If I added some foam in some compartments in the back of my boat would It give me more freeboard? Just wondering; seems like it would. wanting to put a heavier motor on the back. Thanks! John

No. You must displace more water to float higher. Foam is only going to help you, when the boat is under the water.....

x2

Pods may help, but your best bet is to get a boat thats right for the motor. What are you running now, and what are you trying to upgrade to?

why don't you tell what kind of boat you have now, what size, what motor you have now, and what you want to put on it.

First off im a broke college kid so a new/newer boat is out of the question. I have 14'36" truck bed special. It has a 1967 18hp Evinrude outboard on it. I am thinking about buying an 18hp mini mudbuddy lite. Heard of one guy on here with a 23 mini with the same style boat. I know rivets and mudmotors dont get along, but i wont be in much mud, mostly weeds were I hunt. So im not really worried bout tearing it up. just tired of pushing the boat when i get in the thick stuff.

Thanks Uncle J! I even get money from uncle sam for the GI bill and it aint enough sometimes. Ive got anywhere from 6-8" of freeboard. I wanna say that the MINI ways in around 160#'s. I wanna say My Evinrude actually weighs closer to 100#'s. It's one of the old big bastards. I would actually be happy with it, but it is having lower unit probs and they just cant really find parts for a motor as old as it is. if im gonna spend money on a motor might as well get a cheap mud motor kinda close to what I want.

BTW you make some sweet ass boats.



John

Dog,

If you move your battery and Gas tank to the front, that may offset the additional weight of the motor. I would sa y go for it and do what ever you have to do to make it work for you. I was once a broke-d!ck college student too and had to do all kinds of sh!t to be able to hunt. Good luck.

I don't know what the weight difference is, but I used to have a 13hp lt on a 1436. It chugged along nicely. We run stumps a lot here so the old leaker didn't last too long. It was an old boat when I put the LT on it. Had a 7 1/2 johnson on it for a looonnnng time. With two people it would run decent, and I hunted pretty shallow with three a couple of times with no problems.

Biggest thing I would say is, BRACE YOUR TRANSOM. MM's are hell on a transom built for a small outboard. Just pay attention to how you drive and you should be able to make that boat last a while.

Good luck to ya.

Crews Im wanting to def reinforce it and take that wooden transom out. just need to site down and find somebody who will tig weld aluminum for cheap.

I would go with the 18 mini lite. I think the 23 would be too heavy, even with moving battery and fuel tank to the front of the boat. Might even look at a small longtail (crawfish model from godevil) Since your boat has rivets, I would buy a gallon of gluvit and coat the inside of the boat, it will help with leaking.

I was looking at the 18. Only mentioned the 23 bc someone from mud buddy told me they weighed the same. Does anybody know the weight of the 18 of the top of their head? If im not mistaken it is not listed on mud buddies website.

this may be a dumb question but why does it have to be TIG welded?....the only thing TIG welded on my boat is the gas tank and I think its just because Blue wanted to make it look good.

18 and 23 are about the same weight. The 18 is a turd. I added a 12" hunt deck on the back of a 1436 for a buddy that had an 18 mini. It helped with freeboard, but he ended up having a 1542 geuax built and upgraded to a 23. I would say buy a 23 and find a beat up, used 1648 riveted boat.

Mag10