A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!

"Fat Bass" wrote in message
...
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any
such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!

This doesn't make sense - the mercruiser is an inboard/outboard engine with
a marinized automotive engine and an outdrive. It is not an outboard.
Also, to the best of my knowledge, Mercruiser does not make jet engines.
There are many companies that make marinized automotive inboard jets which
are somewhat similar to what Mercruiser does for it's I/O's, but they are
not Mercruiser.

I gotta think you are talking about a Mercury Sport Jet? This is an
outboard powerhead adapted as an inboard jet, but it is not an outboard.
The reason I say this is that there are indeed outboard jets, but they are a
different animal than an inboard jet. OMC Tubo Jet was a similar product in
the past.

Regardless, assuming you're talking about some sort of inboard jet (Mercury
Sport Jet or automotive-based inboard), having to clear the grate is a
common activity. Where I live, every dealer that sells inboard jet boats
also sells some sort of grate rake. I've also seen some very nice custom
fabricated ones. If you can't find them on line, I'd suggest looking for a
jet boat dealer either locally or on line and give them a call to see what
you can find.

Better yet, I strongly recommend you check out retro-fitting the intake with
a "stomp grate". This is a modified intake grate with a cleaning mechanism.
If I were to own another inboard, I would definitely have it outfitted with
a stomp grate. To fit a stomp grate, the type of powerplant is not
important - it is the brand of pump that's attached to it that is. Stomp
grates are made for most of the big names in pumps, including the Mercury
Sport Jet, Hamilton, Kodiak, etc. Having been an inboard jet owner in the
past, I would NEVER own another one without this feature. It is simply a
necessity, in my opinion.

Another thought I have is that you are confusing a Mercury outboard with a
Mercruiser? There are also many outboards outfitted with a jet lower unit
which replaces the prop lower unit. Although all jet lower units are made
by the same company (Outboard Jets), they are adapted to all major brands of
outboards. They are often fitted at the factory and are painted to match
the OEM color. They are also often retro-fitted and may or may not match
the color of the outboard. Commonly, the aftermarket retro-fitted jet units
are red in color.

If this is what your friend has, the issues are the same - debris in the jet
intake is a common issue that needs to be dealt with. With an outboard jet,
it is usually much easier to clear the grate because the engine can be
tilted up making access to the grate much easier. It is common to simply
clear the grate with something like a screwdriver or small hand held garden
cultivator (large fork like thing).

Hope this helps - I would be interested in finding out what kind of engine
it is, and would be glad to give more advice if the above is off track.

"Fat Bass" wrote in message . ..
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!


I dont think they work on OB Jets due to the shape of their intake ...
IMO they are designed for inboard jets.

Post your question here and you will get lots of input:

http://www.harbercraft.com/Forum/vie...7fb0ff86 4d65


Matt

"Fat Bass" wrote in message
...
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any
such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!


This is obviously a Merc Sportjet.

He should not up rev with a clogged intake
grate as the cavitation effect will overrev his
motor shortening its life and also put burn spots
on his impeller edges, shortening the impeller life
(if aluminum - this doesn't apply to stainless
impellers as much.)

All outboard jets will suck a intake full of weeds
if run at low rpm in a weedy environment for any
amount of time. The owner should clean his intake
grates ***before** applying hole shot throttle
or risk over rev and impeller damage. This is
just a fact of life with jet outboards. They don't
love weeds at low RPM. When on plane the
pad usually sweeps the weeds under the shoe
fast enough that I seldom pick up weed
running at speed even in shallows. If he is
pulling weeds when on plane then his intake
shoe is probably too deep (a common mistake
when dealers mount jet outboards). The shoe
toe should be even with or VERY slightly below
the bottom on the transom on a 8 Deg or less
deadrise hull. Where it goes on a deep V
bottom is anyones guess - I would use a
hydraulic jackplate on a deep V to optimize
performance.

I run the Kennebec River in Maine and use
a three pronged garden weeder installed on
a six foot pole. Raise the motor and rake the
crap off before you go. Vary rarely do I have
to get out to deweed.

Alternatively I use a kicker with rock guard
mounted on a Garelick lift or my electric troller
to move around at low speeds. This saves the
115 engine and also eliminates the weed pickup
problem. Just drop the jet in a relatively weed free
spot for your hole shot, fire it and immediately go.

Mudfish
Kennebecriverguide.com

On Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:55:06 PM UTC+7, Fat Bass wrote:
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!

Getting a brand new outboard that suit your boat is not cheap these days. Lots of dealer put a sky high price that just to steep for us to willingly pay.
Here now comes the solution!! http://indopowerzone.com is outboard wholesaler that will give you wholesaler price when you only need one units, you don't have to buy in bulk for you to get wholesaler price...PLEASE VISIT http://indopowerzone.com now..LIMITIED STOCK

On Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:55:06 PM UTC+7, Fat Bass wrote:
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!

Getting a brand new outboard that suit your boat is not cheap these days. Lots of dealer put a sky high price that just to steep for us to willingly pay.
Here now comes the solution!! http://indopowerzone.com is outboard wholesaler that will give you wholesaler price when you only need one units, you don't have to buy in bulk for you to get wholesaler price...PLEASE VISIT http://indopowerzone.com now..LIMITIED STOCK

wrote:
On Thursday, September 2, 2004 9:55:06 PM UTC+7, Fat Bass wrote:
A friend has an older mercruiser outboard fitted with a jet drive. He
eventually gets weeds stuck in the intake causing bad performance,
bogging... yadda yadda... I've heard of weed rakes.. but cant find any such
animal online.... any help is appreciated!

Getting a brand new outboard that suit your boat is not cheap these days.
Lots of dealer put a sky high price that just to steep for us to willingly pay.
Here now comes the solution!! http://indopowerzone.com is outboard
wholesaler that will give you wholesaler price when you only need one
units, you don't have to buy in bulk for you to get wholesaler
price...PLEASE VISIT http://indopowerzone.com now..LIMITIED STOCK

A weed rake is simple to make. But try Roguejet.com or one of the Oregon
builders. Depending on your drive, a stomp grate is best. Meanchicken.com
is the premier Jetboating site. And sounds like he has an inboard jet with
a Chevy engine, not an O/B jet leg. A rake is a 1/2" conduit with a heavy
3 tine rake at one end. The middle is sandwich of 2 triangles welded to
the tube and another tube hinged at the triangles. Back of triangles is
closed so the rake will stay in a 90 degree angle. T handle at the top.