This was over 3 years ago. Since then I did some more work and learned the hard way that 2 strokes can run away... After that I learned about pop off pressures and many other valuable lessons. As of now, this engine has been in my mini jet boat for almost 3 years and just in 2022 alone I put over 500 river miles on it. She's getting tired though, will be time for a rebuild soon and I will put together a better video then.

Yessir! I put a GPS unit it this spring and have clocked almost 500 river miles since! That’s on top of two years of flogging it’s taken.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Shit yeah good to hear you've got such good milage out of it! I've just finished build with the same motor. Somethings a bit off at the moment can't get on step.

@@adampotts4061 did you rebuild carbs? I did mine and it ended up being super rich. Would bog real bad, hesitate, and foul plugs often. I slowly leaned it out till it quit fouling plugs and then just a touch more till it quit bogging when I stab the throttle. Been reliable ever since

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Nah haven't rebuilt, mine rich too, fouling plugs and bogging ect... What's the trick to getting to the mixture screw? having a tough time getting any tool onto it to turn...

@@adampotts4061 combo of narrow flat screw driver and twisting with your finger. I always adjusted all three at the same time. I always made a tiny adjustment and ran it then checked plugs

I don't service ski's unfortunately. I would look around on local facebook jet ski forums to find a reputable jet ski mechanic/shop

Yes, I run pre-mix at the manual recommended 50:1. I’ve been using quicksilver marine oil for I estimate over 100 hrs and no issues.

That’s a brilliant idea! Thanks for the heads up!

@@YoderMarineandOudoors You bet

They are just the stock keihin carbs for this engine.

Thanks man! Did you guys get that second boat going? Not sure I’ve seen an update video, maybe I missed it in my feed…

It was a lot of fun! Would love to go back

After this trip I bought a new camera and made a mount off the swim step to reduce the water on the lens. I like the new angle much better and you can see much more. GoPro put the mic on the front of the camera so the next couple videos will have music again or else it’s just nothing but wind noise. Thanks for watching and the feedback! I appreciate it!

I’m gonna go ahead and take credit and say yes. Yes I did 🤣 let’s go!!! I wanna go back and get footage of the rest of the rapids I ran. I did the ol’ shut the GoPro off instead of turning it on for the rest of the upriver run 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Definitely!

I really appreciate the feedback! The audio didn’t come through very well on the GoPro (my hero5 doesn’t like the vibration from the 2 stroke). After seeing this footage I bought a new GoPro and came up with a better mount to get rid of the water spots.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors oh nice I can't wait to see more!

Thank you! Nothing notable really. The ride plate is mostly what hits. I guess I’ve torn some of the UHMW off the ride plate and around the intake. This is on the Clackamas river in Oregon. I originally built mine for coho fishing but I’d rather be out running around than fishing out of it 🤣

Thanks! I felt it added a fun spin on a section of river I’ve filmed waaayy too many times. But it’s my favorite and close to home so 🤷‍♂️

My pleasure! I once heard on a podcast: "support what you love, or it'll be gone forever" I think that resonates in everything we do.

I bought the kit and did all the welding myself. I am working on a walk around video of the boat to be published before the end of the summer.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Thats awesome, I'm moving back to Oregon soon and want to buy the kit but don't have the skills to weld it.

@@gawnjah8447 You can buy the kit from Jetstream (or any of the other builders, Minijet, RSRacecraft, or Atom via Rocky mtn jet boats) already welded. All but Jetstream will sell you a turn key boat if you have the money.

I am thinking Thursday! Working on editing now. I kind of forgot how much fun that was!

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Yea my dad rebuilt his motor and he actually went and ran it tonight but got a bunch of dents and messed up the UHMW. He can’t ever get a break😂

Certainly! No place better to spend a birthday than on the river!... Speaking of, mine is coming up this next month 🤔

Did his blow up recently? I think I was spose to run the river with him. Bummed he couldn’t make it

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Yep it sure did. He order new carburetors Saturday and he thinks that should solve it. What river were you guy supposed to run?

We were supposed to run the Payette. He helped get us in touch with some other mini jet guys and we still got to go boating. I’ve got some footage to put together here soon.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Oh sweet. Can’t wait to see that video. I’ll ask him about it too

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Yup he said it was hin

Yessir! 1/4” bottom and 3/8” UHMW. I’m gonna to a walk around of the boat one of these days. I got it shined up this afternoon so maybe soon!

