We took our new 18hp Coophead out today while we were doing demos to see what it would do on one of our Basic Light jons.

Conditions: light wind, deep river channel and sheltered backwater.

Two men 185, 210 Deep water 21.5, backwater 22.6mph.

Three men 185,210,190 backwater 18.9 mph.

It ran well, jumped on step quick and handled great. The Briggs motor is alot smoother then the LCT, it is only 3-4 mph faster then the 12hp, but runs nice and is very easy to drive. This motor is fresh out of the crate, so I think we will see some improvements as it gets a few hours on it, we saw this with the 16hp model we had this spring.

This rig would make a nice two man, dog and gear rig running at 16-18 mph.

PW

pics?

How much does the 18hp weight?

I wanna see pics of this rig it sounds awsome

K...I have a serious question and this is not a bash...I want one of these motors bad....BUT, in a previous post the 16hp was putting up better speeds on this boat...around the 25-26mph mark with 2 men and gear. I know this motor is only 2hp more but should it run at least that and not around 21-22mph like it says in the 1st post of this thread. Is this due to the statement I read about the motor will loosen up as it breaks in? Just asking cause I think this 18hp will be perfect for the light a** rivited 16/48 boat I just got off a buddy

Lucecr , you have asked about the speeds ? every boat will be different because of weight and design ,water , deep or shallow, winds ,current .give gill a call he has ran these motors on a lot of different boats he would be the best to answer that Q's. gill has ran this 18hp on phowler 15/40 , allumacraft15/42
the new classic squareback 16/40 , backwoods landing boat(weldbuilt) all boats are close in size but diiferent in weight and design so speeds will be different, this is not a simple Q's ,all depends on boat design i have a 15/40 phowler with a 16hp ,2 men deep water, with 80lb dog, gun box, life jackets anchor, pushpole ,3 gals of gas ,grab bar ,and a mouth full of Copenhagen(snuff) .average speed 23mph, and my phowler is not a light weight boat but i want a tank for duck hunting and thats what i have and like

I know different boats and there designs will run different. What I was questioning is in a previous post you put up you stated that you spoke with Gil and he tested the 1540 Jon w/16hp and was 25-26mph (2men).....the title of this post list same boat with 2hp more engine and it is running 21-22mph. Both these speeds from what I get from reading are with 2 men safety gear and fuel...just didn't understand why the 18hp would be slower when #'s seem to be close to the same when both motors where tested on same boat....if I had to guess the depth or current had a lot to do with it. I believe the speeds can be there if the set up is right, and I have watched just about every video of these motors that are out there and they really impress me. Wasn't tryin to call anybody out, i am just new to these motors and wanna get the best product for my money Thanks for your explanation

Thanks, that helps a lot. I just haven't been around these things. Having a dad as a pro bass fisherman I grew up with top of the line bass boats and could tell ya just about anything about them. I dont have a clue how mud motors perform. Ya'lls reply have helped a ton and I think I'll get an 18hp. Thanks again.

Who is your dad? And what series does he fish

Elton Luce Jr. he retired from the Elite Series a year or 2 ago. Got tired of giving Van Dam all his money. He is fishing FLW opens this year just to satisfy his competetive side. I think he is 9th in points right now. He has fished everything from Bassing America(National Champion '90, 2time AOTY), PAA, FLW, Bassmaster Top 150, Elite Series, etc....made Bassmaster Classic in '03

Thanks for posting! I will be very interested in hearing more about the Copperhead 18. I may even at some point give someone a very good deal on my Copperhead 12 and switch to the 18. I am getting 20 mph with 2 guys and hunting gear (gps'd on the way back from a hunt - see video in my review) with the 12 hp on my boat but I am interested in load carrying ability because my hunting buddy likes to really load us down and his dog needs to go on a diet.

I thought I had seen someone else say that Copperhead modified the engine mount on the 18, so I would be curious to see how if that is true.

the new 18hp has a brand new frame to handle the extra torque and HP beefed up like a mofo they all look similar but for each different engine the frame have different characteristics to handle different hp also solved the seal promblem almost a year ago so far have had great success i've owned 6.5 -12- 16- and now the 18hp these little mudmotors R killing machine i also own daul PD's also a killing machine but i have found that sometimes bigger isn't always better i've got into tight places with these little rigs that i could not get into with the big rig call someone that has one and go take a ride trust me you will happy

I talked to gil the other day about this motor. He was very helpful told me when I got ready to try one bring my boat down put one on to check it out before I bought one. He is real nice guy don't hesitate to call and ask him anything about them.

Ditto on Gil's willingness to help. I tested the ew 18hp two Sunday's ago on my 16X36 custom rig and buying one this week from him. That engien pushes the hell out of my boat.....

Stats:
16X36 weighing 420lbs.
two guys 185lbs and 170lbs
Deep Water
light wind
we did 23.2 mph on GPS.

Get one of these. That's better stats then what i have seen on the 23hp mb.

UPDATE:

We did a little tweaking of the motor, it was fresh out of the box when we ran it the first time, throttle was not opening all the way and after playing with the trim tabs on the boat we picked up some better speed.

We only had two of us go to the river this time but we had better conditions, river is down and current is down as well.

Two men 205 and 210 - deep water 24.7 average, we hit 26 a few times. Shallow water 1-1.5 feet with areas of only a few inches top speed 25.8 mph.