How in the he...? I sucked up a damn log!?

[2kwik4u]

Has anyone else seen these break from pressure? I've read it before on here and obviously if there were a better way for Yamaha engineers to design it, I'm sure they would, but I wish the "openings or gateways" were smaller.

Probably made it's way in there through shear dumb luck. The grates are purposefully open to allow flow, and to allow "small" debris in and through the pump. If you made them screened, or overly restrictive water flow is disturbed and cavitation is the result. We've seen cavitation from something as small as a piece of silicone adhesive "flapping" in the flow area.

The grates are made from cheap pot metal aluminum castings. I had a broken one on my boat with less than 10hrs on it. Not sure if it came that way or I broke it myself on the first few outings. Neither the dealer nor myself looked at it during inspection/delivery, and this is the first one he's replaced since he started selling Yamaha Boats.

Here's the thread on my broken intake grate from 2017. I ended up having it welded at a local fabrication shop for cheap, and it held up fine until I got it replaced with a new one. under $70 if I remember right. I've seen guys run with no grate at all, I've seen guys shave down the grate looking for more flow and speed improvements, and I've seen people run around with one broken tine for quite some time without issue. I would inspect for damage, and replace/repair as necessary.

 

[Scottintexas]

as long as the engine was on and not making any serious noises, that was the right thing to do, the exhaust pressure will keep the cooling water from backflowing into the engine, If you've not seen it yet, in our FAQ is a video about " how the cooling water flows" it's a must view for jetboaters.

I normally suggest trying the easiest first, if putting it on the lift and you have a kayak/jon boat to get underneath it to see if it will easily dislodge, go for it, if you have to cut or it's stuck it's probably going to be easier on the trailer,


.

 

[anmut]

@Scottintexas Yes on engine throttle, yes I left on as I didn't know something was stuck at the time... I'm assuming these are things I should do. I didn't even think about leaving gate open as I move forward!

I'm not going to lie ... I'm a little nervous about pulling it on the trailer with; one engine only + controlling it with a current (on the Ohio River). That's why I was leaning towards pulling into a slip with a lift.

Your best bet is to pull the pump, not only to get the stuck piece out, but to inspect the impeller and wear ring. Because this job will include loose bolts and possibly the need for a cheater bar to break the bolts free, the cleanest way is to get it on a trailer and out of the water.

That said, you could do it while it was on a lift over the water - just be VERY CAREFUL!

 

[sunbyrned]

Here’s a video on how to pull the pumps if you haven’t done it before.. I’m in the Ohio also. If you’re ever just idling for some reason like pulling up bumpers or whatever, I would recommend just turning the engines completely off. That’s when this happens to me or when I’m moving slow to and from the ramp in the inlet.

 

[Sx240]

I watched the first thing on the video you don’t have to take those bolts out on the rod itself has a a collar just slide it and it will pop off of the ball that is attached to had to take mine apart yesterday same reason sucked up bunch of crap in the river

 

[Sx240]

 

[Scottintexas]

for me that snap collar sx240 pictured above is the hardest part of taking the impellers out, it takes a lot of my patience in the small space to get it off/on,

It's always worth is though,


.

 

[adamncincy]

Update: limb removed

So my end result ends well and is kind of humorous for those that are interested...

I asked the marina manager if I could pull into a slip with a HydroHoist, he said sure, no problem. I pulled in with just the starboard and lifted the boat up with my dremel gooseneck ready to get to work.

The lift support on the HydroHoist actually aligned with the intake right where the screen was and the weight broke the limb into 3 pieces and jarred it loose.

I couldn't believe it. I was expecting to be under boat for at least an hour. log was still in the cavity when I lowered it back in water, so I threw it in reverse and boom ... log was floating on the water in the path of my wake.

I did notice it bent the screen a little to make its way into my jet which concerns me. That's a lot of pressure to bend with a limb that thick.

 

[sunbyrned]

Update: limb removed

So my end result ends well and is kind of humorous for those that are interested...

I asked the marina manager if I could pull into a slip with a HydroHoist, he said sure, no problem. I pulled in with just the starboard and lifted the boat up with my dremel gooseneck ready to get to work.

The lift support on the HydroHoist actually aligned with the intake right where the screen was and the weight broke the limb into 3 pieces and jarred it loose.

I couldn't believe it. I was expecting to be under boat for at least an hour. log was still in the cavity when I lowered it back in water, so I threw it in reverse and boom ... log was floating on the water in the path of my wake.

I did notice it bent the screen a little to make its way into my jet which concerns me. That's a lot of pressure to bend with a limb that thick.

Congratulations! Glad that worked out. I think you should get points for this. Never heard of someone sucking up a tree before.

 

[Scottintexas]

Update: limb removed

I did notice it bent the screen a little to make its way into my jet which concerns me.

by "screen" do you mean one of the tangs on intake grate ?? I'm guessing so,

I'd give it a water test and if you don't see/feel any issues I wouldn't worry about it being bent,

lot's to be aware of on a jet boat but most of it's simple to fix, there are horror stories but they're not the norm


.

