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 need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Sport 
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Post need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Sport
I am looking at getting my first duck boat with a surface drive. I have found a 2013 Alweld 1648 with float tubes and fast grass. The boat also comes with a galvanized trailer. It has a Mud Buddy 35 HD Sport with less than 5 hours on it. It seems to fit my needs, but I am unsure.

Most often it would be me, a buddy, and my dog. However it would not be uncommon to have 3 guys in the boat. Every now and again 4 guys.

I called the manufacturer of the motor and the guy I spoke with felt that the motor might be to heavy for the boat. He also felt that it would be a stretch to put three guys on that set up.

When I look at some of the information on this site it seems it will be just fine. I will be test driving it Thursday. What should I be looking for? Do you think this is a good or bad set up?

Thanks for helping out a newbie.


Thu Mar 22, 2018 4:53 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Personally I would pass. That's a small rig and likely won't carry the load that you hope.

Why would someone sell it with only 5 hours? Did it not reach their expectations?


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Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:30 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
4 guys, nope, it'll crawl. 3 guys and gear, depends on how heavy they are. 2 and a dog, should be fine. It's probably not enough boat for YOU based on what you said you'll run.

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Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:48 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Save yourself trouble...

16 foot too short to balance the weight of a 35 SD...

Get 18 foot - be happy...

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Thu Mar 22, 2018 5:53 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo


Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:32 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo


Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:11 pm
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Post need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Sport


Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:36 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo

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Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:06 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
you don't think the hunt deck on the back would help?


Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:00 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I had a 16X44 Alweld MB BD 4500 and it would do 24-25 with 4 man hunting load. I think the 35 would be fine with a 3 man hunting load.

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Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:09 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
And here's the thing run it with the load you plan on using most before you buy it!

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Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:10 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
It will get you there, maybe a little slower with a load. Can always leave the ramp a little earlier. Been running a Alumacraft 1648 riveted Jon for the last nine seasons with out issues. All its ever had was Big Block surface drive MBs since new. Currently running a MB 45. Will plane out 5 people with no problem. It will out last me.


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Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:18 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Interesting. There are a lot of varying opinions here. I think a lot of what it comes down to is whether you are someone looking for Perfection or not. I figure if I can get it on plane with three to four guys whether it's quick to plain or not I would be satisfied.

When I can give it a test drive I'm going to try and do it with at least three guys in it. That should give me a pretty good idea.
With the motor only having 5 hours on it I could always use it with the boat it's on for a year or two and if I want a bigger boat sell the boat and get a bigger boat.


Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:11 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
With a MB you can always change out the gearing to give a combination which will suit your normal load. IMO if you don't abuse the hull a lite weight rig will perform as well as the heavier mud hulls and carry more people. I use my rig to ferry people back and forth to our pontoon blind, thru some very shallow sand bottom areas.


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Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:42 am
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Post need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Sport
There is a dramatic difference in a 35 vs 45 in being able to hop on plane. I highly doubt a 35 on that short of a hull will plane a heavy 3 or 4 man hunt load. 10 additional hp is substantial in this respect.

As a guy running a stock GTR35 on a bigger hull, there is a dramatic difference in me hopping a big load on plane (if at all) vs what my buddy's 45 does.

Notice no one here is running a stock 35 on that same hull and is claiming it will do what you want. They are running nearly 30% more hp than you are considering.


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Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:36 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo


Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:40 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Before I had my 2013 MB 45 I had a 2004 MB hyperdrive with a BB briggs 29 HP direct drive, with 32/50 gearing on the same boat, it would Plane out 3 200 lb. people easily. Running a big blade prop. If he gears it right it will do what he wants. Been there done that.


Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:38 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
With a full 3 man hunt load?


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Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:55 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Our hunt load usually consist of three to four hunters with two guns apiece and blind bags. Decoys and blind are left out all season. Boat is used for retrival of geese and three mile ride to pontoon blind. Whats your hunt load?


Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:11 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
My hunt load is minimal. Truthfully it will most often be me and one other guy and a dog. On occasion it will be three to four total guys. Each guy will have one gun, a bag of shells. typically we carry a total of 10- 15 decoys. And the boat will have a fast grass blind.


