Just actually picked up a copperhead motor on a 1648 weldbilt boat from backwoods landing in north alabama and typing this on the way back to florida for its new home. We are more than pleased with the service of backwoods landing, and with copperhead. Performance is incredible to say the least. Here's the rundown for anyone looking into them to try and help out as we couldn't find a lot of reviews ourself. 1648 weldbilt flat bottom split seats in back and extended front deck. motor is a 10hp copperhead. Ran it with me and dad, me 200lbs and dad 240lbs. Up river on the tennessee river we could run a constant 16.5 to 17 and downriver 19. Me by myself I was getting 21mph. Boat was not loaded down with anything in it other than the typical gas,life jackets and safety stuff. Will update with loaded down review as well. Thought these numbers were worth posting for anyone who was looking at them and feel free to ask any questions as we will be putting some hours on it in short order.

10 hp seems awfully small for a boat that large. But a friend of mine has an 1852 SDB with a 35 Vanguard PD and he gets the same speeds... Strange to me.

I agree with you, used to have a 1644 gatortrax with a 32 prodrive and sold it cause it would not run near as fast as this one will. Ill take some pictures next time I'm out with the gps to prove it though! I couldn't believe it either myself, but it'll do it.

I'm not saying I don't believe you brother. I'm just saying that it is HARD to believe. Not trying to be a smart ass. I bet that little motor is SCREAMING to push that boat! lol

Thats amazing! I wonder how many rpms that thing is turning? It's a stock motor right?

Didn't take it that way at all man! Yeah it really does run the three minutes we got to run it! Will bee interesting to see how it runs in the shallows as well. All runs were in very deep water. Yes the motor is bone stock, just took purchase of it today. Hope to read a review from someone that puts a stage one or two on one of them. Some of the go kart racers are starting to to use these motors as well. look up lct motors the 12hp is putting out almost the same horsepower as some of the 16hp motors. Someone chine in and correct me though if I'm wrong, but I was comparing them to the briggs engines.

IF you ever drag it back up to North Alabama give me a shout and we'll kill some birds. Plus I'd like to ride in that thing, that's crazy out of a 10 horse.

Man sure wish you would have threw that out there 6hrs ago. We were in mooresville around noon and would have loved to go somewhere up there. Saw tons of birds on the interstate right there in the refuge. Ever around the tallahassee fl area give me a shout as well and ill take you out. Not as many birds as we saw up there from the looks of things though!

Pretty much right on the speeds.
I traded out my 6.5 for a 10. I have a older 1436 rivet jon and it's not a smooth bottom. It drafts alot of water. When I went to Copperhead, I went run it before I left town.
20.6 was max downstream speed. 19.2 upstream. That was me, battery, 2 boatseats, and my drybox with safety gear. Went hunting that weekend and had a loaded boat. 16mph in deep water.
Shallow water, it works great, you'll be satisfied.

Here is my review of my rig. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13996


I think you'll like it if you're not expecting upper 30mph.

Hopefully taking it out in the morning. Getting a blind put on at noon. Will post review of how it performs in the pads and mats down here in florida to see if it has low end as well.

did you get the .100 gauge hull.. I bought my 1548 from there, and Jeremy was very helpful. I like my boat. it is very stable in rough water. good luck!!

.8 on this one. Wanted to keep the weight down to get better performance out of it! Looked at going that route, but its only a 10hp motor.

Been runniing the boat a lot lately. Here is some fuurther updates on the new rig. 2 guys as stated above, 6 dozen decoys,battery,guns, shells and all the other stuff you can think of we were running 16mph deep water. Shallow mud 17.5. Actually got the boat to get up in run in one inch of water. Knew we were stuck, but really suprised me when this thing took off and ran. This motor is just flat out fantastic so far and we couldn't be more pleased with having it. Sure is easy to drive as well if anyone is thinking of swithching from a longtail to somthing easier to drive. Hope this helps out as well. Try and get a quick video or two from my phone the next time were out as well.

hey cmiller what did that 10hp run you i dont see a price listed on their site for anything other than the 6.5, im weighing my options still trying to decide between the longtail or surface drive

Atlong, if your ever around the tallahassee area give me a shout. We'll take you out on ours. There's a dealer there as well, but he's the worst there is to do buisness with. That's why we went to backwoods landing in alabama. Just my 2 cents for what its worth!

thanks UF ill definatly look you up if im over that way.

atlong, I have 1436 rivet hull that I have with a 10hp on it. I have a review of it on here.
With me, my boat seat, battery & drybox, I got 20.6mph.
With me, my son, guns, 13' pirogue, 2 sacks of decoys, we hit just over 16mph.

