Jet-Tech, Oxe, Diesel Outboards make waves in shallow-water operations with new waterjets
A new single-stage waterjet from Jet-Tech in collaboration with Diesel Outboards and Oxe Marine AB promises higher efficiency and better cavitation margins than traditional systems. The waterjet — a simple bolt-on replacement to the lower unit of any of the Oxe diesel outboards — made a big splash when it was introduced recently at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans.
“We were beyond overwhelmed with the response and the follow-up from WorkBoat. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I was absolutely shocked,” said Douglas Notace, the president of Diesel Outboards.
Notace said the key to the new waterjet is that it eliminates the shaft in front of the impeller, making for more efficient, uniform water flow than the standard centrifugal jets.
“On a standard waterjet, when the water comes in the intake to go to the impeller face, the water is disrupted by the shaft. You already lose efficiency on your pump because of that shaft. We’ve eliminated that,” Notace said.
With this system, the impeller is driven from behind with no disruption of the water before it hits the jet pump. According to Jet-Tech, the “performance is equal to or better than propeller versions and is matched 1:1 to the unit horsepower-driven prop outboard,” a first for any waterjet product to date.
“It was a significant investment in time and money, in R&D, in patent researching. We spent just under three years from start to finish to get to where we’re at, but with the orders the way they are, it was worth it,” Notace said.
Diesel Outboards starts officially taking orders in January, but Notace said had he had jets in hand at the WorkBoat show, he could have sold 16 of them on the floor. A list of nearly two dozen buyers stacked up in less than three days.
Strong initial interest is coming in from the commercial fishing market in the Pacific Northwest through the Diesel Outboards Northwest store in Anacortes, Wash.
Notace added that there have been early orders from ultrashallow workboats in the Gulf of Mexico that run in the Mississippi Delta, where boats tend run aground on the muck.
And while these units are specifically for the diesel outboards, Notace sees the patented system as a scalable product that has a chance to be a game-changer for both outboard and inboard engines.
“Now that we have diesel high-torque, we were able to develop a product that is not just for the outboard world, but also for the inboard world. The potential here for revolutionizing waterjets is huge,” Notace said.
