Buying a jetboat is only a small part of it,what type of boat, you will need a 4wd to tow it around,maitainance and some basic safety tips You can find me on facebook here - / goatracing-15472105822...
Lived in Alberta for 20 years. Worked for a couple different manufacturers. The river jets were by far the most fun and bang for your buck . I saw things that you would not ever see unless your in a jet. Great sport.
Bloody good on ya! Enjoyed that and looking forward to the next one. Just got some plans for a jet dinghy and know I can learn a heap of you so thanks for sharing. You have me pumped!
Great video. Just bought a 21 foot Thunder Jet and in the "fake it till I make mode". Very helpful video. Might have to look into one of the smaller Jet boats too. Looks like a blast.
FYI: We start the boat when it is on the trailer and in the water. Have one person drive the vehicle and one in the boat. When you are ready the boat will push you out of the water. Once the vehicle is rolling shut the boat off before exiting the water. My big rig has 400 HP with a Hamilton and will just about push the truck out in neutral. My little boat has 165 HP and will help significantly even though I have never had to do it with my little boat. A winch works great for those spots you can't get a trailer into for the little boat. dump it on the ground, push it into the water, go for a rip and then once back, hook up the winch and tug her out. Tip the trailer up and winch the trailer under it and away you go!!! Thats how we do it, nothing fancy but it is a couple good options. Oh yeah, as usual Awesome video and great info!!!! Cheers bud!!! PS: A good piece of info for shallow water/deep water is the degree of the hull.
Great video mate, Ive had the mind to get in touch and pick your brains on the do's and dont's for a while now, will wait for the next how to video to come out.....awesome little shallow water boat you've got, think Ill go that way myself when the time is right.
Oh Man, Due to the nature of the game.....Thanks for that.... I wasn't expect that and no wonder why you wear a helmet.... I always thought your motor would be too loud... and your excellent taking a fast-moving video of you working on your boat into good shape, plus the water safely... Cheers
Great video goat! Really like it! Done alot of boating but nothing like river racing! Would been so much fun to try it out! Looking forward to next video!
Great video! I live on a river in California, not white water (at least where I live) but can get some narrow channels, obstacles debris, etc in places (the Delta system, Bay Area) I raced jet ski competitively 20 years ago and hold a national title at the World Finals in Havasu in the Novice standup class and later was a top expert rider in the IJSBA, so I am not a total newbie in this sort of this, or at least in the world of personal watercraft, and have fair mechanical DIY abilities enough to do basically whatever I need. I've been watching your guys video for the past 5 years and I plan to buy a decent mig welder with a spool gun in order to do it. (currently only have an ark welder) I know you are one of the original vets in this sport created by your circle of people (kudos!). I must say, you along with youtuber "jetlj" are my favorites in this world. He rips it, I also like his boat design aesthetically the most (even though they are all very similar) but strictly follow the rule of form following function 1st and foremost. Haven't seen anything from jetlj in years though... Anyway, I had a couple of basic questions that I would love to get some insight from you on (I know you are asked this stuff all the time, so I apologize). First of all power plant, what's "the ticket"? I know Yamaha has got it knacked in the reliability department from all my experiences. Maybe find a totaled yamaha 3 cylinder sit down to scavenge the whole pump unit and motor/running gear is what I'm thinking, is there a specific model range to hone in on? (I am a standup rider and never had the desire to follow the sit down models, except now, to cannibalize! I definitely want a mini, in your opinion, what length has proven to be the most idea? I saw some plans being sold online, do you recommend that route or a specific design? I want to do it right the first time (my goal anyway). I have successfully built a full size 24 foot all wooden barrel back boat with my father so I have that as experience under my belt. Of course aluminum is a whole different medium. I have no interest in selling or getting into the business, I just want a bad ass little rugged, sleek, fast runabout to explore and blast the river system that's right on from of me (no desire to drop a load of cash on something commercial that I have to worry about, I want to be able to thrash. Probably get a stainless prop and a couple simple bolt ons to make it rip and stay reliable. Would love any insight from you, I've been checking out your videos for a long time , first time I have posted anything, anywhere.
That part at 2:22, reminds me of the same situation I had while retrieving my large boat. My 4x4 couldn't pull the boat and trailer out at end of day on this gravel shore that the wheels started to sink in the rocky gravel. It was easier to launch it but on retrieval it wouldn't budge like a stubborn old Mule, no matter how much effort the 4x4 tried until it got bogged. I had to ask other boaters and evening closed in to use their cars in front of mine to pull my stranded 4x4 and boat out. It took three 4x4s to finally pull it out. It felt like my car was being stretched apart from the trailer and the three cars in front, until the 'stubborn old Mule' gave up and got out. Depending on how soft is the terrain, pairing up may not be enough In soft, sandy or gravel shores, sometimes more cars are needed. Otherwise the launching and retrieving of big boats is hopeless. And if you're alone in the middle of nowhere in a place where those flaming Salties frequent, you will probably never see the next day coming. They're active at night.
