Any other types of jet boats out there?

[mpeltz]

I am wondering if there are any other Sugar Sand Jet boat owners out there or other type of jet boats besides Yamaha. ( I love the Yamaha and the owners are great) I'm wondering if there is a difference on the jet pump maintenance issues such as changing the oil in the stator (if there even is a stator in a Yamaha?) lubing the main impeller shaft, etc.. I have a mercury optomax engine 2 cycle 200 hp.
Would love to hear from some other owners out there. This is a great forum! Glad I found it.

 

[dbrunone]

In terms of brands, Yamaha is the main player right now. Newcomers to the jet boat game this year are Scarab, Glastron, and Chaparral, all of which use BRP Rotax motors. Sea-ray was going to launch a line of jet boats but pulled out, reportedly because they were uncomfortable with the engines.

As far as maintenance, Yamahas only have 3 fluids: motor oil, raw water cooling, and gasoline. Change the oil and spark plugs each year and you should be good to go. Other people can comment on lubing the jet pumps and things but these boats seem to be very low maintenance.

 

[Scottintexas]

We're glad you found us to,

We add grease to the main bearing once a year and some have opened the end of the impeller to add grease there although that is not normal,

@Bilmon has a sugar sands and @farrelltravis had one and good things to say about it, hopefully since I alerted them with the @ feature they will jump in,

How long have you owned your Sugar Sands?

 

[mpeltz]

Thanks for the comments. I owned a 16' Sugar Sand Tango first for about a year and have owned the 20' Calais since 2008. I would love to hear from some other owners of this boat. It runs great but I have got to find someone to work on it. This jet drive has a "stator" that has an oil chamber that has to be changed. It is a tricky process unfortunately, one that I can not do myself. I have the directions and schematics but it involves a lot of disassembly from what I can see. When I kept the boat at Smith Mountain Lake in Va I had it in a marina that did all this work. In Myrtle, there are no marinas that I can find with service departments. I don't trailer the boat, shame on me, but were we keep it, they put it in and take it out. This does limit my ability to do certain things like flush the engine after salt water use. I have got to try and figure out how to do this down here at the beach. There are lots of boats so there has got to be a way. Just frustrating try to work out these details. This forum is a big help and it is great to share ideas with fellow jet boaters. Thanks for your time.

 

[farrelltravis]

Welcome aboard @mpeltz ! I used to own a 16' Sugar Sand Tango. I never had issues with the part that you are referencing. The only real problem I have with the Sugar Sand was that starter. I really enjoyed the boat and thought it was a well built boat. We found it to be very reliable also.

I can't help with the stator, but if there is something else I might be able to help with, just let me know.

 

[Bilmon]

welcome mpeltz,good to see another Sugarsand.Changing lube looks alot more complicated than it really is. It is possible to do without removing the stator but VERY messy. Don't know your skill level or what instuctions you have but you can find the Merc service manual here www.boatinfo.no Has step by step with pics. Be aware loctite is used on most every thing and it can make removal stiff , also best to use new washers on the fill plugs, they are soft and compress to seal.Also change lube in gear box in front of the impeler.Those plugs are visible just in front of the intake,nothing to take apart.

 

[itsdgm]

Welcome @mpeltz I'd love to see pics of your boat. Have you posted any yet?

 

[No_Longer_Active_User]

I am wondering if there are any other Sugar Sand Jet boat owners out there or other type of jet boats besides Yamaha. ( I love the Yamaha and the owners are great) I'm wondering if there is a difference on the jet pump maintenance issues such as changing the oil in the stator (if there even is a stator in a Yamaha?) lubing the main impeller shaft, etc.. I have a mercury optomax engine 2 cycle 200 hp.
Would love to hear from some other owners out there. This is a great forum! Glad I found it.

@mpeltz Welcome....this is a great site and very informative....lots of nice people....I am a new owner of a 2001 SS Tango....I was originally leaning toward buying a Yamaha Challenger...but ended up with the SS instead....and I really do like it!

 

[4x15mph]

x2 on posting pics of any of these other kinds of boats.