Hewescraft / Rotax

[dpruden]

I should be clearer on weight . When I was saying lighter I was talking about 900 pounds . when we were loaded we were over weight limit at about 1300 pounds for that boat.So we were not really all that light of a load.I did a rough calculation and 5.5 gallons an hour would give us around 4.5 miles per gallon at a 25 miles per hour average.

[smitty]

Nice to hear about these new setups... now how about some pics?

Us armchair jet boaters like pics.

[Ahusk]

I will pay more attention and get some better fuel numbers when I get a chance. I know mine gets way better than my old Northriver with a 5.7 which did around 7gph. My cruise is down around 5000 rpm or lower. It makes a big difference in fuel economy when I get up around 5500 or higher sustained rpm.

[cfs]

Dear Snake river: while I have also heard of cavitation problems with fabricated intakes including the ones first marketed? I built my boat in 2011. We at River Wild fabricated mine and I have been running it ever since with NO again NO
cavitation problems unless I grounded the boat and ingested rocks bending the impeller or when I caved in the intake grate last year running the Clackamas at very low water.
I remember meeting Mark in 2011 on the Snake at the Sandy beach above Pittsburg he looked my boat over and was quite interested in it as he was trying to negotiate the rotax motors and there had been problems for others to make the motor run to its potential ? using other pumps that were not suitable with the high RPM. I enjoyed our meeting.
At the time we had been running them with good success for six months or so. I used all the boat bucket parts that interchange with my year and are used today to my knowledge. way better reverse.
The boat is great on any river in all kinds of white water and am quite happy with the Rotax product wide open throttle on the 215 is 16 gph mine runs up and free at 4500 rpm sips the fuel 16' 5' .250 bottom light open boat
After extensive testing and different impellers pitched at Skat Trac at my request. I now run a three blade straight pitch great out of the hole great in whitewater and a little less on the top end. I still am just below 50 mph

I am glad to see the package available. they are reliable hard running and economical I will be building a new boat

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[Snake River]

CFS it is good to hear about your success with a fabricated suction housing, like I said in my post generally we have seen cavitation issues in the past being centered around the fabricated housing. Bob and his crew at River Wild do an excellent job, and it does not surprise me that they were able to build a suction housing that met your needs. I have worked on this project since the first day that we contacted Rotax, and they are committed to supplying a quality product to our industry that will perform at its best. This is why bringing this product to market has taken some time to accomplish, our company along with BRP have tried to for see issues before they happen. Impeller design has been an area that we have worked closely with them on, and the new impeller for the 250 and 200HP engine is built specifically for our industry. We are currently in the process of working on a stainless steel wear ring as well as being able to offer a wider selection of performance orientated impellers in the future. This engine package is new to our industry and we are committed to offering the best performance packages that we can, and still meet BRP's requirements to insure the integrity of the product. We will be working on several projects over the winter that will allow us to hopefully be in a position to offer more options to the OEM market including a twin application in the near future.

[cfs]

good news I wish the company the best.
I also appreciate the words of praise for Bob at River Wild. He is a close personal friend! He has also been willing to to join hands with me on many projects. this one included. I can only reiterate your words of praise he is a leader in the industry when it comes to performance and detail. thanks again

CFS

[CurtisC]

So I am purchasing a boat in the coming months, I am getting a Hewescraft River Runner 200 - 250hp rotax engine.

I am not new to boating, but I am new to jet boating. I plan on having someone taking me through some steps to learn to run the rivers better, while I know the basics I would feel better doing this.

My question is what can I realistically expect to safely run in this boat with this engine?

How much are rebuilds and how often do you have to do them?



This is the boat, I will be mounting a 9.9 kicker on it and plan to do many trips for steelhead in the winter. I want to run the snake, salmon, and clearwater river, but I also want to know the limits of this boat. I didn't create another post since there is so much talk about the rotax motor here, and that is one of my main concerns.

[Crawdad Johnny]

I can't speak to the frequency or cost of rebuilds, but the limits of where you can go with this boat will be largely determined by your abilities. Check out the history section of the forum and look at some of the places that Glen Wooldridge Sr. took boats back in the day. The places he went with the equipment available at the time is simply amazing. BTW, that new River Runner looks gorgeous. If that is your new boat, congratulations!

[CurtisC]

I wasn't sure about the hull design, or the rotax engine, again I am completely new to this, and don't plan on running anything extreme. The hull seems pretty deep to run shallow, what are the benefits or downsides to a hull like this compared to many other jets I see with a more gradual bow?

