Yamaha jet boat or tritoon

Shallowskier40

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Dec 20, 2014
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Trying to decide which boat is better for my situation. Have a shallow water sand bar I have to drive through to get from my dock to a large lake approximately 24 inches of water. Need a boat that capable of salom skiing from and has room for family and friends. Thinking either a yamaha jet boat or a tritoon with a 150 would work. Would like options on which is better. I like speed associated with the jet boat but no experience with them and afraid of fuel cost and noise from reading other forums
Thanks
 

Chris1956

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Mar 25, 2004
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Gee, neither of those would be my choice. Most vee hulls will easily go thru 24" of water. You may need to trim the motor up a bit. The 'toon will stink for skiing. The jet boat will be a bit better for skiing, but not much. Stick with a vee hull and large OB motor, as I/Os draw more water and make a bigger wake when skiing. Bow riders are pretty good.
 

OrangeTJ

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We have a 2011 Yamaha SX210 and love it. I've written some fairly lengthy posts about our experience with it here. In short, it's been a great boat for our family. 100% reliable, extremely easy to maintain, great performance (even though ours has the lower hp engines). I don't know whether it burns more or less fuel than the type of tritoon you're talking about, but fuel consumption has never been a problem for us and the type of boating we do (a mix of tubing, wake boarding, cruising and anchoring). Our is louder than most prop boats I've been on (in fact this in really the one thing I'm not thrilled with about it), but the latest model of 24 footer from Yamaha is reportedly much, much quieter. If you have confidence that the sanbar is in 2 feet of water, you should have zero concerns about crossing it in the Yamaha. I'd suggest either planing speed or idle speed, not a subplaning speed requiring more than idle throttle as that setting may result in you sucking sand off the bottom and through the pumps. Great use of space - better than any sterndrive I've been on - but obviously less space than a comparably sized toon.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.
 

thumpar

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I would rule out the tritoon if you want to ski. Chris has the best idea. A V hull with a low deadrise will not draw much water and with an outboard you can raise it up more that an I/O while running.
 

Shallowskier40

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All the vhull boat I've seen draft at around 33" am I missing something. Need room for 3 or four to layout "wife request"
 

thumpar

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The draft on my boat is 30" and it is a heavy boat and 20'. You should easily be able to find one that would work in your situation.
 

Natesms

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You could look into a hybrid between a pontoon and a v-hull. I'm not really suggesting this particular boat, just something like it.
 

Shallowskier40

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I only have two feet of water every boat other than the jet boat and the tritoon seem to draft at 30 plus inches guess just looking for input from people that have tried both, but I do appreciate the other suggestions they just don't seem to work in my situation
 

OrangeTJ

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Most likely the draft numbers you are seeing are with the drive all the way down. Trimming up to gain clearance is an option in either an I/O or an outboard. Again, I love our Yamaha jet but there are alternatives.
 

Chris1956

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As was stated, typical boat draw is about 30" of water. That is a standard given for a outboard boat greater than 22 foot or so, or an I/O boat, at idle speed with the motor or outdrive all the way way down. Boats smaller than 22' tend to draw less, and squat less when getting on plane. The boat itself would tend to draw about 18" for the 22 footers, and the outdrive would account for the rest.

A bowrider gives you the option of loading the bow to help her plane with a skier, and the ability to take lots of people with you. A typical 18' bowrider will seat three kids in the bow and 4+ in the cockpit.

Jet boats are really popular, however they generally have less performance than a comparable OB powered boat.
 

steelespike

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You might be able to save several inches by moving weight/passengers forward, if water conditions allow.
You might consider a kicker motor If the water is relatively quite it wouldn't take much.
If its just a little jaunt maybe just slap a trolling moptopr on the transom.
I wonder if running a jet in sandy areas might wear it over time.
 
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OrangeTJ

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I wouldn't worry at all about running a jet driven boat in a lake with a sandy bottom. Our lake bottom is primarily fine decomposed granite and my impellers are in near perfect condition. You just don't want to open the throttles from a stop while the pump intakes are in less than a couple of feet of water no matter what the bottom is) as they'll pull grit and gunk off the bottom. While running at speed, they get force fed virtually all of their water from the surface. So either idle through shallow areas until you get about 3 feet under the boat or stay on plane if you are certain of the depth.
 

thumpar

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I was able to suck up a rock about 2' down with my jetski. It ruined my day because I had to pull the impeller out to get the rock unjammed. They have a lot of suction.
 

JASinIL2006

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I have a 19' I/O bowrider and I regularly boat on a stretch of river that requires I traverse a chute that is 2 feet or less deep. It is not a problem, as long as I am up on plane. With the outdrive trimmed up, I draw much less than 30 inches. Many similar boats also use this chute. I would guess that most bowriders 20 feet or less in length would work in your situation.
 

Shallowskier40

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Took a tritoon with a 150 hp motor for a ride hated it. Way to slow. Supposed to take a Yamaha jet boat for a ride next week. Went to marina have been measuring drafts on boat in water haven't found one that works yet
 

Slip Away

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You need 300HP on a tri-toon for it to be "Fun" Much more versatile watercraft than a jet boat. Go for a tri-toon
 

JimS123

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I was able to suck up a rock about 2' down with my jetski. It ruined my day because I had to pull the impeller out to get the rock unjammed. They have a lot of suction.

I'll second that. You don't want a jet in 2' of water.

The toon is also a loser. Nice to fish on but not real good for pulling skiers.

We regularly traverse into a cove with a 2' sand bar with our 19' I/O. Just raise the OD up to where the prop is above the bottom of the boat and keep it at idle. On rare occasions where the water level has dropped, we simply jump out and push the boat the last 100 feet. The hull easily floats in a foot of water.
 

Shallowskier40

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Bought a Hurricane deck boat with 250 ob supposed to draft at 18 inches. Cruises at 52 mph a think I'll be happy with this. I'll update once summer gets here
 
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