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SD Models The Design - SD Series Our super duty model boats are designed to operate for many years under the most adverse conditions, the shallow Rocky Rivers, open lakes and cold weather conditions found in northern Canada. Bottom Design / Specifications
Available as an option on any of our boat models. This bottom design is to be used on extremely rocky rivers where impacts can not be avoided or in a boat that must have a floor mounted fuel tank and where no center stringer can be installed. Tuchodi Bottom Specifications
Hull Constructions / RiggingOutlaw Eagle Manufacturing Ltd. designs, cuts, forms and assembles their boats completely in house. We have an 8’ X 24’ CNC plasma cutter that cuts the aluminum out in precise shapes for consistent quality. Our NC controlled press brake forms the aluminum to the exact shape; the boat is then assembled on a rigid steel jig. After hull construction is complete the boat moves to our rigging area where the motor, jet drive and interior components are installed. Following final assembly each boat is water tested on the Red Deer River. Outlaw Eagle Manufacturing Ltd. boats are available for purchase direct from our manufacturing facility or through selected dealers.
Most boat owners like to perform at least a certain amount of their boat maintenance themselves to ensure continuing good performance and reliability. To avoid unnecessary trips to the service center, it is useful to have a checklist which can be run through systematically, in the hope of pinpointing the problem quickly. The boat can be divided into three categories - Jet Unit, Engine and Hull. If something is “wrong” with the boat it is usually poor acceleration and load carrying, coupled with excessive fuel consumption or engine RPM’s. It could be unusual noise coming from the mechanicals, or possibly just poor top speed. Tachometer 
The most important single instrument of the boat when considering performance drop-off is the engine tachometer. The great thing about jet boats is that the engine RPM’s should remain the same throughout the life of the boat, regardless of age, loading, water conditions, towing, etc., unless wear is present in pump or motor. For speed calibration a GPS unit should be used (most speedo’s in boats are optimistic). For fuel consumption checks a floscan meter should be used. Don’t forget that fuel consumption is lower and speed is higher in shallow water than in deep water because of the “ground effect” of running in shallow water.There is no situation where the RPM’s should be different from when the boat was new, and as an owner, you will know what these are. At any time, you should be able to open the throttle fully and get the same maximum reading you have been used to. Or perhaps you are finding it needs more RPM’s to cruise your normal load? RPM’s are a most important indicator of proper operation of the boat. It is important at this stage to feel confident that your tachometer is reading accurately. Use a high quality digital timing light to verify the Tachometer. Now we come to our checklist, and determination of which major area is the problem. The simplest way is a check on the RPM’s first. They could be normal, high or low, and this will pin point the place to look:
If the boat is performing poorly and the maximum RPM’s are normal and what you are used to, you can look to the hull and some of the external parts. These include: High RPM = Jet Unit Problem Higher than normal RPM’s, lack of thrust, slipping clutch feel, engine racing and no go? So if the gland is worn out and leaking into the boat with the engine off, it can also suck air when accelerating on to plane, and if this happens, then the thrust is reduced dramatically. Air can also be introduced into the system via the inspection cover, so you will want to make sure the cover is tight and the O Ring is sealing. Air can also enter through cracked intake blocks, faulty base gasket and the rear of the intake grate. Check to make sure the EZ clean grate is closing and sealing tightly Low RPM = Engine Problem There is generally no way the jet unit can overload the engine and bring the RPM’s down (unless the main thrust bearing fails). If the RPM’s are down from usual, it is almost certain to be an engine problem. A compression check will usually reveal leaking piston rings or valves, but the most common reasons for reduced engine power are: Provided your engine is getting its full quote of air and fuel, and is getting enough spark and at the right time, the engine will usually be ok and maximum RPM’s will result. However, if the RPM’s are down and you believe the tachometer, look for an engine problem. The hull, engine and jet unit are the three main areas to look at when your performance is down. Excessive Noise This can often be a concern even if there is not a reduction in performance. The most common causes of noise are: Hull Design and Construction
While one type of boat may work excellent for one individual it may be completely wrong for another. Before buying your boat, you must take in consideration the type of boating you will be doing and where you will be boating, for example: shallow rocky rivers or deep river/lakes. Also consider the loads to be carried, number of passengers and boat speed.
Bottom Design Material thickness and grade/weight All aluminum weighs the same, regardless of grade. For example, 1 cubic inch weights .101 pounds. So when choosing a boat to be used in severe conditions only the best grades will give you strength without weight. So by adding thickness, example 3/8 6061 keel to a 1/2” 6061 keel you will only add 36 pounds but your strength will increase by approximately 40%. Or by changing your material grade from 5086 (a good marine aluminum) to 6061 T6 you can increase strength by approximately 35% without adding any weight.
