Hey guys, got a question for you longtail runners.

I recently bought a used 2001 mud buddy longtail. it has the 25 HP Kohler engine unknown hours and no tach. I went crawdad trapping last night and it started running weird. It ran fine for about 1/4 mile then started surging and losing power. I let it idle for about a minute and it ran good again for about 500-600 yards and started losing power again. It did it all night, if I returned it to idle RPMs it would run better for about a minute. It starts very easy every time.

I pulled the air filter and noticed a little bit of fuel spraying up out of the carb. The fuel is new and I put about 8 ounces of sea foam in the 6 gallon tank. I checked the plugs and the gap is good. Any thoughts or suggestions?

On a positive note we caught about 500 crawdads!

Is the tank venting?

Why don't you measure them "crawdads" by the pound?

I didn't think to try taking the cap off to see if that would solve it while I was running it, the vent was open on the cap. I noticed this afternoon that the original fuel pump was broken and was replaced with a "universal" fuel pump, could this be the problem? I can post a picture of the modification if needed.

I am in Idaho, we like to complicate things here ! We usually just count them as we are transferring them to the cooler we use for purging. We weighed them this afternoon and came up with 42 pounds.

This is the broken fuel pump and the aftermarket replacement. Would this cause the stalling problems and should I put an OEM pump back on it?

Had pretty much the same problem. Is the Bulb on your fuel line staying hard? if not you may have a leak. Next time try pumping the bulb while it's running. In my case i replaced everything between the engine and the fuel tank.

There is currently no bulb on the fuel line, but I bought one to put on it. There is an Evinrude quick connect on the line for the tank, should I swap this out for a permanent fitting?

I got it fixed. Took the carb apart and it was filthy!! It looked it had never been winterized or cleaned. Put it back together and it runs like a raped ape now! I got to put a grab bar on the boat, it about threw me out the back when it took off LOL!

10-4 on the dirty carb. A rebuilding kit is not a bad idea. I always run Sta-bil or similar product to counteract contaminants, water, etc. Problems set in when you let the motor lie around for a long time...of course check fuel lines for leaks, cracks, replace where needed- I carry some spare lines, kill switch, fuses, plugs,etc. I'n not sure what altitude you run at- if you continue to have problems the fuel pump flow rate should be checked. A friend had a 24 HP Honda that gave him fits and it took three different pumps to get it right- but then the motor broke internally- bad luck and finicky motor. I have a 27 Kohler MB longtail and I don't have/need a bulb on the fuel line- my motor came equipped with a hydraulic pump which did get varnish on the screen and I replaced it, that was pretty simple. Early on I removed the foam "precleaner" that came fitted onto the round air filter- I think I get improved air flow with just the air filter. Have fun with your longtail!