How often does it really, really happen?

[El Comandante]

The only issue that keeps me from committing to a jet boat is the issue of sucking up debris, wood chunks, rocks, sand, etc. Seems from reading here its a bit common. Not something I'm really looking to deal with. Buddy of mine works at a boat dealer (not jets) and says he has 2 or 3 per week coming in with dock line wrapped around the impeller/shaft.

How often do you find yourself having to clear your jet?

I'll be boating on the Indian River ( Bay ) in Treasure Coast Florida, hanging on the spoil islands, sandbars, light water sports for the kids, bars and restaurants.

Thank you.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@El Comandante Shhhhh. It is Taboo to speak of it.

 

[adrianp89]

I do mostly intercoastal in St. Pete area - maybe one or twice I had cavitation, pulled the plugs to find nothing and then it ran find.... I think just clearing the pressure fixed it. Never had anything serious where I had to really pull something out. *knock on wood* A few times I just gunned it and it chopped up whatever was in there.

 

[Beachbummer]

Small debris that can be removed by hand - maybe once a month

Your own Rope..no more than once in your life, or you forgot how painful it was... generally self inflicted, so it cures quickly.

 

[zipper]

It depends on where you boat, depth of water, area vegitation. I have pulled my plugs to clear millfoil twice in 4.5 years of ownership. This happened near the end of Summer when water levels on the lake were lowest and milfoil had grown all Summer. The clean out plugs make removal easy. Never sucked up a line.

 

[Dean P]

Hard to say as much of it is out of your control. That small wood chunk or a small plastic bottle cap (in my case) are tough to see and avoid (especially at night). I pulled wake boarders and paid close attention to the line and was never an issue. Remember you can always turn off the motors like you must do with i/os and outboards.

 

[Shookie]

I sucked up a rope twice my first summer. Last 2 summers I have never had to remove a plug for anything.

 

[jEt_jAk]

My boat has over 50 hours and never sucked up a rope. Worst I have had is a few weeds but rare.

 

[Redneck_4Play]

I've had my boat six years now and boat solely on fresh water lakes. Have never had to remove my plugs to clear debris........knock on wood. Used the reverse maneuver twice to clear some vegetation.

 

[the MfM]

So far this year...once. After going down a river that’s only 50’ wide and was full of debris from a recent storm. Once back on the lake there was something in one jet. Whatever it was fell out when I shut the engine off.

I haven’t had to pull the plugs to remove debris in a few years. Ever since that damn rope came out of no where.

 

[Bogus]

Plastik bags is a common issue, fushing nets, ropes. I have almost each ride and open ports to clean

 

[Julian]

Totally dependent on where you boat. On my home lake....never sucked up anything....other than a catfish that was ground to fish mush.

On the Bimini trip....have to stop 4-6 times in the crossing to clear drifting weeds out. Usually just do a reverse move to clear this.

If you take your boat to a mechanic to remove a rope, you probably also call a handyman to clear your toilet. (Ok that might be a bit unfair....but its 5 bolts, and a youtube video shows you how, and lots of us members willing to help you). But this is no different than wrapping a rope around your ob/io prop.

How often do you hear about people with props having to get them fixed or replaced?

 

[Scottintexas]

Buddy of mine works at a boat dealer (not jets) and says he has 2 or 3 per week coming in with dock line wrapped around the impeller/shaft.

How often do you find yourself having to clear your jet?

I'm confused, does you friend at the dealership have 2-3 non-jet boats coming in with ropes around their shaft or people are bringing him their jetboats boats with an issue?


I've had a few ropes, cleared myself while on the water, never had to use the plugs to clean any debris out,


.

 

[Elliott]

In almost 3 years of use in salt water (sounds, salt rivers and ICW), I have not had to clear anything, and I frequently operate in shallow water - including backing towards the beach to anchor.

The closest I have come to actually needing to use the clean out port was after crossing a 20 yard thick (went on as far as I could see to the left and right) trash line of marsh rack (floating dead marsh grass). It was completely solid; you could not see the water's surface through it. I noticed a drop of about 2 mph after going through it. I continued on to my destination (another 20 minutes). When I arrived, I pulled the clean out plug. There were a couple of strands of the stuff hanging on the intake grate. I plucked them off, but I could have ignored them.

To provide some perspective, a friend of mine was averaging 75 hours between having to replace his lower unit on his outboard due to bottom strikes (he blamed his teenage kid for one of those).

 

[mark_m]

The only issue that keeps me from committing to a jet boat is the issue of sucking up debris, wood chunks, rocks, sand, etc. Seems from reading here its a bit common. Not something I'm really looking to deal with. Buddy of mine works at a boat dealer (not jets) and says he has 2 or 3 per week coming in with dock line wrapped around the impeller/shaft.

How often do you find yourself having to clear your jet?

I'll be boating on the Indian River ( Bay ) in Treasure Coast Florida, hanging on the spoil islands, sandbars, light water sports for the kids, bars and restaurants.

Thank you.

Not often. Typical boating season for me is Alum Creek, which is a pretty big lake, not a lot of debris. Same with Salt Fork Lake, big not a lot of debris. We also boat the Ohio River, and have run pretty far downstream (almost 1/2way to Cincinnati) from south-central Ohio and never have had a problem with debris.

 

[jjmparsons]

We boat the TN River and when it rains local or up river the debris field is terrible. Having said that though I do as much as I can to avoid hitting or going over floating material in the river and have yet to suck anything up outside of the rope that I left in the water on my own accord. Its honestly subject to how you use your boat, how careful you are and where you boat at. You're not going to avoid every little thing in the water and sucking up a rope is like the first ding in your new truck... its just going to happen some time. I certainly wouldnt let that sway the decision on a jet boat. Good Luck!!!!

 

[props2you]

Think it's all been covered for the OP's question, the singular biggest factor is the body of water you boat. If you need an air boat to get where you need to go, a jet boat may not be the best for you.

(knock on wood) 5 jet boats and 20+ years jet boating, I'm ropeless and can only think of 1 time I had a small piece of wood lodged in the impeller, knocked it out from the intake grate and all was well. Weeds from time to time depending on my navigation and poor decisions.

 

[W3bexec]

How often do you find yourself having to clear your jet?

Honest answer. Once in 3 years. It was a piece of branch that was sucked up. I have yet to suck up a rope and really try and keep an eye on it.

 

[anmut]

60+ hours this summer so far, first jet boat, sucked up nothing yet KNOCK.ON.WOOD. Just takes a change in consciousness when using the jet boat.

1) Make sure you have someone looking after the rope when doing water sports.
2) Think twice about boating after big storms where there's extra debris in the water.
3) If starting the engines shallow, I get moving fwd ASAP so the buckets are open and flowing anything through instead of kicking it around.
4) Try not to over rev while in reverse in areas of weeds because of the bucket position.
5) When in doubt about debris or ropes, turn off the engine. This saved me at least twice from sucking up a rope and a friends hat.
6) Buy bright color anchor ropes and docking lines so you can easily see them.
7) Never let a line sit loose in the water - if your anchor line has slack in it, bring it in or tie it around your cleats to keep it out of the water.

 

[Gunner]

Two seasons and 100 hours and counting...zero issues, couple of times after getting home found a few strands of seaweed on the intake grate or impeller but never knew it was there. I am vigilant about avoiding debris fields when I can and avoid running in shallow water. Boat is used in ocean and river.