Selecting A Boat For Use With The Outboard Jet Combining the correct outboard power and boat design is the "secret" of successfully using an outboard jet to run in shallow water. Most important is the boat. Keep it as light as possible since, unlike a propeller drive, you cannot change to a lower pitch jet drive impeller to increase load capability. Aluminum is usually the material of choice. It is light, tough and easy to form in the proper configuration. For outboard jets, the bottom thickness can range from 1/6"(063) for 20-50 HP to 1/4"(.250) for motors up to 225HP. The lighter gauge is more easily damaged whereas the heaviest gauge can be a weight problem on midrange power from 50-100HP. The size and shape of the bottom is very important. The object is to ride on top of the water, which requires a good planing surface, and to float as shallow as possible when shut down. The bottom should be at least 48 inches wide and boat length at least 14 feet long. Air entering the jet drive causes slippage, so the boat bottom needs to supply solid water, free of air, to the jet drive intake. No one boat can satisfy every need, so choices must be made. With this thought in mind, some pros and cons of various boat types are noted below. A flat bottom boat runs shallower than a vee bottom but slides on the turns more. A vee bottom splits off air bubbles before they reach the jet intake. A flat bottom carries bubbles straight back. A slight V of 6-12 degrees deadrise will enhance jet boat handling. A variation of this is a delta bottom which combines a tapered "pad" flat with a vee bottom. Deep vee is not desirable for the outboard jet. Not just because of increased draft and drag, but because the outboard jet needs a flat apron of water about 10" wide leaving the hull on which to set the leading edge of the jet intake, to minimize air intake and frontal drag. The deadrise should be fairly constant and not increase to a deep forefoot at the bow. A deep forefoot can cause spinout on a sharp turn. Keels can be a problem, introducing air into the jet intake. Center keels vary in size and may introduce air. If this is suspected, the keel should be removed 2-4 feet forward of the transom. Other keel and strake arrangements which tend to funnel air to the jet intake should be avoided. The chines of the boat, where the sides meet the bottom, should be sharp. Round chines tend to suck the boat down in the water and cause drag. A properly designed tunnel, combined with a slight V bottom hull can greatly enhance jet boat performance. It should raise the motor 2-3 inches and place the heel of the jet intake flush or slightly above the bottom of the boat. A jet tunnel does not work well with a flat bottom boat due to air ingestion. It's imperative that the hull is designed correctly with the tunnel for the boat to operate properly. The tunnel needs to be just large enough to feed the jet drive its water requirements. A tunnel that is longer, wider or deeper than necessary wastes power in lifting excess water, tends to suck the stern down when planing and sits deeper in the water at rest due to lost buoyancy. The top of the tunnel width should be about 1 3/4 times the width of the jet drive water intake. The tunnel length does not have to be longer than about 2 1/2 times the water intake width. Inflatables are light, easy to transport and bounce off the rocks nicely; however, due to the flexible nature of their bottom they trap and introduce air into the jet intake. Steering is squirrelly when running light and in crosswinds. Even so, we get calls from our customers who are very happy with their inflatables. A rigid hull inflatable on the other hand cannot be folded to fit inside your car but steers better and provides solid water to the intake. Unfortunately the hulls presently available have more than 10 degrees of deadrise. Pontoon boats do not provide a defined height apron of water ahead of the jet intake. The water level between the pontoons varies with speed and load carried. It is necessary to build an inclined plane ahead of the jet intake attached to the motor mount about 16" wide inclined at about 15 degrees with the leading edge above water level, fully loaded at rest, trailing edge lined up with the leading edge of the jet intake. So much for boats, now about power!! There is about a 30% power loss when converting to our jet drive. A suitable outboard jet boat carrying an average load will provide about 80% of propeller speeds. It is important to decide what load you want to carry, how many people, gear, fuel, etc. and add the weight of the boat, motor and battery. Look up this gross weight on the chart in the outboard jets brochure to determine the minimum HP you need. The chart HP is power head horsepower. It's important that the boat-motor combination plane the boat quickly. Planing would normally be in the mid 20 MPH range and up. This is necessary for optimum jet performance and shallow water running. At low RPM, when the boat is not planing, you would need about 12 inches of clearance between the bottom of the jet and river bed to maneuver. If at all possible, please, before you buy an outboard jet boat, go for a ride and look for these characteristics. Does the boat plane quickly and not cavitate easily (listen to the motor for the change in RPM's) a destructive and negative performance trait. Will the boat manoeuvre through obstacles typically found in your environment without breaking loose or skating? Is handling predictable? Poor performance will show up in a jet boat taking a long time to get up on a plane, breaking loose early in cornering and cavitation. The advantages of the outboard jet boat include maximum space inside the boat while still having the ability to operate in less than 6" of water, relative ease of cleaning out a clogged pump and adjustment for wear on the impeller and intake liner. So select a suitable boat with sufficient HP to handle your total weight, then enjoy fishing and hunting in areas you couldn't reach before! Outlaw Eagle Manufacturing Ltd. is the Canadian distributer for outboard jets made by specialty manufacturing of San Leandro, California. We stock a full line of parts and outboard jet conversions for most motors.
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