need advice on new jet boat

Recently moved to a house on French Broad river in E.Tn.and plan to buy a center console jon boat w/ jet outboard.Have looked and studied but do not have benefit of a reliable sage or trustworthy person w/ experience. Am considering Lowe 1760 with Yamaha 90 2 or 4 stroke(prefer 4 str.) or Lowe 1655 with Yamaha 60 4stroke. Considered g3 1860 but seems stern heavy. I will use for light fishing and just riding/cruising/hunting. Any thoughts on these boats and two vs 4 stroke power. I recently rode in a buddies yamaha 90 4 stroke jet and was truly surprised at the amount of torque the engine displayed. Thoughts or suggestions? THANKS for you time!

 

jet advice

I run the Delaware river at Trenton, extremly shallow in parts and alot of fast water. I have a 18ft Waco Big boy 140HP jet and it performs very well, my dad runs a 18ft Lowe Roughneck with a 115EV jet and my brother runs a G3 with a 90ya jet, all are two strokes we like them for the power to weight ratios and the lack of maintainence, but the four strokes are reliable. I guess my point is that if you plan to run in skinny fast water weight is a top concern, but if the water is deeper the reliablity my be where its at. In regards to the different boats mentioned all are well designed my pick would be the widest.
Good Luck.

 

if only looking at 17-19foot try a tiller, there easier than you might think to drive and you gain a ton of responce to the steering, have a 21 with a 225hpdi and tiller and love the way it drives. this is a north river scout. the guides around here like all the extra room you get with a tiller too.
as far as which boat you shoud look in to there good boats but if you do get a chance to try a tiller do it.

 

The River here in Kansas is very skinny. I used to have a 90 hp Merc. with tiller. This was on a home built 17' x 60" bottom. Had pretty good performance. But a 115 hp or even bigger would have been better.

I will repeat what has all ready been said, Tiller & a wide bottom {60" or more is good} with as much hp you can afford to buy & feed fuel.

If money is no issue. The best outboard jet boat made is the Wooldridge Alaskan. I have not ever been in a outboard jet boat of any make that will out perform this hull!! This boat does very well with steering wheel. I will go as far to say, NO ONE has passed the level of performance of this boat {in a mass produced hull} when it comes to handling & running the thin stuff......& No I dont sell them or in any way have stock with them. What I stated is just a fact! I would have one if not for the money.

 

We run OB jets here in the North West all the time, I have a 90/60 EV on my 16', it's big and wide for 16 feet and the 90 is as low in HP as I would go. My buddy kept his 16' G3 with a 60/40 yamaha 2 stroke on it at my dock last summer and I used it a lot. The G3 was great for skinny water and was very good on fuel, plus the Yamaha is very quiet, it was a very good combo for 2 people and maybe 3.

For a small boat I always recommend a tiller, at least for the kind of fishing we do here, a CC can take up a great deal of space in a small boat and always seems to be in the way.

 

Just a question for all you jet boat fans:

How shallow can the water be that you run your jet boats in?

 

2 to 3 inches for a short distance

 

Okay, thanks.

I assume this means you're running at a fast speed before you get to the 2-3 inch deep water, and then your momentum will carry you across the 2-3 inch portion of the water until it gets deeper again. Is this correct?

How deep does the water typically need to be for continuous running (instead of just a short distance) at maybe 20 mph?

 

4 inches or less, but depends on deadrise, weight etc. Shallow water actually creates quite a lot of lift to the hull. You can actually feel the hull lift in the water as it becomes shallower.

It also depends on your kahuna size vs your sphincter constriction ratio.