[Snake River]

Curtisc I am happy to hear that you are interested in purchasing a Hewes River Runner. The only scheduled work on the Rotax Jet Propulsion Package is the scheduled maintenance such as oil changes. Unlike the older watercraft engines that some builders have used in the past that required the turbo to be rebuilt every 200 hours, the newer turbo used in the package that we supply to Hewes does not have any scheduled rebuilds. Also keep in mind that unlike the engines that are removed from watercraft that do not have a warranty, the package that we supply to the builders such as Hewes come with a 480 hour or 3 year whichever comes first warranty when used in a recreational application.

[CurtisC]

Thanks for the reply SnakeRiver, do you have any experience riding in this model? Would it handle the idaho rivers well?

Again I don't plan on going down the main sections of hells canyon like sheep creek or anything. But I do plan on fishing the waters near the dam at hells, salmon river between riggins and whitebird, and clearwater from orofino bridge to lewiston.

[Snake River]

I have to agree with Crawdad Johnny you can go only where your experience will take you. I would suggest that you take an extended test drive in the boat, and see for yourself if it meets your needs or not, only you can determine the right boat for you. I know that Hewes took one up in the canyon because they stopped by the shop on their back to visit with us. So I guess that my best advise to you is either arrange for an extended teat drive, or find someone who has one and go for a ride with them. I have ridden in this model and it worked well for what it is designed for. That is my opinion, so as they say with that and a few bucks you can get a cup of coffee. Good luck, if you have more questions please feel free.

[CurtisC]

I am probably just overthinking it. The dealer doesn't do extended test drives, at least the salesman said they won't take it out on a river. I have been trying to do a lot of research on this model but since it is so new I can't really find much on it. Which is why I have 1,000 questions

I'm 27, this is the single largest purchase I've ever made, and want it to last a lifetime (I am sure everyone who ever bought a boat has said this about their boat), so just trying to cover all basis

[smitty]

CurtisC,

We were all 27 once, it's ok. I wish I was still 27 physically.

Regarding rivers - baby steps, get confidence in handling your boat on calm water, rivers aren't quite as scary as some people think. Plus, your boat will probably have a decent reverse response. Soon, your snazzy, shiny, new boat will have scratches, dents, sand and fish blood in it, and that is ok. Just be safe - the WA state boater's course is a good idea even if you aren't required to have one, and always, always respect a river.

[smitty]

BTW - the Hewes looks great, my brother has about a 2000 Hewes 20' SeaRunner with a 130 Honda outboard (prop). Lots of good times and good memories in that boat.

[CurtisC]

I am located in Boise Idaho, don't know of any jet boat courses around here, but I am friends with some guides, I will likely get them to run with me for a day.

I am definitely not afraid to go through the rivers, or getting it dirty thats for sure, I have a Alumacraft 145 CS right now and I take that thing places I probably shouldn't

But you're right just getting some confidence under my belt will help a lot, since I have always run a prop I am just not sure what to expect from a jet, and what the boat is capable of doing easily. I plan to mostly back troll and side drift the clearwater and salmon river.

[Idamainer]

A word of caution: If you dare take this boat on the Snake river below Swan Falls Dam, it is highly advised to join a club and ride through this section a few time in someone else's boat. It is known as the graveyard of the Snake for a reason. Personally I would take it out near Nyssa Oregon and learn to read the river in that area first and the farmer is your best friend.

[CurtisC]

I already run my prop boat from Celebration to Nyssa, but yeah I would want to see the graveyard by following someone.

Altho most of my trips will be in riggins or the clearwater.

[dpruden]

Took my Hewescraft for the first time on the river and it was awesome "scared the crap out of my wife though lol ". Went on the sukunka river in northern B.C . And I can tell you with four people in the boat we were running on about 5 inches of water without rubbing on gravel. The one spot where I rubbed on the bottom we stopped right after took cook some hotdogs so I took a walk across to see how deep it was and it came up my ankles. I was impressed. In our part of the country rivers are gravely and shallow I might get High caliber to put on some uhmw on the bottom for extra protection for when you skidding across a gravel bar lol.

[CurtisC]

Took my Hewescraft for the first time on the river and it was awesome "scared the crap out of my wife though lol ". Went on the sukunka river in northern B.C . And I can tell you with four people in the boat we were running on about 5 inches of water without rubbing on gravel. The one spot where I rubbed on the bottom we stopped right after took cook some hotdogs so I took a walk across to see how deep it was and it came up my ankles. I was impressed. In our part of the country rivers are gravely and shallow I might get High caliber to put on some uhmw on the bottom for extra protection for when you skidding across a gravel bar lol.

Hey dpruden, thats good to hear, does it get up on step quickly? What was your gph?


This may be a stupid question, as this is the first jetboat I am buying, what pump is on the hewescraft riverrunner? I have just begun looking into all the different pumps and the pros and cons to each one. For example hamiliton 212, vs American Turbine 312, and all these other pumps... how does this pump stack up and what are the pros and cons?