Jet Drive on Argo

[Pontello8x8]

Hi,
I'm studing a solution to have a better speed on water on my Avenger 2005 and I'm considering to put a jet drive taken from a jet ski and powering it by the argo's engine.
Anyone have tryed to do this before?
Thanks

Luca

[Shawn H]

Sounds cool if you get it to work. I put a bs 18hp outboard swamp, I didn't like how the ride was, though I going to turn over.

[Shawn H]

There is a outboard jet, you maybe $ ahead with that try. Good luck!

[Buzz]

being as you'll never get "on step", your goal is to provide forward thrust and plow your machine through the water. You avenger will always draft the same amount. The benefit of any kind of jet can't really be realized. Typically you have enought distance from the underside of the belly to the bottom of the tires/tracks that you can drop a prop outboard down and really not lose any draft or shallower running ability. A prop outboard provides much more thrust for a given size, actually has a decent reverse, and is far less likely to get clogged or have cavitation issues. Not to mention it would avoid having to cut another hull penetration that an inboard jet would require. There are air-cooled outboard props as well as electric thrust props (if sized big enough) that do a good job. 2-strokes are light, small ones don't use very much gas at all, and they can be carried any place convenient while laid on their sides.

[Pontello8x8]

I have found this jet drive:

http://s.sbito.it/images/54/5430775831.jpg

It's a berkeley very compact, 20 cm wide, 60 long inside. Built to be moved by a 25hp engine like mine.
The very good thing that I want to do is to use only one engine because the use of two engine (main engine and outboard) is very frustrating, it's not really conforteable to jump in the back when on water and jump forward on terrain. I want to remain on front seat, enter in the water alone and run immediatly at almost at 8-10 miles per hour. This is what I want to have.
In this moment I'm using an old 10 hp mercs 2 stroke that is dooing a good job and is very light in weight, but I have to carry two tanks, oil ecc.ecc. and two stroke outboard are very expensive to run. 5 liters per hour. And pull at max 3,5 mph!! 5,5 km/h circa! Very slow!

I have an experience of 60 hours by water with Argo + Outboard, I know what I'm talking!!
The best problem is the transmission shaft from the engine to the jet drive... they will run at 4500 rpm!! Interesting work...

[lunnex]

Sounds very interesting. the Idea of not jumping front to back as you said , is one i would like. Regardless of any gain in speed, the ease of use would be great. maybe work it off a lever on the dash to engage. Have you thought about mud and stuff clogging up the intake?

[ARGOJIM]

The main propulsion problem I foresee you having is both cavitation and drive as the Avenger naturally sits high in the rear, unless you can figure a way to adjust the jet height it'll drag in the mud and either cavitate or just spray a big roost in water and not propel.

[Pontello8x8]

The main propulsion problem I foresee you having is both cavitation and drive as the Avenger naturally sits high in the rear, unless you can figure a way to adjust the jet height it'll drag in the mud and either cavitate or just spray a big roost in water and not propel.

In The mud I will use just the wheel but in open water I will use the jet drive. The sits of the avenger depend primery by how the weight is located. With jet drive in the rear and the battery extra that I have mount, the avenger stay neutral because they together are 50 kg in the extreme rear. Plus I can put an extra fuel tank in the rear.
Ther cavitation is impossible with jet drive, but I have to adgust the direction of the jet... you are right. But keep in mind that a water jet trust push also in open air! look this:

[amphibious drew]

Hey that was on auction hunters last night. Allen tried it out, but they didn't seem to let Ton ride it for some reason.

[Rock Doctor]

I would like to see a jet drive work in an Argo, but I don't think it would work for me in my application. I've spent a few thousand hours running jetboats, and I believe debris ingestion will be a major problem. Weeds, rocks, sticks, leaves, ext..... ANYTHING sticking to the intake grate, or fouling the impeller will cause cavitation. A single leaf folded over a leading edge on your impeller will effect it. It's easy to deal with something like this with an OB Jet, but not so easy with an IB Jet assembly.

RD

[Rock Doctor]

Another thought is with HOW a jet moves you through the water. A jet pushes you through the water, a prop pulls you through the water(pulling a trailer with a jet adds a whole new element to the situation). A prop is much more efficient at slow speeds and is much more effective at turning/reversing the machine.

RD

[Pontello8x8]

Another thought is with HOW a jet moves you through the water. A jet pushes you through the water, a prop pulls you through the water(pulling a trailer with a jet adds a whole new element to the situation). A prop is much more efficient at slow speeds and is much more effective at turning/reversing the machine.

RD

It's right, but look at the advantages : you can change from wheel propulsion to jet propulsion immediatly, directly from the handlebar or combine the propulsion in some situations, like coming out from water.
I know also the problem with debris... but I use the argo in clean waters because here in italy there aren't nasty swamp like in Canada. Where I live, near Venice, there are lots of rivers, channels and the Venice Baia that is simply fantastic with argo. It's sems to be in open sea but the water is never more deep than one meter!
Look:

This is the Lagoon:


this is one of the isle in the lagoon



this is the classic terrain in the lagoon:



a view of the natural channels



Venice and the Lagoon




This is because I need a better speed in water! :-)

p.s. if you want to visit Venice call me! we will do a nice trip with my Argo and a BBQ in the beach!

[Buzz]

with an air-cooled or electric thrust prop outboard, you can just leave it running until you start grabbing firm ground, mud, and confidently start "driving" out. It doesn't matter if the lower unit is in the water or not, you won't damage anything. If needed you can run with it trimmed out a bit to help with clearance, but it's usually not needed. You won't hurt such an outboard doing this at all. On the other hand, you'll need to be careful if you leave your inboard jet running (pumping) when things start getting shallow and/or you begin driving out of the water. They need cooling water, have small cooling ports, and most small jets like those you are talking about need higher RPMs to provide decent thrust. This is when you need to be careful about "sucking up" the bottom.

[Rock Doctor]

Very cool

Don't be too surprised if I take you up on that offer some day ;-)

Also, don't get the impression that I don't like jets... I have several, but they would be a problem in my riding conditions.

Have a good one

RD

[Rock Doctor]

1/4 Scale Hamilton with reverse
40lbs thrust at 12,000 rpm

[IMG]

[IMG]

RD