Prop boat vs jet boat and price difference on a 19ft

[rayg1022]

I was wondering the advantages and disadvantages between a prop boat and a jet boat. Also the price between the two for a 19ft boat?

 

[biffdotorg]

It seems that the value of what we get with a jet is great. The performance of a 360hp prop boat over jet is quite the difference too. So value is all in what you value.

The efficiency of a jet is far poorer than a prop. The safety and space savings of the jet out weigh that for me. Each owner's values are different. Obviously we are all biased as we are already owners. So you won't get many unbiased opinions on this forum. With the advent of the extended swimdeck, the safety factor is not really as big of an issue as many people make it. (that is assuming you never surf)

Please don't let the statement trigger anyone. Just be realistic on how many prop injuries you have actually heard of. Other than the drunk falling off the back while anchored or walking into the lower unit while stumbling around the back of the boat.

 

[adrianp89]

It seems that the value of what we get with a jet is great. The performance of a 360hp prop boat over jet is quite the difference too. So value is all in what you value.

The efficiency of a jet is far poorer than a prop. The safety and space savings of the jet out weigh that for me. Each owner's values are different. Obviously we are all biased as we are already owners. So you won't get many unbiased opinions on this forum. With the advent of the extended swimdeck, the safety factor is not really as big of an issue as many people make it. (that is assuming you never surf)

Please don't let the statement trigger anyone. Just be realistic on how many prop injuries you have actually heard of. Other than the drunk falling off the back while anchored or walking into the lower unit while stumbling around the back of the boat.

For me, the prop was a concern more so for marine wildlife. We have tons of dolphins and manatees and stories of props injuring them are abundant. Also I just got a picture of the weekend of my friend with a prop that hit a rock and cracked their whole lower unit in half.

http://www.tbo.com/news/politics/prop-injured-dolphin-serves-as-reminder-against-feeding-them-20150722/
https://www.thedodo.com/boats-injure-florida-manatees-2368810374.html

The picture alone in the first one I would think would be enough to steer anyone away from prop.

 

[rayg1022]

What about price comparison between the two for a 19' footer?

 

[Ancient canoe]

Pro jet
added space due to low profile engines
great acceleration
easy maintenance for DIY
no prop strikes

Cons
low speed handling
not a great fishing platform
top end speed lacking for similarly HP engines

 

[robert843]

What about price comparison between the two for a 19' footer?

This is too broad a question ti answer a prop boat can be had for less then a jet but it can also be more then a jet it just depends on the brand and options.

 

[Ancient canoe]

Price comparisons is going to depend on a lot of other things other than prop vs jet. The base Yamaha 19ft boat is 28k. You can find cheaper prop boats and way more expensive as well.

 

[Shannon]

I picked my 19ft Yamaha over a 19 t0 20ft prop because of how much more space and storage the boat has. It was a huge factor for me.

 

[Beachbummer]

On the prop side there are some entry level offers that cannot be matched by jet boats. You can have a new Bayliner element for under $25k.

An outboard has important benefits, such as ability to fully trim/tilt out of water, and the safety of zero/ minimal underwater holes. Also its easy to work on, familiar to many mechanics.

I find low draft and simplicity a great benefit to Jets. I am a used buyer, and the old seadoo two cycle boats depreciated very quickly so I was atracted to it based on price also, when we purchased. Bought it for 10k or so, probably spent another 5 over the 14 years we owned it, and sold it for 6k. We did pretty good.

But....4 stroke is awesome.

 

[Ronnie]

Regarding the price differences, I don’t think there is an easy answer to that. I keep reading that the list prices of a conventional/prop boat are always a lot higher than their actual sales prices but know from a little experience that Yamaha jet boats sell for pretty much their list prices.

You also need to pick a good comparable boat to a Yamaha jet boat. Take the ar190 for example. It’s 19” long and has a tower along with a lot of standard features that are often options on other boats such as a trailer, Bimini top, rear seat filler cushion, carpet, hydro turf on the back deck, some would argue a back deck as well. I’m sure I missed some thing but you get the idea. What is comparable boat manufacturer (fit and finish wise) to Yamaha to bayliner, searay, Malibu, Master Craft or some other brand? I don’t know.

