I have have been kicking around the idea of putting a mud motor, possibly a 23 hp longtail (or SD), on a J-16 Carolina Skiff. The boat has a 48-50" bottom and is about 16 feet long. Hull weight is about 350 pounds. Boat is a flat bottom with small strakes on the outer edges to help with cornering. They carry a load very well and are really stable.

Since we don't really have much in the way of stumps/rocks ect. that might damage a fiberglass hull I was wondering how something like this might run?

Anybody have any input on this type of setup?

Friend of mine had one with a mud buddy, it did alright, just didn't perform real good ( he stayed stuck a lot ). Now he has a gator tail and is much happier.

Not sure, I never ran it, just know he was stuck a lot and had to wait for tide to come in.

All I remember is it was a mud buddy SD. Any motor u put on the boat will push it, if u not gonna leave deep water, try it, I am just stating it is a prover fact that a mud motor will perform better on a boat that is designed for that motor, every brand of mud motors designed for a different transom angle.

If I was just going to run deep water I would stick with an outboard. I'm just kicking around some ideas to see what experiences people here have had.

I consider shallow to be no water or less than the boat can float in. Don't know why anybody else doesn't chime in, try pissing someone on here off, call them niga lovers or worse call them giga lover and u will get several responses.

Yeah, and Giga has been by far the most helpful and impartial with any questions I have had! He seems knowledgeable about many different aspects of mud boats and motors.

Seems like a lot of folks here are quick to call everything they don't personally own a P.O.S. or whatever. No different than many other forums in that respect. A few great contributors along with several who simply waste space and clutter up the threads.

I know the Carolina Skiff idea may not be the ideal rig for a mud motor but I can personally see any reason why it won't run through the weeds nearly as well as a true mud motor? I am also considering trying a 23 SD on a JV-17 hull. The boat is longer than the J-16 with a different chine shape. It is a little heavier but to me it looks like it would run pretty well. I know it runs fine with a 20 hp outboard.

I had a J-16 with a Gator Tail on it for one season. Carolina Skiff Burned me pretty bad. Do a search on here and you will find a long thread from me with the whole story.

I did see that thread. Sucks that you had the issues that you did, sounds to me like the dealer didn't do a very good job. Any dealer worth his salt would have had you in a new hull quickly. I have a lot of experience with Carolina Skiff and have always known them to handle legitimate warranty claims quickly and professionally.

The thread didn't do anything to help answer my questions about how the rig might run, unfortunately. I'm going to stick a 23 GDSD on a JV-17 hull and see how it runs. I will report back.

I know a guy that had a 25hp longtail on a j16 did 16-18 on gps w/2 people no gear. it did ok but its a heavy boat and bogged bad.