Can I ask you a question? I just bought a 17 foot excel with a 35 super mudd Buddy on it. I've never had one before, got any advise? Seems like when I have 2 or 3 people in the boat it really bogs down and runs slow, but I see people with same motor on youtube with 3 people in a boat pushing though mudd at 20 MPH. Am I not driving it right?

Any advise?

You might be trimmed too deep, you wanna be turning 3950 rpm's by yourself in the water, throwing a decent roostertail. The game warden here has a MB and he don't know he's trimmed too low. He thinks it's just slow as sht, and we ain't saying anything.

like you stole it...

Handle forward prop rearward

X2 like you stole it

Just keep practicing. Tiller time makes all the difference in the world.

" 35 super mudd Buddy " what the hell is that?
super LT? if so you expect a LT to run like a SD. my stock 35 does good with 3 people but can't do 4 . the ones one youtube may have mods. just because it said 35 don't mean it is 35 hp. I think you can get around 50 hp ( safely ) out of the 35 block. thats why some cost 5g and some are 10g.

Dude it's a mudbuddy it's junk!!

Once in person and on the tiller it come clear to you!! Lol

Thanks DEATHMETALDUKK I took it out on the river today practiced the trim. I was running to deep. I started deep and then trimmed up and the boat moved great. Was running about 25-30 with two big guys in the boat. I'll keep practicing. Thought there for a while I made a huge mistake buying this engine...

Weight distribution will also make a big difference in speeds.

You can do a search on here and find a number of threads talking about it, but you just have to play around with it. Move things around and see what the response to it is... It takes a while to dial it in with different loads... Moving coolers or people just a few feet or even inches sometimes can make a difference in 1 or 2 mph. Forward and back and side to side. You definitely want the boat balanced side to side.

Don't waste your time on the river, no ducks at all.