Hewescraft / Rotax

[Music Man]

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?

Unfortunately you are stuck with the pump supplied from Hewescraft or BRP if you want a warranty. BRP has a contract with Pacific Powertrain and Hewescraft. Everyone else is requires them to sell the whole package or nothing(no modifications allowed and you can't get the 300hp)! Pacific Powertrain is developing their own intake that should be better than the oem, but no other builder is allowed to attach their own intake. Personally I think BRP is shooting themselves in the foot by not letting other people develop intakes! There is always a better mousetrap to be had! FYI "Snake River" is Pacific Powertrain.

[CurtisC]

Thanks for the reply music, I believe snake river mentioned they are working on getting the 300hp model out next year. Maybe it'll be able to be installed if I ever have to replace the engine

[CurtisC]

Well I am putting a down payment on the boat this coming week.

What kind of maintenance can I expect with this boat?

What exactly is a rebuild, how often do I have to do it, and how much does it run usually? It's a 250 supercharged engine.

I plan to use this in winter quite often, is there any freezing issues I should expect?

[akcharlie4]

Any more reviews on these? After the summer season.

[CurtisC]

I want to hear other opinions as well.

I ordered my 2019 model it'll be here end of october.

[Gnomoney1234]

What is going on with the overheating issues on the 250rotax motor? Is it normal that the steering on the hewescraft river runner 200 is very stiff in either direction when it is cold?

[Gnomoney1234]

Well I am putting a down payment on the boat this coming week.

What kind of maintenance can I expect with this boat?

What exactly is a rebuild, how often do I have to do it, and how much does it run usually? It's a 250 supercharged engine.

I plan to use this in winter quite often, is there any freezing issues I should expect?

I'm experiencing difficulty in turning the steering wheel in either direction when it is cold outside. Scary feeling when backing a jet boat out and your steering is locked up. After vigorously forcing it from one side to the next it finally loosened up but it has happened a few times already. This does not seem normal?

[Gnomoney1234]

Well me and my dad went up williston Lake for a 4 day fishing trip with two other boats. Fully loaded with 8 jerry cans of gas and camping gear "we brought way to much stuff " the rotax was burning about 7 gallons an hour doing about 27 mph average. Coming back with all the fuel burnt and food and booze gone lol was averaging 5.5 gallons an hour. On a side note does all gas gauges work like crap on boats or are you supposed to read it while on step . going down the lake the gauge would say full or close to it but when stop low level alarm would beep. My dad was freaked as he thought we were going to not have enough gas to get home. It has a 34 us gallon tank so I stopped to put fuel in it only took 15 gallons. Then I had a hard time convincing him it was a 34 gallon tank. It got so bad he was calculating if we ran on the kicker to get home we would have enough. It was actually kind of comical watching him sweat . Now if people wanted to know the performance part of this. The other two were sportjets one an older 175 in 16 foot and a 20 footer with a 200 sportjet newer boat. I might have burned a little more fuel it was close . All boats unloaded did some top speed testing we were curious , the rotax would pull away over the 200 but mind you it is bit bigger boat. the 175 was quite bit slower than both of us. All in all it was great time and recommend anybody to go up there to fish .

I agree that the low gas beep and light is super annoying and overly sensitive to splashing around. I have had the low fuel indicator come on even with 3/4 full. Definitely needs work on accuracy.

[CurtisC]

Well I am putting a down payment on the boat this coming week.

What kind of maintenance can I expect with this boat?

What exactly is a rebuild, how often do I have to do it, and how much does it run usually? It's a 250 supercharged engine.

I plan to use this in winter quite often, is there any freezing issues I should expect?

I'm experiencing difficulty in turning the steering wheel in either direction when it is cold outside. Scary feeling when backing a jet boat out and your steering is locked up. After vigorously forcing it from one side to the next it finally loosened up but it has happened a few times already. This does not seem normal?

So I have this problem too. I took it to the shop and it seems there is moisture in the steering cable that is freezing.

To fix it I run the boat on the trailer warming it up until it has full movement. Can't be good for the cable.

Keep in mind the bucket is electric and cable driven as well so it can freeze and bend.


I have had issues with my reverse bucket cable bending. Thankfully PPI has fully backed the product and has been helping trying to figure it out.

