Jet drift boat
 

So just curious as there isn’t a whole lot out there but thinking if it’s worth turning a tinny into a jet drift boat. Basically would cost about $6-7k all in to make it with a 20hp jet outboard.
- is 20hp enough for a 14’ aluminum boat with 3 people on board to cruise up river?
- what do you think the boat would be worth once finished. It’s an old boat but brand new motor
- is a normal aluminum boat an ok haul design for it?

A 20hp jet will not get that 14’ on step. It would barely push it around.

take of 30% power if you put a jet on the outboard

I thought a new jet is rated accordingly to the loss of power

I know my mercury was marked 90/60, 90 engine 60 at the jet

Outboard Jets
 

Outboard Jets like calm water into the intake.
V-Hulls do not produce it.
Flat bottom boats do.
25 hp jet = 18 hp at the output.
Your Boat will cavitate and would be a failure.
I have a Fish Rite 16' Power Drifter with 40/30 Yamaha 4 Stroke works great for me and 2 others as the boat is much lighter than the Hyde or Super Drifter.
I Had a 14' Modified V, Flat Bottom with 2 Stroke 25 Merc Jet..
It worked great. For me and one other person.. I built it for the Bow after using drift boats for 2 decades
I put it together in 2002 and all in cost a shade over $10k at the time.

I have a 16' modified v (front is V, transitions to flat) with a 40/25 Merc jet outboard on it. It's deadly with two people in it. Tons of room to fish and she planes out real nice.

Weight distribution is key. I'm 240 lbs so me and the 200lb motor weigh down the back end pretty bad. I moved the battery, gas tank and anything else of substantial weight to the front of the boat along with the wife and dog. I'm looking getting at a bow mount trolling motor and I should be golden.

3 can comfortably fit in the boat, and I can just barely get on plane with two people sitting at the front. 4 people, forget planing. I don't load more than 3 in her now since its a dog if its loaded up.

Ok thanks. Guess I’m not gonna bother with it. Just wanted to know if it would be worth it.

I have 1756 Crestliner Retriever Jon with a 50HP Tohatsu withch is proberly 30-35 HP at the pump. It works ok with 3 people and some fishing gear. My top speed is 32KPH up stream. I'm into the boat for about 18 grand and the only reason I went this way is that I already had the boat and motor. The pump and riser plate came to $3500. If I were to do it from scratch I would go look for a used 16 or 17 foot Explorer

Ridden in and fished from this boat many times (Hey James, how are things?). Really nice boat, solid and smooth even when powering up the river. I'd buy something like this.

This would be a one man boat, as mentioned you lose a third of your power at the pump I have both a John with a 40/30 and a powerdrifter 50/35 both 16ft The John is noticeably slower when I add the 3rd person but that's okay as its my hunting/pike boat and I generally have only one passenger as you need room for the gear anyways The 50/35 flies and is easy to row but I have stripped it down considerably weight wise from the showroom ..... long and short of it is weight your enemy with a jet both for running and rowing .....

I've got a G3 1756VB, V bow Jon boat, with a Yamaha 40/30 jet on it. No problem with 3 people, a pile of gear in it and it also averages at 32-34 kph going upstream. Tons of room to fish and a incredibly stable platform. I bought it when the Canadian dollar was almost par with the the US dollar, so the package was $14k. The picture is after I mounted a light bar and running lights on it.

This is an idea I have been looking in to. Some of the best fishing in AB is on the rivers. Just need a way to get out on them. I remember reading an article by the Jensen's a while back on their drift/jet boat setup. Here is the commercial but I cant find the article yet.

https://vimeo.com/175578685

Looks like a Crestliner Jon with a Evinrude Jet.

There is a decent tunnel hull jet on kijiji right now too:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-powerboat-mo...ler/1434707375

What do you experienced drift jet owners think? Is this Alumacraft a good boat for maybe 3 people? I'd like to fish the NSR all the time and a couple trips to the Bow per year. Also would add oars to row.

You can always tell which boats have a tunnel. The water gets disturbed and air gets in. So you here the cavitation from the air. Boats with out the tunnel. Flat bottom should have the Center rib removed about 30” worth from the transom so water doesn’t get disturbed.
So for a small jet ,tunnels don’t work that well.

That is almost the same boat I have. My 30HP Yamaha jet pushes my 17ft G3 boat, three people and gear with no problem. Great on fuel compared to the bigger boats. 120 kms on the Peace river in one day, burned about 11 gallons of fuel.

I think I saw a new jet John for around $18,000 at the BP Tracker store