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#134088 - 01/10/02 01:18 AM Re: Which sled?
willierower Offline
Spawner

Registered: 11/03/99
Posts: 502
Loc: Albany OR
Ok fish hunter give your address and I will send you the dime. Even though I dont currently own a sled, Ive been in and around sleds since I was making pudding in my diaper eek So I think I might have an informed opinion on sportjets (yuck). I even went on a body search for someone who died because of a sportjet clogging up with debris.
You burn more fuel with a sportjet than you would with a V-8. V-8's last longer than a 2 stroke will. Less maintenance with a V-8, plus you can due the work yourself.
On top of all that, a V-8 has a lot more torgue and horse power. Horese power comes from RPMs, torque doesnt. There is no such thing as too much power in a jetboat, especially if you ever plan on using it on a river.
I can say all thatbecause Ive been in 2different sportjet powered boat and I am also running around in 2 V-8 powered boats quite often, 1 is a 21' totally Customweld and the other is a 21' North River Ranger. Both boats have Vortec 350's and Hamilton 212 pumps.
Ive also been in and ran many different outboard powered boats ranging from a 16 foot with a80 horse merc to a 21' Jetcraft powered by a 200 Yamaha Phase III. Out of all the boats the Jetcraft is the fastest at 58 mph with 3 people. It jumps out of the hole in about a boat length and 1/2. The only draw back is it drinks the fuel...... A Sportjet cannot push a 21' boat that fast. Nuff said.....

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#134089 - 01/10/02 01:25 AM Re: Which sled?
silver hilton Offline
Repeat Spawner

Registered: 10/08/01
Posts: 1147
Loc: Out there, somewhere
Looking back on the posts, I think it's a little amusing that no-one who is bashing the sportjets appears to have actually owned one. I would be prepared to believe that another motor/jet could be a better package, but haven't heard anyone actually offer any evidence.

So, if you're buying a boat, and don't want a package that is cheap, powerful and effective, by all means, don't buy a sportjet.

Now, that said, in the interest of full disclosure, let me tell you the one nit that Doubletake and I have both noticed. The Sportjets are a bit cold blooded. In particular, if you start them, and run them for about three minutes, and then shut them down for a minute, they get difficult to start, until you let them cool for 10 minutes. If you run them for five minutes, then no problem. It seems like the choke gets a bit twitchy as the engine gets just barely warm.

If I unload the boat, and then run upriver or downriver a mile, I never notice a problem. If I unload and run 500 yards and then idle for a minute, the engine wants to die.

This is only if the tempertature is cold, like 35 degrees. never happens in summer or fall.

That is my only ***** about the motor.

One of the other posters commented about how the North Rivers are more dominant. I can't speak for others, but when I compared the Alumaweld to the North River, the fit and finish on the North River, and the little touches, like side pockets and a warm water sink to wash egg slime off your hands, were just better thought out than the Alumaweld. I think both boats are solid, good fishing boats. I just liked the NR a touch better.

Now, Doubletake's boat (a custom weld?) is also a fine looking boat, but I think mine catches a few more fish... :-) Craig, your comments?
_________________________
Hm-m-m-m-m

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#134090 - 01/10/02 01:49 AM Re: Which sled?
silver hilton Offline
Repeat Spawner

Registered: 10/08/01
Posts: 1147
Loc: Out there, somewhere
One further point, about the cold bloodedness. That is only true for me on the first start of the day. Once I make the first run, the motor is perfect for the rest of the day.

As to the body search comment in the previous post, I'd love to hear the logic chain that ties this to the motor. I don't care what the motor is - if your boat gets in trouble, it ain't the fault of the motor, it's the fault of the pilot.
_________________________
Hm-m-m-m-m

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#134091 - 01/10/02 02:56 AM Re: Which sled?
stlhdr1 Offline
BUCK NASTY!!

Registered: 01/26/00
Posts: 6312
Loc: Vancouver, WA
Fish Hunter,
My new Koffler 20' x 72" has a 200 Merc with the oversize pump... Talk about torque and power, she runs a plane at about 3300 rpm's with 4 guys that total about 800 lbs, and top speed, well no thanks not necessary.
Grass Hopper- I've ran all but the sport jet, but know a couple of guys that have them and are scared to run the shallows on the lewis at 900 cfs, but what boats have you seen run 2-3"s of water that are 20' x 6'? And holeshots, the koffler comes out of the hole on plane and there is no A$$ drag and will come out of the in literally a 1/2 of a boat length.

Highliner-
It all depends on the fishery you want to fish, but the koffler, Alumaweld, Willie and Thor Built, will do any. If you want to fish small rivers, Columbia, Buoy 10, Ocean you can do it... Yes you take a little bit of a beating when on rougher water but they're solid they can handle it. As for room, I've never seen more in a boat as a koffler. I've got double rod racks 6" wide the length of the boat and the rods stay completely out of the way. There's two removable box seats and two other seats that are removable that mount to the deck. More or less you have a gutted out boat that is top notch for boondogging. You have a boat that will cover any fishing condition except if you want to sit under cover and out of the rain with a windshield. But if you want that then you want a boat with limited availability for fishing styles.

As mentioned before I've ran Alumawelds, Willies, Thor Builts, North Rivers and have caught hundreds upon hundreds of fish from sleds, so I hope you'd value the opinion. You know that you're as good as your equiptment allows you to be... As you can tell I'd like to beleive that the Koffler is the best and until I find something that does it all better then I'll go with it.
Keith laugh
_________________________
It's time to put the red rubber nose away, clown seasons over.


