning down engine noise. 

I originally had dyno-mat in there, it was heavy, it held moisture, and the aluminized outer skin did very little to tone down the noise levels. This egg crate foam is very lightweight, it does not hold moisture, and as I said, it's a huge difference in the sound suppression levels.

As far as the floatation foam, there isn't any in the engine compartment, no room for it. The flotation foam begins in the hull, just forward of the engine compartment, between every set of ribs in the bottom, as well as between every set of ribs along the gunwales. 

That foam is the pink foam board that you see used for insulation. It's 1.5 inches thick. As it is an extruded, closed cell foam, it is virtually waterproof, it will not get waterlogged. DO NOT use expanding foam, this stuff is horrible for use in a boat, it will get waterlogged. (I learned this from the first time around with the Aluma-Jet, when we rebuilt it, we were yanking out a bunch of juicy, stinking foam... LOL)

As far as making an engine quieter.....the noise comes from 2 sources.....the exhaust, and the intake. That's why most air intakes have a 'sound attenuator' on them, to baffle down the noise of the intakes sucking air into the crankcase. 

So, 3 things you can do, are to 

1: add egg crate foam to minimize echo and vibration inside the engine well

2: Design some type of sound attenuator for the intake system

3: design the exhaust system like that of my boat, and the Yamaha 4 stroke jet skis. Instead of simply routing it out through your hull, route it into the jet unit tunnel, so the sound is absorbed into the water thrust while underway (this makes a HUGE difference)


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## PSG-1 (Oct 26, 2011)

Here's another video that shows a good comparison of the sound levels. All video taken with an i-flip camera:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZX2C3c_Xzw


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## PSG-1 (Nov 13, 2011)

Basically a slideshow of the photos seen here, with some unseen video clips, and a good soundtrack, as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I0Tod7-FXY


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## wcbond4 (Apr 19, 2012)

I wanted to ask, (that is if you remember) how much it ran to put that diamond plate in the floor. I was thinking about having diamond plate put over my front a rear decks, but I have no idea what it will cost. 

Also..did you ever run the boat before you painted it? How bad was the reflection/glare and heat?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 20, 2012)

wcbond4 said:


> I wanted to ask, (that is if you remember) how much it ran to put that diamond plate in the floor. I was thinking about having diamond plate put over my front a rear decks, but I have no idea what it will cost.



When I got the plate for the aluma-jet, I got a really good deal on the aluminum, because it was stained, as you can see in the pics. I think the diamondplate was around 100 dollars, and the smooth was a little less than that.

But, when I installed an identical floor in my 14 foot Dura craft, they didn't have any damaged goods, I had to buy new material, so, it cost a bit more that time around.
For the .062" diamondplate used on the floor, and the .062" smooth used on the side panels, it was about 375 dollars total.







> Also..did you ever run the boat before you painted it? How bad was the reflection/glare and heat?




No, it was painted before I ever ran it. But, about 2 years ago, I decided to strip it down to bare aluminum, inside and out (man, that was a PITA!!) After all that work, I ran around for a while with it unpainted, but I just didn't like the looks of it, because it wasn't shiny like brand new aluminum, so, I re-painted it. As it wasn't shiny, it didn't have much glare. 

But brand new diamondplate would probably require a set of shade 5 welding glasses to be able to run the boat in bright light! They DO make diamondplate aluminum in a mill finish, instead of a bright finish, if I remember correctly, and I think it costs less.


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## wcbond4 (Apr 20, 2012)

Thanks so much for your response! Sheesh. 375...might have to wait awhile! 

I've been really torn on putting diamond plate down or not. I like the looks...but afraid that it would be to bright/hot to use without painting. If I paint it...I feel like I might as well not put it down at all. 

At least that gives me an idea of what I'm looking at.

By the way, did you weld yours or just rivet it?

P.S. I've been drooling over your boat(s) all day!


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## PSG-1 (Apr 20, 2012)

wcbond4 said:


> Thanks so much for your response! Sheesh. 375...might have to wait awhile!




Like I said, I'm fairly certain they make diamondplate in a mill finish, as well as the bright finish. And I would almost bet that the mill finish is a bit cheaper than the bright finish.




> I've been really torn on putting diamond plate down or not. I like the looks...but afraid that it would be to bright/hot to use without painting. If I paint it...I feel like I might as well not put it down at all.






The thing is, if you paint it, the tread plate will lose some of its non-skid properties. So, honestly, you're better off to go with a smooth floor, and paint with a good non-skid paint. An unpainted mill finish might not be too hot or bright, but I can guarantee you a bright finish is going to blind you....like I said, you'll need to swap out your sunglasses for a set of shade 5 torch cutting glasses. 







> At least that gives me an idea of what I'm looking at.
> 
> By the way, did you weld yours or just rivet it?
> 
> P.S. I've been drooling over your boat(s) all day!




LOL, thanks for the compliments. As for how I did the floors in my boats, I first cut the piece for the floor, then the 2 gunwale panels. Then, where the gunwale panel meets the floor, I welded it, to form a 'tray' Once I built the tray, I placed the foam between all the ribs, then put the tray in place and riveted all the ribs of the gunwales and the floor.

You could do it without welding, but you'd need to have bottom edge of the gunwale panel bent so that it laps under the edge of the floor by a couple of inches. Then, when you go to install it, you run a bead of RTV ultra black where the floor panel overlaps the flange of the gunwale panel, then, rivet it all in place.


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## Frank ZX (Aug 1, 2012)

Can you PM me your email? I have a few questions. 
BTW, awesome work and performance!


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## bigwave (Aug 2, 2012)

Have you found a new project yet....I am still waiting to see a twin jet, lets say 21 polarcraft or something like it...... :lol:


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## PSG-1 (Aug 2, 2012)

Frank ZX said:


> Can you PM me your email? I have a few questions.
> BTW, awesome work and performance!




E-mail me at: [email protected]

I'll be glad to help out with any advice or info that I can!


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## PSG-1 (Aug 2, 2012)

bigwave said:


> Have you found a new project yet....I am still waiting to see a twin jet, lets say 21 polarcraft or something like it...... :lol:




Not yet. This summer, I've been busy between working, and also working here in the backyard....I built a pond (including all excavation, plumbing, wiring, and masonry work) 

I've got it stocked with a handful of bream right now, but when fall comes, I'll put some other fish in there, like a couple of bass, and even a few rainbow trout (my cousin has a place in TN, just over the NC line...it's about 6 hours from here..... and he's friends with the guy that raises trout to sell to trout farms) 


But this coming winter, I think I'll do another boat project for sure. I'd really like to take a DuraCraft "Basic Bay 2074" and install twin 4-Tec Sea Doo engines in there. 

BTW, the 4-Tec is a 215 HP supercharged engine....so, that would be 430 HP in a 20 foot boat!!

But two engines is twice the money, twice the labor, and twice the PITA. So, I think I'll stick with a single engine, but, I definitely would like to go with the supercharged (post-2007 models, as earlier ones had major problems with the supercharger impellers)

If not the supercharged, it's going to have to be another High Output, as I really have been enjoying this engine in my Aluma-Jet, I can't say enough good things about it. It was a major hit to the wallet, having to throw down 3 grand for the engine, but IMHO, worth every last red cent of it!

It's so nice never having to lift the cowling and deal with a tempermental b!tch like that old Tigershark I had before. Just turn the key and get it. Not to mention being cleaner, quieter, and fuel efficient. 


On a final note, I really think if there were a demand for boats like mine, I could get into building them, and building them to where they could easily be insured, etc. I say that because I had a marine surveyor do an inspection of my boat, for insurance purposes, and he was really impressed....and he could find no major issues that would disqualify the boat from meeting ABYC standards. So, for someone who's not a professional boat builder, I'd say I did pretty good!


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## bigwave (Aug 3, 2012)

I will be looking forward to your next build....You did a great job on alumajet, especially with the video commentary. My friend has a river jet boat that has a 302 v8 engine in it..that thing is bullet proof, and it really hauls the mail. I will try to get some pics of that thing...it is all aluminum 23'. He says that everyone that commercial salmon fishes use this type of boat....it reminds me of your boat.


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## PSG-1 (Aug 3, 2012)

I've also thought of the possibility of building my own hull, and using heavier material for the bottom, like 3/16" aluminum, with a provision to bolt UHMW panels to the bottom, to make it rock proof. But then again, fabricating a hull is going to take a lot of time, and that's time better spent on doing other things, like installing the engine, etc. 

I guess we'll see what we see, when we see what we see. :LOL2:


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## fender66 (Aug 3, 2012)

> I guess we'll see what we see, when we see what we see. :LOL2:



Hmmmmmmm.......I see.


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## Lowe 2070 CC (Aug 3, 2012)

> I've got it stocked with a handful of bream right now, but when fall comes, I'll put some other fish in there, like a couple of bass, and even a few rainbow trout (my cousin has a place in TN, just over the NC line...it's about 6 hours from here..... and he's friends with the guy that raises trout to sell to trout farms)


 
I don't know where in SC you are, but I don't know anywhere in the state where a shallow pond will support rainbow trout. They typically won't tolerate extended water temps above 75 degrees for any extended period and don't eat when temps rise above 65-70 degrees. They also require higher oxygen levels than the bass and bream you mentioned. Sping and well water typically can't support these oxygen demands with out some form of running water or aeration system. Brown trout will tolerate warmer water, but not much warmer.

Getting a deep enough pond to keep cold water simply leads to that cold deep water having too little oxygen.

Trout may be fine for put and take fishing during the colder months, but summers (even upstate) will likely do them in. I'd stick with Bass, bluegills, channel catfish, and maybe some threadfin shad for food in SC. Stocking rates would really depend on pond size and your goals as the owner.

I have my MS if Wildlife Biology from Clemson if that adds any credibility for ya!


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## PSG-1 (Aug 3, 2012)

Lowe 2070 CC said:


> I don't know where in SC you are, but I don't know anywhere in the state where a shallow pond will support rainbow trout. They typically won't tolerate extended water temps above 75 degrees for any extended period and don't eat when temps rise above 65-70 degrees. They also require higher oxygen levels than the bass and bream you mentioned. Sping and well water typically can't support these oxygen demands with out some form of running water or aeration system. Brown trout will tolerate warmer water, but not much warmer.
> 
> Getting a deep enough pond to keep cold water simply leads to that cold deep water having too little oxygen.
> 
> ...





Thanks for the info, good stuff to know. My pond is relatively small, about 14 feet by 20 feet, and about 4 feet deep. I do have significant aeration, as I have a 4 foot waterfall cascading over limestone....I'm also using a sand filter, just like swimming pools use, so, my water is crystal clear in this pond, as well as my koi pond, which has the same type of filter system. The water itself comes from a shallow well, has a lot of iron sediment, this time of year, it's about 75 degrees as it comes from the well. 

The pond gets full sun from about 11 am to 2 or 3 pm, right now at the height of summer. As the sun moves further south in the fall and winter, the pond will be in even more shade.
I also provide a lot of shade between the oak trees that overhang the pond, as well as lots of pond plants such as hyacinth, lillies, and cat tails.

Even right now, the water temp of the pond is about 82 degrees....I know that's a bit higher than what mountain streams are.

I have no doubt that I can keep trout in the pond from fall to spring, but in the summer, there could be an issue with die-off. But if that happens, I guarantee they won't go to waste, I'll cull them out and cook them! 

Given the size of my pond, I'll probably keep no more than 20-30 bream (I have about 10 right now) maybe 1 or 2 bass, possibly a striper, half a dozen tilapia, and maybe 12-18 trout.

I've had the pond going for about the last month and a half, and so far, the water balance seems to be good, I've even got a freshwater mussel living in there (I plan to get a few more of those, as they should help filter the water a little bit)

I don't have any degrees in biology, in fact, I never went to college. Nor did I stay at a holiday inn last night :LOL2: But, I have a little bit of experience in water quality management, as I used to have a 90 gallon reef aquarium in my house, with live corals, etc. A system like that requires some SERIOUS maintenance, (which is why I went to freshwater with that tank...after running the reef tank for about 10 years, I grew tired of the daily maintenance)


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## Lowe 2070 CC (Aug 3, 2012)

Good to know you have some experience.

I just didn't want you to be upset and confused when all your trout went belly up next July! 

Large aquarium experience is a real plus as you've already learned the value of water quality and aeration. Too many folks simply dig a hole and wonder why they can't keep their fish alive.

This drought and heat have led to a number of die-offs, especially after a sudden shower as ponds turn over.

In regards to Tilapia, they are a fish of the tropics and will start dying off when water temps drop below 50 degrees (they get pretty depressed at 55). They prefer water in the mid 80 degree range. Thus they will handle the summer but not the winter. Again the bass and bream are designed (by Mother Nature) to thrive under the conditions where you live. The trout an tilapia can only survive at the extreme hot and cold ends of it.

Good Luck, and ask me questions anytime if I can help.


