Hello gentlemen, great info on this website so I thought I would ask the experts. Has anyone

Put a 23 longtail on a Carolina Skiff J16? If so how did it perform speed wise? This boat will be

used in Florida so mostly hard bottom and shallow hydrilla flats, no stumps and beaverdams.

Tampa Bay for fishing and lake Okeechobee/ kissimmee for hunting. I like the carolina skiff

because in the summer the aluminum is too hot and burns me.

Thanks guys for the help.

ps, boat is 330lbs with 42" running surface on bottom (wide) 16' long.

There is a YouTube video of a guy running a surface drive on a skiff.

Thanks, Swampthing but I am pretty certain I want a long tail with the hard sand bottom and reliablilty of the 23 longtail ( pull start, no need for a battery).

I've seen several, but don't have any idea what speed they got. I would expect it to perform fine, maybe a hair slower than an aluminum hull.
say in the range of 15-16 mph with one person.

but that's just a scientific wild ass guess.

I recently saw a thread where the guy was saying he was getting 23 mph out of a 23 GDLT on a 1648 jon

paleohunter, I read that post. The op failed to tell you guys he was running a .063 riveted hull.
that boat probably weighs 240 lbs. I have seen many mud motors on many hulls but never a carolina skiff. We dont have a lot of mud hulls down here in florida, most guys put them on riveted or tracker grizzly and seems the grizzlys are always slow and the riveteds are a crap shoot.
the fastest longtail the guys down here seem to run are the gd23lt and the tracker 1542 topper. had guys say they are getting 23 with two people. I already have the j16 so thoght i would try it first.

Thanks

It doesn't matter if the hull is coke can thick, he's still not getting that number loaded. It's all about displacement and that difference in hull weight is negligible l between those two due to the size. That hull is just too small to go that fast with loaded he described.

I run a 25hp longtail on a similar hull, 16x48 riveted jon. I never GPS'd it, because I just really don't care about speed, it gets me there when I get there and there isn't anything I can do about it. If I had to take a guess based on my running the boat with an outboard, I may get real close to 20mph with 2 people with just fishing gear, probably closer to 18. I really doubt the guy was hitting the speeds he claims, not impossible but unlikely based on the info he posted.

As for your boat, try it, that's about all you can do right? As long as it does it's job and gets you safely to and from where you need to go, that is all that really matters. If you are focused on speed get a SD, that is not what a LT is made for, but a LT will shine in the conditions you mentioned.

Thanks Paleo for the info, All thats left to do is find a 23 and try it. Paleo you are probably getting better speeds than you think from your outboard. Most 1648's being pushed by a 25 will get close to thirty. My j16 with a 25 merc four stroke gets 28 with one person and fishing load. This is a tiller steer, front and rear deck, gps'd.

My outboard was only 18hp, evinrude. I did gps it once to try out my gps app (backcountry navigator), and got 22 mph with just me and basically empty boat.

I got the longtail after I replaced my impeller twice in a year, and had to get out and push my boat a couple of times. I just leave the MM on all the time now, traded my old outboard for an AK 47. I run pretty much the same terrain you mentioned and LOVE my longtail, doubt I will move up to a SD. Once you get over the shock of the tiller torque coming from an OB, you will be very pleased I think. Just wear the kill switch!!