The last time I saw a 190 on the show room floor was at least a year ago, the sticker price was $28k. You may be able to get a comparable bayliner for the same or less, but a 19” Searay lists for over $40k, if the other manufacturers sell a comparable boat I’d bet it will be more expensive even before the cost of the options are considered. I imagine that a new and comparable trailer will add at least $2k to the total.

 

[boudin]

The lake where we own a house is part of the Trinity River in Texas, and we get a lot of floating debris, especially after a big rain upriver, but really can be there anytime. I was always nervous with my stern drive that I would hit a submerged log and take out the lower unit--something that happened to my neighbor a few years ago.

With the jet boat I don't worry about that anymore.

-Greg

 

[haknslash]

"Prop boat" is a pretty broad brush. Can you be a little more specific in what type of boat? Bass boat with an outboard, stern drive I/O, direct drive, v drive, etc? What type of boating are you wanting to do?

 

[Gym]

Any comparison should be apples to apples or as close as possible. Comparing a 360 hp prop boat to a 1.8L SX 190 (not sure on the hp but doubt it's 360) is probably not a very fair comparison.

I would focus on what your plans are for a boat, fishing, water sports, numbers of people you will likely carry, lake or ocean boating and how handy you are. The jets offer very low maintenance with no transmissions, no props and no lower units to hit or service. Plus you get a lot of free advice from this forum.

 

[2kwik4u]

I had a 19ft "prop boat"......sold it when I went back to college......Bought a 19' Jet when I was ready to go boating again.

Paid $9,200 for my "prop boat" that was 9yrs old. Had it for 7 seasons and sold it for $8,500 with about $1k in upgrades/maintenance.

Paid $29,500 for my jet boat brand spanking new. Had it for 2 seasons now, Already $400 into upgrades. $125 in maintenance so far.

The Yamaha boats have more storage/space per linear foot than any other boat we looked at. We felt we got the most features for our dollar buying a Yamaha. We looked hard at Rinker boats when it was purchase time. We had great luck with our first one. They just couldn't compete on "value".......with us defining value as getting as much boat as we could for the budget we laid out.

 

[Jgorm]

The Yamaha has a bad ass layout. That's why i bought one.

Yamaha pros

Shallow water
Totally safe
Twin engines
Cool swim platform
Reasonable cost
You can't kick the prop while climbing in, but you only do that once

Cons
Fuel mileage
Noise
Can suck up weeds, kelp, eel grass, hydrillah, logs, rocks, sand, ropes etc
Can't use in weedy marinas.
No sand bar "warning" when the water is super muddy and you can't see shit. Both io and ob will start dragging the keel and you can let off, trim up, and float over.
People with little boating experience may struggle with low speed handling.

I've had lots of ios and obs from Bayliner, sea Ray, donzi, chaparral, cobalt, etc. Yamaha quality is around the sea ray, slightly better than bayliner. If money was little concern id get one of the new MasterCraft outboards for 64k. Massive surf wake, yet no inboard to get suck hard on a sand bar.

 

[Dough]

I had no idea MC made an ob! May have to add a boat to the must see list.

 

[Beachbummer]

The swim platform is one of my favorite features on the Yamaha. Hard to do with an outboard.

 

[Jgorm]

I had no idea MC made an ob! May have to add a boat to the must see list.

I saw one at the river a few weeks ago. Looked really nice. I thought the same thing and even asked him if it was custom! It's super quite.

 

[haknslash]

I would not be surfing behind an outboard unless of course you just like to live on the edge of dying

That NXT Global Edition is meant for skiing, wake boarding, tubing, etc and for salt water use hence the global namesake. You don't surf behind an outboard. Super dangerous and I'm sure MC would tell you the same. That being said you can find a lot more wake boat than an NXT if you shop around. I found a nice deal on a 2014 Centurion Enzo SV230 that was practically new. If only I had the space to store it.

 

[Ancient canoe]

I don't know much about surfing but isn't that kind of dangerous?