The following is my review of the Mud-Skipper Longtail Motor Kit

Specs on the rig are as follows:
Boat: 1432 Duracraft modified V
Motor: 6.5 HP / 212 CC Predator (Harbor Freight)
Kit: Mud-Skipper 5-7 HP longtail motor drive system

Background:
I use my rig primarily for duck hunting in marshes and rivers in Kansas and Missouri. Looking to do some duck hunting on the Kansas river, I first attempted to use a regular outboard and promptly realized this was a bad idea (it can be done, but only if you know all the channels really well). I kept grounding out on sandbars and eventually nailed a submerged log which pretty well ended the excursion. Also the outboard sucked up a bunch of sand and screwed up the cooling system.

Having heard about longtails and mud-motors, I decided to give one of these kits a try. I didnt want to spend more than $800 and therefore the Go-Devils, Mud Dogs and Beavertails were out of my range. My goal was to find something really inexpensive just to tinker around with and see if I wanted to get more serious about mud-motors.

What I Found:
The 2 least expensive kits on the market are both Thai style longtails. They are the following:

SPS a.k.a. Swamp Runner. This is the kit found on http://www.mudmotorkit.com. This is a Thai kit made by SPS and imported by Swamp Runner which is run by Jon Dobbs

KKK a.k.a. Mud-Skipper. This is the kit found on http://www.mud-skipper.com. This is a Thai kit made by KKK (must mean something different in Thailand) and imported by Mud-Skipper which is run by Mike Caswell of the Caswell Companies.

There are some really nice American made kits available as well, but most of these started at around $1,000. Also they require a few more tools and the ability to weld, which I lack

My Review:

Note: I have seen a few nasty posts on this site and around the web between Mike Caswell and supporters of Jon Dobbs bashing each other's motors. I have no affiliation with either of these people. When I purchased the Mud-Skipper kit I couldn't find any reviews online so thought I would give it a full review.

Kit: Mud-Skipper 5-7 HP longtail motor drive system
Cost of Kit $350 including UPS shipping ($295 prior to shipping)
Cost of motor: 6.5 HP Predator, cost $110 at my local Harbor Freight

Tools required: You will need a crescent wrench, some pliers and a screw driver. A socket-wrench set makes things much quicker. Also if you want to customize the throttle location a drill and some metal drill bits are necessary.

Quality of instructions: The instruction manual that came with this weren't very good. Fortunately the kit is pretty simple so most people that have ever tinkered around with a lawn mower can probably figure it out. The kit is similar enough to SPS's motor kit that you can get online and use their instructions and videos if you want.

Time to assemble: Took me roughly 6-hours, but I was also watching a James Bond marathon and drinking some beer. I think if you knew what you were doing, could be done in 1-1/2 hours.

Engine mount: The Thai-style engine mount that comes with this kit is designed to fit on the wooden thwart of a boat more than on an aluminum transom. The depth of the clamp is pretty shallow and the clamp screws are designed to dig-in to the wood a little bit. This is not ideal if you are going to mount this on the aluminum of a jon-bot transom. That being said, once the clamps are attached the thing is pretty sturdy and is not going anywhere. The SPS kits are now modified by Swamp Runner to use a deeper transom clamp that also has rubber pads, similar to what most American outboards use. This would be nice, but not sure if its worth an extra $100 to get the SPS kit. I plan to put a strip of stiff rubber on the inside of my transom for the time being.

Tiller Assembly: The tiller is sturdy and works well, but is designed for the user to sit in front of the motor and hold the tiller under his or her arm. Also works well if you put one knee on the rear bench of your jon boat and have your body facing sideways to the boat. If you wanted to put a custom tiller on to enable standing operation it would be pretty easy.

Throttle Assembly: Kit comes with a choice of 2 throttles. One is a push only which relies on the spring on the motor to throttle-down when you let go. The other is a push / pull that will maintain its speed if you let go. I used this one and would recommend taking the spring off your motor if you do so. These are both thumb-style throttles designed to be used with the tiller under your arm and the throttle in front of you. I used this way it is pretty comfortable. If you want to sit in front of the tiller with the throttle behind you I recommend getting a hand-brake type throttle or even a lawnmower throttle (another $10-$12).

Tail Assembly: The tail assembly bolts directly to the motor and is pretty simple - just a piece of heavy galvanized steel pipe and a propeller shaft. It is about 7' long and looks pretty ungainly out of the water. Once on your boat and in the water, the tail works as a nice counter-weight to the motor. I found that the weight and length of the tail helps to balance the whole thing on the transom. I was a little worried that the length of the tail would make it flimsy (doesn't have any additional reinforcing like American made ones do). Having run over several logs and gone through a number of sand bars so far the thing has help up without any issues.

Bushings: The big criticism of the Thai style motors is the nylon bushings in the drive shaft. I have not had enough hours on my motor to determine if these will hold up. Alternative would be to replace with a brass bushing. The KKK motor kit I bought uses an orange colored nylon bushing, and as far as I can see from pictures so does the SPS.

Grease fittings: The KKK motor and the SPS use a simple grease fitting that you can un-screw and add grease. I think the SPS has 1 additional fitting on the motor mount, but not sure what this really adds to the design.


