Covering your intake opening for the road

[Jet Hydro]

Good God man, am I the only one that takes the time to tape up the opening? There`s so many rocks that you pick up from the road it would make you sick to see what your doing to your impeller and ware ring.
(((( Just look at the front side of your trailer axles)))) Where do you think those rocks go after they hit your axles?
I worked on a boat that the guy always dry fired and he never taped the opening before roading his boat to and from the lake. After I looked at his pump I told him to take it to Duane for a new pump or take it to the dump because I couldn't help him. Impeller was almost cut in 1/2 at the ware ring. The ware ring had spun in the housing.
DO NOT START your motor out of the water unless you unhook the pump and save your self a ton of money and tape up your intake hole before hitting the road.
Cost less than $.05 to do this everytime. <-----see picture
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/208P1020256-med.JPG

[LVjetboy]

"am I the only one..."
Not really...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/IntakeTape.gif
But sometimes I stuff of towel up there instead.
jer

[Spectra19]

No tape just a diaper on the trailer. When Duane rebuilt my pump that was one thing he recomended.

[TexasJet]

Jet Hydro, I know what you are talking about. When I pulled my boat up from Texas to Wichita, that was 630 miles and I didn't have the intake covered. I had never covered it. The first thing Duane did was pull the pump off, I was standing there watching the whole time. He then poured the sand out of the bowl, at the wear ring, into the palm of my hand. If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it. I never tow without covering the intake opening now.

[Jet Hydro]

He then poured the sand out of the bowl, at the wear ring, into the palm of my hand.
that`s what I`m talking about ;)
I just wanted to let those that didn't know this is something you need to do!
I have also done the towel thing when I for got my Red Green Duct Tape :D

[Aluminum Squirt]

Will tape keep out the sand from the sand bars I drive over-Aluminum Squirt

[canuck1]

I figure that I put less shit through the pump on the road than I do on the water, so as squirt says will it help on the river

[Ken F]

AL Squirt, it'll not only do that, it will probably prevent you from running over them too!! lol
Ken F

[Jet Hydro]

well I tried it once...really I did!
well I didn't mean too....ROTFLMAO.
I went testing one day and forgot to pull the Tape off.
I made a few passes then loaded it up and headed for Duane's shop. Told Duane what it did and he told me to pull it around to the shop he wanted to look it over. He started to LOL...
I was thinking what is so damn funny under my boat????????
He slid out from under my boat with a small wad of tape and said well I see you have been taking care of the pump but you might want to remove the tape before you test....lol.... :eek:

[Her454]

I have never done this nor seen it done? Interesting.

[AdrenelineOD]

I bought a my boat in Lake Elsinore. Drove it to NYC. no tape. Impeller looked like the people had sat over gravel and just let it rip. They said they always took good care of it so I didn`t understand. Then they said did you remember to tape the intake. DOE!:mad:

[superdave013]

And to think most of the jet guys used to laugh at me when I'ed take my prop off for the tow home. :)
That dry fire is so true. You don't go to the ramp with out seeing someone fire their boat to get out the water. lol

[Jet Hydro]

Dave I use to work for an O/B shop...lol...Don't tell anyone...ROTFLMAO
But those guy`s are the worst about dry firing.
They don't understand that the Water pump in that O/B is rubber on steel and with out water it`s like a Big block with out oil. Burns up the little impeller in no time, then the motor over heats and burns a hole in the piston`s while they try to make it back to the ramp. :eek:

[Unchained]

Taping over the intake hole??
I've never heard of that before.
In Michigan we would call that overgeeking.
I've never done it nor have I seen any negative effects from not covering it.
I just took my impeller out for an inspection of the it and the wear ring and they both still look great after 4 + seasons.
Some of you guys must do a lot of traveling on dirt roads. :D

[Bryan Rose]

Don't have to the trailer has a cover that covers up from just in front of the pump to the back of the transom....
Bryan

[Duane HTP]

Well guys if you can stand a little more spam. Save-A-Jet is my new product that will be coming out next week. I don't have pictures of the finished product as of right now. I have the flyer ready, but no picture for it yet. The mold has been made, (6 month project), and some are being formed as we speak. We have put over two years of research into this project. This new product will be a cover that you can attach to the bottom of your trailer bunks. It has a cavity for the fins of the pump to fit in. It will keep all of the road trash out of your pump. The cavity is open at the back so that it will readily dump the water out of your pump as you pull it from the lake. We have designed it to fit as many trailers universally as we could. Measured EVERY trailer bunk spacing on every trailer that came in for two years. We think we have a design that will fit most. Price?? I'll be able to tell you as soon as the first runs comes off of the mold. I believe that this will be a relatively inexpensive product that virtually every jet owner will want to have to protect their pump from damage from road trash. I'll post price and pictures as soon as possible.

[shaun]

for the 15 years or so my parrents owned the boat my dad never covered the intake on the pump. We always covered the stacks though.
Duane has my impeller right now, maybe he could tell us by looking at it if any of the damage/wear on the impeller was caused from not covering it.
After my rebuild is complete, i definitly will be covering the intake. Really theres no reason not to, not like it's that difficult of a job.

