190 Horizon Jet Drive

Tech Man · **Joined:** Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:12 am **Posts:** 3

Hey! Just got home from buying my new 1995 190 Horizon with a 351 Redline and an AT309 pump. The boat as a whole is in excellent condition! A few minor things wrong with it but the hull, engine, interior and glass are all in great condition. Couple of questions the owner couldn't answer...How many of these were built? I can't seem to find any info on them anywhere??? Any ideas why the trim gauge doesn't work? My theory is that this cluster was installed on all 190 Horizons of this vintage and due to it having a jet-drive and not a leg, there is no trim mechanism to give the reading. The factory depth gauge doesn't work all the time. Any thoughts on what would be wrong? Should I just buy an aftermarket one and replace the factory one? And finally, the speedo doesn't work at all but the previous owner installed an aftermarket one. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Troy.

PS. I'll post pics ASAP.

Tech Man · **Joined:** Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:12 am **Posts:** 3

Come on, somebody must have some info???? Please.

nhprinter · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:21 pm

If you don't get any answers try asking these guys. They seem very knowledgeable on jet boats.

http://www.meanchicken.net/webmain/forum/index.php?sid=9dd342782a917ff2d00cefd1ac7469ce

97_245_sd · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:40 pm

I just did a quick check on the Four Winns past product site and didn't see any info about a Horizon having a jet drive. I'm not very knowledgable about boat history though.

http://www.fourwinns.com/service/past_product

ric · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:56 pm

Four Winns made a mid 90's jet boat in the 14-16ft range using an OMC engine similar to a Sugar Sands or whatever else was very common in the 90s... but if you have a Horizon 190 with an American Turbine jet and a 351, that was a custom build. Not super rare to convert a stern drive, but it's very uncommon as it's a very expensive conversion. Someone had to LOOOOVEEEE that boat to do that. You had to WANTTTT a jet boat without doing research before purchasing to understand that was a custom build and what's involved in owning such a beast. Better take out a small loan from the bank just in case something breaks as all work will be custom fab to fix anything wrong.

gregs · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:41 am

Be interesting to see some pics.

nhprinter · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:04 pm

There must be more of them than we think. I found one for sale on Craig's list and another one on the site I gave Tech Man a link to. (both 190's)

http://easttexas.craigslist.org/boa/2535023593.html

Pic from Craigslist in case the link goes away:

ric · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:24 pm

Looks better then redneck bob job, but not "OEM". There must have been a small company doing conversions

RotaryRacer · **Posted:** Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:13 am

It is OEM.

Four Winns had a short run of these jet drive boats. They probably made several hundred.

Here is a link to the 1996 catalog page. Note that there is a "Turbine" option.

http://www.fourwinns.com/past_product/catalogs//1996/15%20%20...%20Specs%20(p13).PDF

gregs · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:25 am

And a picture to boot. Cool.

Now we know they came from the factory.

Greg

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:40 am

Good job, those of you that looked it up, and did not assume it was a one off custom.. We have a 190 with jet on our lake. He has owned it for years. Fun boat.

RotaryRacer · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:57 am

The catalog page for 1995 doesn't work, so that is why I posted the link to the 1996 page. I think this option was only available in 95 and 96. It is interesting to me that this coincides with the joint venture between OMC and VP and the eventual end of OMC sterndrives.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:05 pm

Don't forget the Fling.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5888

This is a 1998 model with 115hp Jet.

gregs · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:03 pm

According to my FW mechanic at our local dealership, the Fling IS best forgotten. I was threatened with physical harm if I ever bought one.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm

Just said "don't forget" the Fling, not to buy one. Troublesome, slow and an overall mistake by Four Winns to build it. But illustrates that they did try the jet drive in a few models, none with much success. Although the Horizons' are a better choice if it has a jet.

www.iFourWinns.com

190 Horizon Jet Drive

Who is online