With a 12hp, I think it's possible to get 20mph loaded down like I was.

I don't think it would matter where you hunt. It's going to be all about prefrence when it comes to deciding between LT & SD. The areas I hunt are similiar to what you have. I've crossed flat lake in 4-6 inches of water with soft/sandy bottom. No issues.
It's all a matter of prefrence, ease of use and drivability. The copperhead is like driving an outboard.

And if you think you'll be starting and stopping, get the electric start already on it.

ight thanks alot cmiller now its time to decide what i want. thats gonna be the hard part. are LTs really that hard to drive id only be looking at a 20 horse LT

Well, in order to put the prop in the water on a LT, you have to be standing up. I sit and drive mine just like any outboard with a tiller. When I'm idleing, I stand up, but when I'm at speed, I sit. As I said, much easier and comfortable to drive a SD than a LT.

You can sit and drive a lt if the seat if far enough ahead.

There is definetly a learning curve to driving a lt but its not bad once you learn it.

I have a 1442 and it hasnt been a problem yet, I sit on a bucket a foot behind the middle bench where the passengers sit.

We just put a lil gear behind me to even out the weight.

ight thanks guys im still up in the air as to what i want, it will all boil down to money really if i get a nice junk of change for my tax refund and my scholarship refund i might go with a copperhead.

also what size boat would be the biggest i could run that 12 copperhead on. bc if i get one of those id like to use it on a bigger boat in time when moneys a little better.

Might have missed it but what size props are these little guys running on them.

I believe that a lot of credit goes to Hopkins Propellers for
designing the prop these motors are using....

They offers multiple options but I'm guessing 12x10 is the one putting
out the better speeds on the lighter rigs....

It is very similar to the Hopkins design used by GD and PD for years
but tweaked for these machines...

That prop/picture is the older design 6.5hp. Things have changed and the 6.5hp I had was spining a 9x7 with some heavy cup. The 10hp I have now is closer to a 11x7 with heavy cup.

I'm thinking of getting a 10x8-9 or so for better speeds. But Copperhead has tried many different props and found the best all around prop for these small motors.

has any one put a tac on these i live in south fl i have a 6.5 with a tac and its turning around 4300 rpms and im told its a stock engine if so its not going to last very long

I was told by Gil that they are running just over 4k. That is out of water RPMs right?
Specs say 3850+/- 150 rpm. Your tac may be off a bit but you are close on RPMS. Just don't over rev it when not in the water. It'll turn about 500 less in the water with a load on the prop.

You where close on the rpm Chang but I was coming through the brush today I had just looked at the tac and it was turning 4100 rpms and about 10 seconds later I heard o loud sound and the engine started to drop rpms just after that the engine locked up I had to set there fir about 3 hrs befor someone came by and gave me a towe. I think I'm going back to the godevel I never had any problems with them

Whipman, you joined the forum on Jan. 21st.

Posted on the 23rd that "your" Copperhead was "running too high RPM's" and if so "these motors wouldn't last long".

Then, to complete a brief, coincidental and possibly questionable string of events, the very next morning on Jan 24th yours "locked up".

Maybe you should change your name to "Prophet" (or not).

Well realy I think I need to change my name to just unlucky. You no I was going to take the motor off and check it out and to my shock the engine was ok but my bottom shaft is locked up don't no if it's the bearings or what but my belt box was full of water. Still trying to figure out what happend

General maintenance man. I remove the drain plug after every trip. I grease everything up before every trip. A little prevention can save you alot of headache.

X2 to that, these little motors need to be checked over after every use. We check for water and ice after each use, clean the grass and wound up decoy line etc from the prop shaft and grease one pump or so after each trip. Again, these are light weight simple motors and drives, they need to be maintained properly to hold up over the longterm.

Glad it is not a motor issue, Gil will take care of you on the drive issue, he stands behind his product.

PW