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## PSG-1 (Aug 3, 2012)

Lowe 2070 CC said:


> Good to know you have some experience.
> 
> I just didn't want you to be upset and confused when all your trout went belly up next July!
> 
> Large aquarium experience is a real plus as you've already learned the value of water quality and aeration. Too many folks simply dig a hole and wonder why they can't keep their fish alive.



You're right about that. In a shallow pond, especially a small one, you've got to have aeration and filtration, if you expect to have any kind of water clarity and enough oxygen to keep fish alive, even goldfish. Otherwise, it's a mudhole.

Been through trial and error with my girlfriend's koi pond, after a couple of years, I finally got it figured out, and one thing I realized is that a pond needs an overflow system, for surface skimming, as this is what keeps the water clean. So, when I built my new pond....I designed it based on what I knew would work...and so far, so good. 

The water in both my ponds is crystal clear, and it's so clean, you can drink it, there's no fishy taste, no iron taste from the well water, just a little organic taste, like river or lake water. So, the image you normally think of when you think of a pond.....my setup kind of deviates from the normal, they're really more like swimming pools with fish.

Conversely, I have dealt with the issues that can arise from improper procedures of maintaining water....I've crashed a reef tank a couple of times, killed hundreds of dollars in fish and coral over the years. I also crashed the koi pond one time about 4 years ago, killed several large koi that were nearly 10 years old, like almost 2 feet in length...that's enough to make you sick. But, things like that teach valuable lessons, I suppose. 




> This drought and heat have led to a number of die-offs, especially after a sudden shower as ponds turn over.
> 
> In regards to Tilapia, they are a fish of the tropics and will start dying off when water temps drop below 50 degrees (they get pretty depressed at 55). They prefer water in the mid 80 degree range. Thus they will handle the summer but not the winter. Again the bass and bream are designed (by Mother Nature) to thrive under the conditions where you live. The trout an tilapia can only survive at the extreme hot and cold ends of it.
> 
> Good Luck, and ask me questions anytime if I can help.




Thanks for the info. I did read that about tilapia, that they are a tropical fish, and may not be able to over-winter in this climate. I didn't know what their temp threshold was, so, thanks for letting me know. Since I know that the water temp gets as low as 40 here in the winter, and there's no way I'm going to try to heat a pond...that's simply too cost-prohibitive, I think the idea about tilapia may be out. If their temp threshold was about 45, I'd be willing to chance it. But if they start shutting down at 55 degrees, there's no way I can keep them here in the winter.

I've also read that rainbow trout won't survive above 75 degrees, at least without aeration. Since I am able to put the aeration into the pond with the waterfall, I'm willing to take a chance with trout...but maybe I should try the brown trout instead, since you said they are slightly more heat tolerant than rainbow trout. 

Like I said, it's a relatively small pond, and I'm going to keep the fish load at a reasonable level, maybe once in a while thin out the population by catching and eating a few of the fish, but I'll probably never have more than 50-60 fish in total at any given time. But I definitely need some more bream...I enjoy watching those guys attack worms, crickets, or anything else I toss into the pond!


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## PSG-1 (Aug 18, 2012)

Every time I get something done on my jetboat, I keep saying, "It's finally done" But then I think of something else that can be improved. I swear, I'll be 80 years old one day, hobbling around with my cane, saying, "well, it's finally done." LOL

Anyhow, here we go:





One thing I did was to buy a news set of tires and rims, as the ones that were on the trailer were used when I bought the trailer, and that's been over 5 years ago. And since the trailer didn't have a spare, and I like to take it on road trips, I used one of my old tires as the spare. I was amazed at the difference a new set of rims makes. It almost makes the whole rig look like new!

But notice something else? Like, a larger rear seat? And maybe something sticking up from the transom? Yep, those are 2 MORE improvements. Let's check 'em out:





My new swingback seat! And I made it, everything except the upholstery, that is. 




Already had the seat cushion, it actually came out of a boat my mom used to own, she had a thicker cushion made for the helm bench seat. For the past couple of years, I've been using it in the jetboat, by setting it on the floor in the bow, for my girlfriend to sit on, using the front of the console as the 'back' of that seat, since the life ring is on a hanger on the front of the console, so it does make a nice object to lean against. That system did work, although, to sit there, she had to sit indian-style, and there isn't much room to stretch out and relax between the console and the forward deck. Plus, she's all by herself up there....


So the more I thought about it, the more I thought, 'there's got to be a way to bring us closer when we go boating' :mrgreen: So, the first thing I did was to fabricate the lower frame, as shown in this photo:




This is made of 1/8" x 2" aluminum angle, except for the 2 side pieces that rest on the floor, those are made of 1/4" x 2" angle. You'll see why when you read further.




So, at that point, it was just the frame, and the flat cushion, it didn't have a back yet. We tested this out last week, by taking a 60 mile round trip up the ICW. While the cushion was comfortable, and it was nice being able to put 2 people at the console..... without a back to lean against, after a while, it gets uncomfortable. So, I knew I had to fabricate a back, and have the upholstery guy match it to my seat cushion.

I used some 3/8" x 2" flat aluminum bar, and then some 1 inch x sch 40 aluminum pipe to make the frame for the back. I used a hole saw, and cut holes into the 2 side pieces of flat bar, so the tube could be inset, and welded on the outside, as well as the inside. I used 3 cross members. 

Also, the top and bottom ends of the flat stock were radiused nice and round. Then, I cut some slots on the bottom of the 2 flat pieces, as well as a couple of 1/4" holes, for the adjustment mechanism....shown here:






The 'comb' is made from 1/4" stainless plate (I already discovered that 3/8" aluminum wasn't stout enough....the 'teeth' immediately bent on my first attempt of adjusting the seat) The comb is bolted to the lower member of the seat frame, which is made of 1/4" x 2" aluminum angle. 3/8" SS bolts with washers and lock nuts are the pivot point. Since the flat stock has slots cut, this allows it to slip up. This upward slip allows the 1/4" SS bolt to slip up from between the set of teeth in the comb, for adjusting the frame forward or backward. Then slip it back down into the desired setting, making sure each side is pressed in, and gravity holds it in at that point.




Having done that, I took the frame, and the existing cushion to a local guy that does really good work. He installed foam on the frame, then matched the material to the existing cushion, so it would look correct. I dropped it off late Monday afternoon, and I picked it up late Thursday afternoon....man, I love it when people have the same work ethic as me, and get things done quick! And not only that, but he did a good job, too.


As you can see, the mechanism allows for the seat to be flipped back, and it can also be flipped forward, for use as a leaning post:





*Out-freakin-standing!!* This is kinda what I wanted to put in the boat when I first built it back in 2005, but it was just one of those things I never got around to doing, and I just settled for the single seat at the helm for all this time, as most factory swingback seats are 32"+...this one is only 30" wide.



And just to make the boat a little more passenger-friendly, not to mention easier to climb in and out of when it's on the trailer, I used this old johnboat transom handle, as an "O-sh!+ handle" Cleaned all the old paint off, then etched with acid, zinc chromate primer, then nice bright red paint for visibility:







Also, I happened to have some aluminum tread plate channel left over from another job, so, I put it to good use as a kick plate on the bottom shelf of the console:




Now, THIS is a LOT better than what was here before, just an up-turned edge of aluminum that was only 1/8" thick, not exactly a comfortable surface to rest your feet on, especially bare feet!







All right, well, on to the next improvement......

Since I love to waterski, I decided the boat needed a ski pole. But not just any ski pole, it needed to be tall enough to pull from a higher point, for wakeboarding. Wakeboard boats have fancy anodized towers on them for this purpose. But I don't want a tower. I want a removable pole.

So, after a lot of figuring, this is what I came up with:




The vertical member is made of 2 inch stainless steel pipe, and the braces are made of 1.5" thin wall stainless tubing.


To make it easily removable, yet rigid, I made use of the pintle mount on the transom:




The plate on the bottom of the pole is 1/4" stainless plate. Inset and TIG welded into this plate is a length of 3/4" SS solid round stock, this fits into the rear pintle mount.



The braces attach with 1/4" SS carriage bolts and wing nuts, to the gunwales:






Also, to make the ski pole easier to break down and store when not in use, I made a set of internal sleeves, out of solid aluminum round stock, turned down on the lathe to be a snug fit inside the thin wall tubing. Then I cut the tubing, and on either side of the cut, I installed a 1/4" SS bolt with washers and lock nuts.





Also tested this out last week, waterskiing on the ICW, even took some video and put it on youtube. Anyhow, this ski pole works out GREAT!




Finally, for those who have seen my youtube channel, you may have seen the video 'finishing touch' where we fabricate a custom wire harness cover for the jetboat. If not, here's a few pics:







Now, that looks a helluva lot better than all those runs of cable and watertight conduit running down the gunwale!

Also, for those that saw the video.... I went back and took out the SS self-tappers that held it in place, and instead used rivet nuts, with 10-24 SS machine screws, as these won't strip out over time like sheet metal screws.


Well, that's about it....for now, at least! I would say I think I've finally got 'er done....but like I said, every time I say that, I end up doing something else. 

Anyhow, these are very welcome improvements to the boat, especially the seat, I know I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than the little standard-size boat seat I was using.


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## GrogHog (Aug 21, 2012)

Nice build I run the Santa Fe here in Fla. I put in at the hwy 129 bridge. I also run out of Horseshoe beach for my fishin.


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## bigwave (Aug 21, 2012)

Bravo =D> =D> Very nice improvements.....you cease to amaze me. The seat turned out really nice.....so did the tri-pod. I will have to look up your video of the pole in action.....


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## PSG-1 (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks. Like I said, the seat is a VERY welcome improvement. Haven't got to test it yet, as the weather has been kinda crappy here the last several days, but we need the rain, so, I'm not gonna complain about it too much.

As for the pole, I built it last year, around September, but I previously had 'guy wires' to support it, made from 1/16" SS cable. Well, the first run out, one of the crimps pulled loose on one of the cables, and that was all she wrote. Didn't lose the pole, but needless to say, that was the end of the waterskiing for that trip.

Which, to be honest, I was glad, because my gut feeling said that the guy wire idea was a piss-poor idea to begin with, if nothing else, out of concern for 'clothes-lining' oneself on the thin-diameter wire! :shock: 

So, I had to re-do it with better supports, and the thin wall tubing I used is plenty strong for this application. I put it to the test, waterskiing behind the boat, and I never saw any kind of flexing or bending of the ski pole when I was cutting and jumping.


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## PSG-1 (Aug 22, 2012)

GrogHog said:
 

> Nice build I run the Santa Fe here in Fla. I put in at the hwy 129 bridge. I also run out of Horseshoe beach for my fishin.



Since I'm not familiar with that area, I had to do some recon, courtesy of satellite images and photos posted to google earth...which is what I do to familiarize myself any time I go to any body of water that I'm not familiar with. If you know how to read sat images, you can tell where shoals are, etc. Not to mention you can also use some of the map tools for doing things like measuring distance, for plotting out fuel consumption/cruise range, etc. 

Anyhow, from what I could tell, that's some tough terrain! Looks like a jetboat is about the only practical boat to use throughout most of that river, for sure! And from what I saw on a couple of the photos posted to google earth, I'd be nervous going through some of those areas!


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## rabbit (Dec 12, 2012)

Was bopping through the country and managed to snake a ride on the Aluma-Jet.
That thing was too cool. Smooth smooth and quiet. Nothing around had an exhaust note like it. Purred
like a kitten till you bust a hole then it was all business. Flying through water so thin you could count the pebbles.
I was a pure blast. Caught a bunch of fish too.
People were trying not to look. I'm sure the other tourists were wondering what the heck kind of tin boat runs
like that. The locals know and I know. 
Thanks for the ride. Awesome is an overused word but that's what it was.
Thanks again


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## PSG-1 (Dec 12, 2012)

Yes, sir! Glad you stopped by my neck of the woods and did some fishing with me, and glad you enjoyed blasting over those shoals and oyster rocks! 

Nothing beats some fresh caught trout fried up in the cast iron skillet, huh? :mrgreen: 

If you're ever down this way again, give me a holler, we'll do it again. 


Take care,


Dan


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## fender66 (Dec 12, 2012)

PSG-1 said:


> Yes, sir! Glad you stopped by my neck of the woods and did some fishing with me, and glad you enjoyed blasting over those shoals and oyster rocks!
> 
> Nothing beats some fresh caught trout fried up in the cast iron skillet, huh? :mrgreen:
> 
> ...



TinBoat FAMILY SPIRIT.....

It's everywhere! =D> =D> =D>


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## PSG-1 (Dec 12, 2012)

This same courtesy/invitation is extended to anyone else here, as well. :mrgreen: 8)


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## fender66 (Dec 12, 2012)

PSG-1 said:


> This same courtesy/invitation is extended to anyone else here, as well. :mrgreen: 8)



I'm on my way!

.....as I dream of leaving work.


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## PSG-1 (Dec 14, 2012)

rabbit said:


> Smooth smooth and quiet. Nothing around had an exhaust note like it. Purred
> like a kitten till you bust a hole then it was all business.




