I am in the market for an aluminum hulled jet drive boat and have been very partial to the Thunder Jet line of boats the Alexis 21-22 ft range. Does anyone else know of a comperable line of boat in this class to compare to this? Also which jet drive option is the best I would prefer one that can be fully serviced from rear and not have to remove engine to repair or replace. Any comments are welcome. I want to compare the best options before buying this winter or next spring,preferably a good used one. A new one of this class at 40-50k it a bit much I have seen a few used ones in the 30k range this is a bit steep for me also but if Nice could maybe go in the 25k range. What are your thoughts?
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Aluminum hulled jet drive boat which is best?
- Thread starter BILLVO
- Start Date
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Dl5treez
Super Moderator
The right pump is a big debate, there are three main points for each:
Size of the boat.
How heavy of a load you intend to carry.
What type of water you intend to run in.
The single stage pumps, like American Turbine for example, are great for high speed running in deeper water, with a smaller boat (20-22ft) and a lighter load, like a couple people, gear, a dog, etc. American Turbines have aluminum impellers which are fine until you suck up a rock... . bad day in a big way. Single stage pumps also cavitate like a ***** in shallow water, or in fast-moving river water. Single stages are also pretty much worthless for any slow speed manuvering.
Three-stage pumps work better in shallow or fast moving water, usually have stronger construction (ability to handle more power), take more of a weight load better, and most have stainless steel impellers with stronger thrust bearings. The most popular of these are Kodiak and Hamilton, but XStream is out there, too. Hamilton makes some BIG pumps, too. Anything over a 212 is overkill unless you need to haul 6+ people all day every day. My preference is to Kodiak, as the Hamilton is more $$$ for essentially the same thing, and the XStream I don't know much about, although I've heard they are easier to work on that a Kodiak or a Hamilton.
For a boat, my preference is to Duckworth. Own one, love it, hope to buy a bigger one in a few years. The biggest reasons I like them:
-Build quality--they're put together better than anything else I've looked at, and I've looked at pretty much all of them.
-Handling--they don't slide in corners, they don't porpoise up, and the ***-end doesn't sink too far into the water under part throttle like others do.
-Customer Service--you're buying into a family and they treat you like it.
Another combo to look at are the 20-22's with the Mercury Sportjet setup--Motion Marine makes a great line of boats with the Sportjet units, too.
Be on the lookout for a used Duckworth Silverwing, with a 350 Vortech or 351 Redline and a Kodiak pump. Thank me later.
Hope this helps,
Dan-
Size of the boat.
How heavy of a load you intend to carry.
What type of water you intend to run in.
The single stage pumps, like American Turbine for example, are great for high speed running in deeper water, with a smaller boat (20-22ft) and a lighter load, like a couple people, gear, a dog, etc. American Turbines have aluminum impellers which are fine until you suck up a rock... . bad day in a big way. Single stage pumps also cavitate like a ***** in shallow water, or in fast-moving river water. Single stages are also pretty much worthless for any slow speed manuvering.
Three-stage pumps work better in shallow or fast moving water, usually have stronger construction (ability to handle more power), take more of a weight load better, and most have stainless steel impellers with stronger thrust bearings. The most popular of these are Kodiak and Hamilton, but XStream is out there, too. Hamilton makes some BIG pumps, too. Anything over a 212 is overkill unless you need to haul 6+ people all day every day. My preference is to Kodiak, as the Hamilton is more $$$ for essentially the same thing, and the XStream I don't know much about, although I've heard they are easier to work on that a Kodiak or a Hamilton.
For a boat, my preference is to Duckworth. Own one, love it, hope to buy a bigger one in a few years. The biggest reasons I like them:
-Build quality--they're put together better than anything else I've looked at, and I've looked at pretty much all of them.
-Handling--they don't slide in corners, they don't porpoise up, and the ***-end doesn't sink too far into the water under part throttle like others do.
-Customer Service--you're buying into a family and they treat you like it.
Another combo to look at are the 20-22's with the Mercury Sportjet setup--Motion Marine makes a great line of boats with the Sportjet units, too.
Be on the lookout for a used Duckworth Silverwing, with a 350 Vortech or 351 Redline and a Kodiak pump. Thank me later.
Hope this helps,
Dan-
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Here are some other boats that you might would to look at, some of these boats are built for heavy whitewater. I also watch some of them race on the river in my Hometown of Grants Pass Oregon.
www.harbercraft.com and www.outlaweagle.com
www.harbercraft.com and www.outlaweagle.com
Dl5treez,
You got it backwards. I had a 24' almar with a 3 stage hamilton. There isn't enough gained by anymore impellers to offset the expense of the repair and replacement of the impellers. Even if you get the stainless ones. I had the bronze ones. All pumps are offshoots of the hamiliton, or is it berkely, I forget which one was first but I think it was berkley. What happened is that former employees quit and went into business for themselves. Kodiak, hamiliton and the whole host of other all worked for someone else and then went into business for themselvs. The impeller pump was originally invented in New Zealand. But of course for shallow river crusing, the ones in Alaska are the best, bar none. As for the best boat, it's your preferene. The Thunders are one expensive boat. It all depends what you want to use them for. As far as duckworht go, up here we call them recycled beer cans. Not many people use them up here as much as they used to. Old technology is what they are. If you have more than 2 to 3 feet of water, any boat will do. If you are going in 1 to 2 inches, the Extreme Shallow that the Boat Shop up here sells is the only one to contemplate. don't know if this helps but, there it is anywise.
