JetJon 587 Rotax/ with fiberglass kingfisher boat-weight/pwr

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mscel69

New member
Joined
Oct 31, 2016
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Need input from the experienced Jetjon builders. I have a seadoo with the 587 motor, and I just acquired an old fiberglass Kingfisher flat bottom. It's about a 54" bottom, deep sides, and about 13-14 feet long. I got it because I am more comfortable with strictly fiberglass work than with aluminum-to-fiberglass as required with an aluminum boat.

But....I was surprised at how heavy the Kingfisher is. I'm not particularly interested in great speed, but want to be able to run through 6" water.

Question 1) Am I wasting my time trying to get that motor to push this boat? Have any of you done similar projects?

Boat is free, donor ski is cheap so I don't have many good options if this won't work. I don't mind undertaking it if it has potential, but if it's hopeless, I might need to rethink.

Question 2) If the consensus is that it is hopeless, is it more a matter of pump size, or of HP? I've got a plan B that could up the horsepower but would require use of the same pump.
 
Your plan will work but whether it will be adequate is strictly a personal judgement.

I have a 1648 with 80 hp Polaris, it is a little underpowered IMO.

If I was to start over I would go with an 18 ft jon with at least 120 hp 4 stroke engine.

Pump size counts, you can only get so much water thru it, regardless of HP. Fiberglass is pretty heavy, might not steer lightly.

The time you spend building it overshadows the money input (I guess easy to say if you have the money!).

BTW, working with aluminum is not hard. I used a lot of pop rivets. 3M5200 is good stuff, haven't had any problems with the fiberglass/ aluminum interface.

Lastly, I am very glad I built my JJ, best project I have ever done.
 

Latest posts

Top