Speaking of the exhaust signature of the boat, here's a quick video of the Aluma-Jet leaving port at dusk, with distances marked off as the boat blasts by (distances approximate, measured off with Google Mapping tools)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdK7aSp-fME&list=UUHYpuGo2zvfQcgL2J7VdAqA&index=7


When I'm passing at 350-750 feet away, I'm on the throttle pretty good, around 8,500 RPM. In this range, up to 10K RPM, it begins to sound like an actual jet engine. :mrgreen:


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## fishbum (Dec 14, 2012)

PSG-1 said:


> Lowe 2070 CC said:
> 
> 
> > I don't know where in SC you are, but I don't know anywhere in the state where a shallow pond will support rainbow trout. They typically won't tolerate extended water temps above 75 degrees for any extended period and don't eat when temps rise above 65-70 degrees. They also require higher oxygen levels than the bass and bream you mentioned. Sping and well water typically can't support these oxygen demands with out some form of running water or aeration system. Brown trout will tolerate warmer water, but not much warmer.
> ...



Here is a idea for you. I fish some tailrace areas for stripers amd use trout in the colder water in summer, i bought a used 30 cu ft chest freezer to keep them in!!! holds 200+ gal of water, I use a strong aeration (not 12volt) pump, and a timer on the freezer. because of the insulation of the freezer it is easy to keep the water at 50-60 deg or less if you want, I left it on a few times and got trout sicles. Have had up to 70# of trout for a couple weeks in there.


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## PSG-1 (Dec 14, 2012)

Well, right now I actually have 22 live rainbow trout swimming in my pond 

(I started with 24, but 2 decided to jump from my holding tank and commit suicide)

I got them here about the first week of October, their water was 64 degrees, the pond was about 78. So, no way I could transfer them to that, they would have all died for sure. Instead, I kept them in a spare bedroom in the house, with a window A/C unit turned down to 65. Had them in a small tank with water circulation/filtration, and initially, didn't have a cover on it, that is, until I stepped out the room for a second, came back in and had 2 dead ones on the floor where they jumped from the tank. Oops!

Anyhow, I kept them in that bedroom for about a week or so, until we had a cold front that finally dropped my pond down to around 68 degrees. Once it did that, I tranferred a couple at a time, until I was sure they were OK.

Now they're all swimming around in the pond, eating every day, and growing every day. A couple of them are at least 6-7 inches already, and they weren't much bigger than minnows when I first got them.

I figure by spring, I'll be ready to catch and eat a few. I want to leave about 1/2 a dozen or so in the pond through the summer, and see if I can keep them alive. If not, they won't go to waste, they will be eaten. But I think there's a way I can build some type of refrigeration coil to put in the path of my waterfall, to cool the water down. Between now and next summer, I'll be working on that idea.




Anyhow, if you want to see my trout swimming around, check out my video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl7N84SocIQ&list=UUHYpuGo2zvfQcgL2J7VdAqA&index=12




This was taken in the middle of October, when I first transferred the trout to the pond. As I said, they're bigger now, and next spring, I'll update the video to show how much they've grown.


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## Lowe 2070 CC (Dec 31, 2012)

Very cool video, good luck with them. And, good job on the filtration system. Looks like you've got water quality down, now it's just temperature regulation.


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## PSG-1 (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks. They are growing by leaps and bounds every day. A couple of them are already about 6 to 7 inches long, and by the growth predictions for rainbow trout, by May, they should be in the 12" range, perfect eating size!

I never realized what voracious appetites rainbow trout had, when I toss food in the pond, the water practically boils, and the food is gone. Five minutes later, I can throw more food, and they attack it like they haven't eaten at all. But, it does say that trout can eat more than they can metabolize, so, I feed them in moderation.

As for temperature regulation, I think I've come up with a possible solution....geothermal cooling. Although the pond may get up to around 80 degrees in the summer, the well water is around 70-71 degrees, so, that gave me an idea. 

What if I were to pump well water through some type of heat exchanger, placed in the path of the waterfall, and then pump the water back into the ground, through an injection pipe that is sunk into the water table (which, around here, is only 4-5 feet at most) 

I'm not sure what the exchanger would be, but I'm thinking something like the "worm" I use for my snowmaker.

Either that, or buy a cheap, small refrigerator at a thrift shop, the type of refrigerator that has the little mini-freezer built into the top corner. Then, carefully dissect those plates that make up the 'box' of the freezer, and use them in the path of the waterfall, along with the other components of the unit. 

After all, if it is cold enough to freeze water in ice trays, it ought to be cold enough to knock the pond temp down from 80 to around 74-75. And I can control it with a thermostat that has a probe placed in the water, I used to have it hooked up to a chiller unit on a reef aquarium, but it will work for this in the same way.

I'm thinking the geothermal might work, but then again, the temperature difference between 80 and 70 isn't that much, and may not have an effect. So, perhaps the freezer plates would be better, as there's enough difference between 80 and 32, it has to have some type of effect as a chiller. I've got the next 4 or 5 months to think about it, but I do need to get moving, as summer will be here before I know it. 

Right now, there are 21 trout in the pond (had one die, not sure what happened) Not bad, though, considering I started with 24, and they had to make a 7 hour trip from the Roan Mountain, TN to the coast of SC, and then had to be in a storage tank, then transferred to the pond, etc, etc. That's a lot of stress on fish, and to only have 3 die, is pretty good, especially considering 2 of them died by committing suicide, jumping out of their holding tank (I found out real quick they can jump!) So, only one died by something unspecified. 

So, out of those 21 trout, I will probably harvest about 15 of them, and leave 5 or 6 to try and grow through the summer, to see if I can keep them alive. If not, they won't go to waste, they will be eaten. But if I CAN keep them alive, then, they will grow to be trophy size trout, and I will get some more small ones in the fall (knowing they will stay alive, I will get more than 2 dozen this time) and repeat the whole process again.

Meantime, don't be surprised if you hear about some guy setting a state record for largest rainbow trout in SC, caught in a coastal county! LMAO, now THAT would be funny! :LOL2:


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## parsleap (Apr 5, 2013)

I know this thread is a little old, but hoping PSG-1 is still tracking...

PSG-1 - Simply an awesome job. I have a boat that I want to take down a similar path, except that I want to look at the dual-jet setup that someone has recommended. So I'd like to get your thoughts.

My boat is a 1958 Lonestar cruiseliner 23' aluminum cuddy cabin (am trying to attach pic). It has a mercruiser 120 I/O right now, and pre-alpha 1 outdrive. It looks original but I don't know. At any rate, I've wanted to take it to jet since I got it. Duals because its bigger and because of some of the things you can do with a dual setup (I've had the priveledge to run on a military riverine craft with dual jets - incredible - I want a poor man's version of that!).

I've looked at Berkeley pumps, but don't necessarily want to go down that route. The concept I have is for dual pumps - biggest ones I can find out of jet skis like what you've used - and a single engine tucked between, running them both off of a belt (or belts). I know I'd have to go to a closed-loop cooling system and reverse the direction of something (either an engine or an impellor - can they be simply flipped?). I want to pursue this 'folded' setup so I don't extend the power train up into the passenger area any more than it already is, or as little more as possible. That's another the downside to a berkeley and a big ol' engine. 

So I'm curious as to your thoughts on my 'folded' concept. What HP engine would it take to spin two pumps, if i could figure out a way to make a belt work? I'd also like to know if you know besides the XL1200 if there were other skis by yamaha that have the aluminum housing pump/shoe. Trolling ebay and CL for those right now.

Again, great post, thanks for taking the time. Any help appreciated.


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## PSG-1 (Apr 5, 2013)

parsleap said:


> I know this thread is a little old, but hoping PSG-1 is still tracking...
> 
> PSG-1 - Simply an awesome job. I have a boat that I want to take down a similar path, except that I want to look at the dual-jet setup that someone has recommended. So I'd like to get your thoughts.
> 
> ...




I've never actually seen a setup like this, and I'm not even sure if you could put the load of 2 jet pumps on a single 120 HP engine, it might over-lug the engine and cause it to seize. Smaller pumps would equal less total load on the engine, but it might also equal a lot less thrust. It's hard to say, as I've never done one of these types of builds, much less actually seen one.







> I know I'd have to go to a closed-loop cooling system and reverse the direction of something (either an engine or an impellor - can they be simply flipped?). I want to pursue this 'folded' setup so I don't extend the power train up into the passenger area any more than it already is, or as little more as possible. That's another the downside to a berkeley and a big ol' engine.





You wouldn't have to go to a closed loop cooling system, the pumps would supply enough water to the engine. Of course, closed loop is nice if you want to operate in debris-filled water without having to constantly worry about cleaning out a strainer screen, etc. Pretty simple, an electric circulating pump wired to the ignition to pump coolant, a reservoir, and then either a radiator, or a heat exchanger plate attached to the hull, so water flowing over it would lower the coolant temp as it circulates.

Typically, PWC pumps rotate counter-clockwise (viewed from the rear) I'm trying to visualize the mechanics of this in my head, I think what you'd do is to install a set of sprockets on the engine shaft, and a corresponding sprocket on each pump shaft. And since the engine shaft would have 2 sprockets nested together, one of your pump shafts would have to be slightly shorter, and one slightly longer, to allow for that offset. I'm thinking the problem might be one pump rotating the correct direction, and the other one is going to rotate bass-ackwards, and there lies the problem. At least, that's what I'm visualizing. Maybe I'm wrong, and both pumps will rotate in the same direction, it's hard to say without setting up a small scale model.






> So I'm curious as to your thoughts on my 'folded' concept. What HP engine would it take to spin two pumps,



The XL1200 pump requires at least 110 HP to effectively turn without over-lugging the engine.





> if i could figure out a way to make a belt work?




A belt drive around water is probably not a good idea, it's going to slip, unless you're able to use a timing belt, and you use pulleys with the teeth for timing belts....and those are right expensive. I think the better option would be #50 stainless roller chain, running on sprockets.




> I'd also like to know if you know besides the XL1200 if there were other skis by yamaha that have the aluminum housing pump/shoe. Trolling ebay and CL for those right now.




There were. I believe the XL800 used the bolt-in aluminum duct, in fact, someone here built a jetboat using an 800 pump, it looked exactly like my pump, with the bolt-in duct. Not sure what the impeller size is for the 800, though. I know on the 1200, it's a 155mm. I believe there were also a few other pumps made with the bolt-in duct. And that's really the type you want to use, unless you plan on fabricating your own duct. Ranchero50 did that, but it looks like a tremendous amount of work to do it. 

The other method most commonly seen is the 'cut-and-splice' method of using a fiberglass pump, bolted into the hull. This also works, but the only problem is if you ever have to replace it, then, you have to take another jet ski, chop up the hull, and then modify the pump with a flange to bolt into the boat. A bolt-in aluminum duct eliminates that problem altogether. 





> Again, great post, thanks for taking the time. Any help appreciated.




No problem. Hope this info helps out. Keep me posted, and let me know if you have any other questions. Always look forward to seeing jet john projects come to life. =D>


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## PSG-1 (Apr 5, 2013)

After some thought on this.....

In theory, I do believe you could get both pumps to turn in the same direction and run them off a single engine.

HOWEVER, one variable we have not figured in is a nasty little thing called "deflection" 

With the engine in the center, connected to the pumps on either side, via chain drive, the torque of the engine will constantly be 'pulling' on those driveshafts. And since it's not on-center, that will cause deflection of the pump shaft, and will cause premature wear of the bearings and/or shaft.

PWC's and other jet drives typically use a spartan jaw coupler, and the engine PTO shaft is very closely aligned with the pump shaft. A mis-alignment or deflection of more than .020" WILL in fact cause premature wear of the bearings, I've seen that happen with my own set-up, before I got it right.

So, taking into account a max allowable deflection of only .020"....I'm gonna say the chain drive may not be feasible.


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## parsleap (Apr 6, 2013)

PSG-1 - thanks for the thoughts and insights. I had not thought much about the deflection issue and bearing wear. That would obviously be harder to overcome without some beefier transfer sytem that took that load for the pump shaft, so it might start to get unruly! 

I wasn't even going to attempt to spin them with the 120 mercruiser engine. Probably more like a 6 cylinder. Good to know about the pumps getting enough water to the engine. I've honeslty never owned a jet ski so I've got some learning to do. A guy was selling a yammie 1200 this past weekend around here. I tried to make a case to my wife that it really might be fun to own one (knowing I'd try to take it apart after we got it!). Or thought about calling him to go look at it, and taking a measuring tape! Ha! Definitely want to re-use the aluminum housing and not try to make my own like Ranchero - I saw that thread too... wow... to both of you.

I was thinking belts and I was worried about the moisture. There are some very high end carbon belts that are supposed to be good, but the tensioning times two might be difficut. Anyway, I'm more of a powerpoint engineer than anything, but have good friends with welding skills.... so I'll keep at the drawing board and keep you updated! Thanks again!


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## PSG-1 (Apr 7, 2013)

parsleap said:


> PSG-1 - thanks for the thoughts and insights. I had not thought much about the deflection issue and bearing wear. That would obviously be harder to overcome without some beefier transfer sytem that took that load for the pump shaft, so it might start to get unruly!



