Panther pumps any good??

« **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2013, 06:34:16 PM »

ur one of the chosen few...now easy on the P word or your bound to offend the B people...lol

« **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2013, 08:20:22 PM »

They work fine! My panther would out run Jimmy's berk all the time. But u can't mod them so if u plan on building a trick pump its not the way to go. If u just want to enjoy being on the river just run it

« **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2013, 08:31:04 PM »

2 things: (i unfortunately bought a boat with a panther)

are they any good? well they're pretty low maintenance and as long as it works they'll be pretty reliable and with decent power you'll have a 50-60mph boat. i have done pretty much nothing to my pump, it runs great, no issues.

are they GOOD? no. i have one, theres ZERO parts for them. my only option is to do an energizer kit, which is about $2500 for the kit and im going to see a couple hundred rpm drop and maybe a 5-10 mph pickup... MAYBE. if you want to convert to a berk you have to do serious hull glassing since the intake on a panther is much wider than the berk.

my opinion, if you're looking for a boat... run away if it has a panther. if you already own one... how much does it mean to you to keep it? is it a family heirloom, or are you JUST starting out on a project? if the later is true, try and ditch it and find a boat set up for a berk. theres tons of great deals on berk jet boats out there from crazy rigged racers to weekend family cruisers, to full on projects with just the pump and hull.

« **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2013, 09:57:41 PM »

don't forget i have all the parts to the panther minus the suction housing, hoping to find a new home. It was a great set up but opted to change things because of parts availiblity and modification limitations.

« **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2013, 01:00:06 AM »

Smaller Shaft than a Berk no biggie if you have stock motor No mods available except a wannabe "Jetovator" adjustable nozzle

even a blueprinted one new (yes they are still in buisiness in Oregon I think can only handle 400-450 pushing it which is good actually you wouldnt build a hard core boat with one

The Berk is an axial flow pump so the more water u load into it it pushes out and u get more thrust
The Panther the u get to a point and it cavitates and it quits

That being said its reliable in a lake boat with a stock Big Block and I ran one that was original till two years ago I sold the boat to a friend and he had the pump rebuilt sent to Panther got a fresh machine and new guts (didnt even need a new impeller) But got one anyway the Bearing finally went out. This was on a 78 Tahiti mini day I got from original owner with a 454 bored .30 over ran wide open all day so it lasted a long time. The best feature is excellent low speed drivability and has a cool rooster tail stock Its not high but Long.

Long story short your gonna do your self a big favor by going with a Berkley if your boat shopping but if you got one you got one and it is what it is

« **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2013, 08:28:19 AM »

Quote from: jet fever on March 12, 2013, 01:00:06 AM

Smaller Shaft than a Berk no biggie if you have stock motor No mods available except a wannabe "Jetovator" adjustable nozzle

even a blueprinted one new (yes they are still in buisiness in Oregon I think can only handle 400-450 pushing it which is good actually you wouldnt build a hard core boat with one

The Berk is an ~~axial~~ mixed flow pump so the more water u load into it it pushes out and u get more thrust
The Panther(an axial flow pump) the u get to a point and it cavitates and it quits

That being said its reliable in a lake boat with a stock Big Block and I ran one that was original till two years ago I sold the boat to a friend and he had the pump rebuilt sent to Panther got a fresh machine and new guts (didnt even need a new impeller) But got one anyway the Bearing finally went out. This was on a 78 Tahiti mini day I got from original owner with a 454 bored .30 over ran wide open all day so it lasted a long time. The best feature is excellent low speed drivability and has a cool rooster tail stock Its not high but Long.

Long story short your gonna do your self a big favor by going with a Berkley if your boat shopping but if you got one you got one and it is what it is

Fixed it for ya
Panthers will also pump concrete too, If your ever in really skinny water

Daniel

« **Reply #7 on:** March 12, 2013, 11:30:43 PM »

Thank u for fixing that

« **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2013, 09:44:58 AM »

Quote from: MID-LAKE-CRISIS on March 06, 2013, 06:34:16 PM

ur one of the chosen few...now easy on the P word or your bound to offend the B people...lol

fairly easy to work on, steering, suction, forward/reverse, exit housing, impeller, water seal (only issue) but easy to get at. no complaints. chucks a decent roost but wont cause bikinis to moisten. you can see mine in action. NoWakeZone "Jet boating on Ghost"

« **Reply #9 on:** March 13, 2013, 11:10:48 AM »

not sure what this "roost" is you all are talking about...

« **Reply #10 on:** March 13, 2013, 12:54:15 PM »

well I'm not a dr. or anything.......but after an unbiased video review, my panther roost is Bigger than your panther roost.

lol

« **Reply #11 on:** March 13, 2013, 01:02:48 PM »

Quote from: MID-LAKE-CRISIS on March 13, 2013, 12:54:15 PM

well I'm not a dr. or anything.......but after an unbiased video review, my panther roost is Bigger than your panther roost. lol

do you have a useless panthervator? allowing for all of that awesome 5* of trim? haha.