The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is the grinding noise it makes at idle. Always had it, not sure what it is.

[Ahusk]

Well I am putting a down payment on the boat this coming week.

What kind of maintenance can I expect with this boat?

What exactly is a rebuild, how often do I have to do it, and how much does it run usually? It's a 250 supercharged engine.

I plan to use this in winter quite often, is there any freezing issues I should expect?

I'm experiencing difficulty in turning the steering wheel in either direction when it is cold outside. Scary feeling when backing a jet boat out and your steering is locked up. After vigorously forcing it from one side to the next it finally loosened up but it has happened a few times already. This does not seem normal?

So I have this problem too. I took it to the shop and it seems there is moisture in the steering cable that is freezing.

To fix it I run the boat on the trailer warming it up until it has full movement. Can't be good for the cable.

Keep in mind the bucket is electric and cable driven as well so it can freeze and bend.


I have had issues with my reverse bucket cable bending. Thankfully PPI has fully backed the product and has been helping trying to figure it out.

The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is the grinding noise it makes at idle. Always had it, not sure what it is.

Mine has done the grinding since day one.. I think it's mostly the bucket rattling and the Dynamics of the impellar at low speeds. I agree it's very annoying. My fuel gauge works fine. But it's the stuff out of a jetski. Not a standard boat gauge.

[Ahusk]

Well I am putting a down payment on the boat this coming week.

What kind of maintenance can I expect with this boat?

What exactly is a rebuild, how often do I have to do it, and how much does it run usually? It's a 250 supercharged engine.

I plan to use this in winter quite often, is there any freezing issues I should expect?

I'm experiencing difficulty in turning the steering wheel in either direction when it is cold outside. Scary feeling when backing a jet boat out and your steering is locked up. After vigorously forcing it from one side to the next it finally loosened up but it has happened a few times already. This does not seem normal?

So I have this problem too. I took it to the shop and it seems there is moisture in the steering cable that is freezing.

To fix it I run the boat on the trailer warming it up until it has full movement. Can't be good for the cable.

Keep in mind the bucket is electric and cable driven as well so it can freeze and bend.


I have had issues with my reverse bucket cable bending. Thankfully PPI has fully backed the product and has been helping trying to figure it out.

The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is the grinding noise it makes at idle. Always had it, not sure what it is.

Mine has done the grinding since day one.. I think it's mostly the bucket rattling and the Dynamics of the impellar at low speeds. I agree it's very annoying. My fuel gauge works fine. But it's the stuff out of a jetski. Not a standard boat gauge.

I have had zero cable issues in 300+ hours, either steering or bucket. My cables are both teleflex xtremes and they are run in the gunell not the bottom. What's your bucket set up look like?

[CurtisC]

Mine has done the grinding since day one.. I think it's mostly the bucket rattling and the Dynamics of the impellar at low speeds. I agree it's very annoying. My fuel gauge works fine. But it's the stuff out of a jetski. Not a standard boat gauge.

I have had zero cable issues in 300+ hours, either steering or bucket. My cables are both teleflex xtremes and they are run in the gunell not the bottom. What's your bucket set up look like?

Its just the standard hewescraft setup.

I will find some pics.

So the first issue I had with the bucket was it broke off.

When they replaced it they said my cable was bent. So I assume the bucket was stuck in the reverse or neutral position.

Between going to point a and point b in choppy water I went to reverse and couldn't. Looked at the back and the bucket was gone.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LzRvPQZkC886Ka5fA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5ZJ9RHD34ahXprDPA

There was no impact, or reverse into anything. I reversed off the trailer and when I was at the spot to anchor up i went to reverse and boat gunned it forward since there was no bucket.


Second issue I had was I was anchored against a cliff, nose and anchor resting on the cliff edge, back of the boat was in 20ft of water. Went to back up and the bucket wouldn't drop, just twitched.

Took it in and the cable was bent again.

Third time my steering was frozen so I warmed the boat up for 20-30 minutes on the trailer, engine was up to temp, steering was good.

Shift and fuse popped. Put a new one in and cable was bent.

I think it is also important to point out that every time I have had an issue, my boat shop and Pacific powertrain have been helping me along the way.