Indeed! It could perhaps be minimized by using a pillow block bearing mounted just forward of the pump housing. The pillow block would absorb some of the deflection and help save on wear of the pump bearings, but the pillow block bearing would probably wear pretty quick, given the deflection from torque. 





> Good to know about the pumps getting enough water to the engine.





The XL1200 pump at 7000 RPM delivers 15 PSI, through 1/2" hose. That's according to the reading on the pressure gauge of my boat. Not sure what the GPM flow is, but I'm sure there's a way to calculate it.





> I've honeslty never owned a jet ski so I've got some learning to do. A guy was selling a yammie 1200 this past weekend around here. I tried to make a case to my wife that it really might be fun to own one (knowing I'd try to take it apart after we got it!). Or thought about calling him to go look at it, and taking a measuring tape! Ha!




As a rule(r) of thumb, :wink: the average pump and engine setup in a PWC occupies 50-56 inches of space, by roughly 20-24 inches wide, by roughly 18-24 inches high (the smaller figures are for 2 strokes, the larger figures are for 4 strokes) 





> Definitely want to re-use the aluminum housing and not try to make my own like Ranchero - I saw that thread too... wow... to both of you.




Thanks. The bolt-in housing is definitely a time-saver. And that's important, because a jet john requires a LOT of fabrication, so, anywhere you can cut down the time and labor, is always a good thing.





> I was thinking belts and I was worried about the moisture. There are some very high end carbon belts that are supposed to be good, but the tensioning times two might be difficut. Anyway, I'm more of a powerpoint engineer than anything, but have good friends with welding skills.... so I'll keep at the drawing board and keep you updated! Thanks again!



Tensioning times 2 might be difficult, but then again, you're pulling from 2 opposing directions, so, it may not be so difficult. I still think the biggest issue is going to be deflection of the pump shafts. The XL1200 pump shaft is .700" in diameter, less than 3/4" of an inch. It's about 2 &1/2 feet long, and when you start turning it at 7K RPM, alignment is important. Again, the side pressure being exerted by being offset and using a chain or a belt, is likely to cause issues.

But if there's a way to pull it off, it would be an awesome build! Keep us posted. And if you need any other info, let me know, as I've done this not once, but twice. The first time with a 2 stroke, and the second time around with a 4 stroke.


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## parsleap (Apr 11, 2013)

PSG-1: Another question if you may know the answer. do any of the Yamaha dual-jet boats, including their XR1800, for example, use the cast aluminum housing for the intake and pump vs. molding it into their fiberglass hulls? If so, may be an easier (though slightly more costly) path to go down for me to find one of those, take it apart, and re-use it. Having controls, throttle, all in one package might save a lot of 'inventing' on my part. The pumps all seem to be 155mm, I'm just curious if they used the same aluminum housing. Great if you know, if not, thanks again for all your comments and insight.


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## PSG-1 (Apr 11, 2013)

Some of the Yamaha jet skis used those bolt-in aluminum ducts, but many others did not, the duct was molded into the glass hull.

As for the one you're referring to, I have no idea. You could easily find out by looking it up through an online Yamaha PWC parts dealer, like XTreme Powersports, for instance. Enter the year, and model, then, look under "jet unit" 

There may be 3 seperate pages, like "jet unit 1" "jet unit 2" 

But one of those should show the stator, wear ring, impeller, and if available, the bolt in duct.

Look up a 1998 Yamaha XL1200W to see what the duct looks like, for reference.


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## bigwave (Apr 11, 2013)

How are the trout doing?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 11, 2013)

They're doing GREAT! Some of them are about 14 inches long now. I still have 18. We caught and ate 2 of them about a month ago, and I let a buddy of mine catch one for his birthday. 


The water surface temp got up to 75 yesterday, but I've got a lot of water flowing, running across limestone rocks, which are porous and cause additional aeration. 

I've been experimenting with building my chiller, to cool the water if necessary. I used my small copper worm for my snowmaker, hooked to the well water spigot at my pond. Placed the coil in the overflow weir on the pond, and ran water through it, with a hose hooked to it, using the water to water the grass, etc. 

The well water is still about 58 degrees, and I could feel the coil getting cold as the water went through it. Used an infrared thermometer, and indeed, the coil itself was reading about 58 degrees. It did drop the pond surface temp about 2 degrees, at least the water in the overflow weir, which is pulled in by the pump....so, that proves that it is feasible. 

May need to build a larger coil. True enough, the temp could be dropped in the pond by simply adding well water, but the well water here has a lot of sediment/iron in it, so, adding a lot of water every day is going to result in milky/cloudy water. So, that's the reason for pumping it through a coil and into the yard, instead of directly into the pond.

Also, yesterday, I switched from the Hayward sand filter, to an Ultima 2 media filter. The sand works fine for swimming pools, but for ponds, the fish waste, etc causes it to clog, and backwashing doesn't get it clean. The new filter uses different media that doesn't clog...I've been using one on my koi pond for the last couple of months.

Since I've proven that I can grow trout large enough to harvest from October to April, I'm now considering expanding the operation to a larger scale, and actually raising trout to sell to local restaurants or seafood markets. 

Still trying to see just how long they can survive before they are affected by temperature, it would be really interesting if they can actually acclimate to this climate, but I'm skeptical. Another buddy of mine has a birthday coming up next week, so, we're gonna catch a couple and cook them outside on the grill. :mrgreen:


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## bigwave (Apr 12, 2013)

Very cool indeed......I think they might just survive a slow gradual water temp increase as the days get longer and the water warms. I cant believe they grew that big in such a short time.....your commercial idea might just work, most of the trout you see in the restaurant's are whole anyways and 18" is plenty big for one plate. Have you made anymore video's of the trout lately?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 12, 2013)

Yeah, I'm holding out hope they will acclimate. It would be awesome if they did, so they could grow yet another season, and become trophy-sized trout.

I can't believe how fast they grew, either! It's amazing. Never saw a growth rate like this on any other fish. Heck, I put some fry-size bream in the pond last October, they're still tiny, haven't grown much at all. Unfortunately, because of that, most of them became trout food, only a few small ones still in there. And the hundreds of mosquitofish I had....well, they got picked off by the trout as well...LOL

As for the commercial aquaculture, I consulted with one of my game warden friends on that, he put in a call to HQ to find out exactly what permits I would need. Turns out as long as I sell the fish whole, not processed, all I need is an aquaculture permit, don't even need a land-and-sale license, because it's being taken from a private pond, not from public water. If I were to clean them, etc, I would have to have a facility certified by the Dept of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) Not to mention paperwork and HACCP records for that facility. So, I'm thinking the least amount of hassle, get the permit, and sell them whole to the restaurant or seafood market.

My issue now is being able to raise enough of them to make it worthwhile. My pond would hold about 100 fish, but that's it. If I want to expand the operation, the best option may be to build some above-ground tanks.


LATEST VIDEO, BACKYARD RAINBOW TROUT FISHING:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoyBMBfv8sI


That was taken a month ago, they've grown even more since then. I'm going to do another quick video that shows their growth from October to April, as it still amazes me.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 2, 2013)

*TROUT UPDATE:* Well, when the water hit 75 the trout stopped eating. At that point, there was no catching them on a hook and line. And as it approached 80, the fish started going belly up, at the rate of 1 fish per day. We had a cool period through the middle of June, and I had no more dead loss for a while, doing water changes with well water to drop the temp a little. Then it started getting hot toward the end of this past month, and they started going belly up at the rate of 1-2 fish per day. Honestly, trying to cool the pond with well water isn't feasible, and amounts to putting the fish on life support, so, I gave up on trying to delay the inevitable. The ones that looked OK, I cleaned and ate or froze. The few that were questionable were used in the crab pot. Rather than letting any more go to waste, I went ahead and harvested the last few out on June 30th, cleaned and put them in the freezer. 

A few lessons learned, and modifications made: Harvest them by the time the water hits about 74, as they stop eating and growing. Also figured out a way to easily catch them in warm weather. By placing the hose with 68 degree well water running into the 75+ degree water, the trout will flock to the cold water, where they can be netted. Also, removed all the rocks and gravel in the bottom of the pond, as they trap entirely too much detritus and cause ammonia levels to rise, which was detectable in some of the bream and trout we ate a month ago. Which is why it's important to not only backflush the filter like I've been doing, but to do regular partial water changes, like with an aquarium. Also, pulling only from the surface doesn't remove enough sediment and debris. Now in addition to the overflow weir, I also have an intake pipe that pulls from the bottom of the pond.

The fact that they were even able to live and thrive being 350 miles from their normal environment is an accomplishment. And having the majority of them live into early summer (although, we've had a cooler-than-usual June) is a small miracle. It was fun watching how fast they grew, hand feeding them, catching and releasing them on a variety of flies, and of course, eating fresh trout throughout the spring, can't beat that! Been a helluva experience. I plan to do it again next fall.
8) :mrgreen: 



*BOAT UPDATE:* Still running like a champ. And thanks to 4-stroke technology, not only have I saved a good bit of money on fuel, but I'm able to diagnose the engine any time. I recently bought the YDS (diagnostic) software and cable for around 100 dollars. Of course, it runs on Windows and I have a Mac, so, off to Wally World to buy a cheap Windows computer. Got the software installed, (actually, my girlfriend installed it, as she's more familiar with Windows than I am, since I've been using a Mac for the last 3 years) 

Hooked it to the boat and got a true reading on the engine hours at 257 hours, which was about 20 hours more than what I had on my hour meter, so, I had to run that up to bring it in synch with true engine hours. Not only does it tell the number of hours, but also the number of hours it was ran at a specific RPM range, and if any sensors tripped, at what hour it occured. Also shows the status of all sensors, and even the status of the no-wake switch! All of the diagnosis on my boat appeared normal when I ran the check, so, that's great news. IMHO, good investment for the boat. Not only that, but I also hooked it to my girlfriend's VX110 jet ski and checked that out, everything was good.


Over the last couple of years, we've done a good bit of running in the jetboat, always exploring new stretches of river. On a typical trip, we run 25 miles out from the launch point (usually up-stream, just in case!) and 25 miles back, for a total of 50. Longest 2 trips were up the ICW and back, total of about 60 miles, and a round trip on the Santee River Delta, for about 55 miles. Doing all that running, we've taken a lot of photos and video. 

My girlfriend always takes the photos, she's good at shooting on the move. We've got a bunch of her photos posted to google earth. You can see them on my panoramio photos page. Some of them are really good photos, like calender or poster material.

https://www.panoramio.com/user/6921169




I do pretty much all the videos while driving, which you can see on my youtube channel. In fact, I've got a dedicated section on my channel just for the rivers in SC that we travel. In no particular order, here's the majority of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MCQXLKIBc Upper Waccamaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2RvDSG9UuY Lower Waccamaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9cEvnKHj1Q Cape Romain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tzs1Nbiekk Lumber River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J-AVOJBYgk Black River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOf-YRXS2KI Little Pee Dee River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4IERawXJc Great Pee Dee (up to fall line)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTJcXmlwwxI Upper Santee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss3JGyQyEx0 Santee Delta


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## painlesstom (Jul 4, 2013)

Great videos man, I enjoyed them all. Your boat runs great and sounds awesome, I can tell you have really been having fun with it. You are brave to take it in salt water.. That is some cancerous stuff! What is the white rocker switch on the right side of your console doing? I noticed you kept filming it but couldn't see what the tag said above it.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 4, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=321168#p321168 said:


> painlesstom » 1 minute ago[/url]"]Great videos man, I enjoyed them all. Your boat runs great and sounds awesome, I can tell you have really been having fun with it. You are brave to take it in salt water.. That is some cancerous stuff! What is the white rocker switch on the right side of your console doing? I noticed you kept filming it but couldn't see what the tag said above it.




Thanks for the compliments! And thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed some footage of the rivers in my area.

It does sound awesome, no doubt about it, the 4 stroke purrs like a kitten at idle, but roars like a lion when you hit the throttle. You're right, salt water is some very corrosive stuff, but, it's where I live, so, I do a lot of running in salt water. The rivers are nice for giving the boat a good rinsing and flushing of fresh water. Anytime I run in salt, I make sure to thoroughly flush the engine, wash the boat and trailer as soon as I get home.

That rocker switch is a "no-wake" switch. The Yamaha jetboats use them. It's tied in to the ECM, pressing and holding for 2-3 seconds activates the no-wake mode, by bringing the engine up from 1750 RPM to around 2400, and holds it steady at that setting, like a cruise control. Like cruise control, to de-activate, simply press the switch again, or hit the throttle. Nice feature for going through idle speed areas.


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## painlesstom (Jul 12, 2013)

Ahhhhh, very nice. You've definitely gone the hi-tech route, very nice setup you've put together. I still have the first couple pictures of the hull you posted, stuck in my head. Hard to believe THAT became what I see in the videos. Once again, great job. I've been getting the itch for another project, and Seadoo XP ready to offer itself as a donor.... Mini speed boat maybe?


