ALUMA-JET- Duracraft 1648 SV Jetboat Conversion

[PSG-1]

Very good point about the added height, and I'm wondering how it's going to work out.

Most of the ramps I use have a good amount of grade to them, and my truck tires rarely hit the water. Also, I'm pretty diligent about washing off the trailer, as well as the undercarriage of my vehicle any time I launch around salt water, whether the tires get backed in or not.

I'll have to see how it works out. Worst case, I may have to drop the height of the bunks and mount directly to the cross members, or use very short brackets. Guess I'll find out when I swap the boat from its existing trailer onto this one.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Very nice job man! $1000 is cheap considering what a new aluminum trailer costs.

 

[PSG-1]

Finally got the boat swapped out to the new trailer this morning. Here it is:


Old trailer



Here's the old trailer next to the new one. MUCH better! Figured I'd take a few last pictures of it before I hauled it out of here.



These couple of shots illustrate the reason why I went to all this trouble. Here you can see the rusting of the cross members and springs.



This one REALLY shows what I was concerned with. Look at how the last foot of the longitudinal frame member is completely gone from the underside.

Eventually it was going to break loose, and probably not in a good way, either. I have no desire to give my boat a case of road rash and god-only-knows what else. :shock:





Yep, it sits a little higher than it did on the old trailer. But not enough to change my method of launching. My back tires never got wet at the ramp this morning.





All in all, I think it turned out good. The boat really looks good on a shiny aluminum trailer instead of the old low-slung rust bucket.


Looking like this, I think it'll draw more attention and interest of people at the gas stations and boat ramps. I occasionally get people who see the boat and come over to check it out, but now it really jumps out. Really sharp-looking.

 

[painlesstom]

It sure is! Again, nice job. Glad to hear the height didn't cause any need for change.

 

[PSG-1]

painlesstom » 10 minutes ago[/url]"]It sure is! Again, nice job. Glad to hear the height didn't cause any need for change.

Me too! As my girlfriend backed the truck down the ramp, I stood by in the boat, watching and hoping it was going to be OK. When she hauled out, I told her to pull up slowly, so I could observe the boat on the trailer and make sure everything looked good.

 

[Ranchero50]

The boat looks 'proud' to be on the new trailer. Really looks like it's on display instead of just along for the ride, cool.

 

[PSG-1]

My thoughts exactly, Ranchero! 8) Thanks.

 

[bigwave]

Great job on the trailer, I feel your pain with the old trailer. I bought a used trailer for my boat since the old one had the same issues that you had. I am now in the market for an aluminum trailer too.....the one I have now is just a band aid, but the price was right for me. I have found that if I can get two season's out of my springs I am happy......the saltwater just does not play well with the galvanized steel. One thing you can do to save your aluminum frame would be to put some trim-tab zincs on the frame......if you have any electrolysis they will help the integrity of the beams. As always you did a top notch job on your new trailer. =D>

 

[PSG-1]

Thanks, bigwave!

Good idea about the zinc anodes on the trailer frame. I actually had one on my old trailer, but I don't think it worked properly, since the trailer was galvanized, having zinc-on-zinc didn't have much effect. But zinc on aluminum probably would make a big difference, and extend the trailer's life.

You're correct about springs, around saltwater, if you can get 2-3 years out of a set, that's about all you can hope for. I thoroughly rinse my trailers after use in saltwater, but you can see from the photos it doesn't seem to help very much.

 

[MiPikeGuy]

Man that's killer, makes me wanna build one. If only I could convince my girlfriend's dad to do all the welding... hmmmm

 

[PSG-1]

MiPikeGuy » Today, 02:14[/url]"]Man that's killer, makes me wanna build one. If only I could convince my girlfriend's dad to do all the welding... hmmmm

A lot of the aluminum trailers are bolted together, not even welded. Crossmembers bolt to the underside of the flange, the tongue is usually thru-bolted, and uses additional tie plates, and as you see with the axles, you can buy a slider kit that allows infinite adjustment/distribution of weight.

My parents have a 19 foot Sea Hunt Center Console, with an aluminum I-beam trailer like mine. There is not one single weld on that trailer, it's all bolted together.

I could have bolted mine together, but, being a welder, I HATE bolts, as they put guys like me out of business!!

 

[MiPikeGuy]

I was thinking more along the lines of the boat

 

[PSG-1]

Not only is it good for shallow running, as well as fishing, but it's a decent ski boat, as well. Took it skiing this past weekend over on the Great Pee Dee River. My girlfriend is good at multi-tasking, driving the boat with one hand, and running the camera behind her back with the other hand. Good footage!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUb-YxILQmA



I did come to the conclusion that the ski pole I built really doesn't seem to give me more "air time" than I can get by simply hooking the rope to the transom eye. But then again, I grew up skiing behind johnboats, so, I know how to hit the wake for maximum lift.

