Getting ready to pull the trigger on a used 1648 War Eagle with a short transom and 35 mud buddy. Reading some negative things about this set up. Any advice? We run a small shallow river 90% of the time. I can fabricate some splash guards if needed. Mainly two guys, sometimes three with gear and dog. Speeds? Expectations? Never owned a surface drive. Last set up was a 1754 Grizzly with a LT Kawi 29. Speeds were around 15 mph with two guys. Looking for mid 20's.
Thanks for your input!

i just sold a 1546 triton duck boat shot transom with a 35 gtr. Boat did good but got tired of water over transom. With me motor gas tank and battery in the back you only had four inches of boat left. As for speed it would run 29 mph with me and dog on front deck. When you load it down it would run about 23mph and take some time to get there. Saying all that I run the boat for two years and now upgrading to a gator-tail boat

You should get mid 20's unloaded. I ran a 35 hyper on a 1650 xpress and i got mid 20's unloaded and around 20 loaded. I had a 20 inch transom and i would still take some water over it if i was the only one in the boat and just put it in neutral while running wide open. You just have to be careful feather the throttle when slowing down. Also put your gas tank and batteries up front and this will help with backwash.

those boats arent really meant for mudmotor applications. it has a ribbed bottom with grooves so you wont be able to slide over mud, weeds, grass, etc. turning and speed will also be effected. look at a true slick bottom such as a gatortrax, gatortail, excel, uncle j custom, etc. there are tons of boat options. and they are all competetively priced. i almost made the same mistake you did beforte i bought my motor. go with the boats designed around the mudmotor. they are built stronger, heavier, and designed for the heavier mud motors. good luck...