Just wanted to thank everyone for their help. I know the same questions over and over! Picked up the boat 1644 split seat and 27 Kohler Lt. Go-Devil did a great job IMO and the boat and trailer everything ready to go and first class. Ran 21-19.6 with 6 gals fuel heavy marine batt, cooler, dog and 70lb kid/240 adult. This is light load? My daughter has named the boat... "death boat". We smashed into a tree while leaving the launch and just about every other tree on our "swamp tour". Not a good first run. It has been a long time since I have run a LT and the 27 is a real handful compared to my old 16. Went for a ride with the dog this morning in the marsh and had much better luck but still managed to "round" a few turns in the curvy bayous. THank god for that round bottam and grab bar!! Hopefully it gets easier but DAMM that motor is a handful and I am not a small guy (6'3 240). It will do what I need but don't think it will be a "pleasure craft" ! Thanks for the help again and any tips or driving lessons would be appreciated. How the hell do you turn these bastards!

Make sure you are idling in a sharp turn. I have a 35 LT and it is more of a bear than the 27.

Shift your weight when you turn. You can use your hip to make right turns. Let off the throttle in tight turns.

you can actually turn the boat 180 in a very short distance (approximately 1 boat length). going just a hair over idle, turn the tiller to left or right quickly as far as you can reasonably reach, then lift the prop and skeg out of the water, and the boat will safely make a sharp turn.

with a little practice, this method helps with picking up decoys, maneuvering around docks, etc. I do this to help herd a group of decoys by pushing them together so i can quickly retrieve my them after hunting.

keeping half the prop out of the water helps in turns that are very sharp. otherwise, take turns as wide as possible and just barely on plane. WOT on straight aways.

no substitute for stick time. that 27 WILL slide sideways on you in the mud if you turn too sharp at WOT. a 9x6 prop will have less handle torque than a 9x7.

you can also have your handle lengthened a foot to gain some leverage/ turn easier.

I am 5'10" and 125 soakin wet.

I started the game with a 13hp lt, it almost killed me the first trip out but before long it was like driving a 9.9 outboard.

Next was a 24 Honda which is about comparable to your 27, it was hard to handle the first time out but now its not a problem at all. I use my body and put my feet on the sides of the boat to turn it sharp. I don't let off much if at all to turn. Right turns are no problem, in a left turn I lean forward and pass the tiller behind me with my foot resting on the side of the boat. When it is time to get straight I use every bit of my ass to turn it back

I have found the hardest time to turn is at about 2300 RPM's off plane and bogged down, its also when I am prone to take water over the back.

First of all, congratulations! Those speeds you posted are very good- I mean how fast do you want to be going when you hit a tree or submerged stump? From what a friend described when he owned the same 1644 GD boat, the boat definitely drifts on turns and like everyone said, slow down accordingly. My 1648 grizzly is not a true mud hull but does ok with the 27 MB LT- after adding steelflex it also made the boat drift sideways a little, like an airboat, so I have compensated for that by shifting my body weight a little and slowing down.These motors are definitely not for wimps or whiners- just think how fit and strong your left arm will be after a whole season of this madness! Each hull is different and you'll find the "sweet spot" for placing your gear on board- I found that by relocating the battery up front, this small weight shift helped, it may not be suitable for yours. I think that for your bayou environment and my shallow water/hard bottom marsh, the longtail is a better fit than a shorty.

Thanks again for the tips. i wonder if cocco ever cosidered a "shallow drive" type of trim like on small outboards? it could be adjusted like the manual trim on his surf models. when you get into curvy situations just trim the motor up and "surface drive" the prop until you get straight? would have to be like a flip up lever versus the srcew style on surf drive. Hell I might just call and ask him! thanks again for the congrats and responses

It's just stick time podnah, stick time.

Just take it out and run the hell out of it youll figure it out. after a lil while youll be able to run the prop on the surface with out even haveing to look back to check on it. Run it enough and itll be second nature.