Wood Sled

Hey friends - hope you are all enjoying the holidays...
So just thinking about the various jet sleds I see running around on some of our rivers here... Has anyone ever built a really sweet wood jet sled? A jet-pump outboard - maybe a forward center console steering wheel with controls. But the boat would still be rowable in a pinch. Electric winch anchor system mounted on the bow of the boat.

I attached a few pics of the type of boat I am talking about. I think I might be getting sick again...
Let me know what you guys think - any experience with this type of boat? Waste of time to consider building one from trees?



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Permalink Reply by Don Wakefield on June 4, 2010 at 3:49pm
Boy what an awesome sweet aluminum sled. This reply is a bit late but maybe better late than never. A few months ago I finally decided to attempt a wooden jet sled/drifter. First thing I did was buy a Yamaha 760 Wave Runner jetski. Then sat down to a drafting table and attempted to draw the lines that would accomodate. My design was inspired by many articles and pictures, and I tried to incorporate the best features from many. I ended up with a pointy bow, and a wide transom on the other end, 15' overall . I cut out the fiberglass jetski bottom where the pump and motor was, then framed a hole in the bottom of the wooden frames so I could just drop in the jetski hull bottom. I am putting about a quarter inch of glass on the bottom, seven layers of various cloth including one layer of Kevlar. When I get this thing floating and the engine started I plan on sending this website a picture story of sorts - I'm a long ways from finished but have high hopes!!
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Permalink Reply by Jason Koldewijn on June 4, 2010 at 3:56pm
Very nice! I'm looking forward to seeing more. Hoping to start a build next year.
Permalink Reply by Skip Rotticci on August 11, 2010 at 1:54pm
Don... really great idea! I have recently had the same and can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Permalink Reply by Don Wakefield on August 13, 2010 at 3:53pm
Hi Skip -- I continue to make progress with my wooden jet-sled if thats a good name for it. Have finished the bottom including paint, have installed 1/4" plywood on interior sides and bottom after filling the frame cavity for both with 3" of styrofoam -- and covering both with a layer of 10 oz. The top of the gunnels (top of frames) were capped with plywood and "topped" with 1/2" oak - and boy was that tough bending all them straight tough boards to the curve of a drift boat! Am working on some oak trim for the transom now to jazz it up a bit -- then on to the motor installation, motor box, oar lock hardware, sides and interior painting and want to build my own oars too -- anybody out there can direct me to some good wooden oar plans??
I too can't wait to see how this thing turns out.... I figure the 760 Yamaha engine would be about 80HP and it ought to shove the 15' boat around at about 30 to 40 mph?? And hoping the 500? pound finished product won't row too sluggishly in the water.

Enclosing a couple progress pictures:



I figure a couple more months then I am going to try and make a picture story of my experience with the specs of the finished product like speed, total weight, handling etc etc. I'm pretty excited, have already found an ideal trailer that is shallow launch capable, it will need some customizing when I get around to that aspect. Also will build three of the rope type seats, and a tackle tray with cupholders (of course) on each side -- make that three or four months!
Permalink Reply by sandy vernon on August 15, 2010 at 1:00pm
Don, very nice,
got me thinking or re-thinking again which is not good for the wallet, or marital bliss. Given the different shapes of hull design from the doner craft to your project, is there any expected problems with flow intake thru to thrust end regarding the jet system?
also Styrofoam, regular blue lumber yard or ??
Permalink Reply by Don Wakefield on August 15, 2010 at 9:20pm
Hi Sandy - I first built the traditional flat side-to-side drift boat 3/8" hull bottom, after a ten ounce layer on this bottom I then added another v-hull 3/8" bottom with approx three inches of deadrise or something like a 7 or 8 degree deadrise angle (the chine width is 55"). The V-hull was needed primarily to help help prevent skidding which is typical of flat bottom boats with a jet on them, then also I needed the three inches to blend into the protrusion made on the bottom with the jetski fiberglass hull. I then added strakes directly below the chine logs and terminating them when the chine started to curve up. I think typically flat bottomed boats don't do well with jet intakes in turns or rough water because of cavitating. So who knows how mine will end up?? Just keeping my fingers crossed and one of these days I want to make a dissertation and brag a bit, provided I haven't created a monster and I will talk about its performance from all angles. I am really having a lot of fun putting this thing together, I just do a few hours a day, I'm pretty much retired. Right now I am adding the oak trim to the handrails and transom trim - can't wait to get it sanded off and watch that oak grain pop-out when I add the plastic resin. Thankfully I have other boats to satisfy my boating thirsts, here is a picture taken last Wednesday Aug 11th - on the Rogue River about 20 miles above Gold Beach, below Agness. More darn fun!! Nothing special about the styrofoam I used - just plain old white syrofoam with plastic coating....... Not touting the hull design - if I ever hole that thing, its will be very tough or impossible to get the water out.


