I've been doing a LOT of reading here and there's a lot of good info from you guys, and I appreciate it. But I have to ask your opinion on running these mud motors in waters with hard bottoms and logs and stumps. I use my rig primarily for bowfishing flooded areas along sides of rivers that are full of logs, stumps and pucker brush. I also have the luxury of shooting several lakes that are a lot like the rivers; full of logs, stumps and pucker brush with hard bottoms.

My Go-Devil LT has served me well for over 25 years but it's getting old and tired and I'd like more hp and speed for some of the long hauls I make on the rivers. So I'm gonna buy a surface drive and was wondering which one you guys think will handle the logs, stumps and hard bottoms the best? I've read that the aluminum skegs on MB and GT have had issues, but unless I've missed it, never read anything bad from anyone about Go Devil lower units having problems.

I'm torn as to which motor to buy. I like the idea of reverse, a clutch and EFI, but GT or any of the others don't offer EFI in a 35 hp (and NO, I'm not interested in having to spend an extra $2000 to have PD install it, LOL) I'd buy the GTR25 for the EFI but think I might want more hp. AND Go-Devil doesn't offer a clutch option and only offers manual trim, but I think they might have the toughest lower unit, which might be best for bumping and grinding in all the crap I run in while shooting fish. I don't run a trolling motor because of all the logs and stumps. Have tried it in the past and only ended up destroying one. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions on this are greatly appreciated. Thanks Dennis W.

Round #1

Ding

it sounds like you already got a boner for the 25 GTR. just don't take any candy from strangers

^ Dafuq?

The PD held up better for me in the stumps than the GTR.

I find a GDSD is easiest on the driver in stumps...more balanced drive makes the strikes not quite as bad IMO. Now as far as holding up I don't know, I would imagine they will take a beating. I would imagine gator tails are the worst in stumps all the way around, durability and performance. Never ran a PD in stumps but I imagine with the fixed tiller and back weighting, the strikes are pretty violent. They probsbly hold up well though. That's just my honest opinion.

I would have to say the Gdsd is probably the best thing in a area with stumps like that


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Definitely more violent with the prodrives on skeg only strikes, but i seem to have more prop strikes. With the GTR, sometimes I would have to push the motor back down after it came up, or it would take a while coming back down, causing me to miss a turn, or not be able to maneuver. With the PD, it would come back down fast, and the moving water would correct it via the skeg and return the handle right back to where it flew out of your hand. 9 out of 10 times if you kept your hand in the same place, the handle would come right back to you. It was nice having the floating handle on the GTR for those strikes where the motor didn't move to the side, but those seemed few and far between. With the old PD skeg, the GTR will get going on a hard bottom easier than the PD. Both are great products, but I had better dealings with PD's customer service than GT.

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My GDSD beat the crap outta me in stumps.


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I drove a GDSD in the stumps and absolutely hated it.

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Mudbuddy Sport V

Lol!!! NOT

My PD did great in stumps

Cant speak for the other 2.

I have had no issues with my gtr with hitting logs or stumps. I don't hunt a stump field like Owen does but I know others that do and they have gtr's

OD, how many times the tilt lock pin got you on your GT? I can imagine that getting hairy at dark:30 in the kinda shit you run

Mine never got caught

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GDSD has the toughest lower unit for stumps.

Balanced is nice. Especially when you know where the stumps, logs etc are. Pop it right up. I have a pond on my lease with old pipes running through marsh. Hit it with speed and throw the motor up. Not possible with a prodrive or GTR.


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I put 130 tough hours on my GTR and had no problems. My pin never locked on mine.


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Don't see how it's possible to do on the fly. The gtr you have to grab that handle on the top and pull back. Pretty sure you can't so that running wide open. Could be wrong about the prodrive, but gtr have driven many times.


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Must be nice to know where all the obstructions are.

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Ever thought of simply pressing down on the tiller handle?

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My gdsd ran good, just wanted a bigger motor and neutral.

Own a pd now and doubt I will evr change.

The frame of a GDSD is as tough as it gets. The frame is designed to take an ass whipping and still perform. It is one of the big selling points of a go devil.
You can lift it out the water with two fingers as well. However, I have not been many places where I knew the location on the stumps. Go devil is easy on the transom.
I do agree that you can lift the GTR out of the water with not much effort.
I think you would be fine with whatever one you wanted as long as you stay away from the Sport V or H. I see all of these brands riding around and I can't say that I have ever seen a broken lower unit. Well other than a few idiots that drop the boat off the trailer at the launch.

Wow. I didn't mean to start an argument between y'all. LOL. Ok, so now I have a couple more things to talk about.

Baron Von: I ain't got a boner for GT. I like the idea of EFI but just don't know if I think it's absolutely necessary. I'm actually leaning towards another Go Devil because I know how tough mine has been, but they don't have a power trim or clutch. then again, that might be a plus. :>)

Owen Dikeson: That pic you posted with all those stumps scares the hell outta me. I'd hate like hell to hit any of those at half throttle. Unlike the pic, we have a lot of stumps that are not visible, submerged. There's usually a lot of vegetation growing up in and around those stumps, so they are quite hard to see all the time. And usually when I get into them, I'm crawling at a snails pace while running the motor with the prop half out of the water looking for fish to shoot at.

So tell me if you guys have ever known anyone to hit a stump or log while moving at a pretty good clip and done major damage to their lower unit? I've hit stuff at full throttle and have damn near hit the floor when the prop came out of the water (thank goodness for grab bars) and I've literally ground my prop into the sides of logs and stumps trying to move the boat and my Go Devil never seems any worse for wear.

And how many of you have worn out a clutch from stopping and starting (disengaging and engaging) it several dozen times a day or night. The reason I ask is becuz I shut my motor off and start it several times a night, sometimes dozens of time each outing and if I got a motor with a clutch, I'd be using it to stop and start moving, rather than shutting the motor off and restarting it.

And have any of you had any problems with your power trim? Do they wear out - stop working quite often or are they pretty reliable? Thanks again for all the comments and opinions. DW

Thanks everyone for the replies. Keep em coming.

WhoDat (and others who are familiar with Go Devils) Why is the lower unit on the Go Devil angled down rather than facing straight back, like the other manufacturers? Are they trying to keep the angled lower unit in line with their long tails, so it pops out of the water easier when it hits something?

Also, how difficult is it to get used to handling the manual trim on the Go Devils? I'm afraid I'd be messing with it all the time while crawling along at a snails pace in shallow water. And does the motor tip up to pull the prop out of the water on the surface drives as easily as the long tail does when you push down on the tiller handle ? Thanks.