90hp Merc Jet impeller Upgrade

[LuJon]

Well my old Aluminum impeller is in pretty rough shape after being tasked with pumping gravel a few too many times while pushing this rookie jet boat driver around. I was going to just go ahead an just through a new aluminum impeller at it but a trip to Greatland welding and talking with Gary I got set up with a new stainless impeller (made by Wooldridge boats) with the correct pitch for my boat. Turns out that the crew at Greatland will rebuild the stainless impellers for just a hair more than the cost of a new aluminum one so after the initial expense the future costs should be less than aluminum since the Stainless should last 2-3 times longer. At least that's what I am telling the wife.

I talked to the boys at Wooldridge before making the jump and they claim that the new impeller will increase my holeshot which would be a serious blessing, especially when trying to haul 4 guys for kings.

I wish that I could tell you that I was going to do load tests but to be honest I am going to use my butt dyno and that is about it. I will probably have it out on Finger this afternoon for a first test then the real load tests will be this weekend on the Big Su

[LuJon]

The boat is a 93 Wooldridge (old narrow hull) 17.5 Alaskan. I think I am going to run a UHMW lined sleeve as well if Greatland has one in stock now that I got a good look at mine with it out of the pump.

[f0zzy2]

LuJon, I ran an UHMW liner one season. It was nice to be able to run the tolerances closer but it only took one sharp rock to gouge the crap out of the UHMW. I went back to the aluminum line the next year.

[LuJon]

I took my old liner up to Greatland and Gary took a look at it. He said it had hundreds of river miles left in it and that there was no reason to swap it out. I can't say enough good about the guys at that shop and Gary in particular. I haven't had them do any work on my boat yet but their customer service is top notch for everything I have needed so far. Heck he talked me out of dropping ~ $130 today! Worked out well for the boys at Arctic Ammo since I ran over and spent it there.

[LuJon]

Well I finally got the new setup out on the water. Me, wife and 3 kids along with a comfortable camp and a couple kings the boat stepped MUCH faster. The old impeller was pretty well used but kept sharp so I have a hard time thinking just a new 3 blade Aluminum would have shown nearly the improvement that this one did. Big thanks to the folks at Wooldridge for pointing me to this setup and to Gary at Greatland for having it in stock!!