Cleanout <is Yamaha the only brand with them?>

[Greg larose]

Is Yamaha the only jet boat brand with pump cleanout from inside boat

 

[Ronnie]

As far as I know, yes. Seadoo never implemented such a solution and those that use Seadoo / brp tech (I.e., engines and pumps) don't have clean out ports either. This includes scarab, chaparral and glastron although chaparral enclosed the drive shaft on their boats (jury is still out on how effective this is).

 

[Boat Crazy]

Yamaha has the patent on this style clean out. I am sure this is good until somewhere around the year 2022.

 

[ptdavidson]

All Rotax /BRP powered boats (Scarab, Glastron, and Chaparral) use a stationary Drive-shaft sleeve. The spinning motion of the shaft causes weeds etc. to wrap around the shaft. With the shaft inside the stationary sleeve there is not the spinning motion therefor weeds do not wrap. This is designed to resolve the cause, not to be a bandaid after it happens. I have been very impressed with this system on my boat thus far. I found this video on youtube as well

 

[Ronnie]

Suction of water through the intake will draw debris into the pump area, a stationary sleeve over the shaft will keep the debris from wrapping around the shaft but not from clogging up the intake grate or from fouling the impeller. The reverse move may clear debris stuck on the outside of the intake grate but won't work well or at all if the debris is already on the other side of the grate/impeller. After having 4 jet boats 2 without clean out ports I know the only way to clear that kind of obstruction without ports is to jump in and clear it from the bottom or in some cases get it on a trailer, get out some tools and remove the grate and / or pump.

 

[Haldonn]

My Glastron operates in sometimes very thick weed conditions. I've only had to get in water to pull out a few times. i don't mind not having that clean out like Yamaha has.

 

[Scarabtech]

As far as I know, yes. Seadoo never implemented such a solution and those that use Seadoo / brp tech (I.e., engines and pumps) don't have clean out ports either. This includes scarab, chaparral and glastron although chaparral enclosed the drive shaft on their boats (jury is still out on how effective this is).

The driveshaft guard is part of the engine package and is on all brp products currently. It does work pretty decent but if you get into a big mat of weeds your in trouble no matter who makes your boat.

 

[ripler]

The biggest issue I encounter is small twigs getting lodged between the impeller and housing, there is nothing that's going to stop that. Not having a way to cleanout above water is a huge safety issue in my opinion. I have a friend that is a Chap dealer and was seriously considering buying one, but the cleanout issue was a deal breaker.

 

[Julian]

Some of the older Hamilton pumps had cleanouts....but yes....Yamaha is the only current production model I'm aware of that has them. When the water is in the 90's like it is now...perhaps not an issue....but if you boat up North...I think this would be a total deal breaker. Getting something small that gets into the pump area doesn't happen often, but enough that I'd hate to have to take tbe boat out of the water to resolve the issue. And typically you have the most "stuff" in the water in the spring (cold water) after heavy spring rains wash sticks and twigs into the water.

Edited title for clarity.

 

[Ronnie]

The driveshaft guard is part of the engine package and is on all brp products currently. It does work pretty decent but if you get into a big mat of weeds your in trouble no matter who makes your boat.

Good info. I didn't realize that all boats with brp power plants have a shaft guard.

I agree that any up jet boat that gets into weeds will be in trouble but if the boat has cleanout plugs there is a much better chance that such weeds can be cleared on the water from the boat without having to get into the water or putting the boat on a trailer or lift in order to pull the intake grate or pump. Here is a short video to illustrate what I'm typing about.

Prior to getting Yamaha jet boats I had two others with Mercury sport jet power plants one was a seadoo challenger with a hydro surge intake grate. The concept behind this grate is that it's tines were hinged so that they would fold inward at the leading edge and allow vegetation to pass into and through the pump and impeller which chewed it up and spit it out. It worked on weeds but also let in rocks the size of baseballs and sometimes the tines would break off and cause massive damage. It worked exactly opposite of seadoo's last attempt at solving this problem, the wedless system, see link for video, except that the surge grate worked automatically (I.e., no button to push, no human intervention at all).

On both of my Mercury powered boats I replaced the stock intake grates with rock grates from Mercury, these grates were similar to the stock grates of today with one big exception, they had many more tines and the space between them was a lot thinner than any other intake grates at the time and even today. see the pics in the following link.

http://www.riverpro-boats.com/rockgrate

If a company started manufacturing these, but with even less space between the tines, for brp or Yamaha powered boats I'd bet impeller fowling caused by tow lines would be a thing of the past in most if not all situations. However, if a twig or anything gets passed it and Into the pump before the impeller, only a boat with a clean out port or ports will be able to stay on the water while the debris is cleared (I.e., without having to remove the grate or pump).

 

[Scarabtech]

This is always going to be an issue with jets. Yamaha has issues with the clean outs, I see people that don't get them locked into place properly and they blow out while under way, usually loosing the plug in the lake. Sometimes it blows the door off that covers the clean outs. If the clean outs are not removed regularly and the orings lubricated theyou can stick and you'll never get them out on the lake. I have had clean outs that to remove I had to hook a engine lift to the handle and lift, occasionally the entire boat and trailer come off the ground and you have to jump on the back of the boat. All the manufacturers have tried to improve this with various features. You really can't shrink down the opening as you need good clean water to get to the impeller. Yamaha clean outside work well as long as properly maintained. So far the driveshaft guard from brp seems to be doing good as well.

 

[Bryan mazanec]

As far as I know, yes. Seadoo never implemented such a solution and those that use Seadoo / brp tech (I.e., engines and pumps) don't have clean out ports either. This includes scarab, chaparral and glastron although chaparral enclosed the drive shaft on their boats (jury is still out on how effective this is).

I've had my chap for two months now and only once did a clog cause me an issue. You can tell when the jets suck up some seaweeds and a little kick of gas feeds them right on out. Only had an issue at no wake speeds.

 

[Ronnie]

I think it depends on where you boat. Some members here have never had to remove their clean out plugs to remove an obstruction but I have to do so at least twice a season. Weeds are usually no big deal but twigs, bottle caps, plastic bags and tow ropes (anything that can float and get stuck in the pump, after the intake grate but before the impeller) can be day killers to clear.

 

[KXCam22]

The cleanout hatch is invaluable and was a prime factor is choosing Yamaha. We get a lot of small sticks in the spring. Could have to clean it out 6X in a day (I think that was the record). I would say we average one cleanout a trip in good water conditions. You could do it with a snorkle set from under the boat but what a pain. My huge hands don't fit in there so well. The BPR dealer told me that you simply put the boat back on the trailer to clean it out - like it was a quick and simple thing. Cam.

 

[JetTech72]

In 10 years boating with Sea-Doo SportBoats, I must have had issue caused by debris about a handful of time.
A lot may depends of the type of waterways you are on, we are fortunate to have very low debris/weeds in the lake & river.
I have friends with Yamaha, & those clean out ports are not trouble free either.