Im new to MMT, I need some opinions from all you Mud Motor experts. I run duck hunting and fishing charters in Houma. I've had great success with my 31HP go-devil longtail but need more speed.
I've driven a boat with a Gator Tail and like the performance and reverse option. But never driven a mud buddy.
It seems the Gator Tail will be high maintenance but runs and performs well with the reverse and power trim.
Allright here we go:
1. Which motor is faster, has anyone had a GTR and mudbuddy on the same boat???
2. What are common problems that seem to go wrong with the GTR and the Mud Buddies?
3. How is service on mud buddy being located in Iowa......
4. Anybody ran the 40 HP Kohler Mud buddy??
Thanks for any help

u best bet would demo a mud buddy but depends on if u need reverse mud buddy dont have it get with boduke on here he runs a mud buddy he might be lil more help

Get the Gator-Tail you won't regret it. They all have the same engine, the difference between them is the outdrive, the Gator-Tail reverse is not over engineered and requires minimal maintenance. If you wanna check one out let me know as I am in the Houma area.

Let me know if you want to drive my PD sometime. Won't hurt to try them all. From what I remember about one of your leases (by the jail) was hitting a lot of underwater stumps while idling around the blind. To tell you the truth, your longtail seemed to be the best fit for that area.

Now the other place I hunted with you off the intercoastal was perfect for a surface drive. Pretty much everyone on here is going to tell you to get a Gatortail, not a whole lot of Mudbuddy chearleaders on here. It's a great motor and the reverse works great for your area.

What is probably the biggest factor for you is service and reliability. The closest Mudbuddy dealer to you that I would trust is in Metairie. The Gatortail shop is almost as close. I have friends with both and they all have had good luck with their motors. Drive them all before you make up your mind, so that you can make a well informed decision. BTW, Mudbuddy is in Utah and how that affects you will completely depend on who you buy it from.

Describe the areas you run in more detail (hard/soft bottom, stumps, long runs, etc) and you will get better answers. If I had to choose between the two, I would get the GTR.

Go with the Gator tail. The Gator Tail is the original with mudbuddy being a cheaper copy. As for as mudbuddy's service, well it sucks. As Matt stated above, if you want to test drive one, let me know, we are both in the Houma area and would be happy to let you check it out.

Thanks guys for the comments. Im gonna put it on a 20' boat with a 56" bottom..It only weighs 500lbs in 100 gauge. So it should move pretty good.

That is on the verge of dual engine territory!

Captanthony, I too live in Houma and drive a GTR and would be happy to go for a ride.

When I was trying to decide which motor to get it was between the GDSD and the GTR. I took a ride with a friend in his GTR and that was enough for me. I didn’t think the reverse was going to make that much of a difference but it really comes in handy at the launch.

Consider all of the options out there and decide which motor will work best for what you will use it for.

duals or mods at the least

duals would be best for duck hunting guiding

Think about it this way. Who would you rather spend your money with, a place where your tax dollars (on said purchase) go to YOUR state, or settle for less and give your taxes away to another state?
That is how I look at it. There are numerous MMT members in your area, so a Demo should be in order!

Would you buy a brand new truck w/o reverse?

Mait. takes me 15min... no joke!

i got a mudbuddy. my next will be a gator tail...dat is all.

i dont NEED reverse but it would be nice for frogging and pulling up to things.

TBS you are correct in your statement. We all have reasons we purchases the unit we have. But 3 of the 4 MM companies are from Louisiana. I would hope a resisnt of the state will support a local comapny. That is the point I was trying to get acrodd and it seems it didnt work that way the first time.

If I was in Louisiana I would buy the motor made from a company down there. The Louisiana builders seem to be glad to help folks out of a jam after the purchase. I have read many stories here and on other sites of guys swinging into Prodrive, GatorTail and GoDevil, getting repairs made and getting back out quickly.

I changed my Prodrive over from short transom to long transom...not the hardest operation by any means, but certainly not the easiest...requires welding aluminum. I had questions pop up during the process that were handled well over the phone, but I'd a given my front seat in hell just to be able to drop the motor off and let PD do it.

You will need repairs at some point on any motor if you run it hard, and you will probably want mods for that motor on that big boat if you don't buy it already built with them. If the choice for you is between GatorTail and Mudbuddy, I would definitely go Gatortail for the fact that their factory is what? An hour or so drive away? It's very nice to have that safety net. A good dealer can provide the same kind of safety net, but access to the manufacturer trumps all.