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## PSG-1 (Jul 12, 2013)

Yeah, looking back at the pictures of the corrosion-damaged hull, it's amazing the thing even floated, and even more amazing was the transformation into its current state. The 4 stroke Yamaha is definitely hi-tech, especially the ability to use the YDS system to run instant diagnosis, that's just awesome. 

As for another build....you ain't the only one with an itch for another project boat! I've thought the same thing, building a small, lightweight compact boat, like, 10 feet long by 3-4 ft wide, possibly even building my own hull from aluminum, and setting it up with UHMW panels, specifically for running the inland rivers above the fall line where the rocks begin. My boat is great in the coastal rivers, but not well suited for running around rocks. 

Think of a small, lightweight boat like a Mokai, but with the speed of a jet john. :mrgreen:


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## PSG-1 (Jul 14, 2013)

Well, I've been wanting an aluminum frame trailer for my jetboat for a while. A few months ago, I called Wesco Mfg in Columbia, SC for a price on an aluminum trailer to fit a 16 ft X 4 ft johnboat. Nearly 1700 dollars!! :shock: A little too high for me. 

A friend of mine buys used trailers and re-works them, then sells them to make a little cash. Think of it as "trailer flipping" LOL He recently acquired 2 aluminum frame trailers, 1 was a single axle and the other was a dual axle, with V-bent crossmembers made of 1/4X3 aluminum sq tube. Well, since the bunk boards were U-bolted to the cross members and they were used in salt water, the electrolysis ate up the crossmembers to the point they were breaking. And instead of being bolted to the trailer, they were welded, which meant replacing them would require cutting out the old ones and welding in new ones. 

So, he ordered the crossmembers, and when they came, they were not V-bent, but straight. And for 2 80 inch and 1 54 inch crossmember made of 1/4x 3 aluminum sq tube, he paid about 250 dollars (we figured it as a 12 dollars a foot, or, a dollar per INCH!! ) :shock: Ouch!

Between this and some other issues, he was frustrated with it, and said he was about ready to chop it up and take it to the scrapyard. I told him "don't do that, I'll buy it from you, I can modify it for my jetboat." He said he'd think about that. 
So, the next day he called and asked if I was serious about buying the trailer, and I said I was, then asked what he wanted for it. He said 300 dollars, and I said "SOLD!" He said that also included 2 of the 4 brand new tires and rims. So, since he made me a deal like that, I decided to help him out and buy the crossmembers from him, as he wasn't able to use them and was about to eat 250 dollars.

So, right now, I've got 550 dollars in it, and have to spend just a little more for a new set of slider tracks and springs, new axle and new fenders, and it'll be done.

On to pictures.........





Here it is, as purchased. Take a good look, because it's about to undergo some major surgery.




Cross member, destroyed by electrolysis





Double axles. When completed, it will be a single axle, as my boat weighs about 1100 lbs, I don't need dual axles.





Here's my current trailer for the jetboat. Made from 2x3 rectangular galvanized tubing. Overall, it's in good shape. The last foot of the longitudinal members of the frame are heavily rusted, the bottom side is rusted out. Also, the rear crossmember is heavily rusted, not compromised yet, but I'm ready for an aluminum trailer and be done with all the unsightly rust.

Once I get the aluminum trailer built, I'll be donating this to my buddy that I bought the trailer from, to help him out, again, he gave me a good deal on the aluminum trailer.

OK, so right now, my existing trailer is 60 inches wide, by about 13 ft from the rear crossmember to the beginning of the tongue, where the 2 sides meet. The aluminum trailer is about 19 feet long, by 80 inches wide. So, it's gotta be cut down and made more narrow. 

Here we go.....








CHOP, CHOP!






Old cross members and axles.





Removed the original tongue with brake system, the heavy winch post, and the 2 tires and rims that go back to my buddy.


And here's the tongue section I cut off, nearly 6 foot long (5 ft straight edge stood up in center, for reference






OK, as you saw in the photos, the front axle had a bend, and the rear one was straight. While the front was heavily rusted, the rear one was in good shape, so, my plan was to modify it. But you know how plans go.

Now, this REALLY p!sses me off....



I thought I was going to be able to clean up the surface rust, cut the axle shorter and use a sleeve, and be able to re-use it. Until I saw a hole drilled for the spring bolt....GRRRRRR :x :x :x When I saw that, I flung the axle across the driveway with a few expletives.

For the love of God, how hard is it to take a piece of 2" X 3/8" flat bar, punch a hole on center, and cut it 2 inches long, and weld the pad onto the axle? Using that method, the axle is strong. With a hole drilled....well, you might as well take a torch and cut a big notch somewhere in the tube. Because that hole lets water in, so then you have to contend with rust not only on the outside, but on the inside, too. Then, the hole itself acts like a stress riser, and once it starts rusting, guess where it breaks? 

With all that said, I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy a factory axle with hubs for 125 dollars, as it's already hot dipped galvanized, something I'm not able to do when I build axles. Wasn't counting on that expense, but due to some $%^&# drilling holes in the axle, that's what I have to do.

OK, sorry for the rant....back to it














Need to draw it in, so the distance between the webs of the 2 beams is 3 inches, where the tongue will go.


Notch




.....and bend



There we go. Hated to have to cut it to make it bend, but that was the only way. I'll just V out and weld all the cut areas from both sides, then fish-plate with some 1/4" aluminum plate.





I figure on using a piece of the drop from the 80" cross member, to make a short cross member to tie the tongue into. 

For all my cross members, I'm going to make end plates with pre-punched holes, so they can bolt to the flanges of the aluminum I-beam.


So, my next step is to make the end plates and weld to the cross members and bolt everything up. And to weld up the notched area on each beam and reinforce by fish-plating. Then attach the tongue, winch stand, etc. Then the slider tracks, axle, and running gear.

Will post more pics as it moves along.


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## smackdaddy53 (Jul 14, 2013)

I wish I got a deal like that! Nice.


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## fender66 (Jul 15, 2013)

WOW....Very nice!


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## PSG-1 (Jul 15, 2013)

Thanks!

One other issue I have to contend with is some bad electrolysis on the underside of the beam, where the slider track was in contact with it. It's about a 6 foot section on each beam, eat up pretty bad. Not yet compromised or cracking, but it needs to be addressed to prevent that. 

So, the plan is to take a section of 3" wide by 1/4" thick aluminum flat stock, and fish-plate the corroded section under each beam. I know that the slider track does provide a good bit of structural strength, but remember, I'm going to a single axle, so, the track is going to be shorter than the original, which leaves an open area of electrolysis-damaged material. I'll pick up some flat stock today, and get this problem addressed.

New axle, slider tracks, springs, etc were ordered this morning, and will be here around mid-week. Another 325 dollars for all that, so, now I'm up to 875 dollars in this trailer. Still, it's cheaper than 1700 dollars for a new one!


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## Lowe 2070 CC (Jul 15, 2013)

Sorry to hear about the trout, but it was the inevitable conclusion. You were able to keep them long enough to grow to a respectable size for table fare. Have you thought about trying Tilapia in the summer months? Think of them as the polar opposite of trout. Fast growing, good to eat, but can't take cold water.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 15, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=322412#p322412 said:


> Lowe 2070 CC » Today, 12:42[/url]"]Sorry to hear about the trout, but it was the inevitable conclusion. You were able to keep them long enough to grow to a respectable size for table fare. Have you thought about trying Tilapia in the summer months? Think of them as the polar opposite of trout. Fast growing, good to eat, but can't take cold water.




Yeah, it was kinda sad to see the trout come to an end, they really were the life of the pond. It was enjoyable watching them grow and occasionally catching and releasing a few here and there along the way. And feeding them out of my hand...amazing. I never would have thought that rainbow trout could be tame enough to eat out of your hand, but, I reckon when fish get used to seeing people and associating them with food, they lose the instinct to run and hide like they would in a wild stream.

But now, having done this experiment, I basically know what the limitations are for what the trout will survive, and it's basically everything I read .....and what you told me, above 75 degrees, they turn off like a light switch. I was holding out hope an optimism that somehow the laws of nature would cease to exist in my pond and I've have trout year round, but in the back of my head, I knew at some point, they wouldn't be able to tolerate heat.

As for the tilapia, I have been thinking about that. One of my buddies told me that tilapia is very good eating. And I know that they also do a good job of cleaning up ponds, as they are used for that purpose in striped bass aquaculture. Since tilapia can survive down to about 55 degrees, I figure the pond could be stocked around March, and then harvest them out by November-December, which should give them enough time to grow, and by that time, the water's cold enough for the trout. As for the bream I have in there, well, they live as year-round residents.


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## painlesstom (Jul 16, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=322162#p322162 said:


> PSG-1 » 12 Jul 2013, 23:58[/url]"]
> As for another build....you ain't the only one with an itch for another project boat! I've thought the same thing, building a small, lightweight compact boat, like, 10 feet long by 3-4 ft wide, possibly even building my own hull from aluminum, and setting it up with UHMW panels, specifically for running the inland rivers above the fall line where the rocks begin. My boat is great in the coastal rivers, but not well suited for running around rocks.
> 
> Think of a small, lightweight boat like a Mokai, but with the speed of a jet john. :mrgreen:



Pretty much what I have in mind as well, only this time I will start with a fiberglass hull. I found this Panther 13' 9" duck boat, it's 39" wide and looking like a very nice home to the SeaDoo XP donor ski I have with the 657 85hp motor. I'll start a new thread when I get around to starting the project. I think it's going to be a fun ride.

That's going to be a nice trailer when you get finished, the price is right... luckily you can provide the labor. Very ambitious project, I don't have the patience to deal with all the corrosion and rust. Hope it goes as planned, look forward to seeing the finished result!


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## PSG-1 (Jul 16, 2013)

Yeah, that looks like it will be a good boat for the next project. I'm thinking of something similar, but possibly building my own hull from aluminum. Not sure yet.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 16, 2013)

Got a little more done today.


New parts arrived this morning! Wow, that was FAST, considering they were only ordered yesterday. I think I might have to start doing business with Wesco.




New axle with hubs, slider tracks, springs, diamondplate aluminum fenders, and all mounting hardware, 325 dollars.






Originally I was going to bolt the cross members, but I decided to just go ahead and weld them. My thought was bolting them would make them easy to replace if they ever got eaten up by electrolysis, but the fact is, I always rinse my stuff after use in salt water, so, I'm not too worried about it. Besides, since they're straight cross members, instead of V-bent, they can always be replaced with a section, and a sleeve.






Here's a shot of the underside, showing horrible corrosion from the old slider tracks.





And here's a shot of the fish plate, made from 1/4 x 3 x 6 ft. The outside of the flange is pretty eat up with electrolysis, I'll have to find the best places I can to try to put a few stitch welds, but the inside edge looks like I can get some stitch welds anywhere along its length. Plus a weld on either end, then the slider tracks will bolt all of it together. 

I had thought about cutting away the damaged area of the bottom flange, and welding the flat bar along the web of the I-beam, but I'm afraid of compromising the structural integrity, so, I think it's best to just leave it and fish plate over it.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 17, 2013)

Closing in on her now, guys:


Now flipped back over, with sliders, springs, fenders, axle and wheels installed.





The factory 'step' is plain galvanized, so, I had an idea. turns out I had some 1/8" aluminum diamondplate left over in my drop bin, so, I cut 4 pieces like this....






And riveted them to the steps with 3/16 rivets






A shot from the front. You can see how I tied it all together. It's pretty stout, yet, lightweight.





Wesco sent 4 U-bolts to attach the sliders to the frame. Unfortunately, those U-bolts were for attaching something to a 3x3 sq tube, not I-beam. But that's OK, because I was able to use them to install my new bunk brackets, so, that worked out nicely





I went to Marine Service Center and bought 4 U-bolts that were large enough for the I-beam. While I was there I picked up those bunk brackets. In this photo you can see the 3 x 6" U-bolts. The very bottom plate is the slider track, made of 3x 1/4" galvanized flat bar. The next plate, between the slider and the flange, is my fish-plate. You can see a couple of those stitch welds down the side. I may put a few more on there for good measure, but I think the U-bolts will hold it all together even without the additional welds.






This shot is from the underside of the trailer, showing where the fish plate overlaps the flange, with a weld across the end.






One more showing the axle and running gear.






At this point, all I need to do is put on some guides, and wire up the lights. Then install a set of bunk boards. 


Once that's done, I'll launch my jetboat, and tie up at the dock, then bring the trailer back to the house, remove the winch post, jack, spare tire, and coupler, and install those on the aluminum trailer. Then it'll be ready for the boat! =D> 


All together, right now, I've got close to $1,000 in this project, which was really a lot more than I wanted to spend :shock: Still have to spend a little more for a new set of lights and wires, but then it's done as far as spending money.