I built an 11ft. fibreglass jetboat which I only use in sandy rivers. After clogging the engine in sand, I put an aluminium box on the cooling water intake hose to separate the sand from the water. Of course, with all this sand driving, I spend half my life welding and re machining the impeller blade tips. Maybe I should avoid water less than 3 inches deep, but I can't resist zooming past kayakers dragging their boats along in ankle deep water.
great vid i live up by waimak jet boats when i can build a big enough garage to work on a jet boat instead of the paddock i will be exploring the gorge.
When you first sae the other boat coming at you, the first twitch on the wheel was to the left. I reckon in NZ most of us do just that. After years of driving on the road, its second nature. Keep up the good work mate.
Man I would of kept left as per road rules , been in the Waitako River on my small boat and run into other boaties but by shere chance both times ended up on the right side - thought I was in the wrong . Goat your a real asset to the jet boating community , keep it up .
First saw a mini jet a few years ago love at first site! Recently I came into a few bucks. I live in BC Canada on the west coast. Buying a liveaboard fish boat a kit and welder. I've been a HD mech for 30 years but green when it comes to jet boats so thanks for the input. Gona go up Butte, Kingcome and Rivers inlets have a look up the rivers. Looking forward to it.
Type 4 and 5, skinny and fat bass boats. Skinny ones have a inboard jet pump and the fatty's typically an outboard. I built a jet-jon by mating a Seadoo Xp drive with a 14' Alumnacraft and it's a fine skinny water fishing machine. I don't go through the shallows at speed because it thin metal all around and it drafts under 3" loaded out. Love the video mt friend. I 'need' to build a little dingy style jet.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to post it! I have to build myself one but with a wife and two kids that want to be apart of the fun, what size should I consider to be the best to fit the roll? Thanks again for posting your videos! Much needed motivation to get started on my own build!
I'm considering making a mini jet boat next year. I just started researching and was wondering what the difference is between using a jet ski motor or a motorcycle motor. I know there's fire proofing for the motorcycle motor but I want to make it for a reasonable cost but safe too. Any suggestions? Good links? Loved the video.
At this point (since last night), I've seen dozens of jetboating vids. This is the first video where the individual is wearing a life vest and helmet lol
I have a 200BHP. I operate on a lake in Ireland where if it sank you'd be hard pressed to find it and it still sucks in shit. How can you operate these things on what is basically a gravel infested sponge? How are you all still alive? These have to be the best watercraft since Noah's Ark! I want one!
kdmc40 jet skis don't usually have the proper grates to keep rocks out of the impellers. Boats like Kingfisher Xtreme Duties are made to run in 4" of water, when you run them across shallow or even bone dry gravel the key is having enough momentum and letting off the throttle so you don't suck it up. If you do plug it off you simple jump on the stomp grate to clear it out and carry on. They are also built extremely tough to take punishment and the bottoms covered with UHMW so you aren't actually scraping or bashing up the aluminum haul.
There are some speed limits on german highways! But not everywhere. Also ich möchte behaupten dass es nicht auf allen kleineren Flüssen verboten ist Motorboot zu fahren. Wenn man mal beim Ordnungsamt/Wasserschutzbehörde anruft und sich nach Verboten für spezielle Flüsse erkundigt, können die einem oft auch nicht weiter helfen. Drei Hauptsachen: 1. Wo es kein klares Verbot gibt kann man theoretisch fahren. 2. Kommen wir auf das "kann" zurück. Es gibt immer den Unterschied zwischen können und dürfen (sollte mit den Booten aber kein Problem werden). 3. Wo kein Kläger, da kein Richter. Man muss halt nicht überall fahren nur weil da kein Verbot existiert. Wenn man Pech hat und zufällig von einem Rentner (ich nenne sie gerne deutsche karen´s) beobachtet wird, und dieser gerade lageweile hat, gibt es auf dem betroffenem Fluss schneller Fahrverbote als ich "Ich geh dann mal neuen Sprit holen" sagen kann.
what happens if people are swimming/ fishing in the river? whipping round corners looks awesome, but not if there's a dude fly fishing waist deep round the bend. Are only certain rivers open to jet boating in NZ?
One we passed between a guy fishing and the lee side of beach he was standing in about 4 inches of water ... fair to say he might have need a new pair of undies , jet boats are not that common in australia