I do believe the steering and bucket run through the gunnel

Other than my bucket/bucket cable I cant complain at all. They think it could be something as simple as a locking mechanism. Unfortunately I wasn't available to bring it to lewistown to have ppi look at it in person, but they did offer, and it was on his weekend no less.

[Ahusk]

Okay first off I assume you know you are missing a bolt in the second picture?

I have the same reverse bucket setup in mine. Zero problems but mine is manual control. If I am understanding you must have an electric motor that runs a cable to pull your bucket up and down? It's a pretty simple scenario. I dont get how it could be causing so many issues. But who knows, it breaking the whole bucket off is really weird. I assume the attachment where the cable is hooked to the bucket is loose and free moving? The only thing that makes any sense is that it's a dual lever control and your trying to shift the bucket with the throttle at a fairly high level and the electric shift motor is more powerful than the cable can handle. How low does your bucket come down in full reverse? If it was too high it would create a lot of force on the cable. Still doesn't explain the broken bucket. Sorry for the barrage of questions. Just brainstorming here.

[Ahusk]

Last thing. The reverse and steering cables can easily be switched out to a stainless heim and then use standard boat cables. Again I have over 300 hours in my tfx extremes and they still work good as new.

[CurtisC]

Okay first off I assume you know you are missing a bolt in the second picture?

I have the same reverse bucket setup in mine. Zero problems but mine is manual control. If I am understanding you must have an electric motor that runs a cable to pull your bucket up and down? It's a pretty simple scenario. I dont get how it could be causing so many issues. But who knows, it breaking the whole bucket off is really weird. I assume the attachment where the cable is hooked to the bucket is loose and free moving? The only thing that makes any sense is that it's a dual lever control and your trying to shift the bucket with the throttle at a fairly high level and the electric shift motor is more powerful than the cable can handle. How low does your bucket come down in full reverse? If it was too high it would create a lot of force on the cable. Still doesn't explain the broken bucket. Sorry for the barrage of questions. Just brainstorming here.

No worries!

Yes one bolt was missing and 2 others were rattled loose. All of this was on the same boat ride. As I check everything when I put plugs in.

Came that way from the factory. Boat shop put lock tight on.

Second time I wonder if weeds prevented the bucket from lowering causing the cable to jam? Seems like a stretch but I am out of ideas.

The boat has taken a beating though from not having the bucket.

When it breaks I dont have any neutral or reverse. Only forward.

I am in the river and many of these launches have semi shallow water and fast current that prevent me from using the kicker to load it on the trailer. So I have some battle scars on the side of the boat due to not being able to slow down below 4-5mph and loading in current. Super fun

When in reverse it is flat
Neutral it is angled about 45deg
Forward it is up.

I did have issues with my bucket rubbing on my float box but I don't think changing out the cable for something stronger would hurt. Im not exactly sure what the standard cable is made from.

[Ahusk]

I think I would probably look at the bucket hitting the box and assuming it was factory from Hewescraft make them fix it. You probably could have led with that:)

[CurtisC]

I think I would probably look at the bucket hitting the box and assuming it was factory from Hewescraft make them fix it. You probably could have led with that:)

Yeah the problem is the last time it happened the bucket wasnt touching it. So I'm not sure thats the issue. I think its all in how its positioned during the replacement.

My experience hasn't been ideal, but I am happy to have my shop and ppi continuing to help when issues arise.

[Gnomoney1234]

We are definitely the Guinea pigs and testing pilots for these ROTAX MOTORS and PPI powertrain. I agree that BRP has been quick to help assist in remedying the problems. But we are the ones to be dealt with these problems.

[dpruden]

After looking at your bucket can I make a suggestion. When transporting , bungie cord your bucket so it stops from bouncing. My dad was following behind me down the road when I first got mine and watched how much bouncing it was doing. I haven’t had any problems but he figured it would bust off if I didn’t do it. When you are going forward your bucket is up not allowing to put stress on it but in neutral it’s allowing to hang at 45 degree angle causing stress on the linkage.

[CurtisC]

Another thing I've had happen recently is sucking up weeds but the stomp grate hasnt been any help.

The weeds are getting sucked in to the left and right of the grate and getting wedged in there.


Using the grate doesnt touch them, and it will prevent water from sucking up.

It is preventing waterflow so I am only able to move about 5mph without it trying to over rev since it isnt getting water.

Its almost like the grate is too small for the intake?