I noticed this trailer sits about 6" higher than my existing trailer, but 3" of that height difference is because of the larger tires (188ST versus the 4.80x 12 on my existing trailer)

The good thing about it being higher is that it'll be easier for me to crawl underneath when I need to service the pump, or re-paint the hull. Also, being higher, launching at ramps with pluff mud, it won't have such a tendency to sink all the way up to the frame cross members (hopefully, anyhow)

When I got it put together, I took a green scotch brite pad, with a little water and scrubbed the outside and top sides of the I-beam, and was surprised how well and easy they cleaned up. Might do a little more scrubbing with the scotch brite and baking soda, and see if I can get it a little shinier, to match those pretty new fenders!


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## painlesstom (Jul 17, 2013)

Looking sharp man. I really like the diamond plate fenders, nice touch.


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## Ranchero50 (Jul 17, 2013)

Nothing quite like welding aluminum in summer eh?

Would it be simpler to jack stand your hull and slide the trailer out from under it, then fit the bunks etc on the new trailer in your driveway vs. at the ramp? Set the tongue on the ground, jack stand the rear corners and lift the tongue back up. You could probably get the nose lifted with and engine hoist and turn the trailer sideways out from under the hull. 

I used my loader to lift the front once the stands were under the back but that might be considered cheating to you Southern fellows. :wink:


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## PSG-1 (Jul 17, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=322769#p322769 said:


> painlesstom » 5 minutes ago[/url]"]Looking sharp man. I really like the diamond plate fenders, nice touch.



Thanks! The folks at Wesco did me right on that order, all that stuff was 325 dollars, including the fenders.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 17, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=322771#p322771 said:


> Ranchero50 » 4 minutes ago[/url]"]Nothing quite like welding aluminum in summer eh?



You must be a tiger, or a panther, or maybe even a cheetah, 'cause you sure as heck ain't a-lyin' :LOL2: :mrgreen: 

But I've welded in hotter conditions. For some REAL summer fun, try welding galvanized pipe inside a hose-drying tower at a fire department, it's like being in a chimney, but worse. Had to use a respirator hood, and the smoke was so thick, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Only thing more fun is sandblasting! LOL


The heat and humidity around here has been awful since we've had all that rainfall. My shop isn't hot first thing in the morning, and it won't get hot unless I open the doors. Unfortunately, welding with 5356 aluminum wire, it creates a LOT of smoke, so, the doors have to be opened. If I was welding with 4043, I could leave the doors closed, heck, I could even run my shop's A/c and be right comfortable....but 4043 isn't made for use in marine applications. And welding aluminum gives off a much brighter arc than steel, so, leather sleeves are a must, and that just makes it even hotter!

Once I got everything welded, I took a cool shower and turned on the shops' A/C to do all the assembly of the axle, etc.







> Would it be simpler to jack stand your hull and slide the trailer out from under it, then fit the bunks etc on the new trailer in your driveway vs. at the ramp? Set the tongue on the ground, jack stand the rear corners and lift the tongue back up. You could probably get the nose lifted with and engine hoist and turn the trailer sideways out from under the hull.
> 
> I used my loader to lift the front once the stands were under the back but that might be considered cheating to you Southern fellows. :wink:




It probably would be pretty simple to jack the boat up and swap trailers. But, it's not really a problem, as the dock is right across from the house, and the ramp is close by. I'll just plan to put the boat in for a day or two, do a little fishing or maybe some waterskiing, then when I haul it out, the new trailer will have the winch stand, etc installed and will be ready for the boat. As far as setting the bunks, I already measured center to center for the ones on the existing trailer, and set the ones on the new trailer for the same width, so, it should go right on there.

One project I plan to do this fall or winter is to build 2 column frames in my shop, with a beam between them, and a chain hoist, so I can lift boats from trailers, lift trailers, or whatever else I need to.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 20, 2013)

OK, here she is:






Check out these guides, made from 1 & 1/2 aluminum pipe, inset into some 3x3x 1/4 square tube welded to the frame.





Took some 1/8 diamondplate and made brackets for the lights












Here it is, next to the jetboat trailer. 



Notice the additional cross member right where the I-beam makes the inward turn. I decided to go ahead and put one there, because when I stood on the A-frame section of the I-beam, I noticed that it had a tendency to twist outward. With aluminum structures, it's important to minimize flexing, as too much flex will lead to eventual breakage.







Looks like my jetboat is going to be at least 8" higher off the ground, but as I said before, that will be a good thing if I need to re-paint my hull, or service the pump.


Anyhow, all told, I've got at least $1000 in this trailer, not to mention my labor. But, considering what I ended up with, I think it was worth the investment of time and money. The boat will be more presentable on a shiny new trailer like this, instead of the old rust bucket I've been using.



So one more time.....

Before:






After:


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## painlesstom (Jul 20, 2013)

Looks great man. I wonder how much further you will have back down the ramp now with the added height? I have an aversion to backing my truck into the water before the boat starts to float, had to drop my bunks directly onto the frame and use smaller tires. Maybe your ramp is steeper, but figured I'd pass the thought along, especially since you play in salt water.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 20, 2013)

Very good point about the added height, and I'm wondering how it's going to work out. 

Most of the ramps I use have a good amount of grade to them, and my truck tires rarely hit the water. Also, I'm pretty diligent about washing off the trailer, as well as the undercarriage of my vehicle any time I launch around salt water, whether the tires get backed in or not.

I'll have to see how it works out. Worst case, I may have to drop the height of the bunks and mount directly to the cross members, or use very short brackets. Guess I'll find out when I swap the boat from its existing trailer onto this one.


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## smackdaddy53 (Jul 21, 2013)

Very nice job man! $1000 is cheap considering what a new aluminum trailer costs.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 22, 2013)

Finally got the boat swapped out to the new trailer this morning. Here it is:


Old trailer




Here's the old trailer next to the new one. MUCH better! Figured I'd take a few last pictures of it before I hauled it out of here.




These couple of shots illustrate the reason why I went to all this trouble. Here you can see the rusting of the cross members and springs.




This one REALLY shows what I was concerned with. Look at how the last foot of the longitudinal frame member is completely gone from the underside. 


Eventually it was going to break loose, and probably not in a good way, either. I have no desire to give my boat a case of road rash and god-only-knows what else. :shock: 






Yep, it sits a little higher than it did on the old trailer. But not enough to change my method of launching. My back tires never got wet at the ramp this morning.






All in all, I think it turned out good. The boat really looks good on a shiny aluminum trailer instead of the old low-slung rust bucket.



Looking like this, I think it'll draw more attention and interest of people at the gas stations and boat ramps. I occasionally get people who see the boat and come over to check it out, but now it really jumps out. Really sharp-looking.


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## painlesstom (Jul 22, 2013)

It sure is! Again, nice job. Glad to hear the height didn't cause any need for change.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 22, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=323245#p323245 said:


> painlesstom » 10 minutes ago[/url]"]It sure is! Again, nice job. Glad to hear the height didn't cause any need for change.



Me too! As my girlfriend backed the truck down the ramp, I stood by in the boat, watching and hoping it was going to be OK. When she hauled out, I told her to pull up slowly, so I could observe the boat on the trailer and make sure everything looked good.


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## Ranchero50 (Jul 22, 2013)

The boat looks 'proud' to be on the new trailer. Really looks like it's on display instead of just along for the ride, cool.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 22, 2013)

My thoughts exactly, Ranchero! 8) Thanks.


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## bigwave (Jul 23, 2013)

Great job on the trailer, I feel your pain with the old trailer. I bought a used trailer for my boat since the old one had the same issues that you had. I am now in the market for an aluminum trailer too.....the one I have now is just a band aid, but the price was right for me. I have found that if I can get two season's out of my springs I am happy......the saltwater just does not play well with the galvanized steel. One thing you can do to save your aluminum frame would be to put some trim-tab zincs on the frame......if you have any electrolysis they will help the integrity of the beams. As always you did a top notch job on your new trailer. =D>


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## PSG-1 (Jul 23, 2013)

Thanks, bigwave! 

Good idea about the zinc anodes on the trailer frame. I actually had one on my old trailer, but I don't think it worked properly, since the trailer was galvanized, having zinc-on-zinc didn't have much effect. But zinc on aluminum probably would make a big difference, and extend the trailer's life.

You're correct about springs, around saltwater, if you can get 2-3 years out of a set, that's about all you can hope for. I thoroughly rinse my trailers after use in saltwater, but you can see from the photos it doesn't seem to help very much.


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## MiPikeGuy (Jul 24, 2013)

Man that's killer, makes me wanna build one. If only I could convince my girlfriend's dad to do all the welding... hmmmm


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## PSG-1 (Jul 24, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=323418#p323418 said:


> MiPikeGuy » Today, 02:14[/url]"]Man that's killer, makes me wanna build one. If only I could convince my girlfriend's dad to do all the welding... hmmmm




A lot of the aluminum trailers are bolted together, not even welded. Crossmembers bolt to the underside of the flange, the tongue is usually thru-bolted, and uses additional tie plates, and as you see with the axles, you can buy a slider kit that allows infinite adjustment/distribution of weight. 

My parents have a 19 foot Sea Hunt Center Console, with an aluminum I-beam trailer like mine. There is not one single weld on that trailer, it's all bolted together.

I could have bolted mine together, but, being a welder, I *HATE* bolts, as they put guys like me out of business!!


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## MiPikeGuy (Jul 24, 2013)

I was thinking more along the lines of the boat


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## PSG-1 (Aug 12, 2013)

Not only is it good for shallow running, as well as fishing, but it's a decent ski boat, as well. Took it skiing this past weekend over on the Great Pee Dee River. My girlfriend is good at multi-tasking, driving the boat with one hand, and running the camera behind her back with the other hand. Good footage!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUb-YxILQmA



I did come to the conclusion that the ski pole I built really doesn't seem to give me more "air time" than I can get by simply hooking the rope to the transom eye. But then again, I grew up skiing behind johnboats, so, I know how to hit the wake for maximum lift.

Hope y'all like the video!


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## PSG-1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I forgot to mention something. Last summer, I decided to get my boat insured, not so much worried about something happening on the water, but more worried about some idiot texting while driving, plowing into the back of my boat.

So, I first contacted Geico to insure it, I put a value of $12,500 on it, but due to its age, they would not insure it without an evaluation and survey. Did some searching on the net, and found a company called "BUC" out of Florida, which does evaluations on custom boats, based on info and photos provided by the person wanting the survey. In that questionaire, they ask things like, 'are all fuel hose connections double clamped' and 'does each electrical device have its own ground wire' 

Anyhow, I sent everything to them, and got an evaluation back. Here we go:









So, when I submitted this to Geico, not only did they approve it, but they insured the boat for a little more, at $11,000, which was pretty close to the value I originally guess-timated.

Now, she's insured, for a little under 180 dollars a year. This was an important aspect to me, because, in order to advance any farther and actually be able to build these types of boats for a living (hopefully) they have to meet ABYC standards, and not only be able to be registered, but insured. 

And I breathe a little easier going down the highway with all the mental midgets around me. :roll:


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## painlesstom (Sep 16, 2013)

Very nice man, glad to hear that worked out for you. I see you are planning on building more, I wish you the best in your venture and hope you get a line of customers itching to take delivery of their own AlumaJet!! I get people asking about mine all the time, where I got it, if I could build them one etc.. Would be glad to send them your way if you get something going.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Thanks, painlesstom! Appreciate the vote of confidence, and any work you can send my way! You've got some serious skills, too, and with the two of us being in neighboring states, this thing might pan out really well, like, 2 heads being better than one! If I get something rolling, I could always use another skilled machinist or welder.

I've been looking forward to the day that someone would see my boat and approach me wanting one built. It's been 8 years since I first started on my boat, and about the same length of time I've been hoping for the idea to catch on, and maybe get into building these types of boats. If not for youtube, this site, and a few other sites, people wouldn't even know my boat exists, and it would have been impossible to get it out there for people to see.

Anyhow, it looks like I may have my first customer after all these years! Definitely looking forward to building a jetboat and actually making money doing it, instead of just spending money, it'll be a nice change, LOL

Did some checking with my source today for a suitable engine, I think this'll do:


Yamaha VX110 4 stroke, very clean, no rust or sugar from corrosion, and runs good


Looks every bit as clean as my 2008 VX110, or the FXHO in my boat.



Mfg 07/08, with 388 hrs.


Sounds like a lot of hrs, but not for a 4 stroke. There are guys on PWC forums who have 4,000 hrs on these types of engines with very few, if any, issues. Mine has 275, 200 of which I put on there in 2 years.



Hull is a little beat up, but we're not interested in that, we just need the engine and related parts.



Plus, in exchange for the jet unit we're not going to use from this ski (it uses a molded fiberglass tunnel) we're going to get an XL1200W pump, which is what I'm running in my boat.

All that for 2400 dollars, which is a steal, considering my 2005 FXHO with 67 hours was 2500 dollars, and that was just the engine, no muffler, no fuel pump, and no jet unit.

If I wasn't about to use this engine for a customer's boat, I would seriously consider buying it for myself!

Anyhow, when I begin the new jetboat build, I will definitely start a new thread, with lots of pics and updates as we move along!