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#134092 - 01/10/02 10:39 AM Re: Which sled?
Grass Hopper Offline
Smolt

Registered: 01/07/02
Posts: 81
Loc: Woodinville,Wa
Its all in the desing folks. Most sportjets on the market come in 10 and 12 degree vees. Yout Alumaweld tiller comes in a 6. If you want to blow their performance away you shallow up the vee. Lighten your boat 200 lbs move the balance point 2 feet further forward and Call it a sportjet. I had Mike Boulton custom build me a 22'x72" 5 degree centerconsole sportjet. The boat did near 50 mph turned at full speed in its own length, floated empty in 5 inches of water, floated full in 7 inches of water, and boondogged with the kicker running in 9" of water. Now thats performance. It is now run by Johns Guide Service on the Skagit. You can't hav a boat that does everything well. But if you explain where you run your boat, how many people you like to fish, how you like to fish, and the little things that are important to you( power train warrenty, tops,heaters, ect.) you may get more help. Lots of CUSTOM boats out there.
_________________________
If the grass is wet I'll run my jet sled there!

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#134093 - 01/10/02 11:08 AM Re: Which sled?
willierower Offline
Spawner

Registered: 11/03/99
Posts: 502
Loc: Albany OR
Silver hilton, here is the explaination about the body search......
A guy takes his brother and his 13 yr, old nephew out on a river to hunt ducks on backwaters. This is the first time he takes his new sled on the river. It is a 19' Willie Predator powered by a 175 sportjet. on the way down rier to where they are going to hunt he sucks up some cra in the pump and losses all power. They shut down the engine and grab some paddle and paddle slowly to shore and clean out the pump. No biggie, They fire it back up and off they go. They hunt until about an hour before it gets to dark to make it home safely. What should have been a a 15 minute boat ride back to the ramp turned into a night of hell. Te pumped clogged up 3 different times on the run back upstream. The last time was about 1/2 mile from the ramp in a fairly swift section of river. As they were trying to paddle the boat to shore in the dark the boat hit a submerged log and it capsized. The 2 aduls who were at the back of the boat were thrown in the water. The 13 yr. old kid was sitting up front under the top was caught along with the dog. All 3 people were wearing their life jackets. The kid and the dog both drowned.
After the 2 adults made it to shore, the father searched for his kid while the uncle went to get help. The uncle knocked on the door of a friend of mine while I was on the phone with him. My friend told me to get over there and help.
The sheriff came and got the uncle and headed down to the river to find the fater while my friend and I got his outboard powered sled ready to go. The sheriffs department wouldnt risk putting their boat in the river at night. My frind and lauched the sled and ran down in the dark until we found th boat. then we searched down river about 2 miles and found nothing.
We returned up to the accident site. The sheriif decided it was best to try and recover the boat to see if the kid was still in it. The way the boat was sitting upside down pinned against the log we couldnt look inside. We used a tractor and some cable to yard the boat out of the river. The dog was still in it the boat, the kid was not. We spent the next 3 days looking for the kid. I drifted that same stretch of river 9 times in 3 days looking. On the 3rd day when the Army Corps of Enginees shut down the flow the kid was found 50 yards downstream of where the boat went down. Im sure glad Im not the one who found him, I would have had a hard time with that.
The guy who owned the boat ha rn that river over a 100 times before in his old outboard powered boat with any problems. The first time he uses the new boat in that river his nephew dies......

Thats why I dont like sportjets.

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#134094 - 01/10/02 01:53 PM Re: Which sled?
stlhdr1 Offline
BUCK NASTY!!

Registered: 01/26/00
Posts: 6312
Loc: Vancouver, WA
Grasshopper-
But in all the boats available, why would you want a center console? In my opinion it just gets in the way, and running a kicker in 9" of water I think your pushing it there. If the boat rides at 5" empty you only have 4" for the kicker to stick down... Now your really losing credibility, not good for a salesman. Personally I have a set of 10ft oars that run the length of the sled on the gunnels that I only put on in low, low water conditions in the summer. There's two advantages in the smaller holes. First you can run shallower to stay off the fish and second your all around quieter coming through the hole.
Keith laugh
_________________________
It's time to put the red rubber nose away, clown seasons over.


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#134095 - 01/10/02 03:07 PM Re: Which sled?
Paranoid Offline
Returning Adult

Registered: 11/04/99
Posts: 286
Loc: Snohomish
The "Osprey" is way cool!

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#134096 - 01/12/02 04:01 PM Re: Which sled?
Grass Hopper Offline
Smolt

Registered: 01/07/02
Posts: 81
Loc: Woodinville,Wa
the kicker doesnt need to be below the boat to troll forward. And I don't fish in reverse do you??? If you want the perfirmance of a S.J. you need a stearing wheel. Can't stay in the boat doing a 45mph 180 without something to hold on to. But if you drive a tiller you will never know that problem because they don't turn sharp. If all you so is fish nothing wrong with a tiller yet there isn't a tiller boat out that can follow my lead!!!
_________________________
If the grass is wet I'll run my jet sled there!

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#134097 - 01/12/02 04:39 PM Re: Which sled?
Jett'in Fool Offline
Parr

Registered: 01/03/02
Posts: 63
Loc: Vancouver
I had North River make my boat 78" wide. I think it makes a huge difference! More room is good when fully loaded. I use my boat for everything from fishing to family boating. I had Bently put a customized teak bracket and sun deck cusions for the back. It goes around the motor box and is pretty cool for laying out. Also, get a fish tray/organizer that fits over the motor box. I love this for holding bait/gear and cutting board for wrapping plugs. Also put in a spray down pump/hose for easy clean up. Just thought I'd share my favorite options....
_________________________
North River Jetboats. Probably not your first boat, but definitely your last.

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