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Jet Tender vs Outboard

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Danvilletim, Mar 6, 2021.

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  1. Danvilletim

    Danvilletim Senior Member

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    How much better riding is jet tender vs outboard rib! Looking at a small 11’.

    I’ve owned many RIBs but never one as small as 11’. With a 25hp motor I can’t imagine it rides that great.

    The 11 jet rib is 100hp. 700 lbs vs. 500. How do they ride? More pricey but perhaps much more useful in that size range!

    btw. Only looking at gas (Williams) as diesels are very pricey upgrade.
  2. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Jets tend to be quieter and you've got no props hanging out if you get into swimming areas or shallows, but their motors take more interior space and clog in weedy areas. OB's take up more deck area on your boat, but can be pull started if you have battery or ignition issues. You can also tiller steer them if need be. I think OB's maneuver better and more how you're used to at slow speeds, but that's more a matter of what you're used to. I think OB's are cheaper and easier to maintain. For starters you don't need to bring the whole dink in. For beaching I'd prefer an OB as you can pick it up and not ingest the sand.
  3. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    From my experience with jetskis I wouldn’t never get a tender with jet.

    don’t want to deal with weeds in the intake, the risk of catching a line in the pump, sand being sucked in etc Then you have the interior space issue, less seating and capacity. And the safety aspect of having what is basically a gas inboard.

    Edit. I see they use Rotax engines... same as we have on our PWC. 10 times more maintenance and issues as the 75 Honda on our Walker Bay with 10 times less hours.

    Yes they re faster. Until the chop picks up..

    no space for something bigger than 11’ ?

    give me something with a Yamaha or Honda on the transom instead.
  4. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Agree and I'd also prefer an OB for all those reasons and more, but Jets do have good points to consider such as swimmer safety and they take up less space on deck. In fact if he can only fit an 11' with OB he can probably fit a 13' jet. Of course that also increases the cost though. I wouldn't be any more worried about a gas inboard (jet) than a gas OB on an 11' boat. They've both got fuel lines, tanks and ignition sources right behind/under you. But I'm also not as concerned about gasoline as you are. Diesel fuel and exhaust smell more, smoke more and spills are harder to clean, and diesel motors are a lot more expensive. Everything has its place and use, and any fuel system has to be respected and maintained.
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    If you can fit it, I'd go with a Williams 395. It seats 7 and will get on plane with all 7 people in it. In that size range really, jets are the only way to go. You lose so much boat and interior space with an outboard, considering the outboard adds 1-2' to the length when you have it on the swim platform. Jet is also easier to board from the water if if has a ladder (they all do). That being said the jets are a little flightly with only 1 person, but still ride pretty decent. The more people you put in them, the better they ride. The jets will get up on plane with the weight they're rated to carry the outboards won't. They are very fast. We have a 11' or 12' AB jet on another motoryacht I'm running, it's good, but really only has seating for 4.......3 if they're guys...... Get a few extra relays that go in the rotax fuse box as they go bad.......As a tender they're absolutely great for the seating and performance you gain. They are a bit more maintenance......but not terrible.

    Do you worry about having to suck sand up or a plastic bag, yes it can happen. Are they more maintenance, well that's relative. If you're only servicing the tender once a year because it's very casual use, about the same. They do not like sitting, always best to run them once a month for a few hours. Diesel jets are too heavy for your application anyways.
  6. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    We had a new Zodiac jet tender. Within a week the Boss got rid of it and got an outboard one. Horrible things.
  7. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    We're long time jet fans while Capt J is a more recent convert. We have Williams 325's, 385's, 445's both gas and diesel and 565 diesel. We love them all as they'll just outperform and outride comparable outboards. Now, one caveat, our gas models are Weber/Textron before their switch to Rotax, but all we're hearing about the Rotax is far more positive than the PWC stories. Rotax also doing ok in boats. Just we don't have personal experience with the Rotax models as Capt J does.

    You pick up roughly two feet of space over an outboard which is huge in a small RIB. So consider an 11' equivalent of a 13' outboard. The 385 is 12'6" and easily equal to a 14' or 15' outboard. I would go for the largest size I could fit.

    We don't use ours to shuttle back and forth but use them to explore and often put 50 to 100 miles on one in a day.

    The biggest issues people have is acting like their draft is 0" and it's not. We treat it as if it's 2' at all times and don't take it so shallow as to inhale sand or other bottom debris. When approaching a beach we turn it off for the last few feet just as you'd do with an outboard. As to the engines, the main thing we encourage is regular flushing and we don't leave ours in the water. That's simply a personal preference but we return to it's davit after use. The built in flush system is very easy and quick.

