Hats off to John as well. Not many owners take the time out of their busy schedule to help out existing boat owners.
I think Ultra basically has the largest jet boat sales of any mfg in california. Some others do sell a decent number of jets but most mfg's push their Merc. product lines more.
From what I've seen, Ultra knows more about how to set up a jet drive installation better than most other companies out there.
Hey Froggy, your right about the interest on a new boat I could almost buy another boat with what theyre charging in interest alone. To John I also what to thank you for your time. If I had known about this forum a mounth ago I might have been an Ultra owner today. Not that I dont appreciate my Advantage but, you always what the best quality you can afford.
ey Originally posted by ULTRA28:
We always suggest turning on the bilge anytime any of our boats are put in hte water. All Ultras come standard with auto bilge pumps. All jets may leak, setback pumps are much more likely to leak. Every Ultra that leaves our factory has been water tested and does not leak. Setback pumps may begin to leak at anytime. A setback pump is not actually designed by the pump manufacturer, it is something we do here, the plates are custom made for each boat and siliconed on. The torque produced by the motor as well as the possibility of hitting some sandbars may make the plates leak. We feel it is better to be safe than sorry, so we always tell our customers to turn on the auto bilge anytime they put the boat in the water.
Does tyhis apply to all set back pumps? I have a 77 Spectra with a set back. It does n't seem to take on much water (at least my bilge pump doesn't seem to want to run.
Could it be that perhaps there isn't as much profit to be made in most jet boats? It seems that most of the big custom boat manufacturers are more interested in selling the big twin i/o monsters rather than the smaller jets. Perhaps the smaller jet boats are getting beat in sales by the runabouts built by Sea Doo and Yamaha and therfore the manufacturers of customs are losing interest. Just like the auto industry in the 70's. The American auto makers were reluctant to build small compact cars because there wasn't as much profit made on such vehicles compared to the larger ones. This allowed the Japanese makers to get a hold of some market share in compact vehicles and light trucks. I personally think that Ultra was smart in offering an entry level line of boats under the name Lightning. People that buy a Lightning today might want to step up to something a liitle more expensive in the future. There is a good chance they will come back to Lightning or Ultra for that new boat. I know they will be my first stop when the time comes for me to get a new one.
I don't think any of them are supposed to leak, it is just that the transom adapter becomes non-existant. They machine an aluminum plate around the pump body (not the nice even round part, but rather the oddly shaped part with ribs and stuff) that fills the gap between the pump and the cutout in the hull. This is still pretty uneven, even with precision machining and takes around 1/2 inch of silicone in places, sometimes even more. With all of the boogying around the hull and transom do in relation to the pump, leaks are not uncommon. You seem to have just dodged the bullet for now. The good news is you are just a tube of RTV away from fixing one of these leaks should they occur. Berkeley and Eliminator got in bed a while back and created a transom adapter for the Daytonas called unremarkably "The Eliminator". I have one on my Daytona, and it is basically a 10" deep transom adapter. The bummer with it, is that with the machined plate, you can change the bowl/impeller very easily between races, or pull the rope out of your impeller between beers. Mine is renedered damn near impossible to access. It is two feet back in the hull, and about 2 inches under a large piece of aluminum. Oh well, give and take. I haven't needed it yet (knock on wood)
I'm not saying that all jets or set back jets leak, for liability reasons we tell all customers, jet and stern drives, to turn on the auto bilge anytime the boat is in the water, the bilge pump automatically checks for water every five minutes and then pumps out any water it senses. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Word
Ultra28
Thx for clearing that up. Had I known that the owner had an auto bilge pump, I would never have posted the question. He did make it appear that a non-auto bilge pump was in use. My apologies.
Much thx for your support of jets. I have a new Caliber 1 230 Velocity. Love it, but Cliff has no interest in pumps anymore. Too much of a nuisance I guess.
Hey John, first thanx for being an active member of this forum, second I looked at 01 Ultra, your 19' Tunnel, aaawsome boat....it just wasn't big enough, and I had to have a 21' tunnel....needed something with a little more leg room....getting older you know. Keep up the good work and maybe stretch that 19 another couple feet.
You should ask Greg Shoemaker why he didn't do a Jet Tech section in this months mag.
[This message has been edited by froggystyle (edited June 13, 2001).]
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