Just wondering if anybody has put the newer designed Sport V through any torture tests yet. Curious if they have figured anything out with thicker castings and handle support.

if you want a gear driven outdrive id go with a boss motor, but honestly id give them all a few more years before buying one. the the gtr is a good motor, also check out the HDR by MB.

Sport V would be my last choice of the manufacturers that offer reverse but they have made improvements to the earliest designs.

If I were buying today my order of choices would be as following.

1. HDR
2. Sport H/Boss
3. Pro-Drive
4. GTR
5. Sport V

GTR 4 really ??? Lol it's all good. Boss did perform well at our fun run. Sport v did good as well. But our run was not too challenging . We did jump a few stumps and ran through lots of timber. A few spots with skinny water and sandy bottoms. Really couldn't distinguish the difference between the MB ( excel hull ) and boss ( older gator trax hull ) . Prolly if we would of made it even more challenging we could of seen a difference. I was riding in a gator trax boat with a heavily modded motor so comparison wouldn't of Ben fare. Plus the MB and Boss were on totally different hulls. But was pretty impressed with how the Boss performed. Only hoping the best for Boss.

HDR is new, and that scares me. Not sure if the consumer will be the test pilot for this model like they were for the first Gen Sport V??

I know one person that is running the new Gen Sport V and has had zero issues. But this is the place if you want the masses opinion. And that's what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info. I pick up the hull on Tuesday. The motor is still up in the air.

The HDR is not new to an extent. It's still the same Hyper Drive platform MB has been selling for years. Just with reverse. I think it will be fine.

I guess the biggest thing I liked about the Sport V was how damn smooth the thing was. Almost no vibration (it was a cdi 36) at idle and almost zero at traveling speeds. Tiller torque was that of an outboard. And the F-N-R was slick as hell. I just wish I could get over all the negative feedback from the lower unit issues....... And I hear so little about the new design it makes me wonder if anybody is even buying them? I want to be on the water shooting ducks and fishing. Not in the shop!! Hell.... We all want that.

My neighbor has a 2013 sport V and has never had a major problem with his. The only thing was the air filter bolt would back out from motor vibration, and the throttle cable linkage liked to come off sometimes. Both simple fixes that cost less than 5 bucks each. He's just waiting for the LU to break but after two full seasons hunting 40+ days nothing's happened YET lol but it doesn't get run outside of duck season so really not many hours on it

I put hours on. Fish the local river that is very shallow during certain times. My long tail had 340 hours on it when I sold it. Had it 2 years. Just too damn clumsy for angling, and no neutral when trapping season rolled around caused me to come up with some pretty darn creative ways to hold the motor up out of the water (anchor line with loop tied for handle....Not safe but it gets the job done) so I didn't drain battery by starting it too many times in a short period. And I don't miss a weekend the entire duck season here. Bottom line is that I cannot afford 2 rigs. Just looking for the best of both worlds. If that exists.

The Sport V really has come a long way. Warranty issues have become almost non-existent. The lower unit issues have been resolved, no more oil leaks, vibration gone, etc, etc.

They are great for the guy that is used to the comfort of running an outboard. smooth, easy steering, great on remote steer setups as well.

If you need to run nasty mud, or hit a million stumps, and dont mind man handling the tiller at times there are better options.

A ton of veg, soft mud, shallow water. No stumps. In the area I duck hunt.
Sand/Mud and a few logs here and there under the surface. Those would be the conditions I fish in.

I ran a 35 SWOMP Backwater long tail....I'm used to man handling a tiller. haha!

Buy one. If you don't like it sale it and get something else. I have nothing against mud buddy or the other builders. Just have no advice to give you other then buy it and try it lol

Called dealer...asked if we could take it for a spin and hit a few things. His response was "absolutely!" Seems to be confident. I will be taking him up on the offer and post findings.

Thanks,

Got one and only problem was I had the older transmission breather, Called Micah and had me the updated version by the end of the week! I couldn't be more pleased with mine! I'm coming up on 75 hours on mine but I haven't had single issue other than the breather! I have hit my number of stumps and not a single issue! I have hit something hard enough that I took chunks out of my big blade and ruined it! Nearly brokey hand too! But the motor was perfectly fine! I couldn't be more pleased! Now if I can just get to modding it!