« **Reply #12 on:** March 13, 2013, 01:12:38 PM »

Quote from: ka0tyk on March 13, 2013, 01:02:48 PM

do you have a useless panthervator? allowing for all of that awesome 5* of trim? haha.

No way...thats ALL natural...nothin artificial

have you tried pushin the stick full forward ??

« **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2013, 02:47:59 PM »

Quote from: MID-LAKE-CRISIS on March 13, 2013, 01:12:38 PM

No way...thats ALL natural...nothin artificial have you tried pushin the stick full forward ??

haha its forward. its probably more because on my pump that little divider in the middle has been machined out. if you look inside from the rear you'll see this vertical bar. the pump i bought to replace the one i had, had a bunch of machine work done to work. new suction piece machined in, all the fins sharpened up, the panther cover mounts machined off, and that divider removed in the "nozzle". so now it goes 32mph instead of 31mph. haha.

« **Reply #14 on:** March 13, 2013, 05:07:32 PM »

wow, sounds like somebody had a lot of time on their hands..

but on this forum we would be better off debating "who's not turtley enough for the turtle club" rather than who's panthers better than the others

« **Reply #15 on:** March 13, 2013, 05:52:11 PM »

Quote from: MID-LAKE-CRISIS on March 13, 2013, 05:07:32 PM

rather than who's panthers better than the others

sounds like a "whos turd smells better?" competition.

« **Reply #16 on:** March 13, 2013, 11:20:43 PM »

exactly... I love my boat (first squirter) but creepin daily on CL & eBay...cause of SCJB's vast knowledge base, i'm learnin what's the shit and itchin to upgrade

. (chasin the dragon, soo hooked)

« **Reply #17 on:** March 14, 2013, 09:55:41 AM »

IF you guys remember at the lake mead trip a few years back. Brandon Jimmy and I had a day cruiser drag race. (in very choppy watter) none of us were giving any slack. All three boats were probably air born more than they were in the water. Jimmy had a 502 with berk or american turbine (same thing), brandon had a berk i believe and the AQUAHOLIC had the mighty panther. And the mighty blue boat was the first to the finish line!!

like it was said before. There are no upgrades for the panther and parts are hard to get but you dont need them. the thing never had any problems. and i was not tempted to spend a few extra thousand trying to upgrade it. Just turn the key and go. Im not going to lie. I really wanted a diverter. but the boat rocked anyway. check my youtube page (tonybartel) there are a bunch of vids of the old AQUAHOLIC. And if you are lucky it is still visiting lakes here in cali with not a single problem since i sold the guy the boat. And that still gets me mad, cause it was either blowed up or on fire every weekend i had the damn thing. Even sunk it once. lol..

i finally got all the bugs worked out then i got the deal on my dream boat that i have now. so after sinking a ton of money into the aquaholic i sold it for half price. lol.. thats life.

« **Reply #18 on:** March 16, 2013, 02:17:30 PM »

Quote from: ka0tyk on March 13, 2013, 05:52:11 PM

sounds like a "whos turd smells better?" competition.

panther hole shot....then.. cork in a storm (chop bites)

« **Reply #19 on:** March 16, 2013, 02:43:48 PM »

Any of you guys think you wanna go heads up for the Turtle Award, you're gonna have to be slower than me. Dunno if that will ever happen.

« **Reply #20 on:** March 16, 2013, 02:53:18 PM »

Quote from: GlassCutter on March 16, 2013, 02:43:48 PM

Any of you guys think you wanna go heads up for the Turtle Award, you're gonna have to be slower than me. Dunno if that will ever happen.

sure! we can call it the "PanTurtle Classic" and the Berk boys can pull up a beach chair and time us with a Sundial

« **Reply #21 on:** April 22, 2013, 01:37:19 AM »

I have a panther with a 575hp big ford in a 21ft daycruiser that does 65 to 68 gps all day long. I bought a new old stock pump from 1977 that a laidy had in here gararge from a boat repair biss. that her husband owned years ago. he bought it for a project that was never finished. So 1000.00 dollars later and 5 seasons and not one problem. And I beat the dog sh%t out of it every time.

« **Reply #22 on:** April 22, 2013, 08:37:26 PM »

But you cant deny the pantherjet commercials are bad ass! "Panther jet panther jet"....watch out for Bad berk and his boyz!

Sent from my DROID X2 using SoCalJetBoats mobile app

« **Reply #23 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:58:14 PM »

My old boat had a 454 with the panther jet. I never had any issue with it. It's a good all around everyday pump. If you want to race not really a good pump for it. There is a upgrade with a cost about 1,200 to 1,500. Not to many parts out there for them. The panther is a different set up in its own way.

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