Impeller Sharpening

[Tanner]

I need to find a good place in the Portland area to get the impeller sharpened on my inboard jet.
Any suggestions?

Thanks

[jet]

Good "Q" Tanner.`

I used to sharpen the impeller and take care of my Outboard jet pump, always trying to keep top performance.

Now that I have a Inboard jet (American Turbine) I have wondered what I need to do to keep up the performance. I was also wondering with the outboard jet you can put a stainless impeller and sharpen int intake grates, Hot shoe , etc. and get tons of improvement.

What can a guy spend money on to improve top performance of our imboard jets?

Jet~~~

[Thumper]

Do not, repeat not, sharpen the grates on your jets, either inboard or outboard. The grates have blunt outer surfaces for a good reason --- so that rocks, sticks and assorted crud will fall away. If you sharpen the grates (I know, I did it to my everlasting regret) the rocks and crud tend to wedge in the sloped entrances. Yeah, you may go a tiny bit faster, but you will pay the price.

[White Willie]

Toms Outboard milwaukie

[Paranoid]

A stainless impeller will improve the hole shot and top end. Hold on to something when you ask the price though! Do not sharpen the intake grates! Does help with cavitation and water flow if you're jet boating on a lake. Not in the shallows. If you sharpen them you'll be sorry!

[Tanner]

Back up to the top. Anyone have any suggestions besides Tom's. I refuse to give him any more of my money.

[joliver]

Well I am a reader not a poster. But I have to jump in here. Please dont throw your money away by going to Tom's Outboards. He got me personally and professionally one to many times. Try AMPRO on Hwy 212 in Clackamas. They are the best in the in buisness. All our jet drive impellers from work go there and they have done us well every time.

Also, stainless 4 blades only help out on 115hp and above. Expensive but is worth the money if you have a big pump.

[rags]

Why not Toms? You guys have me worried. I took my sled to him last week and will pick it up Monday. He was recommended to me from this board. Let me know your concerns.

[Snapshot]

Rags, hope it's not to late. Most shops do pretty good work on the average jobs but may have had a tought one and screwed up on and that may be the case noted above. If a shop is as bad as stated, Toms' wouldn't be able to stay in business for long as the word leaks out fast in this specialized field.
*Out of the hole speed can be increased another way too. I have a friend that is having a shim plate added to the transom to tilt the outboard so it will allow the motor to sit at an angle instead of stright up and down. I am waiting for the results on his boat before I do it to mine. If it does increase the out of the hole perfomance, I'm certain it will be less than changing the impellers.

[jet]

Guys, Tanner and I are looking for information on inboard jets and their impellers. I was wondering about increased performance with the American Turbine.

I have a few stories to tell about Toms, none of the stories are good. One story that I would love to tell is in dispute so I cannot give the details yet but when it is settled I will post. One of my fishing buddies told me a story about poor customer service and some rather other unprofessional situations that he has been involved with while having Tom’s perform work for him.

Many of us have posted recommendations for service work; I think most agree Toms is not the place too go.

Jet~~~

[rags]

If Toms is not the place to go who do most of you recommend for good honest repairs on jets?

[ssteelheadsteve]

Tom's Outboard has always treated me well.Since 1985.His shoe mods are strongly reccomended.I have sent many friends to Tom's Outboard.None have had a complaint.

You want performance sharpen your grate and impeller.You can't afford performance then don't.Performance costs.
Sharp grate strakes are best in Whitewater. Less cavitatiion.Better performance.Better mileage. I hand sharpen and polish my outboard impeller.The sharper the edge the better the performance .Downside is it shortens the life of the impeller because it nicks easier and will need to be redone often.

Sharpen Inboards ?
Depends on several factors.Single stage or multi stage? Brass or stainless impeller ? On inboards impellers wear out.They must be replaced or rewelded and machined.About $300 per impeller for 3 stage pumps(Ampro).Not the easy fix like outboards where you just get a wear ring and shim to fit.I can tell you it costs about $ 16 per engine hour to keep a 3 stage pump in top shape.Way more exspensive than an outboard.On the other hand my Inboard sled gets over 2x the mileage of my outboard sled.Good Luck.Get out the tools and the check book.Cheap Insurance ? Replace the stators at the same time.

[Grass Hopper]

Inboards need very little sharpening, yet if you did damage it its a good idea to file the lead edge NOT the trailing edge. If its a Kodiak pump K.E.M. equiptment is the MFG in west Portland. They may even service other pumps. But its only a 1/2 hour job guys so get out the tools.

[rags]

By the way, I got my sled back from Toms and it runs GREAT. He does excellent work and is priced fairly.

[Tanner]

The reason I posted that about Tom's is, several years ago I filed an insurance claim on my old Merc 115 outboard jet. I took it to Tom's and he gave me an estimate for repairs. This was after I paid him for tearing into the motor so he could give me an accurate estimate. I had him go ahead and do the job, When it was all done (5 weeks later than promised) He handed me a bill for almost $600.00 over what he had originally estimated. It turned out that he did a bunch of additional work to my motor that had nothing to do with the original repair. I would not have minded as much if he had called me first and got my authorization, but there was never a phone call or anything. Just a crap load of additional charges at the end of the job.