# anyone seen these boats?



## handyandy (Sep 6, 2017)

https://www.riverroadjetboats.com/index.html

look to be built very well. I'm curious about their nozzle apparatus thing and what good it would do maybe I'm not seeing it. The hulls look well made anyone been in one?


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## DaleH (Sep 6, 2017)

Gulp ... I just did ... a used 13-footer co$ts :shock: $20K!

_Too rich for me ... _


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## GSPdog7 (Sep 6, 2017)

These boats are built in my home town and these are one hell of a boat! Check out all their youtube videos. I've seen multiple out on the water and they look bad ass! If I ever have the money they will be making me one!


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## handyandy (Sep 7, 2017)

20k for a fully rigged one with motor and trailer. Wonder what just a bare open tiller style hull would run. I'm not looking to get one, but always like knowing whats out there and who builds a decent hull.


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## jtf (Sep 7, 2017)

One on Charlottesville, VA craigslist a few weeks ago. Anyone in mid-atlantic southwest VA should watch Roanoke, Blacksburg, etc. Four used jet/jons on there this week. 

For that kind of doe, I can get a Koffler shipped from OR.


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## AllOutdoors (Sep 8, 2017)

handyandy said:


> https://www.riverroadjetboats.com/index.html
> 
> look to be built very well. I'm curious about their nozzle apparatus thing and what good it would do maybe I'm not seeing it. The hulls look well made anyone been in one?


The nozzle apparatus eliminates having to turn the entire outboard. It's much easier to turn just the nozzle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk


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## handyandy (Sep 8, 2017)

what the heck kofflers are you finding for that cheap with engine, trailer, and rigged? a new 17ft with 90/65 was listed on their site for 30k so I would imagine a smaller one with a 40/60 is probably around 20k mark. I like the koffler's but it seems any real hull fabricated in a manner like koffler, alumaweld, river road takes some money to buy. Any hulls like them though are ten times the boat that a similar size roughneck, grizzly, or g3 type manufactured boat is. I just liked the looks of the river road boats hadn't ever seen them before. Looked really well made, I don't care for the fully decked out hull I prefer just an open tiller hull, but they look like they are well constructed/fabricated.


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## jtf (Sep 8, 2017)

Koffler 14ft power drifter/outboard, kind of hard to find on their site. Not an inboard, but a sturdy vee river sled/drifter. I've had two of their boats, rowing drift boats.

Next time I'm on the James River, will try and go by Riverroad shop. Pretty sure there is a member here with one, has some good youtube vids running Balcony Falls. His is a 16ft. Hyde's 18ft power drifter tops out at $28K too. Too rich for my pocket.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Sep 11, 2017)

River Road Jet Boats are the new gold standard for outboard jets. Awesome boats. Built about an hour from my house.

Check this video: https://youtu.be/NR5_as6lqo


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## fishing66 (Nov 28, 2017)

RiverBottomOutdoors said:


> River Road Jet Boats are the new gold standard for outboard jets.



That is a rather presumptuous statement. Videos show river road jet boats being beaten to a pulp and getting totaled. They bolt .25 UHMW to the hull instead of glue and screws of other manufacturers. Their jet nozzle, while innovative, is a cost-prohibitive alternative to an inboard jet. Rockproof will build a River Jett with a 200hp inboard and 1/2 UHMW for $30K. Match that up with the best that river road can do for $30K. I'll take the River Jett.


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## bassboy1 (Feb 15, 2018)

fishing66 said:


> RiverBottomOutdoors said:
> 
> 
> > River Road Jet Boats are the new gold standard for outboard jets.
> ...



I agree the statement about the boats is a little presumptuous, but I am intrigued by the nozzle. Realistically, I think that is the key element that company has to offer. I'm curious if anyone here has operated one of those - I'd like to hear how they perform. 

In my eyes, it takes away one of the two main drawbacks to outboard jets, and that is tunnel design. Making a tunnel feed an intake that turns makes for a much larger tunnel than just feeding the same intake dead straight, and that takes away stern lift. But, I've never talked with anyone who has run one, to see how well they actually work.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Feb 16, 2018)

Feel free to post any video that shows an OUTBOARD jet doing what their OUTBOARD jet can do. You won't find one. 

I say it's the new gold standard for OUTBOARD jet and the reply is it's presumptuousness and yatta yatta about INBOARD jets. :-?


