My review on the Excel 1860 swvf4- rides smooth on a choppy and rough surface. Turns very sharp and the boat itself feels very stable, solid, and well built. My father and I got to go through the factory. We were very impressed with the workmanship that was put in to these boats. My overall review of the boat. It is very stable and feels safe and secure in open water as well as the shallow, stump infested backwaters that I run in. The boat is a little on the heavy side in my opinion, but I am ok with that as long as myself and anybody else in the boat feels safe. I have had no issues with the boat at all and would buy another if the time ever came.

My review on the sport V44- After owning the rig for just over 15 hours I have done some fine tuning with the carb. Came out of the factory with a 160 main jet. I changed to a 165. Seems that I am getting better performance with the 165. I also made some small adjustments to the air/fuel due to the motor idiling down and sometimes dying after giving it some throttle. This started to occur when the temps got down into the teens. As far as speeds go, I am averaging around 29 with just me in it. Hunted the last few weeks with about 1100 pounds in the boat. I was getting right at 23mph. I didnt think this was to bad considering the size of the boat and the weight. These speeds are all in open water. I have installed the handle kit and throttle cable bracket both before any mishaps. I have had my motor back to the shop for a small oil leak where the oil pan and block meet. Was in and out in less than a week with the leak fixed. Motor seemed to be hard starting from the get go but I was unfamiliar with these machines at the time so I took it as normal. I decided to add an in line fuel bulb and it made al the difference in the world. It fires right up now. The motor has had several good collisions with hidden debris and stumps under the waters surface jerking the handle out of my hand every so often. Still to this day I have no cracks or issues with the casting of the lower unit. I did trim an inch off of the cavatation plate to increase my hole shot and for hauling heavier loads. I can definatley tell a big difference after doing this. So my overall review on the motor is it fits my style of hunting and recreation with the surroundings I travel in. The motor does very well in open water as well as the mud. I have been in some pretty shallow stuff with my duck hunting buddies and our loads. No problems at all making our way in or out of our hunting spots.

My review on the reverse- I can say that it is very smooth and easy to operate. The motor obviously works better and faster with it trimmed down further in the water. It has already come in very handy loading, unloading, and backing away from the bank.

My review on MB customer service- Glen and Micah have been more than great to work with on information about the motor. Calls are always returned in a quick manner and they have went above and beyond to help with any questions. Glen gave me his personal cell phone number for any questions I may have after hours.


If I have missed something let me know. I have had the boat and motor long enough and driven it enough that I can probablly answer most any questions about the pros/cons/concerns. Hope this helps out with anybody that is curious to know how the setup is holding up and performing.

Runs well for a big boat...

I think this is the first person I've ever heard about that liked mb customer service.


Sent from my beeper.

I can not complain about mud buddy customer service either when I had my mudbuddy. I would buy another one any day if they can get their new design flawless.

Congrats pete..... This is the first real review of the new motor and it didn't break somewhere!!! I hope you get years and years of use out of it.

sent from the former Republic of Texas.

Nope. I can not complain about their customer service at this point in the game.

Good review Pete!

Good review I am going to post because I am interested in the long term report on the motor I will be in the market sometime in the future.

Thanks
Phil

Better wait a lil longer on the motor and that way you can also see what happens to mud buddy after litigation......

sent from the former Republic of Texas.

I have a 19-48 all 1/8 extreme metal fabrication with the 44 sport v. Bought motor brand new and put 13 hours on it and the tack went out and the foot leaked oil through the casting. I brought it back to gator trax where I bought it and the put an updated foot and the handle reinforcement handle kit. Took about 2 weeks. I got it back and put another 40 hrs on it and the bolts that hold engine to trans vibrated loose. I tighten up bolts and the next day ran to belta to make a hunt and on way back I heard a pop and the bolts came loose again and cracked the bps exhaust and cracked the oil pan where in bolts to the trans. I brought it back to gator trax and micah sent me a brand new 44 sport v with 6 min on it because of the vibration issue causing the bolts vibrate loose. This took 3 weeks for this to happen. I have no complaints with gator trax or mudbuddy. New untit has all the updated parts and has 15 hours on it and tach went out again. My boat ran 27-28 with first motor with hammer prop with me and 20gal of fuel and 26 with a hunt load. The speeds with new motor are slower running 25-26 by myself with 20gal fuel and 19-20 with hunt load with the big blade prop that was sent on new unit.

I know. I had a stock gator tail before the mudbuddy and was running the same speeds. The back of my boat wont level of and plows through the water. It done this with both engines. So im thinking im having an issue with the hull

Maybe try welding some beads on the bottom.

Seems like that would put more drag under the boat and would possibly slow down more. I been reading some things on here and my carb might not be set right cause I can only turn 3800-3900 RPM. to get more I gotta trim motor up to high

need to get away from excel man im sorry but they are junk..look nice as hell but dont perform worth a dam

It's good to see a legit review, and I'm glad you're enjoying the rig.


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They really need to do something about a trailering bracket, or lack there of.

It is nice to finally see a real review. Guess time will tell if mb has really turned around their cs department.

Sent from ********

Good review. There's very little owner info out there, so thanks for writing it up.

Was out on a hunt yesterday with my rig. Had myself , my brother in law , my father, dog, and all our hunting gear. Getting right at 21mph on GPS. All is well.

I run over 30 with a similar load. !!

something is wrong with those speeds man.

I run 30 with a hammer

What components make it a 44?

what rpms are you running solo or with a load? something aint right

No rocker on a 44

They were all originally spec'ed with a BPS Q. No roller rockers on the 44.

Just a brief update. I had right at 1100 pounds in my boat the other day. Traveling up river with a 25 mph north wind. Was getting 18.6-19mph in deep water on my gps. I was happy with these speeds.

What prop are you turining?

I've had my share of issues as well. Won't go into all the details, but had to send motor back to Utah due to bad vibrations. That took a while with the holidays and all. Turns out the cam had worn in only 13 hours - caused a 40 psi pressure difference between cylinders. Bolts were backing out and breaking as a result. It's a remote steer, so no handle issues, but since I've got it back, it seems to still be vibrating. Cav plate bolts backing out and carb cover screws with 4 new hours. Run plenty of stumps where I'm at and haven't had any lower unit issues yet, but keeping a close eye. I can say, that Gator Trax has been exceptionally good to deal with and MB, pretty decent as well - just need to get a motor design that's not plagued with these vibration issues. I know a couple of other older guys that aren't on the Internet that we'll never hear from that are shearing/losing bolts as well.


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