    The only negatives I see are the price as they are clearly far more expensive.
  8. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Can't speak as to Zodiak. Williams has long been the industry standard. Avon made some Seasport's for Europe which were very comparable (came under Riva label in Riva's). Novurania makes larger ones. Aquascan makes models using Yamaha engines. Ribjet makes two models. Carbon Craft now has four models and they make Williams seem cheap. Two gas and two diesel and use Textron for the gas. Castoldi makes some nice models. Then the new players. AB has recently entered the jet market, also with Rotax, from 10'-15' and Agilis is a new entry from Germany.
  9. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    One more caveat. I don't know how I would have felt had I owned outboards for years, but I had not. My first tender and all since have been jets.
  10. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I'll add this. The 4 stroke rotax is far superior than the old 2 stroke jet ski motor ones. BUT, you have to run them......once a month I'd drop ours and run it for a good hour in the ICW on plane off of plane.......outboards may take abuse (sitting for months ) better but they still are very sensitive to fuel quality and sitting with the little engines........ When we used ours it was in the exumas for a week every quarter, and easily do 20-50 miles almost every day with it......
  11. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    I've been servicing/tuning outboards, from 2.5 to 400hp and rather powerful race engines, since I was 15. Go with what you know.
  12. Rocman

    Rocman New Member

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    I have a 2019 Williams 325 for a bit over a year now. Ive had AB Ribs with Yamaha motors. The jet boat is certainly a lot more fun and you can do a lot more water sports safely. Now the challenging part owning this boat. Under 50 hrs replaced the following:
    1. Electronic control module - ROTAX part.
    2. Shaft seal (carbon) shattered and almost sunk the boat. The pumps did their job till I could get her back to the mama ship.
    3. Steering cable bound up and had to replace.
    4. Brazed plate frame heat exchanger, Sea water to Coolant unit developed a coolant side leak and had to replace.
    Thankfully the parts are all under warranty but their service network in the states is not great. Working with the service manager for US distributor i was able to replace the parts and troubleshoot by phone and FaceTime. Very accommodating but if you arent capable you will have to find a mechanic willing to work on these.
    My Sunseeker has a garage specifically built for this model. If not I’d have my AB with Yami all day long.
    SWF and (deleted member) like this.
  13. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Similar story with the 4 stroke Rotax in our 3 year old PWC. We ve replaced a bunch of stuff incl an ECU, coolant pump, jet pump and more. Nowhere near the quality of a yamaha outboard.

    I don’t get the safety claim... if one can not safely operate and outboard they should not operate anything.
  14. Rocman

    Rocman New Member

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    Safety is for when pulling kids on water toys. Sometimes they use the jet tender with out myself. My son is learning and has his state license, 13 years old.
  15. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    yes it is safer if kids are driving it and using it but for use by an adult it doesn’t make make a difference.
    Rocman likes this.
  16. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Hard to get past the safety, but each of those breakdowns would put it OOC for the remainder of your cruise. Not good advertising. At least with the OBs parts and service are always close.
  17. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    And at the risk of jinxing myself on day one of a 6 weeks Exuma trip, new outboard rarely have issues.

    I get the safety but it s pretty easy to be safe with an outboard dinghy: everybody out of the water when the dinghy leaves or return. Works for us
  18. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    While we like the safety, our big reason is the performance and the handling. We also like the size gain. We get a lot more boat and carrying capacity in the same space. One other advantage when carrying on deck is the low profile.

    Now I'm still withholding judgement on the Rotax. Our experience has been with the Weber/Textron. We're also going to need some new ones soon. Soon, as within two months.
  19. Bryant Yunker

    Bryant Yunker New Member

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    Good Afternoon. Since you seem to have extensive experience and knowledge regarding jet tenders I have a question I hope you can answer. Our new, 2021, Williams 445 Diesel Jet will not flush after its most recent short trip. We got an engine overheat warning and put it back on the swim platform. Tried to flush the engine and the water never traveled through engine. There is obviously a blockage between the flush mount and the engine. Worked perfectly two days ago. Simple fix possibly? I look forward to your thoughts.
  20. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I'm not too familiar with the diesels, but you have a blockage most likely from operating too shallow in sand. You might get away with pulling the cooling hoses off and shooting them with a hose nozzle, but I don't want to steer you wrong with the wrong directions. A quick call to the Williams service center in Pompano Beach, FL and they should be able to tell you which ones to pull off to back flush the system.