Great feed back. Thanks!

Take advantage of the up coming tax free days and get you one. Love to hear good things with these motors. I know trapping would have to be ten times easier with a f-n-r motor over a raise for neutral.

Got the chance to drive a GTR the other day. I have a MB now. I like the reverse on the GTR, but not sure about the control box being behind the handle. I am used to having that next to my thumb. And forward is forward on the switch. On the GTR I drove, forward is up. I have to use two hands pretty much. And it should be in front of the throttle lever. Maybe it was just what I was used too.

I think if I were to get another one it would be MB HDR or Boss H, but would have to drive that Boss first. Not sure I would get the V. Looks heavy on the mount when you hit something balanced to the back to slam down harder.

As far as balance and weight back: I was told one of the changes was moving more weight forward to make easier to lift. 50lbs is what I was told to lift motor. I'm sure there was several reasons for the change. But those are the stats as far as weight. Again. I will share the test drive results.

someone needs to mount a kawasaki on a sport V then you might have me

The newer models are more balanced but it's still a vertical motor! If u hit something it does kick it out and the motor will drop down with a little force. Obviously it's not gonna be as good as a horizontal motor when it comes to stumps! But I have hit my fare share of stumps and I haven't had single issue! My favorite thing about the V is hunting the floods timber. Handles so well and the reverse is a def plus!

How much of a difference does being ballanced actually make? If you don't let up when the prop comes back down it going to slam the motor forward anyway.

So how is the reverse on the HDR configured? Planetary gear and rotor?

Just picked up the new rig. Ended up getting the 36 sport V after test drive. In the conditions I hunt I'm not sure I will never put it through what we did Friday evening. He flogged the hell out of that thing! The look on his face after he hit a rock at full speed made me think we were done for, but no cracks.....and motor didn't fall off on the way home. So far so good. Motor is super smooth. F-N-R is all it's cracked up to be. Can't wait for trapping season, and it should be nice for picking up decoy's and angling.

Havoc MST 1750- Hull came in earlier than Havoc said it would. Fit and finish is amazing. I would consider myself pretty fussy. Picked it apart and found nothing I would change. I do personally feel the hull is built/geared more towards the Midwest hunters. I got the .125 hull, but the sides are higher than most of the competition. Having to go across big water at times; that was a plus for me. But if you are solely a marsh hunter you may not like that. Only options I added was gun box and their LED light bar, so my boat was very basic. You can tell they put some time into the design. To put it best, it is a lighter version of an Excel for $2k less in price. I also purchased their trailer. You get allot (more than they tell you online) for the money. I just got the standard steel trailer. Comes with the step decks around the wheel area of the trailer. Very happy with everything so far. Tonight is the first run on the river. I will post personal speeds and thoughts after I get a few more hours on the rig.

Soon you will know, just a little more time, and I'll have a video of the unit being installed and how it works.

It's refreshing to see someone form their opinion based on actual real life experience, rather than internet hearsay.

Good for you, and congrats on the new rig. Let me know when you are ready for some more power!

So you have seen it in person?

Took the new boat/motor out last night. Put a little over 2 hours on it. With 3 people in boat I was running 27.7 on phone GPS and 27.1 on Garmin 62S GPS down stream. Up stream I ran 26.2mph on the Garmin. We will stick with the Garmin for speed cause I feel it is more accurate then phone. Boat turns on a dime with no slide at all. Very predictable in corners and it will do whatever you want it to within normal limits (not getting tossed out of the boat). Tiller torque is next to nothing. Had it in some shallow stuff (3" of water) and it does great. Mud was sticky and you could feel the motor working pretty hard, but it maintained very good speed. Boat pops up on plain almost instantly. So far real happy with the purchase. Not sure if things loosen up a bit and I will get any more out of it, but I am satisfied with it as is. For an "out of the box" set up with zero mods I think it's fairly respectable. I'm speaking from my opinion having coming from a long tail past. Very happy I went to a surface drive! I will post video and pics as soon as I am able if anyone is interested. Just enjoying the ride for now.

MB Sport V 36 (Stock Big Blade)
Havoc MST 1750

How much does the Sport V weigh?


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