WD
You got it backwards. I had a 24' almar with a 3 stage hamilton. There isn't enough gained by anymore impellers to offset the expense of the repair and replacement of the impellers. Even if you get the stainless ones. I had the bronze ones. All pumps are offshoots of the hamiliton, or is it berkely, I forget which one was first but I think it was berkley. What happened is that former employees quit and went into business for themselves. Kodiak, hamiliton and the whole host of other all worked for someone else and then went into business for themselvs. The impeller pump was originally invented in New Zealand. But of course for shallow river crusing, the ones in Alaska are the best, bar none. As for the best boat, it's your preferene. The Thunders are one expensive boat. It all depends what you want to use them for. As far as duckworht go, up here we call them recycled beer cans. Not many people use them up here as much as they used to. Old technology is what they are. If you have more than 2 to 3 feet of water, any boat will do. If you are going in 1 to 2 inches, the Extreme Shallow that the Boat Shop up here sells is the only one to contemplate. don't know if this helps but, there it is anywise.
WD
I am looking for a boat primarily for the upper Missouri River in ND and it gets very shallow 4-6 inches is common for hidden sand bars ect. But would like to travel and try white water rivers in the west in the future so a very durable hull and pump are a must. Which pump is fully serviceable from the rear is what I would be partial to I have heard of the ones that have to come out through engine compartment to repair. Would like a 19-21 ft boat and do not care for the merc sport jets either. I would like an open bow and one that will do 60mph plus range if possible.
WDaniels what is the brand name of the extreme shallows or is that the name of them?
I have looked at the Haberjet/Jetcraft and found them to be very cheezy and light built boats as compared to the thunderjets at dealers in Billings Mont. I looked at the outlaweagle web site and they look like a nice boat.
WDaniels what is the brand name of the extreme shallows or is that the name of them?
I have looked at the Haberjet/Jetcraft and found them to be very cheezy and light built boats as compared to the thunderjets at dealers in Billings Mont. I looked at the outlaweagle web site and they look like a nice boat.
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Dl5treez
Super Moderator
A few other brands to look at that aren't of the uber-expensive "custom" variety are:
Alumaweld--some people say these are the best boats built for the money. Dunno if I agree with that, but they are pretty good.
North River--kind of an Almar, sort of. Nice boats for the price.
Koffler--build some nice guide model sleds, have a couple models you might like.
Wooldridge--mostly a true river sled that will beat you to death in chop. They make V hulls though, too.
Hewes Craft--probably the most affordable on the list, and are built like it. They work, just don't expect a looker or something built like a tank.
Just my opinions... ... . there are 50+ builders around the northwestern U. S. and Canada.
Alumaweld--some people say these are the best boats built for the money. Dunno if I agree with that, but they are pretty good.
North River--kind of an Almar, sort of. Nice boats for the price.
Koffler--build some nice guide model sleds, have a couple models you might like.
Wooldridge--mostly a true river sled that will beat you to death in chop. They make V hulls though, too.
Hewes Craft--probably the most affordable on the list, and are built like it. They work, just don't expect a looker or something built like a tank.
Just my opinions... ... . there are 50+ builders around the northwestern U. S. and Canada.
Dl5treez,
I had the 3 stage hamilton and I've had American Turbines, Kodiak, berkleys and others eat my lunch for speed and all were of the same size engine. But they couldn't haul as much as I could. 9 people and all our gear for a month in the wilderness and she still went, heavy but still went. But the repair for the 3 stage just got to expensive. The water here in the interior is just to shallow most of the time. I'll have the internet hooked up in the new house this wed. Then the chat room can once again take place. Talk to ya there.
WD
BILLVO,
I don't know who makes the "Extream Shallow". Get on the "yellow pages" from the internet and look up the "Boat Shop" in Fairbanks Alaska. They can tell all the you want to know about the boat.
WD.
I had the 3 stage hamilton and I've had American Turbines, Kodiak, berkleys and others eat my lunch for speed and all were of the same size engine. But they couldn't haul as much as I could. 9 people and all our gear for a month in the wilderness and she still went, heavy but still went. But the repair for the 3 stage just got to expensive. The water here in the interior is just to shallow most of the time. I'll have the internet hooked up in the new house this wed. Then the chat room can once again take place. Talk to ya there.
WD
BILLVO,
I don't know who makes the "Extream Shallow". Get on the "yellow pages" from the internet and look up the "Boat Shop" in Fairbanks Alaska. They can tell all the you want to know about the boat.
WD.
Dl5treez
Super Moderator
WDaniels said:
You're very much correct. The Hamilton pumps are the best, bar none, for big boats and big loads, but the single stages are much faster in open water. Hamiltons are also ungodly expensive to repair, they make Caterpillars look cheap.
The Kodiak 3 stage is a nice compromise between the capability of the Hamilton with the cost 'efficiency' (dare I use that word when describing a pump) of a single stage. They're my favorite 3 stage units, if the bias is not obvious. :-laf
American Turbines are good pumps, too---we just run a lot of shallow water and the ones we've ran with have a hard time in that environment.
Berkeley is the one that started it all, but I don't know much about them. They're very popular for all out speed boats, though, and used to be in about every jet sled manufacturers lineup--seems like American Turbine has replaced a lot of the available units--kind of a cost vs. capability balancing act.
Haven't been in the chat room in ages..... once I get moved back to Washington next month maybe I'll have time again... . sir.
Have a look at the boats these guys sell http://compeaus.com/ Watch the commericals they have on there site for the boats. Here is a link to some pics http://compeaus.com/phantom_SJ_gallery.htm
The boats are made by Phantom and customized in AK for fun. If you really want to see the action, order the free DVD.
The boats are made by Phantom and customized in AK for fun. If you really want to see the action, order the free DVD.
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Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
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Back Issues
Subscription Status
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