This shows the rib framing for the second V-hull.
Permalink Reply by Justin Crump on December 21, 2010 at 12:21pm

Well, I thought I would post an update on my sled project.  My goal in the beginning of the process was to take a boat to BC this fall.  I put as much work as I could into the boat last spring before spending time in Mexico and then the summer in Alaska.  When I got home in the middle of October, I was under a serious time crunch to get it done, or else I would have been heading north without a watercraft.  I needed to do a ton of interior work, find a suitable motor, buy a new truck (after leaving my truck in Baja last spring...) and get ready for a 2 week fishing trip.

 

Things weren't looking good.  The search for the truck was slow going, and finding a  40 to 60 hp outboard jet locally and in good condition, that was within my price range was even tougher.  The truck was eventually found, but with only a few days until departure, there was still no motor.  I had come to grips with the situation.  The boat still wasn't finished, but I thought it could make the trip and be finished later.

 

The day were were leaving, one of the guys I had emailed about a motor called me back and said it was still around - a 50 hp mid 90's Yamaha 2 stroke (exactly what I was looking for).  So we pushed the trip back a day, I drove to get the motor in So. Oregon, picked it up, and proceeded to ready the boat for departure.  The next day we were heading north.  The boat hadn't even been in the water yet, but what the hell? I've done crazier things.

 

If any reports trickled down here from BC this fall, I can say that they were most likely true.  We hit near perfect conditions for our entire trip and had fishing that was out of this world.  The boat performed much better that expected.  It gets on step fast, stays on step going sloooow, and handled awesome through some very shallow water, as well as through some technical boulder gardens.

 

Here are a few photos from the trip.  The boat still has a long ways to go, but it survived the trip and allowed us to get on a lot of water that we would have never been able to fish.  I will mention that I have never build a thing in my life, so this project was quite the undertaking.  The boat has more than a couple parts that aren't perfect, I'm almost embarrassed to post photos here after seeing some of the boats that you all have built.  Nonetheless, here a few photos from the trip...

The boat should be totally finished here in the next few weeks, if you see me on the water stop and say hi.

 

Justin

Permalink Reply by lhedrick on December 21, 2010 at 3:12pm

Embarrassed about that boat????????

 

Any boat that gets you to fish like that and back home safe is at the top of any list I have seen.

 

Great work.

 

Do you get enough power out of the 50 HP jet?  Would you like more, less or the same amount of motor.

 

I hope to build a jet boat one day.

Permalink Reply by Justin Crump on December 21, 2010 at 4:39pm

The 50 Jet is great with 3 people,  it still jumps up quick, and I can run it without having to stay on the throttle all of the time.  I did have 4 people a few days and it was manageable, but not enjoyable.  I had to lay on the gas pretty hard to keep things going, but in a pinch, it still worked.  I would consider going up to a 60 jet, but really don't want anything bigger.  The boat floats very flat, which I think is going to be great when it gets it's rowing setup, so I am afraid that if I went any bigger, it may start to be getting too heavy in the stern.  There are some places up north where backing a boat down rapids, or floating through a tailout is a safer decision than running, so adding extra weight to the stern isn't something I want to do.

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on December 21, 2010 at 6:34pm

Crumpster is back! nice. 

 

You and Kate are my heroes.

 

Your boat looks fine, dude.  I just realized you have an inflated Watermaster inside that thing.  That's bigger than I thought.

 

Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on December 22, 2010 at 3:48pm
nice work on the boat and the fish. it's all worth it when it finally floats in the river.
Permalink Reply by Ben A. Hayes on July 24, 2012 at 4:08pm

Justin- do you have any more pictures of your wood sled? Did you come up with the plans yourself or use someone's? Looks like a great boat, and nice fish to boot!

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