Affordable Water Jets?

I know that a lot of research and development goes into the design of water jets, however for my boat given that it is a dive boat it would be preferable to have "affordable but perhaps not the latest greatest most efficient" water jets instead of running anything with props.

Hamilton Jets would be awesome but are simply out of the price range, but surely there must be some more affordable brands of water jets out there? (talking about just driven by diesel inboards not jetski jets etc).

If anyone knows of any could you please post?

 

When this link came up in Google, this was the opening sentence.....
"Marine Water Jet Propulsion Pump by Hamilton offers efficient and reliable propulsion for boats. Enjoy homemade water jet drives and pump-jet systems.
$2,500.00 · In stock"
Marine Water Jet Propulsion Pump - Buy Jet Propulsion,Water Jet Propulsion,Marine Water Jet Propulsion Product on Alibaba.com https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Marine-Water-Jet-Propulsion-Pump_60820145429.html
I get the impression that these are 'cheap' Chinese copies of the Hamilton jets?

These are made in Houston Texas apparently - I don't know how much they cost though.
Waterjet Propulsion | Thrustmaster https://www.thrustmaster.net/waterjet-propulsion/

Traktor Jets are fairly heavy duty (and no doubt they are even more expensive than Hamiltons) - if you want high thrust at relatively slow speeds, then they would be worth looking at (if they are affordable of course)
https://www.hilljets.com/

You could also try contacting the Castoldi folk in Italy, to see how their prices compare with Hamilton?
They say this : "Whatever your budget allows, whatever your situation calls for, each and every Castoldi waterjet model has options to suit your requirements."
Marine waterjet Drive, Pump-Jet, marine waterjet propulsion system https://www.castoldijet.it/marine-waterjet-propulsion-system/

And there are Vospower jets, from Naiad - a link for Naiad came up, but Google said it was not safe, so I will post this link instead.
Vospower Water Jet - NAIAD DYNAMICS - PDF Catalogs | Documentation | Boating Brochures https://pdf.nauticexpo.com/pdf/naiad-dynamics/vospower-water-jet/25361-15956.html

 

Many thanks @bajansailor - I will check those out. I suspect that you are right with those Chinese water jets - you would add an extra zero and then multiply x5 for the price of a Hamilton jet.

Some interesting ones there. Thrustmaster look to have been around for a long time so should know what they are doing, and their 100 series DJ110 model (450hp max) looks like it work well in a direct drive with say a Yanmar 6LY440 so no need for a gearbox as such to reduce ratios but would need something fitted so could start the engine without spinning up the jet's drive shaft - I don't have the knowledge however on exactly what would be required for this.

I did a bit or reading about Traktor Jets - they were designed by a guy named Les Hill, and are aimed at heavily loaded boats going at slower speeds up to say 25 knots and they produce more thrust down lower in the rev range. At some point in the past Les Hill sold Traktor Jets to another jet manufacturing company called Namjet, and then a few years ago he started up a new company named Hilljet which make jets called HiJets that are similar to the Traktor Jets - more thrust down low etc. Interestingly these seem to be fabricated rather than using cast components.

Castoldi's look interesting - a gearbox and a hydraulic clutch are built into the jet unit, with the gearbox having 25 different ratios available - typical Italians! For some reason they don't both saying what the max rpm of the impeller drive shaft is.

Vospower seem to only have one model which is rated for a maximum of 300hp and 4500 rpm.

I will follow up with Castoldi and Thrustmaster I think - and maybe check out those Chinese ones - manufacturing in China has become a lot lot better - as long as you don't ask them to produce something for a cheap price then they can often make things that are just as good as in the west and they invest so much in R&D that often their stuff is now better than things made in the west.

 

Trktor, thrustmaster Texas (some derivative of a hill jet) and the hill jet are likely to be more than the Hamilton. The ultra jet line is a bit cheaper as is alamarin, ultra jet support has been far superior to alamarin.

I thought the alamarin would really take off for the price, they showed up maybe 10 years ago about the time fpt did as well. They made a big splash and have receded even faster, they seem like a decent setup but long term consistent support will remain the big question mark.

Im shopping for a twin jet bowpicker, and several friends have been operating similar rigs for decades. Two of the brothers built new boats a bit over a decade ago, one with ultras one with Hamilton. Initial price at the time was about 25% less for the ultra, however their roughly 10 year cost of ownership has been nearly identical. Neither regretted their system, but both pointed out Hamiltons parts network and inventory is hard to match.

 

OK that is great info there! Just to confirm - the Ultrajet you are referring to is the Ultrajet by Marine Jet Power (MJP)?

In Egypt I work off the theory that there is probably no support - so anything that I do find is a bonus... there is a Yanmar service agent there so that is a big plus... but...

Hamilton do have a huge advantage in that area in lot of places.

 

Yes the 305ht and 340ht have been very popular up here.

 

Cheers! Just looking at their website now - looks like they have a good range!

 

BTW which engines are you pairing them with? (particularly the 305HT)

 

Some form of 5.9 or 6.7 cummins.

 

OK cheers.

 

You should definitively take a look at the Doen Kompakt series, the DT model would have what you need. (Note: I've no affiliation with them, but they solved a huge problem for a client, where Castoldi had eff'ed up).

 

Many thanks - will do! Castoldi and eff ups seems to be a recurring theme...

 

....oh, just saw your personal message: will expand on the theme later.

 

Ive owned a couple jets over the last two decades, have worked on boats with them for longer all doing commercial work.

I'd stress locating a solid dealer first. Jets are gonna have to be bought somewhere even if you dont have a local dealer. Eventually your going to need and impeller, wear ring or thrust bearing... or bucket bushings from and overzealous stop. Id try and track down sourcing of parts and let that guide what type of jet to use. Nothing kills a commercial operation like down time awaiting parts.

Ive bought what were and probably are better mouse traps, only to be bit by the lack of support a few years out. I currently use a supplier thars 3k miles away, who has a better track record than my local dealer at getting me parts rapidly so it doesn't always have to be local... just needs to be consistent.

 

Words of wisdom, especially considering his situation.

Here's reality, either he has a good and connected (read expensive) customs broker and an equally good inland shipping agent to get the parts (and if necessary a mechanic) from international airport to the backwater where the boat operates, or he doesn't. In the first case it's irrelevant who provides the parts, he will have them overnight, in the second it's equally irrelevant since the only way to keep operating is by having a complete spare unit on standby and a stash of parts ordered 6 months in advance.