Looking forward motor recommendation for my hull, I know it's not a true mud hull but I'm not really running mud like you guys in the south, mainly shallow water, cattail marshes. I have a 1546 all welded alumacraft mod v with pods welded on. Open floor plan and I removed the rear bench. Had a 20hp long tail on it and it was a dog also a pain in the ass to store in my garage. Open to suggestions, ideas and a new hull is out of the question right now. Outboard long tail, surface drive..... Would like a surface drive but not sure how that would work. Had a 24hp Honda mud buddy on surface drive on it before the
Pods, ran like a raped ape but took a lot of water over the transom from time to time.

Mercury classic 50... can be had for 500-1000 bucks and it'll push that boat over 30


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Pro drive is out with pods, I would lean toward a copperhead, mudbuddy, or the tried and true GTR. BTW 15" or 20" transom?

I'd put a Mud Buddy mini 23 on that boat. It's relatively light weight and has enough power to push that boat.

Given that he said he is stuck with the boat, can you think of a better motor option? You suggested an outboard, but is that really the best choice given the type of hunting he'll do? If he does choose an outboard, a 50 is too big in my experience. A 25 will do just fine and weighs alot less.

I agree I was just throwing out the classic 50, due to its availability and relative low cost. A 25 would scream on that boat too. The best recommendation, as I see it, is to use a motor that the boat is designed for. If he wants mud motor capability then a longtail would be a better option, since for the surface drive, he would be spending extra money only to not be able to reap the full rewards of its design, in my opinion.


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And that 50 is technically 45 at the prop, and is only too big until a smaller motor is too small... if you know what I mean haha


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15inch transom. The 24 surface drive I had really performed well but was so heavy that taking the water over the transom worried me, got an offer I could turn down and sold it. Went with pods and a 25hp outboard then which was a little faster but not fast enough for me to say that made it better then the shallow water capabilities of the surface drive. I then went with a 20hp Longtail but it was slower then both previous motors, a pain to drive and store. I saw a 23hp mudbuddy mini for sale by me for $3k so am considering that but worried about performance with the pods. And water coming over the back again if I cut the pods off. I guess a bigger outboard is also an option. I have not seen any of these used 45/50 shorts haft tiller outboard for sale.esp.in that price range or I would probably buy one.

For sure that short shaft is a little restrictive options wise... good luck on your searchc


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You could call Mud Buddy to find out the weight difference between that older 24 that you used to have and the 23 Mini.

What about the 23hp Copperhead? At 140lbs it might allow you to chop those pods off

1244 Atchafalaya Outdoor Designs W/ 12hp Copperhead

I saw you talking about this on a different forum, but I didn't put in my 2 cents. I have a 1542 with pods. I had a 25 hp go devil longtail on it, that was (in my opinion) very heavy. not sure exactly how heavy, but im guessing around 180-200lbs. I sold it and hung a 18hp copperhead on the boat. the 18hp is basically the same weight as the 23. my boat is drafting 1.5-2" shallower with that motor change. your boat is wider, so it would do even better. with the pods on there (yea,yea I know they are hurting my performance) I am getting 22 mph with one man 20 with 2 guys, and it fell on its face just adding a light hunt load. I believe most of my problems were a bad fuel pump, and possibly the pods. Sunday I plan to spend some time testing some things to see if I have the problems straightened out. I will have my cordless sawzall with me and the pods may be history if I don't like what I am seeing.
To answer your question, I believe you have exactly the right size hull for the copperhead 23 if you are looking to have better performance than an outboard in the cattail marsh. I wouldn't personally hang anything heavier on that boat than the mudbuddy mini and if you are going surface drive, maybe you want to save the 50 or so pounds of weight with the copperhead.

Do you have any issues turning, with the copperhead hitting your pods? True being a couple inches wider will help me

The lower unit shaft hits the pods, but I seem to be able to get quite a bit of turning radius anyway. not sure how much further you could get it to go if it didnt hit the pods.

prop doesnt hit pods. they are small beaver tail pods you can get from cabelas. i know you can pull dimensions for them off the internet. you could compare them to your accounting for the different widths.

find you a 40-50 hp used outboard. put some screens over the water intake. get a cheap fixed jackplate and mount that biatch high hole and let' er rip, tater chip.
way cheaper and will pass thru some bad stuff if u got the balls to drive it.

good luck.