First off, this will be going on a 14ft semi-v fishing boat, not a Jon boat so I know I won't get the optimum performance for mud motoring, but in MN I have vegetation to deal with, not mud flats.

I was looking at getting one of the mud skipper long tail kits. This Sunday, harbor freight has an extra 25% off so I could go with their predator 13hp for $260ish, or would you go with the maxtool 16hp for $300? Is the extra couple horses going to matter? Is one motor more reliable than the other?

These are the two motors I'm thinking of:

As big as you can go , you'll want every bit of power and speed you can get .

H Finn

16hp all day... Id be more worried about you choosing one of those thai kits...

Those thai kits are fine when you 1st run em then they fall apart. Alum props I've seen a few around here they just don't seem to last long. Look for a used long tail or a better frame.

Check out the 18hp from vegas carts ($300). Great customer service that you will not get from HF plus they have reasonably price performance mods. I got one and will never buy another HF engine.

Unfortunately, cost is an issue right now. The waters I'll be using it for during hunting season are not so much rock and stump filled, more muck and weed filled so I shouldn't be banging it around too much, and I have an outboard for fishing in the summer so this setup won't be ran a whole lot. I used the outboard last couple years, just sick of having to flush all the crap out of the cooling system.

That being said, I could buy one of those kits cheaper than I could make my own and I work at a welding shop that I can get scrap from. The shaft, prop, bearings and couplers costs are ridiculous for what I've seen. I know that these kits use aluminum props, but at 10 or 20 bucks per prop, that isn't that bad.

So, unless you are going to post a picture of a dude that looks like me bring impaled by the shaft after it grenaded, I doubt I'll be convinced, lol.

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10-4 If you want to look into building one a completed frame ready for motor mount can be done for about $500 if you already have a welder, torch, ect

Make sure you look at the differences between mud skipper and swamp runner. They are not the same company and are not the same product.... the extra cost for the swamp runner is worth it. The mud skipper uses a lawmower engine static throttle and has a stamped steel transom clamp that isn't beefy and will pop off your transom / bend when you torque down your transom bolts. Swamp runner has a much better transom clamp and it also has zerk fittings for all the pivot points vs the mud skipper's lack of any grease fittings on pivot points and old school grease cups only on the coupler.

I've ran into a few people that thought they were getting swamp runner kits but instead got mud skipper kits because the guy set up IDENTICAL ebay auctions, wording, pictures, and all. I would order directly from swamp runner's website and/or poke around on there to research the differences a little more.

good luck!

I'll look into the swamp runner thing. Thanks

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Man I would take swampD's advice. You are just throwing away money with the thai kits.

Do you guys have links for a kit I could weld myself that isn't going to have me eating ramen for the next two months?

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Realistically, how much would I be looking at for prop, shaft, bearings, etc.?

What kind of tubing do they suggest/use? The metal at work I literally pay scrap prices for, or cost if I put an order in with their order if I need something so that I'm not worried about.

I guess, what exactly is the shaft anyways? If it just rolled stock that gets machined?

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Dont do a Thai kit. I did and they blow. You will be busting props on the weeds.

Yes shafts are 3/4" cold rolled round stock cut to length then machined with a key on one end and 3/4" x 10 threads on the other... maybe $10 in material and we used to pay a local guy $20 a shaft to do em before we got the mill and lathe... other than that... Prop $150, Bearing $35, Bushing $10, U-joints and yoke $35, seals $15, kill switch $20, I'd say $75 in misc (nuts, bolts, ect), throttle assembly $20.... so as of now $400.... this is all I can think of off the top of my head (and prices are somewhat inflated if the part had to be shipped), if you can get materials for cheap you'd be far ahead in both cost and quality.

Shoot, I can get cold rolled stock at cost as well, and we have lathes and such back in the machine shop to put threads in and the key way.

Dammit guys, I thought I had this planned out.

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Just bliuild it then you'll be alot happyer with it.