The first shakedown water test of the jet engine powered pontoon. A successful and fun trip. Time for improvements and more throttle on the next test! Only used about 60% throttle on this run!
That was great! Congrats. My friend Henry Morris builds a lot of speed parts for jet boats and is a helicopter mechanic. He’s built several jet-engine powered drag boats and might be able to bench race some ideas with you.
Thanks man! It's something different and fun to learn and explore. I've learned the "jet" community is very tight knit. It's always great to toss ideas around with some experienced guys. Your new boat looks mean! Keep up the great work!
Honestly some of the best quality content on RU-vid..thank you for doing what you do. All the best and can't wait to see how much cooler this pontoon gets!
absolutely awesome was scrolling on my recommended when i saw this video so glad i came across it cant wait to see what comes up next and all the upgrades
The pontoons are straight sided so cause a lot of drag. I think that would be an exlent platform to put some very short hydrofoils on to. These would realy make it rip. Cheers Paul, great project.
i literally checked your channel not even a half hour ago to see if you had any updates for you to post this not 20 minutes later, can't wait to see more
- Haha... dude, there's nothing else that sounds better than a jet engine spooling up just like @ 8:09. Also, thanks for for sharing all your effort in making this very cool jet powered watercraft and, taking us along on the maiden voyage too... Nice Job!
Pure Fecking awesomeness boys!!! Don't send her too hard till you get the bugs worked out! Was that 60% N2? If so you're at flight idle for most turbines...lol....To me it seemed like there's A LOT more power in that engine.That engine looks too big to be a TFE but too small to be a JT8 (sure a sh!t sounds like a JT8 at start). Rolls? Seriously 3 thumbs up for the originality of this....
Great run CONGRADULATIONS ! EXCELLENT BUILD AND RUN ! right up there with the safety standards li the racing Taiwan long tails ! weight savings ! no life jackets no helmet no seat belts Jet entered right be hind you !
The absolute best project on RU-vid. Looks like the testing went great. Waiting to see when you add the lifting strakes (or as you said in a reply to another comment, possibly a third toon).
@@LiveLearnProjects yes. I am watching a second time. Saw 60% rpm (lot of thrust left) and the footage from shore. Low in the water, when you add strakes/ get it to plane >>> zoom zoom lol. The people on shore "what's that sound?" ..looks again rub eyes.... "grab my phone, get a video" ... "they'll believe me now" 😂😂
@@TSRGarage I didn't film a lot of reactions. The gas station and the boat launch was drawing a lot of attention. Also the video doesn't do the volume justice. It's VERY loud...
@@LiveLearnProjects extremely loud especially at power. As I watched you driving it I saw the ear plugs.. thought I would recomended plugs and headset/muffs. I'm Ex airforce, aircraft mechanic (not jet engine mechanic) but did engine runs on cargo aircraft c-141. When standing ground watch you were not 2 1/2 feet from the intake📣, LOL Good luck and safe testing
As an avid gear head and watersports guy, let me say, this is the GREATEST thing I have seen all year, with LOTS left on the table! ! ! Do you have any lifting ribbons/strips on the toon bottoms or are they just round toons?
I *think* this has been mentioned, so sorry for the repeat. From experience (long story), you need to totally skin the underside of the boat. My solution was .040 aluminum with Zeus fasteners on the panels that I anticipated having to be removed for servicing. Granted, I was using a single O/B on a center motor pod, but the difference was drastic. There's significant turbulence at the stern of a pontoon - especially when low in the water. Lifting strakes alone is not the answer. And if ya wanna go crazy, mod the pontoons to create a pad. Thanks for listening.
Love it. I had 2 pontoon boats-kept swapping engines, found out with only 2 pontoons, there wasn't enough lift to plane. It's like the titanic-just a displacement hull. Bought a tritoon and WOW. what a difference. PUT a 3d pontoon or equivalent, and you won't need lifting strakes, it will plane and ride and steer better. I promise. there are aftermarket choice.
can't wait to see this go by the marina!! I see you put in right by River Haven. just up river from the my marina. Need any help with thing, let me know
So cool! I'm curious, how do you steer the pontoon? Are you using the outboard motor as a rudder, or did you add a rudder, or do you have a way to vector the jet nozzle?
This test the outboard was the rudder for now. I plan to make a separate rudder to reduce drag when it start going faster. There is also vertical adjustment on the engine itself.
Should easily beat the current pontoon speed record of 114mph. For reference this same engine holds the all time speed record on a hydroplane, not a pontoon, but it went 317mph.
@@LiveLearnProjects Thats so fast!! Good luck with achieving your goal and as everyone has been saying, be careful and have fun! Ill be tuning in for more and I can't wait!!
Put a duct on the engine outlet to redirect the exhaust so that it's below the waterline. It'll aid in thrust pushing against water having more mass than air and we get the benefit of dumping exhaust fumes right into the drinking water reservoir!
Was it just me, or did the jet appear to be slightly "hopping" in its mount about 3:38 ? Also, what fuel did you use, was it mixed with anything else? I need to binge on your vids to get up to speed because this is AWESOME! I'll be sharing this clip...
