jet drives?

M

michael barnes

Active member
i saw a '68 glass starcraft, 15', v hull, for sale, with a 40 hp yammie jet drive. the trailer is a whole lot better than the one i bought last year, and the guy said the motor runs great, said it was either a '95 or a '99, he'll call me back about it. i dont know much about jet drives, and was wondering what you all thought about em. what is the advantage? shallower running, no prop to foul up? how about maintainance, are they more or less trouble free that a regular outboard, about the same? he said he'd run it for me, but wanted to find out a bit more about jet drives in general before i went any further. the boat, trailer, both titled, and the motor for 975.00. how does the price sound? i know ya cant tell much without seeing it, but any advice is much appreciated.
 
Hey Michael, my initial impression is that a V-hull and jet-drive are kind of a mismatch. Usually a jet-drive is paired with a flatter bottom, low draft hull. Yamaha make good jet-drives though, i do have experience with them. The value in this purchase is the motor and jet-drive. Probably about a 20-25HP head after 10 yrs. use.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Dave
 
That seems ridiculously cheap for a late 90's Yamaha jet to me...even if it is a 40. With the boat no less. I'd be leary. The impeller or shoe may have issues. Seems sketchy.

None the less, if you do end up getting it and the motor is okay you can work on it to squeeze more power out of it. Boyesen reeds etc. Some guys sharpen the edges of the impeller and even the grate. There is tons of info on the net about jets. The Alaska forums are loaded with stuff.

The motor and boat are WAY mismatched for sure. I'm not sure it would even work at all frankly. You may be able to get a conventional lower unit for the motor and convert it back. If the pump is functional you could ebay it to recoup some of the expenditure.
 
If you run around vegetation a lot then the jet will clog. Usually it stops on the grate and it's very easy to lift up and clean off but sometimes it get sucks into the drive. I love em personally but a lot of guys don't. Fuel mileage completely blows. But, matched to the right boat they are incredible for going shallow if you're on step.
 
it is a factory jet drive, not a converted outboard. i have been asking around, and im getting the same answers: it seems really cheap, its totally un suited for the boat, and run it in clean water. since id be keeping it on that boat, or a similer starcraft aluminum v hull, and since i would be fishing and hunting eel grass beds, i think ill pass ;). thanks for the info.
 
Good call. BTW, Outboard Jets in California makes all the pumps so about the only diff is that a factory jet will have the horses rated at the output so the head is actually a 60 or 65 more than likely. A converted jet will typically show the head rated horsepower on the cowling and the pump will be 15 to 25% less.
 
I had a 40 hp Yamaha Jet drive (28 hp out the jet). It worked great in clean water, but clogged in the weeds. Since I couldn't get to the duck blinds without push poling through the weeds, I sold it to buy a Mud Buddy.
 
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