[cyclone]

i began taping plastic garbage bags over the intake this season. What did it for me was installing the pump on the boat, towing it just 30 miles down the paved freeway to MPD, pulling the pump out at jack's shop and then watching him dump two handfuls of gravel out of the bowl when he removed the pump. The pump was fresh and yet even on a paved freeway, i had a ton of gravel fly up into the intake from the road. Since then i've tried to remember to do the garbage bag thing every time i tow, but sometimes i get lazy or forget to crawl under the boat. So when i'm lazy, i have my girlfriend back the boat into the water and pull it out several times with the reverse gate open before i fire the motor off. I'm hoping that helps flush out the gravel.
I'm curious to see Duane's new part because i've been working on an aluminum deal that will slide in between the intake fins and block it off. It'd be easier just to buy his part if its any better or easier. :)

[DeltaSigBoater]

Originally posted by cyclone
I'm curious to see Duane's new part because i've been working on an aluminum deal that will slide in between the intake fins and block it off. It'd be easier just to buy his part if its any better or easier. :)
I remember my grandpa had that on his 21’ hallett, back in the early 70’s. Even though he rarely ever towed the boat home from lake mead he kept it on there when we were not there with the reverse bucket closed, in case any varmint, decided that it would be a good place to call home.

[cyclone]

Originally posted by DeltaSigBoater
I remember my grandpa had that on his 21’ hallett, back in the early 70’s. Even though he rarely ever towed the boat home from lake mead he kept it on there when we were not there with the reverse bucket closed, in case any varmint, decided that it would be a good place to call home.
did that make a mess when he started the boat up?:eek:

[Nucking futs]

We have a R.C. boat mold and we make just the bottom of the hull that fits perfect on the fins of the intake.My dad has been doing this for years and its always great to see someone look under the boat and see a smaller version of onther boat covering the intake.Then the people ask what the hell is that?We tell them that it is a speed secret and can get them one for 50.00 we have been doing this for years and have sold alot of them as well as the whole rc boat (fiberglass) and also make bitchen anchor bouyes.I will try and post a pichttp://www.southwindjetboats.com/products.htm check out the mini 18 and it shows just the bottom.

[mud duck]

It is always fun to dump the boat in the water only to realize you have forgotten to take it off the intake. :mad: Who wants to get wet right away, oh and it is a bit on the nipply side wouldn't you know. :D

[Duane HTP]

TheDuane has my impeller right now, maybe he could tell us by looking at it if any of the damage/wear on the impeller was caused from not covering it.
Shaun, I'm sure some of it was from road trash, but not all of it. I saw this thread, so I took a picture of it today. I'll send it to you and you can post it if you want. There is about .040" wear on the wear ring surface.
The road trash does more damage than running over a sand bar because when hitting a sand bar, the stuff is wet. If you drive home from the lake and let the vibiration of the road tightly settle the rocks and sand down between the impeller and wear ring, it packs in much tighter. Then, say you fire the motor up just to see if it will start two weeks later when everything is dry, it grinds the hell out of things.
Years ago I was giving a competitor parked next to me at the races a hard time. I said what's that cover under your boat? Are you hiding some new hardware tricks? He replied, "No you dumb shit, it keeps the rocks out of the pump when traveling down the road." I guess this is called experience. HA! Anyway that's how I learned to cover my pump while traveling.

[HotRod Sprint]

Ok, you all have me convinced. I just had a rebuild done on my pump. Have pulled it maybe 50 miles on road and maybe 200 yards on dirt and gravel. So how can I flush out the junk without taking the pump back apart?
Rod

[LVjetboy]

Duane, I'm interested in more info on your cover. One less thing to remember at the launch ramp.
HotRod, you could backflush with a hose from the hardline off the pump. That may clean some of the junk out of the wear ring. With my cooling setup, I can close a valve and direct garden hose water back through the pump.
Just a comment. Towing w/o a cover is no guarantee of impeller or wear ring damage. Depending on impeller material, road conditions, whether you dry run after a tow....and maybe luck. Also the condition of your pump and how critical that is to your use or expected performance. But towing w/o a cover can make damage more likely.
jer

[Danhercules]

Originally posted by HotRod Sprint
Ok, you all have me convinced. I just had a rebuild done on my pump. Have pulled it maybe 50 miles on road and maybe 200 yards on dirt and gravel. So how can I flush out the junk without taking the pump back apart?
Rod
Same here. Fresh rebuild, towed from Havasu to home. I did not have the intake covered. What can we do?

[UBFJ #454]

Taping up the intake is Not A Good Idea ... Especially for a racer ..... The residual sticky left after peeling off the tape can lead to problems.
To protect our intake during travel, we have fabricated an eyeleted, two layer canvas cover with a thin layer of foam sandwiched between the canvas that we wire tie to eyelet screws screwed into the trailer bunks ... A bit of a hassle to attach, but, well worth it.

[shaun]

Here's the pic that duane took, i'll post another when it's done.
http://www.reitanfamily.com/albums/PullingPumpApartPart2/Shaun_3799.jpg

[77charger]

Originally posted by superdave013
And to think most of the jet guys used to laugh at me when I'ed take my prop off for the tow home. :)
We towed the race boat without the prop also my boss said the thing about rock damage.
Slowy i think alot of people do not realize how much rocks and debris you pick up i never taped the intake to my old jet boat but on a trip back from powell there was miles of road cnstrn.When i got back home my trailer was chipped bad and i crawled under and saw lots of gravel in the intake.

[TIMINATOR]

Hot Rod Sprint: go see the pump guy that did yours, he has an answer for everything. He'll show you how to make a cover that stays on the trailer and is CHEAP!!! Beats crawling under the trailer everytime you launch. TIMINATOR

[HotRod Sprint]

Originally posted by TIMINATOR
Hot Rod Sprint: go see the pump guy that did yours, he has an answer for everything. He'll show you how to make a cover that stays on the trailer and is CHEAP!!! Beats crawling under the trailer everytime you launch. TIMINATOR
ROTFLMAO :D I shoulda figured
Rod