Anyone have any experience with Yamaha Jet Outboards? I'm looking at a 60 HP jet for my Alumacraft. I plan on using in shallow water on the river. Any insite would be helpful.

I've run jet outboards for 20+years. They surely have a place in the boating industry.,but only a nitch. The advantages are. No prop to bend. No shaft to bend. No skeg to break. No gears to break. And you only need 2 inches of water below the boat to run. Problems; You burn more fuel, because you have to run the engine at a higher RPM to get MPH, compaired to a prop. The foot plugs with leaves, and grass, Small rock/shell that goes thru the grate will plug in the discharge. Would I run another? Heck yeah. WAAAAAYYYYY more fun then a prop, I have 10X more control over the boat than what you could ever get from a prop. I have installed a lot of these units in boats that were for TPWD electro shocking units, LCRA, GBRA, and for TX State not to mention Flats Skinny water fisherman.

Then could you tell me how much the conversion kit for a 115 2 stroke runs? I would just be ordering the parts. Nobody up here carries it.

I run outboard jets for years and still do. Be sure you are getting enough motor for your boat. They are very weight critical in both overall weight and positioning of weight in the boat. That said, I love jets. An outboard jet unit will cost around $1800 to $2000. They are very easy to install but you will have to raise your engine. You will have more control over your boat after the learning curve.

Only an airboat can go where a jet can't. If that is important to you, then it's the deal, if not you'll hate it for it's limitations.

There's tons of mods out there to look at. You can easily remedy the grass clogging issue, and other things that will affect a jet. What you can't work around are rough water and reverse, those both will be marginal.

If you are converting a prop engine to a Jet, figure that you will loose 1/3 of its horsepower, So for instance you have a 90hp powerhead, you will get around 60-65 out of the jet. A new Jet will cost the same as ordering a new lower unit. Also, If you are converting a 20" prop engine to a jet, You will now have a 25" engine. So a lot of times, there is a need to raise the transom, NO you cannot mount it on a jackplate. It will not work.

Jet boats are a blast. My tournament partner has one...unfortunately the trails around here don't allow them.

Mike is correct, setback and jets do not work together.

Do they have reverse? I didn't think about that one. Thanks for all the info.

They have a water diverter that directs the water from shooting out the back to blowing it forward and under the intake. At low rpm there just isn't a whole lot of thrust but at higher rpm it can make your nose touch the steering wheel.

A jet does not have gears per say. It has a " gate" that when in forward is down out of the way allowing all water taken in to be propelled straight out the back. In nuetral the gate is about half up allowing half the water to go straight out the back and half to be diverted forwarded under the intake in effect cancelling out each other. In reverse the gate is all the way up directing all the water to be propelled toward the front of the boat.

Im in a tunnel hull that already has a jack plate for my 115, so would I be ok with it? It also has high sides.

I'm sure glad you all don't charge for the information. I will mount one on back and try. Thanks again for the help.

The jack plate may or may not work on your setup. There are jet tunnels and prop tunnels. They are not the same. A jet tunnel will not be over a foot wide and 2 or 3 feet long with a maximum tunnel depth of 2 inches. Any more than this will introduce air into the intake which is a performance and motor killer.

You can over come the extra width of a tunnel by adding a diverter plate from the transom to just covering the leading edge of the foot intake. This will eleminate any venting problem.