I'm 16 and trying to build a mud motor, not sure if I should go for a long tail or pro drive for a old 13ft boat, suggestions? And I'm also thinking about buying a Lifan engine, are they reliable?
Thanks.

For the first time build id probably go longtail. Lots of good info on here about building them. Just use the search option and pm people who have built them. Good luck with your build.

I would say longtail first for the simplicity, but if you are feeling froggish, leap.

and a really good mud motor to learn on, LT's can be beast

thanks everybody. but does anyone know anything about lifan engines?

It will do fine for what you want to use it for.

Here's a current thread about a build.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=29825

we have built several long tails, alot of the motors that are honda clones are made by lifan under different names, we have used a couple of duromax motors, they were the least expensive, harbor freight has some predators for 109.00 right now

the best quality in a honda knock off that i have used has been the carrol stream motors, you can google them but they are as close to a real honda as you can get, not as cheap as the ones listed above but the fit and finish is far above the others.

but they are possibly all still made by lifan but there apparently are different grades

I'll probably go with the carrol stream, from the reviews I've read, it seam like an excellent motor for the price.
But another thing, does anyone have any plans for a long tail I could have? Or let me know where I can get a good kit from.

here is where its goin to cost you some money woodrow, The kits are on ebay anywhere from roughly $100-$600 depending on what size motor and if the parts are included or not. Just use the search bar and look around, There is a guy who just used the 212cc predator and did a couple of mods to it... He bought the thai longtail kit and as far as I know, its working well for him. I'm currently using the Lifan 6.5 and did some mods to it... Be carful what you do to these motors, their not hard at all to work on, but I've spent countless hours tearing this thing down and changing stuff up. Most of all enjoy it and hopfully you can get a hell of a duckboat outta of it. I would personaly go with the predator, but thats just my opinuion, their all good motors I assume.

what are some good mods for longtails? im going to be using this for an all around boat, like oyster flats and rivers. so im looking for power and speed.

If you're looking for speed, get a sd.

^^^ I'm not sure you're gonna end up with with much "power and speed" from a long-tail kit built up from a knock-off motor and put on a 13' boat. But you are going to spend some money doing it! It's tough to hear, but if you could save some money up, you should be able to get a decent used motor in the 12 to 15 HP range that may be more what you're looking for and not as much of a gamble.

i need to be able to get into the flats at low tide for fishing for red bass. it can get bone dry in places so i need speed and power to get there. a long tail wont do it? and im planning on getting atleast a 16ft jon boat. the 13ft i have now just isnt big enough. ive found a 16hp motor and im considering trying to make a pro drive. is there any plans i can buy besides the pre made ones, those are all i could find and they are just to much for me.

Is there any plans I can buy to make my own pro drive? Or do you just have to buy the pre built ones?

They make pro drive plans. Most banks have them on hand. I think they are calling them financing or payment plans.

There are plans to make surface drive motors, but not specifically pro drives. There are threads on here where folks have done their own build.


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Pro-Drives are a specific brand of Surface drive.

What are your maching capabilities, I would imagine a SD is more than you want to take on.

I know enough to rebuild a small engine and can weld pretty good. And if that isn't enough I can get someone to help, that's not a problem. I just didn't know if there were any SD* plans that I could, preferably have but if not I could buy them. Does anyone have some plans I can have or know where I can buy some?

Call mudbuddy. Pretty sure they have blueprints available for all the "major brand" surface drives on the market.

Call this number. 801-352-1458

A friend of mine sells kits, ask him for the "Gator Tail" Plans.