i have been thinking bout getting a mud motor. the river where i live has been getting lower and lower every year. how well do mudmotors do in a shallow, sandy river?

Sand is the devil when it comes to MM props. How shallow are we talking? If its not too shallow you may want to go outboard/tunnel hull route.

they dont

Thats why I asked about how shallow it actually is. If he wont be grinding on bottom, or is just drafting a lil too much right now, it might be quicker to have a shallow outboard setup with load carrying capabilities, ease of operation, etc etc. This is how many of us run down river (shallow and sandy) to get to the mouth of the lake where the MMs are parked (pretty long haul). I gave this option because it sounds like its not too bad as of now. All depends on his answer.

We have a good amount of sandy bottoms here, the prop just bounces on them. You could wear out a prop every year running here.

Sand is da DEVIL!!!!!!

SAND = New Prop.

I'd go with a longtail.

thanks for your answers. the river is not '' all '' shallow, only here and there where the river widens out. during the summer the river gets where you can't run parts of it with a regular outboard. those are also the times when the fish are biting i'm looking for a motor that acts as much like a regular outboard as possible. without reverse of course, those motors are just too heavy . i want to use as ligt a boat as i can, so i can drag it if i need to. but, i still want a little speed for those long runs. also has anyone ever tried remote steering on these mud motors? and i'm not talking about using a steering wheel. i'm talking about stick steering, in the front of the boat.
once again thanks for your answers.

Here's what West Bay sand did to my prop...

sandyprop.jpg

Buy an airboat. Then you won't even worry bout dry ground.

i wish i had a picture of my boat. its a 14x48 riveted triton with a mb 23 mini lite. i put it together for just what you want to do. it works great. light enough to drag and runs very shallow. so far tthe riveted boat has held up very well about three years running. i hear about transom problems and rivets getting loose but i think running water and not real mud causes those problems. i havent seen any flex or rivet problems. the transom on my boat is bone stock.

I've been running a jet pump in areas that I used to run a MM. If you have true sand that is hard enough to bounce a skeg or a rock guard on a PD you might be ok. Now, if you have a rock guard you may not be able to dig down to get off a sand bar. We have a clay/sand soil mix that means the bottom feels like mud but grinds a prop like sand. What you will find is that you will lose top end and then you will lose hole shot and then you will buy a new prop. DMD is right, I was using a prop every six months. Not even a lot of running. I could literally burn a prop in one trip if I got stuck in the right spot.
One thing I would consider is UHMW. Now, if you try to slide over a sand bar you will go farther and be stuck farther from water. But, if you use your brain you may be able to slide it off a lot easier if you beach it.
Jets are not perfect either. I hit a rock yesterday and took a chunk out of the jet foot. Bedrock > cast aluminum at 30mph. I have UHMW fins on the foot to protect it. S/S threaded rod holds them on. They also help with cavitation. The rock smashed the aluminum into the S/S threads. Not sure how I'm gonna fix it. But, I was able to run with no difference in speed. May just take the fins off and run the foot old-style until I kill it all the way.

BOAT= Break Out Another Thousand.