I'm curious if anyone is running longtailed motors in rocky river's and/or rapids.

My interest in running is because I'm running rivers with lots of submerged obstacles. A regular outboard motors propulsion thrust wants to push the foot of the motor forward, and because the foot is directly under the pivot point where the motor pivots to the net effect is that the motor's trust tries to keep the leg down in position. When in obstacle is struck the motor does not begin to tilt up until the object exerts enough force to overcome the inertia of the motor, plus the full driving thrust of the lower unit. As we all know the motor will tilt up on a big enough object but not without a serious bang.

So the longtailed motors are just perfect for these rocky rivers which often have floating and submerged logs.

I just finished building a homemade diesel longtail outboard motor. It's only 9 hp but it goes pretty good. I'm looking to buy something in the 23 to 27 hp range, with a gasoline engine.

So is everybody running these motors in the mud, or is there anybody else like me who's using these motors in clear water with lots of obstacles?

Greg

This is what one of the sections of river we hunt looks like with the water low. These boulders are typically 6-10 inches under the surface, my longtail does pretty here.

Cool. I'm curious why you bought a long tail. Was it for that kind of water?

My motivation was the submerged obstacles and the need to burn diesel.

Greg

Price!!

OK. Here a US mud motor wouldn't be any less, plus I'd have to import it (Venezuela).

Greg

What type of boat are you gonna run it on? When you say rapids, do you need a lot of speed to run up them?

I like my longtail for the conditions I run, when I hit something submerged the prop just pops up and rides over it. I also like being able to reach around and get better leverage when I get hung up.

i run in those waters. i also run rapids. i have a 1442 with pods for draft. If im running a slow section of river i.e. one that isnt pushed up 5-10ft when hydro turns on, I run a 9hp LT. If i'm running within 10 miles of the dam i use my 16hp LT. it def will push me thru the fast water. I never put in with high water but you never know when it will come on. Learning to line up to run a rapid is the key. you will have to use the LT like an oar and pull the ass end around to line up for a shot. My friend has a SD and he does better in the rapids but i seem to do better in the really shallow stuff cause i can dig holes for push and trim quicker to keep on plane.

Thanks so much for the reply. It's neat to know how other people are using their longtail motors.

For me the best thing about the longtail motors is how the foot lifts just as easily whether you're at full throttle or idle. To me that sets it apart and makes it the best motor to use in water with a lot of hidden obstacles. Around here you're pretty much guaranteed to hit some rocks. I make my own custom GPS maps and I've marked where the rocks are along the way, and when the river is high I can pretty much avoid all of them. I have made long trips without hitting a single rock. But there are some places where when the river is low it's very difficult if not impossible to get through unscathed.

It would be neat to have a powerful enough longtail on a planing hull to get up on plane and go fast, but I'll probably always end up running mine on displacement hulls which still get up and go pretty fast. The nice thing about the displacement hull is that you can run any speed you want, there's no transition from planing to plowing as you slow down. With the planing hull there's always the temptation to keep moving fast enough to not lose the planning affect especially when running a normal outboard because coming off plane means you're going to sit way deeper in the water with a better chance of hitting an obstacle. But staying up on plane means if you do hit an obstacle you're going to hit it a lot harder, so it's an uncomfortable trade-off.

Here in Louisiana, I run on lakes that are filled with submerged stumps, logs, and rocks and that is the biggest reason I run a longtail.

Everywhere I go, I try to stay on plane at a decent speed that way if you hit something you glance off of it instead of a slow crawl over it... Just make sure you install a grab bar in the boat!


Are you native to Venezuela or a American?

I'm an expat.