Pretty nice living 10 mins from the ramp!

I sent you an email and removed your comment for ya

It’s called durability testing. You’d be surprised how much abuse these little boats can handle. I’m tame compared to a lot of the folks that build these. Check out mini boat mafia or jetboat4x4 for some more extensive beatings.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors we running 13ft motojet made by doug riddle RMX marine.. supercharged yamaha...325hp.. .yep they fun...

@@YoderMarineandOudoors lot of good boat builders in lewiston id

Right on! I ran the coeur d’alene river with those guys, very nice folks. They build some beautiful boats. Not sure I’d wanna throw that kind of money against the rocks though. But you can’t take it with you when it’s your time so better make the most of it!

@@YoderMarineandOudoors they are super fun...was pulling your leg about rocks...been hitting them since 1977....lol...only a handful of boats then....any day on water is a good one

Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it

It is a 10’ headwater kit from Jetstream adventure boats with a Kawasaki 1100 Triple 2 stroke and 148mm pump. I welded the hull and fitted everything else. The windscreen is my own design, I made a couple other videos documenting the windscreen build.

Ah yeah. Looking at getting one but don’t have a welder to weld one myself and can’t justify 50k and up for the ones I’ve been seeing

@@chrisstone1933 you can email Jetstream, Minijet, Atom boats, or RSRacecraft about buying a welded hull. Personally after building this one, my next boat will be an Atom. The design looks and performs great. You can get the hard parts welded at the factory and just fit it out yourself.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors thanks definitely like the atom boats I’ll have to start finding a donor ski or something to put into one

Thanks man! Really happy with how it turned out

Thank you! Can’t wait to get out this summer and find some new lines.

Thanks! When we going for a rip? Weather is shaping up this week. Probably drag the boat with me to work Wednesday

Thanks for the kind words Tom! I really wanted to make something my own but using styling cues I liked from other builds. Very pleased with how it turned out.

Thank you Kevin, I am still working on that video along with a couple others. Should have something worth sharing soon!

I haven't chewed up a pump yet. Admittedly, this was the most abuse I've put it through. I think Blake has had at least a couple repaired. I saw Josh's idea for triple pipes on that tigershark engine on JSB.. got me thinking. I have never done anything like that before so I will need to do some research. Been wanting to do the dry pipe mod for starters. A taller windscreen is first to keep some of the spray out of the boat.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors You must be the luckiest man alive, haha. I started my X2 on the shore once and instantly damaged my impeller. Triple pipes are the way to go, even if you don't have a set specifically for your engine. I assume the easiest way to go about it would be to have the factory manifold chopped up and have flanges welded on that matched up to whatever pipes you used. Then you'd have to run a T and fittings for water into each cylinder. There's no need to cool the exhaust in a open hull, unless you plan to run rubber couplers. A two stroke exhaust will usually run better if it is allowed to heat up. It would be really cool to see.

@@JoelArseneaultKZbin the difference may be the intake grate. By bars are 9/16” apart so only tiny stones will get through. The ski grates are more like water scoops with little to no protection from what I’ve seen. This trip in particular was the worst time I’ve heard stones gargling around in the pump. Specifically after sliding to a stop ha ha

@@YoderMarineandOudoors I was going to ask about the intake grate and then I thought "no, that's a stupid question" lol.

@@JoelArseneaultKZbin no such thing as a stupid question! Ask away! Ha ha really just shows I should do a walk around. Need to get it cleaned up first 😬

Thanks for the feedback! I will try one without music and see how it turns out. Every time the camera falls, that is a boulder that I hit. I’ve watched this video 100 times and can’t seem to see the first one in the water. That was the one that hurt the most.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors HAHA... yeah. At least with a Jet Ski you are standing up and can absorb some of it with your legs. I wouldn't necessarily use my preferences to determine what you do with your videos, haha. I'm not exactly the most tasteful person. Some audiences prefer music and some prefer a little chit chat and some ambient noises.