Fri Mar 23, 2018 11:24 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
It will get you there, just not fast with a four man load. Probably shouldn't go very fast at 0 dark thirty anyway. I would guess with stock gearing you would get 15-20 mph with your heavy load. May not plane it. Running lite you should get 23- 27 mph.


Fri Mar 23, 2018 11:37 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I will be test driving this boat Thursday with three guys and the blind. That should give me an idea if it will meet my more common needs. Afterwards I will post the results.


Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:50 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Same answer as to all these questions.

Will it propel the boat forward? Yes
Will it perform well? No
Will it work? Yes
Will you be happy? Probably not.

You will hear out of this thread what you want to hear most likely.

There is always someone who says "it will work don't listen to these guys" and someone who says "it won't work RIGHT".

Question is what are you looking for? Something that "will work" and is "ok" or something that will perform like you truly want it to.

I have been down the road, and a 16X48 just doesn't perform that well with a big block. Bear in mind, I wasn't looking for a speed boat either-just something that would get me there efficiently even with a hunt load.

Sometimes it is also about the water your traveling and what is safest. I can tell you my 16X48 when loaded, didn't have much freeboard and as soon as we got in any water, it was spraying over the sides pretty heavy. Then you are just adding more weight to an already loaded boat with no power to help you navigate (bilge pumps aren't real helpful as the water just soaks into everything-blind, people, etc and no help when it is icing up). That extra bump of the throttle is important sometimes.

Unless it is an incredible deal, I would pass.

The question is why WOULD you buy that? It is a square peg in a round hole.

I bought mine cause it was an incredible deal and I pieced mine together, but the minute I could upgrade the boat, I was upgrading..... I was never really happy with it. I even tried the pod thing to help with backwash and performance. Still not happy (although helped with the backwash). Just throwing good money after bad.

Get the right boat for the motor and be done with it.

Good luck on your journey.


Sat Mar 24, 2018 11:15 am
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I've been running my 1648 Riveted Jon for nine seasons, on the Mississippi and Iowas smaller rivers. Boat has met my expectations in every way, It will run 35 mph lite the way its set up now, and haul what I consider a heavy load, at a reasonable speed. If I had it to do over again I would buy the same boat and motor combo and rig it myself for best performance. I don't need a $20k + rig to hunt ducks and to fish out of. To each his own, just speaking from experience having run Mud motors the last 20 years.


Sat Mar 24, 2018 12:37 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
No one is saying this guy needs a 20k dollar rig, but for his needs with a stock motor, the 1648 likely won't be enough. Your experience isn't apples to apples because you have mods, which he isn't interested in at least for now. He's getting a decent deal, and is willing to upgrade the boat in a year or 2 if he needs more size.

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Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:14 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo


Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:58 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo


Sat Mar 24, 2018 4:25 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I'm running an old 16x48 with a 35mbsd with cam, carb, and heads. Yet to find a load it can't handle. I'm currently looking for a bigger hull. Listen to the opinions on the forum. They've made the mistakes so we don't have to. Learn from them! GL!

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Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:14 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I test drove this boat today. I had three guys in the boat. Two guys weighed 225 pounds and one guy weighs 250 pounds. The boat also had 180 pounds worth of sand bags, as well as the blind. This load definitely is well above the average that I would be hauling. I would say usually it would be me and one other guy, rarely a total of four (rarely).

With the load from the test drive the boat only took about 3-5 seconds or so (I did not actually time it, but it did not seem to struggle) to get on plane. This was acceptable to me given this was a heavier load than I would typically be hauling. Also, when stopping from full speed the water did not even wash over the hunt deck.

The motor had less than 2 hours, so I decided to buy it.


Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
Congrats on the new boat! post up some pics of it when you get a second, everyone loves pictures

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Thu Mar 29, 2018 5:30 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo
I pick it up tomorrow. I will post some then.


Thu Mar 29, 2018 5:53 pm
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Post Re: need advice on purchase of 1648 Alweld with MB 35 HD Spo

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Thu Mar 29, 2018 6:33 pm
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