Hope y'all like the video!

 

[PSG-1]

I forgot to mention something. Last summer, I decided to get my boat insured, not so much worried about something happening on the water, but more worried about some idiot texting while driving, plowing into the back of my boat.

So, I first contacted Geico to insure it, I put a value of $12,500 on it, but due to its age, they would not insure it without an evaluation and survey. Did some searching on the net, and found a company called "BUC" out of Florida, which does evaluations on custom boats, based on info and photos provided by the person wanting the survey. In that questionaire, they ask things like, 'are all fuel hose connections double clamped' and 'does each electrical device have its own ground wire'

Anyhow, I sent everything to them, and got an evaluation back. Here we go:






So, when I submitted this to Geico, not only did they approve it, but they insured the boat for a little more, at $11,000, which was pretty close to the value I originally guess-timated.

Now, she's insured, for a little under 180 dollars a year. This was an important aspect to me, because, in order to advance any farther and actually be able to build these types of boats for a living (hopefully) they have to meet ABYC standards, and not only be able to be registered, but insured.

And I breathe a little easier going down the highway with all the mental midgets around me. :roll:

 

[painlesstom]

Very nice man, glad to hear that worked out for you. I see you are planning on building more, I wish you the best in your venture and hope you get a line of customers itching to take delivery of their own AlumaJet!! I get people asking about mine all the time, where I got it, if I could build them one etc.. Would be glad to send them your way if you get something going.

 

[PSG-1]

Thanks, painlesstom! Appreciate the vote of confidence, and any work you can send my way! You've got some serious skills, too, and with the two of us being in neighboring states, this thing might pan out really well, like, 2 heads being better than one! If I get something rolling, I could always use another skilled machinist or welder.

I've been looking forward to the day that someone would see my boat and approach me wanting one built. It's been 8 years since I first started on my boat, and about the same length of time I've been hoping for the idea to catch on, and maybe get into building these types of boats. If not for youtube, this site, and a few other sites, people wouldn't even know my boat exists, and it would have been impossible to get it out there for people to see.

Anyhow, it looks like I may have my first customer after all these years! Definitely looking forward to building a jetboat and actually making money doing it, instead of just spending money, it'll be a nice change, LOL

Did some checking with my source today for a suitable engine, I think this'll do:


Yamaha VX110 4 stroke, very clean, no rust or sugar from corrosion, and runs good

Looks every bit as clean as my 2008 VX110, or the FXHO in my boat.



Mfg 07/08, with 388 hrs.

Sounds like a lot of hrs, but not for a 4 stroke. There are guys on PWC forums who have 4,000 hrs on these types of engines with very few, if any, issues. Mine has 275, 200 of which I put on there in 2 years.


Hull is a little beat up, but we're not interested in that, we just need the engine and related parts.


Plus, in exchange for the jet unit we're not going to use from this ski (it uses a molded fiberglass tunnel) we're going to get an XL1200W pump, which is what I'm running in my boat.

All that for 2400 dollars, which is a steal, considering my 2005 FXHO with 67 hours was 2500 dollars, and that was just the engine, no muffler, no fuel pump, and no jet unit.

If I wasn't about to use this engine for a customer's boat, I would seriously consider buying it for myself!

Anyhow, when I begin the new jetboat build, I will definitely start a new thread, with lots of pics and updates as we move along!

 

[bigwave]

Sweet......I look forward to your new build. Congratulations.........you do excellent work man. =D>

 

[PSG-1]

Thanks again, bigwave! 8)

While I'm never going to make an exact carbon copy of my boat, and wouldn't want to (I like having a one-of-a-kind boat) I think my boat is a good prototype to reference when I build other boats, as my boat has been through all the trial and error, and through all that, I have found out what works, and what doesn't. When I first built my boat, the only prototype I had to work from was my 14 ft twin engine SeaDoo Speedster, and comparing a glass hull jetboat to an aluminum hull jetboat is like apples to oranges. Having a good prototype to work from will definitely make things easier!

 

[painlesstom]

PSG-1 » Yesterday, 22:47[/url]"]Thanks, painlesstom! Appreciate the vote of confidence, and any work you can send my way! You've got some serious skills, too, and with the two of us being in neighboring states, this thing might pan out really well, like, 2 heads being better than one! If I get something rolling, I could always use another skilled machinist or welder.

You're welcome, thanks to you as well! I'll be keeping my eye out for your new thread when you start on this, I can't promise I will have time to be much assistance, but you never know so feel free to ask. I might be able to do some machine work for you. Will be interesting to see how you build this next one, and how it differs from what you've already done.

 

[Ranchero50]

Should be a fun project without some of the hickups from doing it the first time. Who knows, you might make enough profit to take the wife out to dinner.

Good luck and post everything. This site is a repository for this type build.