Howdy, I recently purchased a 20 hp go devil longtail. Now it's time for the boat! What would you recommend? This is my first mud motor so not sure on what size. I've been looking at an 1860 riveted boat, but my gut tells me that's too much boat for this motor. So let me know what yall think... Will that work or should I go smaller, not necessarily worried about speed so much.
Any help would appreciated! Thanks y'all!

It'll work. Longtails arent speed motors, so if you're worried about speed you done fouled up lol. That size motor tends to do well on 15-16 ft boats with 44-54 inch bottoms. It could probably handle a 17ft boat, if you stayed narrow (42-44"). The loads you intend to carry will dictate the recommended boat. Longtails do perform a bit better on longer narrower boats, but I've never had a complaint with the 24 we had on the 1546 xpress. The lighter the boat you get, the happier you'll be with that motor. When you go up in motor size to the 25 or 35 longtails, a heavier boat won't matter as much.

Thanks man! That helps, any idea on speeds I could expect with an 1860 and that motor and will it push say 3 people and gear?

14 or so. It'll probably plane out because of the lift you'll get with that boat size, but you won't get much more speed than that. Running a 24 on a 1652 (heavy boat), we could plane three and a light load of gear for hunting, but it wasn't fast. You'll save a little weight with that boat, and get a decent bit more lift, but it's still a LOT to ask of that motor. What's the weight of the boat? There used to be a guy floating around here that had a 20hp, but I don't remember the boat he used, nor the loads he tried to haul.

1860 riveted is still too heavy/wide/slow for your 3 man proposed load. You did not state your budget. There are custom mfg.'s that can build you an 17-20' length, 44" width hull. Long and narrow is a good rule of thumb; a 17-20 can handle an upgrade to a bigger HP motor. Of course, you need a short transom (16-17") hull to get the best performance with the GD LT. There are usually good deals on used alum hulls around. I have a 1648 and can hunt three but with that load I run tops at 15.5 mph with a hunting gear load, and that is with a 27 HP LT, and it is crowded, I would prefer an 1844/1848 "light" hull but there really aren't any like that. These usually start at 500# and up, my grizzly is #395 and I consider that heavy enough.

Put it on a 1638 or 1644 godevil boat. Maybe even a 1838 or 1844. It was designed for optimum performance on these boats. Thread closed.


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