Perhaps, in the long run as speed increases, front-mounted canards to help keep the front down, like on the front of an indy car. The compressed high speed air ramming into the front of that brick will be looking for a place to escape, and the boat will want to ride up on it like on a small hill. You could even consider ducting air with scoops from the underside into the engine intake to help drop the pressure of the front bubble of air like they planned to do with old hyperloop concepts.
I'm adding a 3rd toon now and some lifting strakes. I'm open to all sorts of modifications, but we'll start there first and see how much improvement we get.
I first saw you commenting on a Warped Perception video a long time ago, on a comment Project Farm had made on his casted copper water block video and Warped had responded to. Then, I saw Warped come check out your unfinished boat. Now, you got it on the water. Quite the conversion man, outstanding! One question: J34s were designed to run on avgas -- what did you have to do to convert it to normal gas? One observation: It's jet powered, a frozen lake should be no problem...
Ya he'll be back in a couple weeks again with his next project. Most jets aren't very picky on fuel. If it atomizes, it'll run on it. I use a mix of gas and kerosene.
I've rigged so many pontoons that when you try the lifting strakes and maybe add the third pontoon make sure to add the under deck wave shield for a very smooth ride!
Pretty cool. Life long boater here. I know this is more about doing it because it hasn't been done....but a 250 outboard would have pushed the boat 3 times faster. So come on...tweak that engine and get those aluminum logs fast enough so only the last few feet of the toons are in the water. LOL
The owner of a company I used to work at worked with the U of MN and developed a pontoon design that more readily planes. Might work well with your jet.
It's cool to see how a just a jet pushes a boat vs. the Jet into a shaft and propeller. Obviously if you wanted it to be insane you would add the shaft and prop, but I say just work your plan and redesign the pontoons to create lift etc...
Can you lower the center of thrust any more? I doubt adding lift to the bottom is going to help much when the higher the throttle the greater the force pushing the nose down and water displacement is far and away the main source of drag.
Enjoyed it! Why a jet pontoon, i have no idea but congratulations, you did it! Been following this project from the beginning. I wonder what Agent Jay Z will think about it?
My question to you is, how are you steering? Are you leaving the outboard trimmed into the water just for use as a rudder? Are you vectoring the thrust from the jet to steer? My interest is piqued.
Add “steps” To your hulls. Look up stepped hull. It should help you produce less drag and get up on plane. Also consider nozzle angle. Too steep would make the craft nose heavy, too shallow would make the transom too heavy, what angle will make it plane best? This is where I would experiment.
Be aware that some states have limits for how loud your boat can be. The noise limit is measured in decibels at a distance from shore. I am certain that your jet engine would exceed any of these limits if anyone complained from shore. I think what you are doing is awesome, I just don't want you to get fined. Keep up the great content!
Since your boat is registered in Michigan, you might want to know that the Michigan law states, "a vessel’s muffler or exhaust system must prevent noise in excess of: 90 Decibels at idle from three feet away and 75 decibels when measured from the shore." You should be fine as long as either nobody complains or you were a couple of miles out from shore on one of the great lakes. :) I have an old classic boat that is really loud and I wear earplugs too.
@@retireearlyrich I am aware, but it is also not enforced. Most performance boats well exceed that too. Granted this is quite a bit louder haha. I'm sure I will have complaints where I am at (very very busy in the summer), but I can always go 2 miles out in the big lake and then there are no volume or speed limits.
Awesome!!! You’re gonna need more then the outboard as a rudder (maybe I missed you putting a full rudder on) but still 200 mph is a lot to ask of a rack and pinion cable. Check out the rolls Royce jet drives, you could probably fashion a similar nozzle/bucket around the end… even if it’s just a bucket kill that flips the direction of air flow for emergencies…
I have been enjoying the warm weather lately I'm in Calhoun county and it's been 60- 70 degrees and have been wondering if you this video was going to happen
Ok, this might be completely crazy? What about creating bags over the pontoons and closing it in as a Hovercraft. Like the large hovercraft that Canada use to have as transport vehicle. You would need a engine for lift. Easy to find a old motor cycle motor with everything to make it run. But it could also run the river after it has iced up. Just a Wild Ideal from an Old man. GP
Couldn’t think of a better way to convert money into noise and fun! Can’t wait to see her open up a bit more but I wouldn’t take her over 70ish on pontoons or you might end up flying.
Not sure is you're interested, adding a pontoon centerline and making it a Triton will help plane out quicker. That's just too cool! I've seen many pontoons and protons with front spoilers that make it look like it has an angled hull in the water to help.
There are plenty of outboard pontoon boats that can go on plane and go over 100 MPH with two hulls. This has more to do with setup than the hull itself. I think the power from the jet needs to needs to be directed down more in the back. Tilted a few more degrees to the water to bring the rear of the pontoons up. It might take longer to reach planing speed but you should go a lot faster on plane. This is one cool build. Way to go!
Yep.. My airboat likes about 3 degrees down in back to raise the back up. A rudder up in the air would help steering too. Set it up real gentle. A little goes a long ways.
