i have a 13' river hawk. narrowed the search down to two motors, stump jumper 7hp longtail subaru-robin, or a 6.5 dixie surface drive briggs. im not really sure what motor to get. both weigh about the same so thats not an issue. boat weighs about 100 pounds. will be running mostly sandy bottom creeks, and sum swamps. which motor do yall think will be faster? im wondering if that surface drive is worth the extra 5 of 6 hundred bucks. any input?? not hung up on either motor those are just the two ive found so far.
thanks fellars

get a longtail as many guys run hm with gheenoes, however im not sold on the stumpjumper.

Get the GD, reason it's been around for 35 years. They have a 6.5.

Stumpjumpers are a great motor and go devil is not worth the extra $$$ over them.

Years back I had the chance to run one of those 12'-6" River Hawk boats with a 5hp Briggs Go-Devil Crawfish model. The hull design felt 'tipsy" with that mud motor and the speed was about max 8-10mph WOT with light load and 1 person. That boat seems like it needed more horsepower yet still needed to be lightly balanced in engine weight.

My suggestion is to Keep It Simple.
The Dixie motor is expensive for that boat and I don't think you gain much with the SD on that boat hull. Plus Dixie MM has some prior "customer relations" problems and they are currently in recovery mode on business practices, and quality control.

Stumpjumper looks OK, Subaru Robin motors are good, but it can be very hard to get hop-up parts for em'. So you may be stuck with mostly stock motor horsepower for a long time.

Maybe get a Stumpjumper frame and put a Honda GX200 (or GX 200 clone) on it? Easy to get about 9 horsepower with some simple race parts; and IMHO that River Hawk needs a lightweight 9hp.

Cheapest and way riskier route for you is a fleabay SPS longtail mudmotor kit and modified Harbor Fright Predator 212cc clone ... about $800-900+ in price---but you need to be mechanically inclined and always vigilant about keeping that Oriental made stuff intact.

Best o' Luck in your search!

I currently run a 13' river hawk with a 7 hp copperhead surface drive. With just me and no gear, other than safety equipment and gas tank, I can run 16 mph. To hit that speed though you have to shift your weight around and it was in shallow water. It will plane off in deep water, but you have to have the trim set perfect or be coming off shallow water. I have the duck boat model and sit on a 5 gallon bucket towards the center of the boat and I have removed the front seat. However, you add gear and a second person it will drop pretty good, not sure on numbers because i never GPS it but probably around 10. Anyways, I love the setup as some of the lakes I hunt are horsepower restricted. Boat is easy to hide and it gets the job done. Feel free to ask any other questions. I was torn between the stump-jumper and surface drive just like you.

much better kit:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-p ... 5623_n.jpg

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 048%2C1366

thanks for the info guys!! ive decided to build one i reckon, gotta keep it cheap. im thinking about getting a preadator engine from harbor freight. i just need to figure out how im going to build it now. ive got all the tools i need. just have no idea on the dimensions like shaft size/length, axel, bearings, u-joints and all that mess. any more info on the build would be great!!!

I dont know if you got a motor yet but I ordered a 7hp PPF today. Will post how weell it works on my Final Attack.

I've got a stumpjumper. Rugged little motor, moves the boat fairly quick. If I had to do it again I would just order the frame and put one of those animal racing engines on it though. Jumps beaver dams, and mud is no problem at all for it. The prop has also lasted to some serious abuse too. The tiger prop on my 27 hasn't held up nearly as good

I Actually built one. Turned out good I got predator 212 built the frame like a Go devil 6.5built the same transom mount as they use . Put racing header, air filter, velocity stack and rejected the carb I'm getting 13mph up river and 15 down river. I can post some pics but I can't figure out how to. Have an iPhone if anybody can tell
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