Hey Guys,

Has anyone added beavertail POD's to an Excel boat? I'd reach out to Tim Scott however it seems he is no longer with excel since MB bought them. I'm currently running a 17'54" MB Edition however having an additional "200 lbs" of floation would be nice. Buddy of mine is running a beavertail boat howver his boat is MUCH lighter than mine, different rake and rides much different on step. Late season I'm making long boat rides to get back to mud holes so I need performance in both the open water and mud. Saw one post say they cut them back off once he added them however it did not say much about the boat or his setup.

Has anyone added these to an Excel boat and if so what are your thoughts and what types of condition are you running in?

Thanks

You ever heard the term "pissing into the wind"?

And I just thought it was raining, thanks for the "awesome" advice. It's great we can always rely on each other to give great feedback and advice.

It's sounds like a truly terrible idea to me. In fact, it's probably the worst idea I've heard all weekend. And I had a pretty rough weekend.

Camo gave great advice actually. Pods are just a band-aid. Save your money and go a different route. What kind of motor are you running?

I didn't use the beaver tail pods but I did build my own and I gained 1mph really not worth the time or money but mine are on there and im not going through the hastle of taking them off

DC, you're running a boat that was designed to run with your motor. It was built with a 35 in mind, & adding pods to it is a stupid idea, but I was trying to be nice. If you're trying to gain speed, you're looking in the wrong direction. At 37 yrs old, I've been around boats my entire life & that's the only guy I've ever heard say that pods helped his speed. Spend that $ on engine mods like heads or cam, or downsize your hunt load if you want to get there & back faster.

PODS ARE DESIGNED TO HELP YOU GET ON STEP IN SHALLOW WATER, NOT INCREASE DEEP WATER PERFORMANCE!!!

There, was that clear enough?

So your saying he should consider gettin Kevin to build him some pods? You lost me.

SCmudder7071 -- running a MB 35 with single carb, crossover exhaust and Hopkins prop.

Camo - I've heard and seen different things. Yes the POD's are nice to get in and out of the boat, I was more looking on getting up on step when I have the boat weighted down. I wasn't expecting a silver bullet to fix the problems. Seeing how Excel has adopted their own version for their hull figured I'd toss it out to guys that might have either made the mistake or seen improvements. I've only seen one guy post he cut them off after and the others no one reported any results. Points all taken and I have no plans

If you can't get up on plane with a 35 on a 17x54, you need to leave someone behind next time.

Lol -- I'm not loaded down like one of those crazy idiots in a 12 foot jon, 9.9, 4 guys, dogs and 3 dozen decoys and the gunnel about 2 inches above the water line. It's more about when I have 3 guys and a dog back in 3 inches of water, 2-3 ft of mud. We get out but it's a beach!!

I used to run 3 (LARGE) guys, dog, & 4 dz deeks + other gear in a 1644 with 35 plus carb & exhaust & we would leave out with zero water & bottomless mud. Something needs adjusting or replacing.

The hull weight is like 800lb's without the battery, motor, etc... We get out without pushing but you really have to work it a lot to break that suction between the boat and the mud. If I'm in the soupy stuffno problem, but if I get into the silt/mud and low water it's some work to get on step. Once I'm on step we run great but it's a good 80-120 yards before we make it.

Ditching my boy's isn't happening so any advice would love to hear it. Yes, prop is new with plenty of cup. I do work the motor back and forth and adjust the weight. Hard bottom situations with about 3-6 inches of water, forget it unless I want to buy a new prop when I make it back to the landing.

How long is the shaft on your motor? A longer one might help you get a lil deeper in the soft mud to get up easier but it ain't gonna do any good in hard bottom. Or just mod it up

Hit nail on head. Suction is hard to break & boat is heavy. Needs more hp to make up for weight. Longer shaft would help, but isn't necessary. You're most likely blowing out with the prop, because the motor isn't powerful enough to overcome the bite the mud has on it & can't reach the optimum rpm range without blowing out due to overcompensating. If you can keep the rpms near 3k-3300 & keep the prop turning without loosing bite, it'll walk out a lot sooner. My suggestion, once again, is heads. Pods will do absolutely nothing but create more drag & problems in the situation you just described.

Pretty much what I end up doing - Lift, clear, work it, lift, clear work it while keeping the RPM's at 3-3500 RPM's. Seems to help but can be a pain doing that for 80-120 yards when it's about 5 out or in the 80-90's.

On the flip side my buddy’s beavertail with same load they jump up in about 15-30 yards however his hull is about 520 so a guy/guy.5 less than mine. You know how it is, can't have your boy show you up so was looking at cheaper alternatives like POD's over heads for example, cavitation plate or gatorglide, etc.. Never hurts to ask what might be the obvious of get a bigger boat, cut the weight up get new heads.

Put the GG on the bottom, do the heads, then blow by his azz in the open water that he got to before you & when he finally gets back to the ramp, ask what took him so long.


32" shaft would help you also, but $600 is still $600 no matter where you spend it.

Thanks for the advice guys..

Good luck this season

A trick I learned about getting up on plane with a large load, when it's shallow water over a hard bottom.........

Push the tiller all the way to one side, give it full throttle, drive in a few circles till you get moving, then straighten it up. Sounds crazy, but it works.

And FTR, it would be way easier if your motor said ProDrive or Gatortail on it

Yup, PD, GT, MB etc.. age old Ford vs Chevy and surprised it wasn't flying already. I bought mine new back in '08 and knowing what I know now I would be ridding GT however I'm not willing to take a huge hit and eat the coin to switch brands and I'm gonna ride her till she bucks.