Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Jet Outboard

I picking up a Alweld 1752 next week and looking for some suggestions on a 50/35 jet for it. I hate to go that small but I do spend time on the Kenai. Until today I had intended on buying a Tohatsu TLDI from Marita, but somehow my quoted price was no longer good and the price went up by $1100 when I wanted to buy. Soooo now I have not done much research on any of the other outboards in that class, any thoughts from you guys?

Need a fishing partner?

I hear good things about the Yamahas, but they're spendy.

Just bring the oars!!

Not much HP for a 17.5' boat 50 HP jet will net you 35 HP with a new impeller. There is a reason most run 50 HP props on the Kenai.

thats not enough motor for your boat size. i'd go up to a 90/65 jet. i have a 1750 with a 125/90 merc

A slight off topic question here but what is the advantage of a jet vs prop for your situation. Is it do to the water depth or draft that gives the jet motor an edge? Never even looked into or considered a Jet Motor running on the Great Lakes or the rivers that run into it. Just curious.

If you're limited to the 50hp head because of the kenai the 35hp jet will push your boat alright. There are a couple 50/35 jets in the village near me and they get around okay pushing similar sized boats. You just can't load the boat up much and you can't be in a hurry. If you're planning on doing much else with the boat make sure to get a gear case with it so you can run a prop. I've got a 16 foot alweld with a 50hp honda and can get on step with a moose in the boat. It's not easy, but it will do it. A couple years ago I was shopping for a new wooldridge with an outboard jet. Maritas had some holdovers advertised that I called them about. I've never spoken to a sales department LESS interested in selling me a boat. After which, I could only imagine what dealing with their service dept would be like.

I'd stick with either a Honda or Yamaha if going four stroke, and an e-tec if you're going two stroke. The two stroke will give you a better power to weight ratio and pretty good fuel economy. (I have a 200etec jet on a wooldridge Alaskan XL and it's great) I also have run a lot of Honda and Yamaha four strokes, 200hp to 9.9hp, and they both make great products. As with anything, you still need to take care of it and keep up with servicing them at the end of the season.

Sorry to be long winded, but I hope this helps.

I used to have a 17' sled custom built with a 5' floor, and I ran a 100/70 merc jet on it. It moved it right along. I would have never considered a 50/35 for it. I would rather have the power and not need it all instead of not have enough when you get into a bad or fast water situation.
I guess a 50/35 would be fine if you are just running it in lakes or very slow running rivers. Just my 2 cents.

I have a friend with a 1852 g3 with a 50/35 tohatsu which on paper the hull is 110#s heavier than the alweld ecojon 1752. We ran around in it last summer with 3-4 guys and it ran just fine. The alweld is listed at 390# hullweight , with the only adds being a tunnel and flotation pods. They also list max hp at 30 tiller, 40 remote. Dont get me wrong I would like more motor but again, I do go to the Kenai sometimes and I am only going to have one boat. I wish that the regs would allow for a 60/40 down there, not sure why they cant make that work. I guess I realize its going to be a jack of all trades -master of none setup, but I can't be buying two boats just yet.

This guy is running a 1852 with what looks like the boatshops custom heavy duty extras they put on it. He is running a 60/40 and with 3 people, a dog, and some gear/extra fuel and it looks to do more than I will be doing with mine.

The jet is used for running shallow water and is very popular here in Alaska. I use to own a 16ft alumunim with a 60HP Johnson and ran a bunch of rivers in the interior that could not be run with a prop. For lakes and deeper water they are a pia, running a prop is the only way to go in that situation.

u are in a pickle with that keni limit ! still- get all 50 hp u are aloud to the water. my old boat I would change from prop to jet all the time (20 footer w/60" bottom) u never know what u are going to do when the "trip from he!! calls" 610 miles from town a few times ...and on the way home wishing I had a jet pak from a c130

Well hell, after making some calls and seeing how much more a 4 stroke 50 w/jet was going to be I decided to go back to Marita and give it another shot. This time I think they knew I was a bit more serious and ready to spend. They "worked" on the price and got a customer out of it. I really like the 50/35 TLDI for the power/weight ratio so hopefully it works out the way I want.

Thanks for the clarification. Good read though.

What is the length and width of your boat? And weight of anticipated load? Good rule of thumb is most jets are about 30% less efficient than a prop so a 50 HP jet is about equivalent to a 35 HP prop.

My little 16 ft X 50 " 89# Saturn Kaboat inflatable does quite well with a 4 stroke on the Kenai. About 15 MPH up stream around Sterling on the Kenai 500 # load, with a 9.8 HP 4 stroke.Not a great Kenai boat but a good compromise car top boat.

If you don,t overload boat and keep impeller up to snuff you should do ok.

if you're gonna run a jet boat, giving a call to the boatshop won't leave you up the creek without a paddle.

those guys know boats and jets and running skinny water.

907 452-4032, didn't even have to look up the number, know it by heart.

running a '97 Big Lake Bob Sprint boat (yeah I'm old school) 20/48
with a Etec 130 Jet on it.

I need to have one of the kids video one of our cabin runs, no big rocks like the video posted, but a whole lot more winding, shallow water and lots of junk in the river.

can't wait for this ice to go, although I do need to cover those damned sleds up for summer and top off the tanks with gas and fuel stablilizer, already got em lubed, well except for jackshafts, those still need to be done.

Thats who I bought my boat from. Its the 1752 alweld ecojon w/tunnel. Randy has been helpful and for what I am going to be doing he thought my setup would be fine. I spoke to him this morning about buying an outboard but with limited offerings in a 50/35 it would be a long wait and a few thousand more to go with something he could get. He did think that the tohatsu would be a good motor due to it being lighter than the 4 strokes and good power with it being a TLDI 2 stroke. I will be picking the boat up in the next week or so and get it setup so I can do motor break-in as soon as possible.

You should get some video this summer, I like those jet boat videos on winding shallow stuff. My two boys are 7 and 4 and are really looking forward to some fishing, boating, and camping this summer. I am getting pretty excited to spend some quality family time out doing what I love to do. It will be a fun summer.

the other Randy, the head mechanic called me last night, wants me to go for a ride in his custom built boat, and think he wants to sell it to me.

but I'm looking for an 18' flat bottom with a tiller handle Yamaha 45 jet. If if find one of those as a kid's boat and a back up, I may buy one of the alweld 20' x 60" V to flat bottom they got in this year.

will wait and see how their season goes, have known those guys a long time, if they sell the hull they sell it, if they're sittin on it at the end of summer I may have to pick it up from them, have some UMHW thrown on the bottom and then have them rig it out over the winter. I'd gain quite a bit of flotation by going with a wider beam and even though I like my skinny boat for exploring new territory, if I find the right 18 'er I'm looking for, that will be my new exploring boat and I'll use the alweld for cabin runs and rivers I know a bit better like the Salcha.


god I love me some running skinny water! great snowmachine season, but I'm ready to run on top of liquid

I'm looking forward to learning the ropes with the jet. I am having some beavertail flotation pods welded on also. I had a couple of people tell me they are great for helping get up on step faster, especially with a smaller hp outboard. Now we just need some open water!