I agree about the proposed new SLT that the gear reduction will allow you turn a slightly larger prop and then some speed gain but this may be negated in skinny water/hard bottom areas because you will need a little more water (say 1-2") to realize that gain- if you push any prop, LT or SD, in a sand/marl environment as we have here in most areas, it will get shaved down in a hurry, meaning a new prop is imperative...and I have seen this reported in all types:GD, MB, PD, BT, GT, Hopkins, Ron Hill (I have one for backup). I have yet to see any reports about Backwater Motors props in these conditions. I wish I had the deep mud and then it would be an easy selection for me: shortail surface drive!

I bought the 24 from robn a member on this sight, he had the mods done at evt. Head work, carb, exhaust.

Thank you for concurring! I know it is obvious but there are some who claim they can go through anything and that is not the case. I also want to make clear that the longtail is still a viable powerplant/design in some areas like where I hunt. I know that in the southeast we have been hit with some tough drought years and that translates into very low water conditions and reduces the desirability of a surface drive big block motor on a heavy-azz mud hull. I'd like to think that gd's 1838 hull might be a good application but I am 6'4" 230 lbs. and I like the stability and room of my 1648 but I would like even more like a 1848 or 1754 configuration- the problem is they are usually .125 gauge and extremely heavy. My present hull is .100 and I wish it were lighter. I used to have an Alumaweld (before they became Xpress?) 1544 in .080 that was really cool but would have been, for me, ideal in an 1844 model and the longtail.

i also agree thats why i went with a longtail im thinkinga 1848 is going to be my next hull i have better reach and were i hunt have had to help many sds out in the last few weeks they are not un stickable like pople think ans when they get stck around here they are fing stuck ive been stuck but nat as much as some of these guys in my area the reach helps me alot in most situations going over trees and beaver dams..i think we would all agree that the sd and longtails have their places were they shine

Well after all this discussion I think we have decided we love our longtails! When it comes to bumping, grinding, hard bottom, crawling, climbing they cannot be beat if they are on the right hull.

Back to the original topic, does anyone have any news on this SLT on MB's website? Do they even exist? Does anybody actually have one?

Saw a post over there by g l e n n and he said the orders for the slt would be filled but then they will be put on hold basically because of other new stuff coming out. Sounded kinda fishy to me

i guess its a good thing i didnt go with the slt then

I feel violated when someone even mentions his name, worse than a car salesman!

I never like to slight anyone, even when merited, , but a mm vendor/repair person that I would characterize as reliable and possessed of integrity did mention that he had talked to the aforementioned person about gear reduction and shortly after the idea had been "appropriated". The marketplace is certainly competetive, and may bring out some elbowing and shoving but generally we get some needed improvements. I am going to await the field trials and first year shakedown on the SLT and then form another opinion. We have a great product, be it GD, BT, MB, and I am going to add Backwater (BW) because the only couple of reviews I have read here praise them and the vendor I spoke to also spoke favorably about them. I welcome any prop mods; I look for some simpler fixes to correct vibration like motor mount isolators- I may try that myself; previously the idea of a grip-type throttle seemed unnecessary because of the challenge of controlling a LT handle- the lever type or "set it and forget it" that has been the stock method seemed appropriate but the new SLT has made me re-think that. I am going out on a limb and say that for me, MB's roller bearing design was and is an improvement over GD's bronze sleeve bearings though they do work most well except for more grease loss. I am looking for a more true "mud hull" in an open hull 1848 configuration, .100 gauge all around to keep the weight down, to maximize the longtail- does such a hull exist? I only see .125 gauge, anyone own a Phowler hull? On their site they mostly show it with a PD shortail but I wonder how they run with an LT? I wished I lived closer to the "promised land", Louisiana, being such an obsessed duck hunter I have to go there someday, and because of all the mud mfg's there and the custom boat mfg.'s there as well, well worth a trip! I suppose I will have just get one made to my specs and be done with it!

Just contact any of the custom builders on here.. they can hook you up on a hull that you are wanting..

Didn't beavertail come out with the roller bearing design and shortly after it appeared on mb's. I know Mark Fisher with beavertail wasn't happy when all that came about. Oh well what ever.

in my opinion, GD, GTR, PD and MAYBE copperhead are the only true engineers, eveyr other company has done designs based off theirs. now, yes, engineering is taking one design and improving it.. but i dont see enough improvements in the offbrands to consider it their own design.. its sorta a matter of opinion, but thats my opinion.. GD, PD, and GTR put a lot of work into making their own designs, more than anyone else has, and they deserve better respect than to have their designs copied by these offbrand companies.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but GD came out with their short tail after GTR, PD, and MB. Is that stealing someone else's idea?

Chevy came out with their pick up after Ford. Who here drives a Chevy? If you do, how dare you!

Man we are up tight in this country right now.

I will agree there is alot of controversy surrounding the original sd. Even tho I own a mb I am not bias against any brand, I just got mine at a good price. I will say I think a lot of mb because they offer modded motors under factory warranty. Even if its only 6 months

anyone got one of these yet?

Thanks, kharylake70, for staying with the thread topic....this had nothing to do with SD's...I am also awaiting any new, for sure, independent field tests on the SLT..obviously if you only read MB's reviews, they will be biased. I would say, given the year the shortails were introduced, that many posters here were former LT owners; that said, there are many newbies that have only experienced SD's. I doubt any former LT owners were bad talking their first motors when they got them and it got them to areas they could not reach before with conventional outboards. I applaud MB's and Backwater's improvements on a tried and true design.