Have any of you guys had any experience running the motors in shallow rocky areas. I want to buy one mainly because I hunt on a very shallow river but it is very rocky. I see a few of the manufactures advertise rock guards but how effective are they. I dont want to buy one and regret having one.

PM rockhopper here....I haven't seen him post in a long time but he runs the rocks

mudmotors do NOT like rocks. You are better off with a jet if the water is clean or an airboat.

The problem I have seen with the jets is that they plug up with weeds and leaves espially in the fall when hunting. I have also heard that they dond do well in the ice or slush as they pick that up also.

define "shallow rocky areas"...........how deep is the water over the rock?

The water varies but It is uaually 6 to 8 inches deep sometimes more. They are what we call rifts and are shallow and swift between deeper slow moving holes.

Airboat

Red- got the PM and responded. I love zipping through the weeds and ice while the jet boaters are cleaning their intake out! Just hold on!

I've always wondered how you camo an airboat. There are some guys around me that hunt from one and I think they drop the hunters on the rocks and wait near the shore until they need to run down a bird or go home. That really limits your options and available places to humt.

What thickness is your bottom? If you have .125 I would go with a screw on UHMW (3/8''-1/2''). It will work on .100 bottom but it has to be done right by soemone with experience. If you don't or don't want to deal with the added weight (each 1/8" of poly the weight per square foot is 0.625 lbs) , at least get the 1/8'' UHMW like Extreem V Twins is doing. It will save your hull for sure.

And if you do get hung up, it's much easier to pull the boat out.

I'm from near Syracuse. I won't ask which river you're talking about, but I've run my boat through every type of water we have up here. I run a Gator-Tail myself. Reason I went with a MM instead of a jet was the same reason I switched form an outboard, which is getting clogged up with weeds and sticks and the like. There are times I sort of have the motor idling and pull up on it so just the tip is in the water, enough to move the boat slowly, but without grinding my prop. Just to get past the really shallow spots if I'm not on plane. I do the same thing with a sand bottom. How shallow are you talking about, and is there a channel you can generally stick to most of the time or is it all shallow? Is it a river with alot of fluctuation in the overall water depth week to week and season to season?

thanks for all the input guys it gives me a better idea of what to look for.

I took my 23 surface drive Go Devil thru a rocky river in Mississippi a while back and it did good.