im new to the mudmotor scene and would just like to know some basic stuff like who makes the best motor for the money, and i was planning on running a short tail on a 1442 and i didnt know what size to put it on, and i would also like to know if the reverse feature is worth the extra money
thanks,

go with a bigger boat, reverse is worth every penny when u need it but u can get by without it. go test drive. good luck.

x2 on what Stumpy said

jsar09: if u'r close to da morgan city area i'd more dan happy to take for a test run! more dan likely, a few of de udda makes & models will be around so u could see em' all in action!

Reverse is a must have. Whole other level of mud motoring.

20'..... or at least 17'. lol

I have a 1546 with a 24hp shorttail. I would think a good reasonable combo for your 1442 would be a 23hp mini. as the minis weigh less which is going to be a concern with such a small boat. I run low 20's (23-24 mph)wiht me and another guy in my boat.

who all makes short tails with reverse. i know pro drive and gator tail do.
and i wanna keep my hp at 25 or under because arkansas WMA laws prohibit anything bigger

GT & PD are the only ones with reverse.

You're going to have to buy a pretty small motor for your jon boat. It won't be long before you're going to tear up your boat... then you'll be wanting to buy a true mudboat hull. But you're going to want to go bigger, and you won't be able to because it'll be too big for your small motor to push. So what I'm saying is... it never hurts to consider selling your whole rig and making a premium on it with the outboard, then taking your earnings and apply it to a good used rig. There's some good deals on here from time to time. Just something to think about.

thanks, thats really what i would like to do because im on a budget, and i had thought about that, but couldnt really find a whole lot of used rigs until i found this site, thanks for that input.

what about power trim over manual? is it worth the extra money?

crews is right i have a good little rig but want a 1748 MM hull. To replace my 1546 trition. I should have sold it with the Yam. outboard and started from scatch.

Hydraulic trim is the shit. No reverse blocks needed with it, and you can dial in the reverse trim angle for optimal reverse performance.......it's way mo'betta than the winch was.

jsar09

IMO - the absolute best rig I have seen in action under the 25hp limit
is the 18x36 godevil skiff and 23 godevil surface drive

runs good speeds and cuts through weeds like a knife
carries 2 guys and gear well too for such a narrow hull

there was one on craigslist a few weeks ago

so is just a regular modified v 1542 aluminum boat not gonna work to well with a short tail, lets say a 23 hp?

The first surface drive I purchased was a 23 Hyper balanced which weighed around 180 or so and I used it briefly on my 1542 Quachita flat, overall it worked alright for a 1 person rig, but throw another in, along with a dog and decoys and it fell on it's face. I then picked up a 1748 Beavertail hull and it was a world of difference, speeds where better both loaded and unloaded, draft was better.

It will work, but it is far from an ideal setup.

ok. see the reason i thought thats what i wanted is because there will be times when im going to want to go fishin out of it in places where i dont necessarily have to have a mud motor to get there, so really what im sayin is that i want something that will do both jobs, and something thats not so huge that i cant take it into the timber also...i guess what im saying is idk whats the best thing if i plan on doin a little bit of everything

Caddo Dennis fishes out of his ProDrive boat atleast 3 times a week... he loves it! I know he's reading this, but he doesn't have a screen name, so I"ll say it for him.

jsar09

it is all about power to weight and buyancy

the mud motors are 180 to 200 lbs in the 25hp and under class

will your boat float that kinda weight ? test it with 3 or 4 extra
batteries stuck at the back with your outboard to simulate the weight
see how she floats

personally never seen anything under 16 long do well
not to say it doesn't happen

also mud hulls have more upright sides so they are not much wider at the
beam than at the bottom, where normal jons are about 12" wider at the
beam than the bottom, this helps the mud hulls get through the timber

ok thanks, i guess thats what i wasnt understanding was the weight.
the boat i saw that i liked that looked the most like what i would like was a 1548 beavertail, maybe a 16....is that a good choice?

Yea - now yer talking...

http://www.explorebeavertail.com/aluminumboats.html

These are made for a mud motor - slick bottom - pointed bow - all welded
100 gauge so they are light... 16x48 - 17x48 - 18x48 are all good choices...

Only complaint I might have is the width at the beam...

http://www.go-devil.com/18x30-36_Duck_Skiff.html

Is the GoDevil skiff I was mentioning and it's way cheaper if you
are buying new...

Although the Beavertail is a decent boat, when one compares dollar to dollar there are some better designed hulls out there. The rake angle where it transitions to the bottom on the BT, along with the pods have a tendency to make it plow when in big waves or when heavily loaded. Another thing is even tho it has longitudinal bracing like a normal mud hull, it also is braced in between them, but tight to the bottom so every stump/rock hit creates a cup over time at each of these cross braces effectively making it look like a washboard and slowing the hull down. They are not that much lighter than a .125 hull, maybe 50-60lbs at most before the foam in the floor gets saturated.

amen Mitch! as far as GoDevil skiff... I'm sure they're nice boats, but i wouldn't think they'd be optimum for fishing...

i like the go devil surface drive boats, because they have the front deck, and the same with the beavertail, the only thing i like better about the beavertail is the two gun boxes it comes with and the wide open hull with no middle seat....those two are really the style boat i would like to have, who else makes some like that?

GTR23 and a GTB1840