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## bigwave (Sep 17, 2013)

Sweet......I look forward to your new build. Congratulations.........you do excellent work man. =D>


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2013)

Thanks again, bigwave! 8) 

While I'm never going to make an exact carbon copy of my boat, and wouldn't want to (I like having a one-of-a-kind boat) I think my boat is a good prototype to reference when I build other boats, as my boat has been through all the trial and error, and through all that, I have found out what works, and what doesn't. When I first built my boat, the only prototype I had to work from was my 14 ft twin engine SeaDoo Speedster, and comparing a glass hull jetboat to an aluminum hull jetboat is like apples to oranges. Having a good prototype to work from will definitely make things easier!


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## painlesstom (Sep 17, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=329525#p329525 said:


> PSG-1 » Yesterday, 22:47[/url]"]Thanks, painlesstom! Appreciate the vote of confidence, and any work you can send my way! You've got some serious skills, too, and with the two of us being in neighboring states, this thing might pan out really well, like, 2 heads being better than one! If I get something rolling, I could always use another skilled machinist or welder.




You're welcome, thanks to you as well! I'll be keeping my eye out for your new thread when you start on this, I can't promise I will have time to be much assistance, but you never know so feel free to ask. I might be able to do some machine work for you. Will be interesting to see how you build this next one, and how it differs from what you've already done.


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## Ranchero50 (Sep 17, 2013)

Should be a fun project without some of the hickups from doing it the first time. Who knows, you might make enough profit to take the wife out to dinner.

Good luck and post everything. This site is a repository for this type build.


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## PSG-1 (Sep 17, 2013)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=329613#p329613 said:


> Ranchero50 » Today, 14:21[/url]"]Should be a fun project without some of the hickups from doing it the first time. Who knows, you might make enough profit to take the wife out to dinner.
> 
> Good luck and post everything. This site is a repository for this type build.



Will definitely post pics and details once we get started. I'm thinking the same thing, about no glitches on this build, since my boat was an 8 year work in progress. Truthfully, though, the biggest issues I had with it the first time around was with that POS tigershark engine, I think the XL1200 pump was putting too much load on that motor. But as far as how everything was put together, like the structural work, motor mounts, etc....no issues. Just little things, and of course, fine tuning and constantly adding improvements.

The 4 stroke has more than enough power to turn that pump though, and as such, I have had zero issues with the reliability of my boat since I went with that motor. Only issue is the no-wake switch not wanting to work sometimes, but then, this is common, even with these engines in the factory jetboats.


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## PSG-1 (Aug 2, 2014)

Well, almost a year later later, and I've finally managed to recover my money from that VX110 and XL1200 pump that I had bought to do a jet boat build. That deal fell through, then there were a couple of other offers that also fell through. 

I was then considering building a small New Zealand-style jet boat for myself, but then I didn't expect to nearly die from encephalitis this past February. :shock: Yeah, I would consider being on a ventilator for 4 days as being 'dead' And then another 2 weeks in supportive care.

Having gone through that, I now have too much self-doubt to be building jet boats.... or accepting job offers to go to work for state agencies like I had been considering, before that life-changing event. Fact is, it caused brain damage. I've been recovering from it, and gaining back some of what was lost, but I don't think I'll ever be to the point that I was before the encephalitis. 

In any case, I was able to sell the engine and pump back to the guy I had bought them from. Sure hated to part with that engine, because it was so clean and new-looking. But the jet ski was just sitting in the corner of my backyard for the last year. 

That said, the Aluma-Jet is still running strong. The 4 stroke FXHO engine is the perfect match for the boat. Should have done it like this to begin with!


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## painlesstom (Aug 2, 2014)

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that! I'm glad you are still here to tell your story and that you were able to recoup some of your investment from the deals that fell through. I will keep your continuing recovery in my prayers! Keep your chin up and enjoy that Aluma-Jet until the day comes you are able to start building again.


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## fender66 (Aug 2, 2014)

Glad you're on the track to better and still able to get on the water!


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## PSG-1 (Aug 2, 2014)

Thanks, guys! It's been a tough year, but I'm definitely in better shape than I was in February, and improving as the weeks and months go by. The good news is that I did manage to quit smoking, so, at least something positive came out of the ordeal. That, and the fact that my Blue Cross insurance covered nearly all of the $46K hospital bill. Of course, I've paid premiums to them for the last 20 years, so, I guess that about evens it out. :mrgreen:


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## smackdaddy53 (Aug 4, 2014)

I'm glad to hear you made a recovery bro. Life can sling some curve balls at inopportune times! 
I picked up a 14 foot .125" aluminum hull the other day and I'm kicking around the idea of putting an inboard jet in it after seeing yalls builds...


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## PSG-1 (Aug 4, 2014)

Thanks, smack daddy. It was definitely a curve out of left field, for sure.

A .125" thick hull would be a good candidate for a river runner. Stout enough to resist bumping over logs, and maybe the occasional slide over a gravel bar. And .125" is plenty of material thickness to be able to weld it with no problem.


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## smackdaddy53 (Aug 4, 2014)

PSG-1 said:


> Thanks, smack daddy. It was definitely a curve out of left field, for sure.
> 
> A .125" thick hull would be a good candidate for a river runner. Stout enough to resist bumping over logs, and maybe the occasional slide over a gravel bar. And .125" is plenty of material thickness to be able to weld it with no problem.


I picked it up for $600. It was built in Louisiana by some oddball company but built like a brick sheet house. I may just fix it up and flip it.


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## PSG-1 (Aug 4, 2014)

If you do fix it up, be sure to post some pictures! 8)


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## Capt1972 (Apr 28, 2015)

PSG-1 said:


> Here's a shot of the starboard stern hatch. This gives access to remove the fuel tank, as well as some storage for another dry box. This dry box has some bottled water, food and other survival gear in it. Also, note the inline water strainer located on top of the fuel tank. I figure it's a lot easier to lift this hatch to check my strainer, than having to remove the engine cowling, and stick my hand down amongst all the razor blades (hose clamps) View attachment 6
> 
> 
> 
> ...





I guess I'm just missing it, where is your exhaust in that last pic? Is it the tube in the steering nozzle? Wouldn't that block some thrust?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 28, 2015)

You can't see it in the last pic. It's hidden by the rubber skirting around the jet pump. The exhaust outlet is between the jet pump and the 'box' that it is bolted into. The tube near the steering nozzle is what would normally be the 'enema' on a PWC. Instead, I have it hooked to a quick connect fitting, with a coil hose and spray nozzle. This way, I can hose down the deck of my boat, as long as I'm underway, so there's enough pressure at the nozzle.





In the other pics showing the engine, notice the large black hose that goes into the top of the jet tunnel, near the transom. 



This is where the exhaust enters the box. The rubber skirting around the jet pump contains nearly all of the sound coming from the exhaust, and because it's exiting near the jet unit, a lot of the sound is also muffled by the aerated water exiting the jet pump.


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## PSG-1 (Apr 29, 2015)

Originally with the 2 stroke engine, there were reliability problems, which made me nervous to take the Aluma-Jet very far from home. Now with the 4 stroke, I don't give it a second thought to trailer the boat 2 hours from home, and go explore an unfamiliar stretch of water.

Anyhow, over the last 4 years since swapping to a 4 stroke MR-1 High Output engine, we've covered about 325 river miles on 7 rivers, comprised of the Lumber River, Great PeeDee River, Little PeeDee River, Waccamaw River, Black River, Sampit River, and the Santee River....as well as a portion of the AICW. 




This year, I hope to cover even more new territory!


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## painlesstom (Apr 29, 2015)

You should come check out the Altamaha. :mrgreen:


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## PSG-1 (Apr 29, 2015)

painlesstom said:


> You should come check out the Altamaha. :mrgreen:



I've looked at the Altamaha on google earth, as well as a few pictures and videos of it, looks like it would be an awesome river to run. Reminds me a lot of the Santee River in South Carolina.


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## painlesstom (Apr 29, 2015)

PSG-1 said:


> painlesstom said:
> 
> 
> > You should come check out the Altamaha. :mrgreen:
> ...



If you do make plans to make the trip, you'd want to come when the river stage is 6' or less for best scenery. All there is now near 12', are flooded banks and fast currents. Now if it would just stop raining....... 

https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=jax&gage=dctg1&refresh=true


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## PSG-1 (Apr 30, 2015)

Thanks for the info. That's about how it is here. 6 ft on the NOAA gages seems to be the magic number for most of our low country rivers. Much less than this, and some of them become impassible, due to shoaling. I've seen google earth images when these rivers were in drought, and there were entire sections of the river that were nothing but sand. But if the gages are reading well over 6 ft, all the nice sandy beaches and gravel bars are underwater.


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## Capt1972 (Apr 30, 2015)

PSG-1 said:


> You can't see it in the last pic. It's hidden by the rubber skirting around the jet pump. The exhaust outlet is between the jet pump and the 'box' that it is bolted into. The tube near the steering nozzle is what would normally be the 'enema' on a PWC. Instead, I have it hooked to a quick connect fitting, with a coil hose and spray nozzle. This way, I can hose down the deck of my boat, as long as I'm underway, so there's enough pressure at the nozzle.
> 
> View attachment 1
> 
> ...


So the exhaust is "injected" after the impeller?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 30, 2015)

Capt1972 said:


> PSG-1 said:
> 
> 
> > You can't see it in the last pic. It's hidden by the rubber skirting around the jet pump. The exhaust outlet is between the jet pump and the 'box' that it is bolted into. The tube near the steering nozzle is what would normally be the 'enema' on a PWC. Instead, I have it hooked to a quick connect fitting, with a coil hose and spray nozzle. This way, I can hose down the deck of my boat, as long as I'm underway, so there's enough pressure at the nozzle.
> ...



Hopefully this image will serve as a visual reference:





Part #46 and #47...that's the baffle system for a Yamaha VX110, and this is basically what I copied from for my design.

The exhaust is contained within the space formed by the tunnel (basically a large box made from 1/4 aluminum plate) that the jet pump bolts up into. There's about 2 inches of clearance between the exhaust flange and the stator assembly of the pump. At no point does it actually go through the jet pump. The rubber skirting is notched to fit around the pump, and it's basically about where the exit nozzle bolts to the back end of the stator vane assembly. 

So, basically what happens is that the exhaust passes through the flange on the top side of the box, and then the sound gets trapped inside of that, with the flexible rubber skirting allowing the sound to pass through along the edges of the pump, and along the bottom edge where the ride plate is. While it's not directly being injected into the aerated water from the exit nozzle, the sound is exiting close enough to this that the sound is diminished a good deal by the water exiting the pump, as opposed to having the exhaust routed like a typical PWC, where it's just a hole right out the back of the boat, that allows all the sound to escape with no baffling.


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## PSG-1 (May 7, 2015)

Yet another overhaul of the Aluma-Jet.





This time, I'm working on the hull. When I first painted the bottom with Rust-O-Leum roll-on truck bed liner, I had sandblasted the bottom with Starolite. But I failed to etch with ospho, nor did I apply some zinc chromate primer. As a result, there were spots in the paint that had begun to flake and chip. And other areas where I had worn the paint off, from sliding over sandbars. In the areas where the paint was flaking, I noticed 'sugar' starting to form. Not good. 

So, after 10 years, I decided it's time to re-paint the bottom. But not just with any paint. I'm going with Line-X type XS-350, which is military grade, and much more durable than what they put in the truck beds.

However, because of the horrible condition of the existing paint, the guy at Line-X said the bottom needs to be cleaned off, and I fully agree.

At first I tried a wire wheel. Very slow going, and I couldn't imagine having to work upside down on the entire boat like this. Tried a flap wheel, and it loaded up, started smoking. No good. So then I decided to use aircraft coating remover. It works, but just barely. Mixing some laquer thinner with it does help break down the epoxy of the bedliner coating. 2300 PSI power washer, with a turbo nozzle does as well as I could do with a scraper, especially with my screwed up shoulders.

I'm about 99% done, but now we've got a storm system that's going to dump rain for the next 4 days, so, it's at a standstill.
Once I get the paint off, I will go back and etch with ospho, then power wash, and have it line-x'ed. 

Will post more as it progresses.


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## PSG-1 (May 13, 2015)

After 6 gallons of stripper and a week of blistering the old paint and power washing it, I've finally gotten down to bare metal.










Tomorrow morning I'm taking the boat to have it coated with Line-X.


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## PSG-1 (May 14, 2015)

I didn't feel comfortable using the makeshift boat hoist that we made from 4x4's....at least not with someone else crawling under it. Also, it would be better to have the boat higher anyway, about chest-high, so they could see what they were doing, and not have to lay on their back.

One of my good friends has a boat lift that they use to hoist commercial fishing boats for doing hull work. I welded the I-beam on it when they built this lift a few years ago. He was nice enough to let me use the lift today, so, we got the boat up there, hoisted it off the trailer, and the Line-X guy came out to do the bottom.





Since the wind was blowing like a SOB, not to mention lots of motorcycles being parked nearby due to it being bike week, we used plastic and made a makeshift paint booth, that worked out nicely. The line x atomizes and dries in 10 seconds anyway, but we wanted to err on the side of caution.





