I am trying to decide what make of motor to purchase and the only one I have not read any reveiws of is the Beavertail Surface Drives, I am pushing a big boat sometimes long distances with heavy loads so I will be adding a stage one kit so lets hear what you all have to say about Beavertail and Beavertails with mods.

have you seen them motors with the motorcycle engines on them they are up in the 70hp range and they look good

Thanx for the info CB and thanx for callin that dude on his BS about not having any problems with modding out his MB himself. Fowl Habbit I beleive not to say it was intentional but it could have steered a guy wrong I don't have the option of testing any of these motors so this forum is very important to me. On the Beavertail I did see at least one guy that listed his rig as running one though and I have to say that they have excellent customer service when I sent them questions they responded and there national sales rep called me a guy name Rick Alsen and he was staight up about what they had to offer and I liked what he had to say, not to say I am going to buy one but I am certainly not ruling it out. Thanx again for keeping everyone honest.

Nothing against BT - but - never ever seen their SD in the water....

Seen lots of their LTs - even owned one for a short while but out of
literally hundreds of SDs never ever saw one in the water or on a trailer...

But word on the water is you don't want the 40hp with the stock carb - you
would be happier with the 35hp..... MB did a limited run of the 40s with light
mods, but seemingly dropped them quickly.... Something about the power and
torque curves - every mfg took a good hard look at 'em and passed....

I was kinda wondering how Beavertail ended up with the Cabela's deal. Sympathy?

I think it's safe to say the beavertail boat is more designed for more Northern waters where you're not necessarily on top of mud all the time. That said, I've spent a lot of time in a couple of them and they are very nice boats. Really well thought out and put together for duck hunting. Can't think of a boat I'd rather be in....I think that's how the Cabelas deal happened. If you don't have to have your rig in mud a bunch (For us guys that live North of LA), this is what you want.....plus they were the first to market their stuff really aggressively....and if you're Cabela's....you're looking for something with nationwide brand recognition.

That said, that's all about the boat. I've not heard much good about their surface drive motors. Their longtails have a loyal following, but lots of complaints around on the surface drives. That's why we have a 35 GTR on the back of ours. Some of you may remember Gator Tail was partnered with Beavertail before Beavertail started making their own SD's.

Correct me if Im wrong but Cabelas did have the GD or MB for a while

I've never seen one anywhere but at Cabelas. It was in the parkin lot on one of their turnkey rigs. I looked it over for a lil bit, but it really reminded me of one of those build it youself, bolt together kits you can get online. My b-i-l has a 35 BT lt and loves it, been a really good motor for past 5-6 yrs.