 

[ripler]

I boat on the Monongahela river which turns into the Ohio at Pittsburgh. If any of the stuff I saw floating down the river yesterday makes it to you, my advice is to get a chainsaw, lol.

 

[adamncincy]

@Scottintexas hey Scott, yep ... I was referring the grate. It's not that bad, but it did bend a little. I don't think there's any damange to be worried about.

@ripler Yeah it was bad on Sat and last Memorial Day weekend. More than usual. Someone told me it's because of the tributaries flowing into the Ohio.

 

[jimbobalu]

Why is this such a problem with Yamaha jet boats, what is different about these boats? I have a PWC and have never had something jam the impeller except when I ran through some milfoil and it clogged the intake grate, not the impeller, just had to take a dip to pull it out. I would think a PWC would be more prone to sucking up debris because it sits higher in the water.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

I boat on the Monongahela river which turns into the Ohio at Pittsburgh. If any of the stuff I saw floating down the river yesterday makes it to you, my advice is to get a chainsaw, lol.

We were in the Ohio and Kanawha a couple of weeks ago at Point Pleasant. The Ohio had huge rafts of sticks, stubs, limbs, and even mounted tires on rims floating everywhere. Sucked up a few pieces of wood both leaving and returning to the ramp at Gallipolis. The Kanawha was clear. We had less than 10 hours on the boat and I was concerned I had already ruined something. Pulled the plug, removed the debris, and went on with our day. No damage.

 

[anmut]

Why is this such a problem with Yamaha jet boats, what is different about these boats? I have a PWC and have never had something jam the impeller except when I ran through some milfoil and it clogged the intake grate, not the impeller, just had to take a dip to pull it out. I would think a PWC would be more prone to sucking up debris because it sits higher in the water.

I think it's nature of boat vs. pwc.

1. With most boats two motors = you have twice the opportunity to suck stuff up.
2. Boats sit lower in the water than PWCs
3. Boats spend more time idling, which is your biggest opportunity to suck things us, while going to/away from docks, sandbars, restaurants, etc. If you've ever used a PWC you know that idle lasts just long enough to get an open line of sight and then you pin it!

Knock-on-wood, we're over a year into owning our boat and still haven't sucked anything up yet. My rule of thumb is to only use reverse / idle in <3' of water only when absolutely necessary, as that's your biggest chance to ingest something into the impeller. If you have to run in lower water, the faster and more open your buckets are, the better.

 

[1WetBoat]

Why is this such a problem with Yamaha jet boats, what is different about these boats? I have a PWC and have never had something jam the impeller except when I ran through some milfoil and it clogged the intake grate, not the impeller, just had to take a dip to pull it out. I would think a PWC would be more prone to sucking up debris because it sits higher in the water.

I dont think its a Yamaha problem, its a JetBoat thing.
All jetboats with similar intake grates can and will suck up items . Wave runners are smaller, more nimble and the driver is closer to the water so you can see and avoid things. Two weekends ago i had a friend suck up a rope on his wave runner near shore. He wasn't paying attention and went over it. Not a Yamaha thing, on the contrary the Yamaha's with the clean out ports help in a lot of those situations which is something other jetboats don't have.

 

[BigT51]

I boat on the Susquehanna River a lot and it too has debris floating, sometimes telephone pole size logs. I've only had one time that I got a stick stuck so bad that I had to limp back to the dock and put the boat on the trailer to get it out. Normally the reverse maneuver works and all is good. I do have a question though, when reversing the boat how fast can you go (or how much reverse throttle can you use)? If I apply too much reverse thrust the impellers cavitate excessively. I assume it's from the water coming out of the nozzles shooting directly at the intake grates and disturbing the flow into the impellers. Just was wondering how much throttle you can use in reverse. There's no way I could ever use full reverse throttle for any extended period of time.

 

[bthessel]

@Scottintexas hey Scott, yep ... I was referring the grate. It's not that bad, but it did bend a little. I don't think there's any damange to be worried about.

@ripler Yeah it was bad on Sat and last Memorial Day weekend. More than usual. Someone told me it's because of the tributaries flowing into the Ohio.

You need to just trailer down to Lake Cumberland, it’s been the cleanest I have seen in a few years this spring. Probably jinxing myself but the is the first time I have made it into June boating and not had to use the clean out ports. Last Saturday was amazing on the water.

 

[adamncincy]

@bthessel what's going on! I think you're the closest member/neighbor I've found!

I do go to Cumberland ... Brookville, Cumberland and Caesars Creek. That's where we ski/wakeboard. Have you been to CC lately? I went in March/early April, but have you been lately as in the last few weeks?

 

[bthessel]

@bthessel what's going on! I think you're the closest member/neighbor I've found!

I do go to Cumberland ... Brookville, Cumberland and Caesars Creek. That's where we ski/wakeboard. Have you been to CC lately? I went in March/early April, but have you been lately as in the last few weeks?

We keep the boat down at Cumberland at our place there so I don’t bring it back much to boat up here. My daughter is going out with friends later this week on their Yamaha on Caesars.