Jet outboard and tunnel boat questions

[Pool_Eleven]

I fish the mississippi and anyone who has knows of all the stump fields and backwater cuts that are involved with it. Ive been in the hunt for a new boat package and came across the jet outboards and the tunnel hull boats. Im thinking this would be the more practical way to go rather than the typical outboard prop motor banging off stumps. So my questions are simple, anyone have this type of setup or know anything about how good they work? Who makes the best/reliable jet outboard, and who makes a good tunnel boat? Do these motors work well on boats without a tunnel hull and do those motors suck up alot of debris, sand,mud, etc...? Lots of questions i know but any info would be awesome!

[BrandonN]

Yamaha, mercury, honda make jet outboards from 25 hp too 150 hp. G3, Seaark, riverpro, alweld, blazer, legend, lowe all make jet boats. You can also make your own like i did taking a regular jon boat use a jack plate and your good to go.

I love my river boat nothing cooler than cruising over a 8" sand bar!

[Alagnak]

Motors are motors. Only one place in California makes the lower jet foot/impeller set up and sells them to all motor manufacturers so no matter if you buy a new motor with the jet on it,or buy one and put it on yourself on your existing motor (pretty easy) they are all the same technology. Trimming it correctly with a jack plate or a custom made transom riser is the key, so the front of the jet foot is trimmed to suck water off the back of the transom. Once you have it set for your boat (tunnel or not) it is set for good. Doesn't matter what weight you have in the boat. Jets can usually be put on pretty much any jon boat as long as the back half of the hull is a TRUE flat bottom. Even the slightest V towards the back will really mess with the water intake although I have seen some set up that way that run good too. In some cases the back 3-6 feet of center keel needs to be removed to keep from cavitating during a slide/turn but most jon boats will run just fine without modification. In a true jon boat the back of the jet foot will sit JUST below (like an inch or two) of the hull so that DOES stick below the bottom of the boat and is exposed to hit rocks (the front is even with hull), with a tunnel the jet foot is recessed more and does not stick below the hull for a little added insurance. Other than that, there are no 'performance' gains with a tunnel in comparison to a regular jon.

[Pool_Eleven]

Thats some good information to know alagnak. Pretty much the stuff i wanted to know. I got a 92 50 horse merc right now. And a 92 lowe 1752 boat. Ill see what i can do to make that work on that boat with the motor i got.

[Alagnak]

You'll be able to find a used jet foot for that online I bet, or new. Keep your boat light and stripped down without too much dump (unlike mine) and it will work great for you without a ton of money. If you get a jack plate u can even switch them out for low and high water. ;-)