I have been reading and furiously trying to absorb all the great information provided here in the last month or so, thanks for the awesome forum.

I am about ready to make my first rig purchase. Excel 1854, and trying to decide whether the shorter tail on the Pro-Drive is as big a plus over the longer shafts on Go Devil & Mud Buddy units.

Manueverability? Reliability? I dunno.

Whatya guys think?

There is no better way to tell than to test drive....

Where are you located ?

But for me the longer all steel GDSD was "the one" !

We're in western Washington, moving to N. Idaho. I do have two nice locals in Idaho willing to give us a test drive on both types.

Never having even ridden in a MM boat...what do I look for?

The ability to "Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before"








without having to drag it back out the hard way....

What kind of stuff do you run in? i cant speak for the PD but my GD sure can take a beating. if you plan on running open water the PD was designed to operate more like a small outboard and easy to steer while the GD is a bit tougher to operate but then again has a longer reach like you said. Test driving them would be your best bet

all depends what you looking for speed wise, an what kid of terrain your going to be in!

pd win's that contest hand's down no matter what terran.

I'm sure you will be happy with whatever you decide to go with but it sounds like you would be leaning towards a PD because it is easier to drive than a GD and having reverse is nice too. Mud does not seem to be a big concern but still try to go run both of them and decide for yourself which one you are more comfortable with.

dont forget a GatorTail either. im a PD guy but i am a fan of GT. the speed would be the same and it can go anywhere a PD/MB/GD can go and the instant reverse is nice to have while fishin/docking and pickin up dekes.

if i had to get anything besides a PD, gatortail would be my choice.

Some of you fukers are laughable

as for gigafag...here is his idea of "going where no man has gone before"
although most likely it's going where 97% of men don't go...and that's balls deep in another man's fudge tunnel.



clear water pirate....looking at the fun through binoculars from the deep water sidelines

Here's the bottom line....go do your demos and make you own decision. If you cna hang the motors on your boat...win win~

x2 on the drive both-

Your budget might come into play as well.. Do you have any idea what you want to spend?

Sounds from what you describe, a surface drive will be the way to go...

Also not sure on that excel model, but if it isn't the new mm model, I would reconsider that.. Getting a boat designed for a mm is plus if you are starting from scratch.. Sounds like you are not running stumps or rocks, but you never know what you are going to get into.... The boat can be as important as the motor is and is just as big as an investment and it isn't what you see in the boat the matters so much as how it is made. I would consider a custom boat with a 3/16 bottom.

Good luck and hope you find what you want..

GoDevil is a solid unit, and will get you just about anywhere you want to go. BUT, get ready to work your ass off to get there. As far as ease of operation, they're not even in the same ballpark as a ProDrive. and yes.... I've owned and put lots of hours on both.

Have drove them all and a go devil SD or LT will work the piss out of you. Go PD or GT in my opinion but if GT isnt on your list go prodrive.

PRO DRIVE Nuff said

your definately close enough for new. go for a new 36 for 5295... Warranty