Most of these boats are kits, this is a Jetstream Headwater. The bottom of the hull is 1/4” (on mine anyways) aluminum. Then I have 3/8” UHMW plastic under that. If you hit something hard enough it dents but usually these are light enough they slide over the top. One of my friends in this repaired his and added another 1/4” strip down the keel of his boat. They are built to be abused. I learned to weld on my own, and to weld aluminum in that Alumaweld video. Mine is welded inside and out. I was nervous at first but she’s taken a little abuse and never complained.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors That makes sense that you would put a layer of UHMW ... Very durable and makes them slide over stuff better. That spool gun seems to work pretty well based on the welds you did on that boat rebuild.

@@JoelArseneaultKZbin I’ve never known any different so it works great ha ha

@@YoderMarineandOudoors I've never welded aluminum till just a week ago or so and I've never used a spool gun. I've done lots of stick welding, MIG and flux core wire feed, but never aluminum... I like it 👍

I can’t recall, but I have two impellers. One is a stainless aftermarket of some kind and the other is a factory aluminum one. I think I had the stainless impeller in the boat (stronger). The stainless impeller gave me better hole shot but ran out of rpms really quick. I’ve been running the factory impeller and been pleased with it. I’d like to experiment with various impellers, but they are spendy. From what I found on the forums online the stock impeller is preferred all around for the STX ski (researching a long time ago) building this boat was two years obsessing over mini jets then a year of obsessing over the build. I bought two skis that didn’t run and rebuilt one of the engines (first engine rebuild ever). I ran that ski for the summer during my boat build. Then when the boat was finished I yarded the engine out of the ski and stuffed it in the boat. I plan on making a video of the ski engine build but it’s just a collage. I think I might do a walk around video and explain some things about the boat. I was gonna do a build video but again it’s all pics so maybe the walk around would be better.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors It would be neat to see some sort of build video. I may be wrong, but I think when you are demanding more from the engine, a more radical twin angle impeller works better as the first angle gets it out of the water and moving while the second angle will allow you to have a decent top end. Pumps are confusing, haha.

@@JoelArseneaultKZbin pumps are confusing. I work in the centrifugal pump world. It’s amazing what a little angle on the impeller or opening the discharge a certain way can do to efficiency and performance. I polished the pump on one of our outboard engines and it made a noticeable difference. Similar to porting a cylinder head. I can’t hear cavitation running the boat typically, but I can tell when it runs out of rpms

Hi Troy, right now I am not building them. I built this boat and have been working on restoring a 1979 Alumaweld sled. I would love to build them full time some day. You weren’t the one filming when I hit that first rock were you?! 🤣

@@YoderMarineandOudoors No, I was mowing my lawn... I'm the first house on the right as you were going up river... almost (sort of) visible in your video. Your boats got me thinking I need another small jet.

There is a lot of dead heads you need to watch for if you’re ripping up the river. I think it was a worthwhile investment. My advice is the get the tall windshield. If you watch my other videos you can see how much spray I get over the windscreen. This is one of my winter projects. If I were to do it again I’d go 12’ and probably buy the new Atom kit over another Jetstream.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Roger that. Good to know. The one I am having built is a 12' 4 seater with the T-Shaped engine bay. Follow Motoman2003. He is the one building it. I couldn't find anyone out here that would build one for less than $30K.

@@adamwarrick2970 did you talk to Oregon Torch Craft? He’s the only one I know of in the area building kits. I’ll check out that channel too. What engine will you be running? I haven’t seen a 12’ in person yet so when you get it running hit us up. Check out PNW mini boats on Facebook.

@@YoderMarineandOudoors Sorry, it's an instagram page, not youtube. I talked to him...just out of my price range. I am leaning towards the Kawa 15F or the supercharged 300. I've been told to stay away from seadoo and only go Kawa or Yamaha for these boats...

@@adamwarrick2970 Blake (the other boat in this vid) runs a seadoo 215 and so far it’s been reliable. I run a 1100 Kawi 2 stroke cuz it was cheap

Good call, I always think of the Molalla as the short section that we can run up from where the Pudding branches off. I always forget the Molalla is actually what dumps into the Willamette.

Yup, and just in case you don’t know but no motors allowed on the molalla above the 99 bridge, hate to see someone get in trouble for having fun, anyway keep posting videos! I have been wanting to build one of those for years and seeing a couple of them on a local river is pretty awesome!

@@ericaleksich8214 yes, OSMB has a great interactive map showing restrictions. All boaters should check it out before heading out.

I haven’t actually duck hunted before. I would like to, just haven’t pursued it. I know the season just opened so plenty of time left to get out and try it