Jet Hull Performance.

[Joholio]

Wondering how adding teflon or stainless affects the intake on a jet boat. Does the intake need to be shimmed down after installation? Anyone run a spoon in front? My hull is slightly dented in front of the intake more on the starboard side. Will this create the opposite and harmful effect on performance(air bubbles)?? Thanks for any and all advise. Joel.

 

[Chrisco]

Post some pics so we can see the dent. When the UHMW is added to the boat they shave it down and put a taper on it so the water enters the pump nice. They do not shim the intake, uhmw is a must for alberta rivers it is well worth the cash. Check out highcaliberbc.ca they do great work and don't have to strip the boat.

 

[Lund]

If you run alot of skinny water UHMW is a MUST but in larger deeper river's or body of water its alot of added weight, i would not recommend it in these condition. It does effect overall performance of the boat in big water.
If you choose to go with UHMW make sure it is an installer with ALOT of experience, do your research. As i have seen numerous boats with UHMW with serious issues with it pulling away enough to allow water and sand to get in between hall and UHMW. This can create issues with drag, hardware pulling out of hall, leaks ect.
Personnaly if your trying to cleanup the bottom of your hall from major dent's and have no plans on running alot of skinny water i would get a keel plate done, 1/4" aluminum armor welded on the bottom.

 

[Joholio]

This winter I was going to get Bratt Jet or Marathon to possibly($) install a keel plate like you describe, but made of stainless or something slippery, as the aluminum really digs into the gravel, like last night up the Brazeau River. I touched a few times and shut er down once going up the wrong channel, lol. I do see how welding more aluminum is appealing (no holes). Not too crazy about the uhmw for some reason...

She's definitely braille-ish out there and a steep learning curve but oh soooo much fun!! Cheers!!

 

[pfi572]

Another thing guys that works very well is graphite spray.
It is the same thing they use on hoppers and things to make it slippery.
Mask off bottom of boat and prime and spray. It will wear off when going across gravel but easy to re spray.
Bring it 1/2 way up on bow and complete bottom.
When it is fresh and you pull onto shore it will slide right back into water.
Very slippery and very little weight.
IMO UHMW is only for shallow water low degree boats(8degree or less) that you are going to be beat up and used for very shallow running.
My 2 cents

 

[Joholio]

I believe my hull is 11degree. What do you think about steel? Then painted with what you describe??

 

[Lund]

You could go with a tempered aluminum such as 6061 or 5083 thats what most common.
But if its a real big issue you could look into installing 5059 military grade aluminum. They use it on alot of their vehicles such as landing crafts and amphibious vehicles.
You would have to research it what would work best for you. I would avoid steel.

The 5059 is used as armor plating and very resistant but might not be readily available without doing a custom order, dont know.

 

[Lund]

You could do 1/4" of 6061 keel plating and do UHMW over the plated keel only. This would make it slippery and wont cause possible issues with the hall or weight, if your realy worried about it.

 

[chadwik74]

You could do QT100 in front of you're pump or teflon. If it was me(and that's what I did) I would put teflon on. I have a big tub with big power so the weight isn't a issue. I did 47" wide and am so glad I have it, took a bad channel and should have stopped but decided to run over about 30' of dry rock. Still got a lil dent in it, but without teflon I feel it would have been a **** load worse.

 

[Play more]

I've had both. Just like others said it really depends what kind of water your going to run. A QT skid with graphite is tough for sure just make sure you paint the boat where your going to put the skid as a barrier because steel and aluminum don't like each other. I prefer UHMW covers more of the bottom and just make sure you have lots of stringers.