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## eshaw (Feb 16, 2018)

I don't know jack about jets, never had one but I am interested in them. That being said, my first impression as a guy on the street window shopping is that the hull is a heavy duty unit since it's made from .125" material and uses the UHMW on the bottom. I like the welded construction method they use for the actual hull build itself. When you get to the rear all I see is a tunnel hull with extra tall sponsons and a standard jet motor between them that no longer pivots and I understand why. I hope that's reversible for future motor sale. I like that they've incorporated a nozzle on the jet pump but it looks a little cobbled together. Basically they've married two technologies together there. I guess by having a stationary outboard it does help keep interior space since it's always at a premium in boats. I just don't know if this really innovative? Not to me. What really makes this stand out from the pack ???


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## bassboy1 (Feb 18, 2018)

eshaw said:


> Basically they've married two technologies together there. I guess by having a stationary outboard it does help keep interior space since it's always at a premium in boats. I just don't know if this really innovative? Not to me. What really makes this stand out from the pack ???



What's innovative is the nozzle. From my perspective (behind a computer, not looking at the boats in person), the hull seems well built, but I don't see anything different from other well built boats. It's a 5086 hull, lengthwise stringers, well tied together with deck bracing. The separate piece reverse chine is a definite positive. Those are all very good things, but none of them are novel ideas.

I did just learn something moments ago - they make the flotation foam removable for service. As someone who repairs and accessorizes boats like this, I have to give them a HUGE kudos for that one. Frankly, substantiating the gold standard statement is a tough one, especially against some of the outboard jet boats of the Pacific Northwest, but this little detail does help quite a bit. 



The nozzle is where things get interesting. While there are some distinct disadvantages over inboard jets, the outboard jet is here to stay, for a number of reasons: Less boat space used, simpler setup, often less cost of entry, easy to retrofit onto existing boat, can be trimmed out of the water for moored storage, and on. 

But, a big disadvantage to outboard jets is the intake hanging down below the hull. This is easily solved with a tunnel, but those come with drawbacks. It's easy to get a tunnel that provides clean water to the intake when going straight, but when turning, the intake also turns, and it's trying to suck water from the edge of the tunnel, and can more easily cavitate in high speed turns. We solve this by making the tunnels wider, but this comes at the cost of planing surface, so you end up with less stern lift (not desirable in a jet boat). 
With their nozzle design, you can pretty much design the tunnel to feed the intake with it in straight position only. This theoretically can make a noticeable improvement in tunnel design. And added benefit is that you no longer have the space between the back edge of the tunnel and the leading edge of the shoe. 

Another issue with outboard jets is the steering ratio. Most outboard steering systems have 3.5-4.5 turns lock to lock, which is fine motoring across a flat lake, but isn't ideal for jet boat use. Contrarily, most inboard jets (both inline Hamilton style or Sportjet type, as well as most PWCs) have 1/2 - 1 turn lock to lock. The issue with speeding up the steering ratio with an outboard is you are turning 300+ pounds of metal, as well as the engine torque. If you just turn the nozzle and reverse bucket, you are just turning 5 pounds of metal, and no engine torque. 


I really think what they have there is the nozzle system. I'd like to see a variation of that available as a standalone accessory. I can see them licensing that to other boat companies, as well as selling as an accessory for other boat retrofits.


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## handyandy (Feb 20, 2018)

They're very well made and the nozzle is innovative, but there are other boats that are as good. I'd say many of the boat makers in the northwest that have been building obj rigs for decades are comparable wooldridge, northwestern, koffler, alumaweld


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Feb 20, 2018)

What sets their boat apart is the cradle and nozzle for the outboard. That is what allows their boat to do what other outboard jets cannot and go where other outboard jets simply can't go. Their's is an outboard jet that can go anywhere an inboard jet can go; that is extremely impressive.


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## fishing66 (Mar 22, 2018)

BS flag thrown on that one. River Road makes small boats, 16 x 48, they do a ton of fabrication work to immobilize an outboard engine and then bolt a machined nozzle on. This is a solution in search of a problem. At what point is it no longer an "outboard jet"? The only videos of River Road Jet Boats show them getting smashed to bits and this "magical" intake getting dented. Brent Kaufman will build a 17 x 60 inboard River Jet for 31K; for an additional $750.00, he'll make it an 18 x 72. 200hp, 50mph top end, nothing hanging below the hull aside from a sonar mount. It floats as shallow as a mayfly. If you want an outboard jet, fine, buy one and lose 30% of the engine HP. If you want an inboard jet, great, get one of those with 90% of engine hp. River Road has managed to construct the worst of both worlds for a premium price. I'll pit my Rockproof over any magical mystical River Road jet any day.


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## RiverBottomOutdoors (Mar 26, 2018)

The problem with forums is you have to sift through the posts of people that don't know what they are talking about. lol


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