Folks,

I've searched several times and have found some information on what I'm looking for, but here's my specific question.

I recently purchased an 2008 G3 1448PF (open floor) with trailer and long tail.

I'm trying to determine, which (if any) surface drive should I put on my boat? When I purchased the boat it came w/ an Swomp Lite Glider kit (w/ like new 11hp Briggs) and the fellow who sold it to me indicated that while it'll push it, "you're going going to get anywhere fast"...I believe that's probably an understatement!

I'm considering selling the backwater kit (it's like new, the gent was in his 80's) and reinvesting those $$ into a surface drive. I'd PREFER to have a clutch and reverse but I guess it's not an absolute must.

What I read is that for some reason the 1448 hull doesn't lend itself to good performance w/ the SD motors? If it were a little longer or a little more narrow it would be better, but there's just something about that size boat that screws things up.

My intended use will be occasionally on the river (runs up to 2 miles maybe), and the shallow ends of our local reservoirs (again, short runs, probably less than 2 miles) during our duck season. I would also like to fish some of the small coves for crappie in the spring.

Question - do I keep the SWOMP, recognizing I'm just going to be slow as hell and buy an outboard? OR do I sell the Backwater kit and leverage the funds into a surface drive? OR do I sell the small Backwater motor and buy a larger long tail?

Thanks for reading and any help.

Jeff

Just about any SD would be fine. The 25gtr, the 25 hd, 27 pd, or the 35 of those. The pd is gonna be a bit heavier, as are the v and h motors, so I'd stick with a gt, gtr, mb hd, or go devil. Since you want the clutch and reverse, the gtr and maybe the new hdr (still new, may not can get one). We just had a discussion on another thread a couple days ago about that very size boat and surface drives. Search again.

And longer/narrower is a big advantage on longtails. SDs need the right combo of lift, but that can be had with wider/shorter, or longer/narrower, or some combinations in between. LTs don't like wider as much as they like length.

My brother is running a godevil 23 vanguard on a 1436. It aint a speed merchant, but it moves out pretty good. Dont rule out a bigger longtail. They definitely have their place.

I would keep the longtail on it and upgrade to a SD when you have more money for a longer boat. My 1448 with a 23 HD sucked purpoised like a mofo and was slow with 2 ppl and a load. you have to get a lot of weight up front for it to perform decent. I wouldnt put any SD on a boat shorter than 16 unless it was a light coperhead on a small boat. Length is important to balance the load of you and the motor at the back and keep the boat running flat. an 18 or 23 hp longtail on that would run great. you could look into just selling the 11 hp and getting a bigger SWOMP motor

Sell that 11 and get a bigger LT if you're gonna keep that boat. An 18 minimum, but go as big as you can afford. The 23 will definitely be your best option for overall performance and your hull will handle it fine.