Right now i'm looking at getting a 16 or 17ft boat for fishing,bowfishing and duck hunting. My local lake in Nashville,TN has a bunch of submerged logs when you get out of the channel that I wouldn't dare take my wakeboard boat near and it can get decently shallow quick. I hunt near tunica MS on this big private lease that has timber holes and close to some bodies of water as well and I also go to realfoot occasionally with friends. What started out as my hunt for a nice 16ft outboard boat has landed me with two options for mud motors in my price range. I've done a little research so far on these things and I've heard from friends that they do well on open water which is what i'll be running 75% of the time

So far the two i've found in my $$$ range are not hulls designed for them, but i've heard great things about the tritons
- triton 1650 with pods and 27hp pro drive with reverse
- weldbuilt v 1752 with 37hp without reverse.

My question is should I go with a mud motor even though I won't be really needing it for most of the year because Nashville doesn't seem to have many areas that these things shine. I know where it will really make a difference when i'm duckhunting or running realfoot because of all the stumps and i'm not opposed to buying a outboard just to have. But for how much i'll be spending on these (around 6) I could have a boat with blind,and trolling motor already.

Weldbilt and 37, hands down solid rig. You'll like that thing right there!

Save and add reverse!!

just my .02 but if it isn't real long runs and you'll be using it in timber why not just buy a lil longtail rig. way cheaper and easier for a newb and you said you would'nt be using it to much. just an idea, save your money and spend it elsewhere

Get as big and powerful as you can afford or you will end up wishing you did

Given the info that you posted your primary concern is logs and not mud. If your main problem is logs then you would be better off spending your money on a slick bottom hull rather than a ribbed one. The slick bottom hull will slide off of a log and the ribbed hull will hang up. The ribbed hull will start to dent between the ribs and your hanging up issues will just get worse and your open water performance will suffer because of all the dents. You would be better off IMO buying a used smooth bottom hull and big block longtail than a ribbed bottom boat and surface drive if logs are your problem.

Dunno why I quoted you in my response lol