hello all new here but not new to mud motors, I have been kicking it around in my head about rebuilding my go devil or buying a new small longtail? A few things that I haven't been able to find any were are small longtails like the one I have, I am the orginal owner I bought it in 1994 its a 5hp gd crawfish it 78lbs with a 48" shaft it just tired if I would have to guess it would have over 5000 hours on it never been rebuild yet other then seals and props shaft looked good summer of 2013 when I did seals last. Been thinking of get new engine maybe even go a little bigger like to a 6.5hp. or have been looking at getting something all new. just seeing what you guys think about fixing up old seeing no one make 48" shaft any more or get new with 57" thinking of calling gd a getting new price on new parts and new unit. thanks all.

No way I would get rid of that godevil, you are on the right track, call godevil and see what the biggest engine is you can put on that frame. Even if you decide to get a new godevil keep the old one. you will regret bigtime selling it.

Agree with 139SST. I really like the Briggs 6.5 on my 58" crawfish GDLT.

I wanna see a picture!

thank all I will try to get pictures for you all tomorrow after work or at least this weekend seeing I am to be working on it on Saturday after some ice fishing in the morning.

The frame for my little 5.5 is from 1989 and still gives me no problems. Just recently fixed it up too

If memory serves me right, the crawfish models were the ones that had a clutch and reduction?

My 6.5 is a 2013 and has no clutch nor any reduction

I think it is an option. I also think the shaft is shorter on the crawfish models too

Motors and motor side plate mounting holes have SAE standard sizing to the mounting holes and many other dimensions as well. I am going to bet that you can put up to 7 HP on that frame and change nothing but the motor. If I had it down that far I would change the UJ as well if you have that many hours on it. Enjoy your little long tail!

Mark F. Cheney

Took a few pictures today for you guys. Called go-devil today and was told that a 6.5hp is the biggest motor I could put on this frame.

That's a cool little rig and on the right boat will take you to a lot of hunting. When Coco upgrades anything on his motors he makes them backward compatible when ever possible. The bottom line is that you can upgrade that Crawdad lower unit to the current upper seal and bearing, current shaft, spiral groove lower bushing and lower seal system. It is significantly better than the 1994 lower unit in terms of seal life and grease retention. It's not rocket science and with an overhead valve 6.5 you will have a brand new motor. I've done it with several as far back as a 1988 vintage. The most difficult part is making sure the shaft is centered on the new upper bearing. If you go to the Godevil website they have a PDF file on maintaining the longtail that will answer most of your questions. Rebuild it.... it will be fun!!!

Thanks for posting pics, that little unit is awesome. I would do what was mentioned and put a new motor on it and retrofit it. Do not sell it .

I'm pretty sure that the bolt pattern is the same on most small motors up to 7hp regardless of brand. Thats why Backwater offers two radius bolt patterns on their Swomp lite glider kits. It changes at 7+hp to the larger radius bolt pattern. My 2 cents go the biggest motor you can go with the same bolt pattern. A 5.5-7hp motor all weigh the same, the bore is different, the bigger the more torque you will have with the same weight. U-joint sizes is the same at 3/4"x3/4". Good luck