Hi everyone, I just bought my first mud motor and it's a Black Death 5500 and I'd like to know if there are any mods that can be done on this engine? The reason I bought it is because after comparing the specs to the other engines Mud Buddy makes, I noticed that the only thing keeping this one from becoming an HD7000 are the billet connecting rods, forged pistons, and performance cam unless I'm missing something. So do any of you know if these parts can be added to the 5500 and if they'll work properly?

They guy that is selling me the motor told me that the rev limiter on the 5500 is set at 4300 rpm and that this would prevent me from modding it further since this engine is has a CDI ignition and as of right now, the rev limiter can not be bypassed. But what I'm thinking is that if I were to increase the gearing along with the pitch on the prop, I might be able to extract the extra power without hitting the rev limiter. So I'd like to hear you take on this since I know all of you have a lot more experience dealing with these motors. Thanks in advance.

Save your self a lot of griff, and leave it as it is!!! You can sped a ton of money and only pick up 3 or 4 mph more than you have now. Gearing up to high or too much prop will get you some top end , but your hole shot will suffer big time!!! I have a buddy with a little light boat that was touching on 40 mph. He had over load the motor so bad he would have to winch it on the trailor. When trying to run it on, the engine would bog and die. Little changes can make a big differance for good or bad,work it too hard it won't last.

JD

Thanks JD and do you think the stock pistons will hold up to the higher compression the heads on this engine have? In the past I've had some bad luck on ATV's using cast pistons which is what I'm sure the ones in the stock Vanguard are.

I'm also going to be putting this engine on a GT 1750HD once I get it, do you have any idea what speeds I should expect out of this boat engine combo? Thanks.

You should be fine with that engine the way it was built. I would guess you'd be low 30's empty, high 20's loaded down. But somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 either way. Congrats on the new set up

Thanks a lot for all of the help and if I can at least cruise 25mph, I'll be happy because I have to run anywhere from 8 to 15 miles each way where I hunt here in South Florida and I don't want to take forever to get out there like some of the guys I've seen using long tails.

Thanks for the comment CB, I can't wait to get the new boat and try it out. Last year I had such a hard time getting into the Glades in the 1754SC Grizzly with a 90HP Merc that I had, that I regretted buying that boat the first time I took it out. I literally had to stop every 10 feet to clean out the prop and the mud motors would just go by me like nothing. So hopefully things will be a little easier for me this year because that was a nightmare.

Yup, won't have to worry bout cleaning the prop out every 10 feet anymore. Also don't have to worry bout water pumps. Should be smooth sailing all the way to your hole now.

I'd really surprised if you aren't running at least 25 with 3 guys and a reasonable amount of gear. That hull is a lot lighter than those excels everyone is running, and its a good size boat for carrying a load. I think you'll be happy.

chico i have a 1750hd intimigator but im running a 7000 but your speeds should be within my by a couple mph. i can run 34 bymyself 2 batts, 6 galllons gas and a light load. i can cruise all day at 31.5 to 32. add one person to that and i still run 31, add another still run 30. ihavent had a good load in it yet to see what it will do. i can tell u this my boat likes weight further back, i had to move one of my batteries to the back and i usually keep one person on the other halfbox to keep the weight back. you will definitely be pleased with the motor

Duck Hunter, it's good to hear your getting those speeds out of your set up and that sounds like a really nice rig you have there, especially with the 7000. Can you tell me if you've had your boat long and how do you like hunting out of it? Also, how did you have them lay your boat out? I had one heck of a time picking a layout and choosing the accessories since I kept seeing a need for everything they have on there sometime in the future. In the end I chose to have two half boxes in the back, the removable island bench to hunt off of and I also got the extended deck to put my gas tank and one battery under there and the hatch to close it off.

I did get a few accessories added to the boat but that's the bulk of the layout so if you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them since I don't think they've started building my boat yet.

i just got mine at the end of may but from previous boats i can already tell this one is gonna be the ticket, just right for the hunting i do. i like to hunt out of my boat every chance i get get.
my boat is laid out with 2 halfboxes in the back, center bench which i really like i can always get my boat to ride perfect because my buddies can just scoot over a bit if im riding on either chine which will make u loose speed, another option i got this time around is floors to walls and i wont own another boat without this option, extended deck & hatch , deck hatch, trolling motor mount, i also had my bow rails wrap the front of the boat, thru hull winch mount love that too keeps the winch hid and out of the way, another option is if u get the spud poles have them do a thru hull in the front it keeps the tubes off the front and they will hang u up on trees and catch brush. i noticed u said u have ur battery up front, i ended up having to move one of mine to the back because it wasnt providing enough cranking amps to the motor once i moved the battery she fires right up no lagging, some guys said they ran 2 gauge all the way back and it helps but i think u would be better off with atleast the cranking battery in the back. i added a few pics of when i first got it its not the best shots of an open view but i can get you some better pictures if u wanna see the layout better, i have alot more options but those are the basic that i probably wouldnt do without, oh and get 21 inch sides and sharkeye running lights. if u have any more ?'s send em this way

That's a very nice rig you have there! What I had them do as far as the batteries go, is that I'm only going to have one under the front deck along with the gas tank and battery charger. This front battery will only power my spotlight kit and the battery I'm going to be using for cranking will be in the back in a regular battery box.

One of the reasons I went with the island bench even though Kent advised against it, is so that I can shift my buddies weight around if I need to and not have to bring any seats along to sit in since I'm mostly going to have it length ways in the boat.

Chico,
I noticed you said something about gearing earlier in this thread. The Black Deaths are geared higher than the standard Mud Buddy because of the amount of torque these engines have. Because of the gearing, you are getting higher prop rpms at a given engine rpm. If you have any questions about mods to that engine, I would talk to Micah at Mud Buddy. He is very helpful but sometimes hard to get in touch with.

I have a GT1750HD Intimigator with a MBBD4500. I'm pretty excited about getting it in the next few weeks.

MMMax, I've had my boat for about 4 months now and I'm really happy with it and looking back, I think I should've gotten a 4500 instead of my 5500. The bottom end of my motor is not all that great and most people on here will tell you that the bottom end will be better in a single carb engine. Perhaps the gearing is also why my engine is suffering in the bottom end so let me know how yours is when you get it.

Sure thing Chico. I'll post some pics and numbers after I get it.

A couple of questions for anyone in the know.

Just got my ExelSW1754F4 with Mudd Buddy 5500 HD Black Death. With two guys and 6 gallons of gas, I get 24mph @ 3900 rpm. Is this correct or should or can I do something to get more speed out of it?

I went duck hunting this weeked and overloaded the boat. 4 big guys, a hundred pounds of deeks and 6 gallons of gas. The engine could not get the boat on plane and we chugged along at maybe 10mph @ 3700rpm. Does this sound right?

I also have been in the mud and got some dings on the prop. I used my hand held grinder to smoth out the edges. How much does this effect performance?

Don't EVER grind on the prop, if you take it out of balance it can be bad.