After talking to a few guys personally over the phone and doing some research in my area I have decided to not get a MM right now and go with an outboard. First I find it amazing that there are people still willing to help each other out like a lot of you on this forum and I don't think one thank you is enough, so thanks for all of your help and honesty. You have saved me from something I was not sure was going to benefit me as much as I thought it would. Maybe when the time comes I will have two rigs one for hunting other for my flats fishing.

So here it is, I know the Sea Ark mud runner does not have a good name right now, its hard to compare manufactured boats to customs boats and I understand that. When I first came on here I almost bought one, thanks for saving me a mistake. Now that being said I am looking at a Sea Ark DXS 1860. I have heard their boat lines that they have been building for awhile are excellent and a lot of people like them (if you think I am wrong plz let me know) *Not a Mud Boat Rig* My question is the boat is 1860 at 530 lbs all open and max horse power rating is a 60. I am planning to put a Suzuki 50 on it four stroke tiller on the back. Do you believe this is enough power for the boat and how fast do you think it may go.

Get the max hp for what ever boat you buy for the rest of your life! That way the hp is there if you need it. Get a 60

Always get the biggest motor ya can. That way you don't have to buy again.

X4

1860 w a 60hp seems on the small side. I understand the plate says max Hp of 60. I would think that a boat that size could handle a 90 no problem. I have several buddies that have G3's w 90 4 strokes. Good luck.

I have a 17.5 x 56 weld craft flat with a Suzuki DF70 four stroke on it and it is as much motor as I really want on my boat. I think a 50 would be fine honestly. I'm of the same thought to get the max for the boat, but if you are set on the 50, go with it. I get upper 30's. plus out of mine before I back down because I'm on big water. I've never been able to go wot and leave it there for long.

I really love my Suzuki four stroke so far. Great power band and the quietest motor I've ever heard. Even quieter than the Yamaha 4 strokes I've been around

Sea Ark is slippery on their warranty's especially with more power than rated. I got a 2472 Sea Ark that had all kinds of broken welds from a Suzuki 140 four stroke bouncing around on the back of the boat. I am the second owner and they chuckled at warranty work on my boat. I spent a lot of time welding her back into shape. I got a Yamaha F90 on her now. She runs really good but when this motor wears out I will put at least a F150. I would choose Yamaha over Suzuki. As a commercial fisherman I have seen the Yamaha's outlast the Suzuki by a substantial margin.

Yamaha over all of them for sure, cause getting home is more important than getting out

An 1860 at 550lbs will run out fine with a 50hp outboard on it. I have a 50hp 4 stroke on the back of my 1948 Crawfish skiff, 3/16 boat and it runs mid 30's with that motor and will jump on plane with any load I have put in it. I just test ran a 1448 tunnel hull flat this morning that I just built for someone. Its a heavy built, about 400lbs boat, and it ran 30.2 mph on the gps with a 25 Yamaha on the back of it. The biggest thing you will gain by going with more hp on that boat is more fuel burn and tearing the boat up quicker.