1872 duracraft tunnel prop to jet

[Roo]

My dad has an 1872 duracraft tunnel with a 2000’s 115 Yamaha 2 stroke and bobs hydraulic Jack plate. He had a 34 gallon tank installed under the front deck when he had work done to it in case we ever decided to use jet foot. We’ve had a jet foot in the shed for about 10 years and are thinking about using it. It’s for a 4 stroke so new parts required will be about 1,400. Trying to figure out if it’s worth spending the money.

We fish Bayport, it’s west coast central Florida. The bottom is all oysters, limestone and hard stuff.

Just looking for any input at all really. Enough HP? How much water to get on plane? How much weight is too much as far as total pounds?

 

[FuzzyGrub]

Welcome to TinBoats.

There is allot of info on Outboard Jets to determine if you have enough HP: Jet Boat Info

A 115HP prop would be a 80HP jet. Their graph is based on the powerhead HP, though.

Many 18' Jet boats come with 80HP jets, but not sure how your boat compares weight wise and balance wise. The fuel tank up front certainly helps with the balance.

If it is a prop tunnel, which are normally deeper than a jet tunnel, that will have some impact as well.

 

[JL8Jeff]

The jet will use a lot more fuel compared to the prop and it won't move as fast if that's a concern (I would think bad weather popping up is a real concern for your location). If you were to suck up shells often, you might want a stainless impeller if the jet unit doesn't already have one. And you might want to keep spare liners around if that gets beat up from the shells. The prop tunnel could be modified to make it shorter to work better with the jet as well.