Gettin' er done







Much better than the old stuff I had on there, which was flaking and peeling in many areas. The old paint was so ugly, I didn't have the heart to take a picture of it. But you can probably see it in some of the previous photos in this thread.





Line X representative Jon Jackson and his employee George at work







Back on the trailer at home. Still gotta do some other work, such as 5200 all edges of the line-x, to give a smooth transition, and to use an adhesive that guarantees no edge can peel. Also have to change out my wear ring for an all-stainless model, since the corrosion has caused the liner to swell, and my impeller is hitting it. While I have the pump apart, I'm going to change to a new, re-pitched impeller, a Solas Concord 14/21.


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## gillhunter (May 14, 2015)

Looks great!!


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## PSG-1 (May 14, 2015)

Thanks! I have a lot more confidence in the longevity of the hull now with this coating. With the stuff I had on there, it was getting really bad. There was a lot of pitting from electrolysis. The boat has been running for 10 years. With the Line-X on there, I should get at least another 10 years out of the boat before I need to worry about anything.


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## PSG-1 (May 18, 2015)

Since I got the bottom Line-X'ed I figured I might as well freshen up the rest of the paint job, starting with the black above the waterline.
So, I taped it all out, and got my HVLP gun set up, and shot it last night.







No clear coat. That's how it comes out when you spray it from an HVLP. This is Interlux Brightside paint, thinned with just a little bit of 216 thinner (xylene) 

I wiped down the boat, sanded it with 220 grit on a DA, and anywhere there was bare metal, I shot it with some zinc chromate primer. 

Now that it's painted, I ran a thin bead of black 3M 5200 all the way around the edge of the line-x, including underneath the boat where it meets the edges of the jet intake and the tunnel. This will prevent any edges from peeling, hopefully.

Now I just need to get the interior re-painted with Hatteras off-white, and it'll look like brand new.


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## Skiffing (May 18, 2015)

Whoa!

That's sharp.


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## HeavyHook (May 19, 2015)

Looks great - love the paint job


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## PSG-1 (May 19, 2015)

Now working on the Interior paint:

Since it's mostly diamond plate, instead of using a DA sander with 220 grit, I used the pressure washer with turbo nozzle at close range to loosen any flaky paint. It exposed some bare metal, for sure.

On the smooth areas, I sanded with the DA, then wiped down the whole thing with Xylene.




The yellow is zinc chromate primer, where I touched up all the bare metal before painting.








Once it dries, I'll pull the masking and get a better pic.


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## PSG-1 (May 20, 2015)

Got it rolled out into the sun this morning, and pulled all the masking. Of course, about 3 hours later, it started sprinkling rain. #-o Fortunately, the paint was fully dry. 








Since these High Output decals are about 80 dollars a piece, I figured it would be worth the time and effort to tape them out. I did pretty good on the masking work.







Hard to believe this is an 18 year old boat. Even harder to believe it started out as a 50 dollar boat destined for the scrap yard.


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## PSG-1 (May 22, 2015)

Capt1972 said:


> So the exhaust is "injected" after the impeller?




Since I had the pump apart today, I figured I would post some pics, for good visual reference.

Here we go:



Top left corner is where the exhaust exits from the muffler, into the tunnel




Tunnel has a framework made of aluminum angle along inside, with mounting holes for the rubber skirting.


Rubber skirting is trimmed to fit around exit nozzle, including notches for reverse cable (top), suction bilge (left), wash down line and steering cable (right)





The rubber skirting fits around the nozzle like this:



And then the ride plate is underneath, so the entire setup creates a sound baffle system of sorts. Works pretty good. Along with a rear platform, to help tone it down even more.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 19, 2015)

Despite it being almost 100 degrees, I ran a little bit on the PeeDee River yesterday between Society Hill and Cheraw, SC.

Water level is EXTREMELY low:




We were going to go up to the fall line at Cheraw, but about halfway up, there was a shoal extending across the river. Even though it was probably deep enough, we could see some bad weather building in the distance, so rather than risk being grounded in a storm, we went back down to a gravel bar just below the shoal and stopped to take a break and gather a few rocks:





Check out this idea for a river house, built on the old pilings of a bridge pier:





I'm glad we decided not to go further upstream toward Cheraw. By the time we got back to the boat ramp at Society Hill, I could see dark clouds, with lightning. Time to go home!


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## PSG-1 (Nov 20, 2015)

Last month's storm tides carved a new inlet through the beach, which is now passable at mid tide with the jet boat. Having a little fun at being one of the first people to run this inlet, and just one more reason I love a jet boat!!!

[googlevideo] https://plus.google.com/118265428967731929549/posts/TK7dsX8wDCx?pid=6219383163783461570&oid=118265428967731929549 [/googlevideo]


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## PSG-1 (Feb 10, 2016)

Since the thought of getting a rock in my pump has always made me nervous on those inland rivers, I decided it was time for a heavier duty grate with closer spacing on the bars. Not only that, but a stomp grate.




I had a machinist make the pivot block, from stainless. The OEM model was aluminum, but because I was making a stomp grate, I needed to be able to weld tines directly to the pivot block, and I wanted to continue using stainless, like my old one, as aluminum tines aren't going to hold up against rock strikes.




Bars are made of 1/4X 3/4" stainless, ground and contoured to shape to maximize flow-though. Spacing is 1/4" between all except the outside 2, which are 3/8" spacing. The 'step' on the back end of the bars is where they rest against the underside of the intake shoe. And yeah, it's heavy, LOL.












Took it out on the maiden voyage the other day, I wasn't sure if that 1/4" spacing would starve the pump. it did not seem to affect it, even in some light chop. Also seemed to get less trash in my strainer, but then again, it wasn't a really low tide, either, so, I wasn't running over some of the shoals I usually run.

All in all I think it will work pretty good. The closer spacing of the bars makes me feel a LOT better.


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## okavango (Feb 14, 2016)

That's a keeper, nice work. 
How are the middle two movable bars attached to the shaft?
You have motivated me to get my boat back into the workshop.


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## PSG-1 (Feb 14, 2016)

Thanks! 

As for how the bars pivot, the shaft goes through the pivot block, and the 4 inside movable bars are attached to that. Because of the shape of the pump intake, I had to set back for the outer-most 2 bars, so, those are attached to the outer movable bars with a short length of rod, welded to both, so that they all move together as a set.


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## okavango (Feb 14, 2016)

Was trying to work out how the two center bars attach to the shaft, is it a press fit or are the welded somehow?


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## PSG-1 (Feb 14, 2016)

Yeah, that was a dilemma when I first started putting the whole thing together, how to tie the bars together.

On the backside of the pivot block, where those 2 pivoting center bars are located, I had to gouge out with my grinder, to give me enough room to access to the fit-up where the 1/4" stainless rod goes through the bars, so I could get in there and tack weld them with the TIG welder. That was a tight space, for sure, and I had to be real careful about how I did it, otherwise, I would have fused the bars to the pivot block.


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## CedarRiverScooter (Feb 14, 2016)

PSG - You should patent that!

Reminds me of the gates at car rental lots.

Must be nice having open water - we are still frozen solid up in the nortwoods.


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## PSG-1 (Feb 17, 2016)

I'm definitely looking forward to testing it out on some new stretches of river. We have already covered several hundred miles of inland rivers anyhow, but we'll be going to new places soon!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmmXB0y7jfc


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## CedarRiverScooter (Feb 17, 2016)

Great video PSG!

Just what I needed during this long winter.

You sure have guts going through such narrow passages on plane!

I am in the middle of re-setting my tunnel so that it is deeper, hopefully this will solve my cavitation problem permanently. 

Will post pictures after the ugly part is done.

Can't wait for spring.


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## PSG-1 (Feb 17, 2016)

CedarRiverScooter said:


> You sure have guts going through such narrow passages on plane!



That's what I say every time I see videos of guys running jet johns in small rapids. I guess it's all about being familiar with the area, and knowing how to read the water.

Thanks for the compliments. I have fun doing videos of all the places we go to. Already planning out some new trips for this year.


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## PSG-1 (Feb 19, 2016)

A little additional reinforcement around the jet unit, to guard against any rock strikes, should I decide to venture above the fall line:




These are 1/4" aluminum plates, that bolt to the existing box around the pump that is also made of 1/4"....basically extending the unit on the sides (something I should have done to begin with!)




And then there's the ride plate on the bottom, made of 1/4" aluminum. I would have extended it farther, but the clearance to the reverse gate would have been really close, and it might have interfered with thrust power in reverse.




Needless to say, I made it as bulletproof as I could. Turns out that was a good thing. Last week at the ramp, I pulled a good one, the ultimate idiot move, in fact.

Since the bottom of my boat is coated with Line-X, it no longer slides very well on the carpet bunks. So, I went over the top of the bunks with Trex boards, which are very slick. 

Normally when I launch at the ramp by myself, I unhook the bow strap and safety chain, then hook my 25 ft rope to the bow eye, and secure it to the winch post of my trailer, and I toss the pile of rope on the bow, so it pays out. When I back down the ramp into the water, the boat will float off, and I pull forward, which pulls the boat up to the ramp, then I unhook the rope, set anchor, and go park the truck.

Even with the TRex boards, I have been doing it like this, without an issue. But for some reason, there was an issue, and I think you can guess what it was. #-o Yes, when I got about halfway down the ramp, the next thing I saw was the bow of my boat straight up in the air, with the a$$ end of my boat firmly planted on the ramp!! :shock: :shock: 

I quickly hopped out, and winched the boat onto the trailer enough to lift the transom off the ramp, which, fortunately, is just hard-packed oyster shells, and not concrete. Then I backed it down in the water. Once I got into the boat and cranked up, I fully expected there to be no steering or reverse, but to my surprise, they worked. I ran around for a bit, but I noticed at speeds above 8,000 RPM, it wanted to porpoise.

After hauling out, I did a damage assessment, thinking it was going to be horrible. Once again, to my surprise, the only damage was the ride plate, the back end of it had gotten bent upward from hitting the ramp, but it most definitely served its intended purpose of protecting the steering nozzle. I think the side plates probably helped a little bit, too, being vertical, not horizontal, they were able to hold a lot of pressure.

In any case, I unbolted the bent ride plate, and used my press brake to straighten it out. Then, I decided to weld that piece of 1/4"X1" aluminum flat bar down the center, as a stiffener, in case anything ever hits that plate again. Hopefully it won't, but it's sure nice to know that added protection served its intended purpose! I would say it passed the torture test....with flying colors.

This, in conjunction with the improved stomp grate, as well as the Line-X, makes me feel a little more confident about venturing farther inland.


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## CedarRiverScooter (Feb 20, 2016)

Thanks for sharing that story, last year I forgot to put the drain plugs in, the bilge got a good rinse needless to say.

Your mishap is a good reason to overbuild these rigs - ya never know what is going to happen!

I am interested in how that new skeg affect your handling. I would think it should help you stay straight.


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## PSG-1 (Feb 20, 2016)

Yeah, like I said, I am SO glad I decided to go ahead and reinforce the area around the pump with all that plate. That probably saved me a busted steering nozzle, thrust nozzle, reverse gate, and the steering and reverse cables. The plates worked so well, that the boat itself never touched the ramp, there wasn't a mark anywhere on the bottom edge of the transom. That really surprised me.

Needless to say, if it can survive that, I think it will be OK if it bumps a rock in the river (at low speed, not wide open)

As for the keel on the bottom of the ride plate, not sure if that will improve steering, but I will know when I do some running around with it. I still don't think it will be enough to keep the stern from walking side to side when I am waterskiing behind it, that's just the nature of a jet boat. But I'm sure it will probably help it track straighter under normal operation.


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## mmf (Jul 1, 2018)

Hey man, havent visited site in a long time!
Just wanted to wave my hand and let you know I still would like to make a jet-jon out of my 2472 Sea Ark, bot I know it would take a large engine, though I dont care about going fast. Would appreciate all ideas and any advice you could give me.


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## CedarRiverScooter (Jul 1, 2018)

2472 would be a cruise ship!

My advice is don't go cheap on the engine.

I did for 1st engine & then went back & replaced with 4 stroke yammie (PSG was role model on that).

4 stroke yammie is 3X better than the 2 stroke - less fuel, vibration, noise.

Take your time & search CL, rental places sell at the end of each season.


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## PSG-1 (Jul 4, 2018)

Good to hear from you again, mmf! 

The specs say the 2472 sea ark weighs about 950 lbs, just the dry hull weight. Then you have to account for weight of engine, fuel, battery, persons on board, gear, additional decking/modifications. A boat that size, especially with the wide beam, would be a good candidate for twin engines, or if you're going with a single engine, you need something big, like the 1800cc Yamaha 4 stroke engine. 

It's not just a matter of having enough power to go fast, it's a matter of having enough power to push the boat without over-lugging it. Kinda like putting a 7" grinding wheel on a 4 1/2" angle grinder. Yeah, it will turn it, but it's putting a lot of undue strain on the motor and will shorten its life.


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