Super shallow! Get your jon boat set up for skinny water- no tunnel or jet 

I'm not familiar with newer motors, but on these older Johnsons as you have continuous flow out the telltale you can assume your head is full and by proxy the impeller is getting water and is fine. I've been running this way for about 2 years now with dozens of hours at this height near redline. Longest continuous runs are 5-10 miles up river like that clip I showed. I probably do more preventative maintenance than most since I do ring this things neck. I do impellers every winter and all looked new after a year of this operation. The clip I showed is a bit misleading since the telltale is on the opposite side, peeing strong though. It's pretty easy to just look and see this, so I think that issue you described is just someone who isn't familiar with the way motor cooling works. Good note though. I kinda assume someone searching this stuff is already in the know, but not always the case.

@@timlong1462Youre doing fine obviously, just Keep replacing that impeller at least annually, you should be fine, its so easy and cheap, the ones Ive seen are not too badly worn its short periods of lost flow that overheats them and they can lose a vane or two or become stiff very quickly which obviously means overheating becomes more frequent. I also think a jackplate in not so shallow water is great to reduce drag, Bottom conditions such as shells and heavy organic debris will definitely shorten the impeller life and clog thermostats, which is the bulk of what Ive seen as problems.

Long answer to a short question: Absolutely would be in many cases, kinda hint to that at one spot in the video. There's a few reasons I still have this motor. Price of a whole new jet OB is a lot, and to run one on this boat I'd be forced to buy a jackplate anyways to get the transom height correct. I may end up getting a jet one of these days, and now I'll already have the plate needed. Most old 2 stroke jets and jet foots are now costing more than I paid for this whole boat, if they are even available. I'm always looking for a foot that could slap on this 25 though. Probably would only get like 10-15mph which would be "ok" for some stuff except those 10 mile runs up river loaded with camping gear. A new unit is like 5-6K which is a lot and they're all heavy 4 strokes now. You just lose so much power with a jet foot when it comes to these small motors. I can't run a 40/25 4 stroke jet OB on this boat or I'd be squatting like a dog and way over transom weight limit. I'm not a fan of higher power surface drives either for the same reasons. Heavy, no reverse until you get into more expensive options, and I don't want a longtail for a lot more reasons. Most of the river where I run is like 3-4 ft deep, so a standard OB setup is fine. Its not till I get back in there that I even need a shallow solution so this actually works out great. Absolutely would pick a 1448 or 1652 tunnel jet setup over this any day though to be clear. Just working with what I have and within a budget for now.

Another weird reason that might sound minor. When I am running my bow mount trolling motor there is a huge difference in my level of boat control with skeg in the water vs tipping my motor up. I always prefer to have my skeg submerged and the motor pointed straight. With the motor fully up the back end of the boat basically blows any way it wants to in the wind or current. Gets old with 2 people casting. I know a jet would do the same without a skeg to hold the back end straight.

@@timlong1462 Dont put a jet on anything less than a 40.. you lose 1/3rd power at foot. I run a 225 jet. Ive had several jet boats over the years and made a mini. The skeg reasoning is weak at best, I run a 24 volt 80# bow mount n rarely deal with wind etc..

@@Ajaxaxxess Yep, well aware of the power loss as I said above. That's the main issue and why I've done it this way for now. Wanted to make a video for other guys who might be looking for a similar solution. Wind/current may not affect your setup, especially with the weight difference. We are clearly talking 2 very different boat here, so I don't follow your comment. This is a 1440 with a 25 and 45lb trolling motor. Its not a power issue with the trolling motor, but that the stern blows away from the wind like a flag on a pole with the skeg up.

Are you giving one away?