Propellers: Another criticism of the Thai kits is the aluminum prop. Both the SPS and KKK use the same aluminum props. I haven't lost mine yet, but I would say if you really nailed something with it, it is going to break off. According to the manufacturers of these kits, they use aluminum props so as a sacrificial part so that the prop breaks instead of the propeller shaft. Fortunately the props are cheap and easy to replace, so if you did lose one you could swap-out with a spare while still on the water pretty easily. If I had this thing in a really rocky area or someplace strewn with lots of thick underwater branches I would be a little worried about losing props.

Using the motor:

I took this thing on a day-long cruise on the Kansas River. Overall I was pretty happy with it. My experience as follows:

Speed: With the boat's plywood framed interior, car battery, trolling motor, swivel seats, dog and myself I have roughly 450 lbs of stuff in the boat. With the 6.5 HP motor I was probably running around 8 MPH up-steam into a headwind and 10-11 MPH downstream. I think if I put this in an unloaded boat I could probably hit 15 MPH. With a 13 HP motor you would really be flying.

Maneuverability: Like most long-tails this thing turns like the Titanic. You wouldn't want to take it on really narrow creeks, but for most rivers it is plenty maneuverable. However - I actually enjoyed the slow turning as it makes it less likely to 'over-turn' like you can with a regular outboard. You dont have to pay near as much attention and was really enjoyable to steel and cruise down the river.

Handling of obstructions: I ran over several submerged logs that hit the bottom of the jon boat. I didn't have to manually raise the motor - the skag made it literally skip right over the log. This is useful as at 8 mph there isn't enough time to react and lift the motor. In this regard it worked as promised, making my trip down the river very worry-free when it comes to logs.

Mud & Sand: With a little speed built-up I was able to run this through 6" of water above some sand bars without any issue. At this shallow depth the propeller starts to skip in-and-out of the water as it hits waves in the sand. When it does this you will rapidly lose speed, so be careful how wide the sand-bar is when you try this. As long as you lean on the motor and jamb it down into the mud you can clear some pretty shallow water. On most sand bars at about 3-4" the boat itself would run-aground. When I lifted my fat ass out of the boat and cranked the motor it started to move again. I think if I was in an unloaded jon-boat and some good speed built-up I would have cleared the bar in 3" of water. The cold water turns the mud and sand into a pretty solid consistency this time of year so it is more like running aground on rock than mud. I would like to update this review when the river is really muddy during the summer.

Overall:

Considering I paid only $450 for the KKK / Mud-Skipper motor setup (including the motor) I am pretty happy with it. I have not tried a SPS / Swamp Runner but for another $100 extra I am not sure what you are getting other than a deeper transom mount.

In short: Is this a high-performance mud motor? NO. Will it move your boat at super-high speeds over miles of mud-flats? NO. Does it have a lot of bells and whistles and other features? NO. Will it perform as a simple mud motor for your river and marsh hunting expeditions- YES. Was the price right for what you get? HELL YES.
Would I recommend it as an entry level motor YES. I have had enough fun with this thing that I am hooked on the mud motor concept. I will use it for a few hunting seasons and then upgrade to a nice 15 HP American made model for the long term.

For proof that I really own this thing and that I am not just a schill for Mud-Skipper or SPS I have attached a few photos, one of which includes my dog (a miserable failure as a hunting dog, but a cutie nonetheless)

Hope this was helpful

John

looks like a nice rig man,nice pics i hope it holds up for you.. i almost got one of those kits a long while back but where i fish/hunt i would tear that thing up in the summer months,esp when sulphur river gets low its stumps and mud.

here is another good review i really enjoyed the whole thing,made a good read..

http://forums.iboats.com/non-repair-out ... 03792.html

I'm anxious to read your review when you finally get an American longtail and realize what you've been missing! Nonetheless, I hope this one holds up for you. It'll just set the hook in you a little deeper the longer you run it...


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I am glad it worked out for you. In my opinion that rig is not good for the marsh. I had a SPS and I would of needed 20 props to make it to my spots. The one trip I made it 200 yards and it broke 3 props and that was threw lilies. The only way I made the rig somewhat work was making a shaft for it that would take a ss prop.

The boat and motor both were somewhat experimental for me. River hunting is not huge in this part of Kansas & Missouri, and for the most part all the good marshes have easy road access so mud boats aren't very common

I Got the boat on craigslist for $200 as a fixer-upper, so didnt feel right spending $2000-$3000 on a motor.

I am starting to do research on nicer Jon boats - I want to get an all-weld so that I can put a higher HP American motor on there to be able to take some abuse at high speeds.

When it comes to which American made motor is best, I will have to start cruising the forums to get some ideas

I am taking her out on a lake where there are some shallow mud flats this weekend, hopefully will have some fun

I havent tried this in a true marsh yet so cant speak to its reliability through thick grass, weeds, branches, etc.

All the 'marshes' in this part of the state are man-made and get mowed & cleared during the summer, so they are pretty tame. I think if I were in a wild marsh and had to travel some distance to get home I would agree this motor rig would make me nervous.