I'm curently running a 25LT on a light 1848 boat. Boat runs acceptable until it stops. So basically we are hunting a spot that the boat actually sits on the bottom. So when we go to leave this thing will move the boat a few feet then it loses bite. I have tried many different things. I have tried to bury the prop, lift the prop and everything in between. High RPM low RPM and seems that no matter what I do i can't get it to get up and go in the mud. We just creap out till we get to a little deeper water. So with not having a lot of experiance with one I'm wondering if it's me or just nature of the beast or the setup? And wondering if of course a surface drive would be easier to operate and run out of this area? Thanks.

Same thing happens to me with my 20gdlt/1448. I hunt about 3" of water and wild rice .but if you jumped out of the boat you would never hit the bottom. My biggest prob is the dead rice plants that build up in the shaft/skeg causing cavitation . Once I get back out to a foot of water I can run on plane. Not sure if there is a solution...

do a circle

He means boat. Did you try low-med speed? Try taking off at the highest possible speed that allows the prop to bite. Then, gradually increase the throttle as you gain speed. If its hard bottom and no enough water your only option is to do what you are doing.

Make sure you still have cup in your prop as well. But some types of mud are horrible for getting it to bite.

Gearhead, you are asking a lot of the 25lt on an 1848 full of hunting gear. As da go geter mentioned check cup in prop, you could also send to godevil and have heavy cup put in it. just because prop is new doesn't mean you haven't worn the cup. I would think in your situation more horse power is needed, either longtail or sd. there is a lot of friction on an 1848 sitting on bottom.
First I would add cup even if you think its fine. good luck

If your boat is ribbed it has more drag than a flat bottom. 18x48 pretty big load. Make sure you have a well cupped prop as others have suggested.

You could also try gator glide on the bottom of your boat!

Gearhead, yes, an 18 foot boat would justify you buying a 35 hp motor.. Longtail or surface drive is up to you. If you are starting and stopping in hard bottom or grinding/ crawling through your hunting grounds I would stick with a longtail. IF you mostly run wide open on plane than a surface drive might be better. I have to start out on hard bottom shallow water so I prefer a
longtail. Before you spend any money though, get your prop recupped. How fast are you running empty and what rpm are you turning?

Might be a stupid question but have you tried rocking the boat back and forth while digging the prop in? I run a sand bottom but when I get close to running out of water I rock it to keep a little water going under the boat.

Ask a mud prop man to put a triple cup in your wheel (at the very least a double). I get my props triple cupped from Glen Hopkins in Covington, La and he triple cups 'em for me. I loose a few rpm's on top end but gain in straight mud or sand.

How tall is your transom?

Play with the weight distribution as well. You'd want the boat to draft as level as possible and now plow the front or drag the bottom.

You need a mm with reverse so you can dig you a hole to get your momentum up and step it. In thick mud a Gatortail is the best out their hands down all other don't even reply to this post it's pretty useless!!

Gearhead, I think kibb just answered your original question " is it me"? I think it is your power robbing 20" transom with a standard length lt not giving you enough thrust. A 35 gator tail would be fun though.

Gear head, make sure you test drive in your hunt area before you spend your hard earned cash.

How long is the shaft on that motor?

Someone mentioned it earlier but I would recommend trying one of the slick bottom coatings. There are several out there like gator glide, steel flex, frog spit, etc.. I hunt a saltwater marsh that has hard sand bottoms with an inch of mixed mud on top. If you don't watch the tide you are left high and dry. Last year I got stuck a few times and trying to push the boat out on top of the mud/sand mixture was like trying to push the boat over sandpaper. Two of us couldn't push a small 1448 and were stuck there until the tide came back. I used one of the coatings and tested the difference. By myself I can push the boat over dry sandbars now.

speckledtrout, Kibb has already identified problem, mismatched motor transom height.
Any money he spends now is bad money. He either needs a new motor or boat or cut his transom down to 16". slick bottom works great on flat airboat hulls or flat mud motor hulls. The money and effort is not worth it on ribbed jon boat hulls. I personally like to use frog spit on airboat hulls.
I can usually get fifty hours of wear, combined dry pasture and water.

Personally, I would notch and taper the transom to accommodate the motor. Cut it to 16 or 17". That's the part of the problem maybe along with stick time.

Gearhead, I think Kibb was jus trying to help you out. Notchhing the transom would be a minimal expense. Even IF you are going to a surface drive notching the transom should be a significant gain in performance, and could salvage your season. When you sell your rig you would have a matched motor, boat combo. IF you have the coin for a new gt, of course buy it and a mud hull.
good luck with whatever you decide.