How much debris is bad?

[Jay Petzold]

First time getting debris in the impeller 4 times on Sunday. 2 were bad with a stick stuck between the impeller and the housing any chance this did damage?

 

[ar240owner]

I wouldn't worry to much , we boat on the Mississippi River and debris is a common thing for us , as long as it is not rocks I wouldn't worry !!

 

[007]

Among other things, we sucked up Dorito's bags, a cut tip of a 2x4, a smashed qt. oil bottle, countless sticks...like @ar240owner said, the only time we did damage to the impeller was when we sucked up some rocks.

 

[MIDLIFECRISIS]

ROPE, always too much rope! https://jetboaters.net/threa ds/jet-shaft-through-hull-blowout.3195/

 

[ar240owner]

Yes !!! No to rope !!! And rocks !!!!

 

[Zarrella]

@007
Are you boating at a Landfill???

 

[buckbuck]

Say no to truck inner tubes, also.

 

[Jay Petzold]

Thanks all for the pics to make me less stressed out!

 

[jfkraus]

We boat on Lake Chelan in Washington State. The lake has a lot of logging debris in it including some pretty big logs. But what get's you is the small water-logged wood chips. We sometimes get them stuck between the impeller and the housing and they cause a horrible rattle. We haven't seen any damage, but they can be a bear to remove.

 

[Jay Petzold]

We boat on Lake Chelan in Washington State. The lake has a lot of logging debris in it including some pretty big logs. But what get's you is the small water-logged wood chips. We sometimes get them stuck between the impeller and the housing and they cause a horrible rattle. We haven't seen any damage, but they can be a bear to remove.

That's exactly what I sucked up, impossible to remove by hand, had to free it by hitting the the throttle hard a few times, is that the method you have used?

 

[jarozi]

It really depends on how it gets sucked up as much as what it is. My lone issue with debris hosing the impeller was when a relatively small chunk of wood got lodged in there. It was maybe a 1" x 0.5" piece of a branch. But it got wedged in there just right and locked up the impeller. We tried to clear it through the ports but it was not budging. Blasting the throttle a few times cleared it. Probably not the best way to do it, but that's what we did.

 

[Jasonsbiz74]

I've sucked up capri sun containers, zip locks bags, I even sucked up a kite one time....yea the whole kite...wood frame, material and some string. I boat on Lake Erie and small twigs or small wood pieces are normal.

 

[0627Devildog]

Say no to truck inner tubes, also.View attachment 43901 View attachment 43902 View attachment 43903

That had to be a B!TCH to remove. . .

 

[msavold]

Lots of beautiful pine trees on the canals that lead to our place. But then there's the crappy pine needles and, worse than that, pine cones - which are surprisingly sharp when you try to get them out of the impeller. I keep a set of mechanic's gloves on the boat for a bit of protection from the sharp bits.

I know the pine cones have actually added a few chips to the impellers. And then the pine cones trap needles in bunches which has caused an overheat warning a couple of times... much more worried about that than impeller damage. In any case, thankful for cleanout plugs - saved the day a few times. Keep something like a Leatherman tool, long needle nose pliers, sharp (preferably floating) knife...