Just my very experienced .02

it is up to you i run a mud buddy and would'nt trade if for the world every time i get stuck there is not a reverse in the world that could of helped, no pd or gtr reverse would of helped but the way i look at it is that reverse is real nice at the boat landing when you are backing off your trailer but that is all it is good for in my eyes. like i said when i get stuck the only thing can help me is a air boat or a long ass rope

I've had 2 mudbuddys, an 18 hyper with electric trim, and now a 35 hyper, with the manual trim knob(get the hyd trim) I have had no problems with either.(You can come drive mine) Any tiime I called utah, they answered all my questions. From what I read on here, everybody wants to be close to the dealer WHY?? cuz there choice of the other 3 need alot of repairs?? I personally don't care for other people working on my stuff. I would rather fix it myself (if and when it needs fixin) there is a friggin briggs dealer on every corner. Seems like that is most of the problems,other than that, they have a thing called next day air youall got postal service down there dont'ch?? you can order the parts next day. also, I believe when you buy somthing from outa state, you don't have to pay tax on it? 7% of 5k is $350, hell, thats a new Gecker carb or exhaust I believe they all run a little different on each boat. So drive them all and make your choice. Oh, I almost forgot, get a little hottie in her bikini to push your boat off the trailer, It aint a friggin barge

Well I got my motor for the reverse it was needed for where I hunted,fighting a gate across a pipeline canal with a strong tide and a north wind is a pain in the ass by yourself and the instant reverse was the way to go for me.

As far as a briggs shop around every corner see how many you can pull a boat into without calling ahead and making arangements and get on a waiting list for them to call you.There have been two times that I had an issue with the engine and Hoyt told me bring it over and I'll take care of it while you wait instead of driving back and forth.The wait at the shops I called was at least a week just to bring it in.Now this will not happen with every problem that may arise but it was a big help for me at the time.

I bought my motor for the reverse it was that simple,I did not even buy it from GT but I met them when I had an issue and they heard about it and went out of thier way to take care of me over Thankgiving weekend.Try and find a shop that is open the day after thanksgiving,its not happening.They did not know me from the man on the moon,but helped me out of a bind.Now would a guy in Utah call and track you down if your mm breaks over a holiday weekend when every swinging dic is hunting something,maybe I do not know but I know what Kyle did for me and thats it.

If you already have the hull you are going to run it on I highly recomend that you slap all of the mm's you can on it and see which one is best for you and your hull.

I pretty much have the same story dogwalker. I bought my engine from Terrebonne Marine in Houma without ever meeting the GT crew. I had some engine trouble while out duck hunting for the second to last weekend of the season and couldn't get/find anyone to work on my boat. I made a post about it on the Gator Tail website and received a response from Kyle the next day. (A Saturday) He told me to drop it off at the shop on sunday and he and Hoyt would look at it first thing Monday morning. Well monday afternoon my engine was running and I was able to hunt the last weekend of the season. I was happier than a pig in shit. It was at that time that I became a GT owner for life.

Damn this post almost went LA sportsman wild..not quite thank goodness.
Thanks everyone, I spoke with the guys at southern Outdoors and they are going to let me test drive the new 40 HP Mud Buddy on my boat...
They do have a couple in stock in the Thib. store.
I will post results after I run it....
Oh yes if anyone wants to test drive my go-devil long tail come and get some of that arm wrenching SOB!!! But it will get you out of a bind.
Hell it's a 31HP and running 21mph on my 18'48" bottom boat light

i wont be using my boat this winter.... just use my rig for your duck charters....i will take the lights off for you.......

to answer the question Gatortail

The tide was 2' above normal that day the airboat wasn't stuck he could have gotten out but it was a direct drive and it was easier to just give him a quick tug... My trolling motor could have pulled him out . We did laugh as the only PD there raced over real quick and I happened to get it on film We were all too busy chillin drinkin' beer

Glad everyone likes the video

Seriously that was my first time seeing a PD in action and it was pretty cool seeing it run around and work. T-Mac's boat is pretty sweet.

Wow. Dont make me pull the car over children.

I got reverse because Im lazy.

I seen all the brands operate at the hands of Masters I'm tellin' you ... absolute Masters of thays MudMotorMachineThang and without a doubt ....


Gator-Tail comes out on top EveryTime !!!!


Matr-Fact !!!!!

I think you will be happy with either a MudBuddy or GatorTail. I will also be happy if you buy one because you will be one less person I have to worry about being able to get back where I hunt. Just Joking but not really!!!

Im new to MMT, just got on here for the first time tonight. Sounds like Im a minority here being a MB owner.