Posted: 1/9/2016 7:55:40 PM EDT
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Yep, I'm on mudmotortalk.com, and the site seems good, but replies and feedback are very slow. And yes, I could post in the Boats section of ARFCOM, but I might grow old waiting for feedback, so I do what I always do and tap into the hive.
I've been seeing a lot of mud motors on duck hunting rigs in AR in recent years. Their capabilities are incredible. I am interested if anyone has any experience with mud motors, and if so: What are your impressions? I realize many guys completely abuse these motors, and they are designed for hard use, but I'm wondering if a mud motor is more prone to problems compared to an outboard? For the love of God, there are so many freaking boat options out there it's mind numbing...I really like the Havocs I've seen. Any experience with better/worse boats, and which ones? I realize a mud motor setup is a compromise at the expense of speed for a gain in access to areas an outboard simply cannot go. Also, these freaking motors are expensive...a roughly 44hp mud motor is equivalent to a 90hp Yamaha 4-stroke outboard in price. $  $
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| I had several of the long tail Go Devils before. An 18hp Briggs then a 25 HP Kohler. I had to put a cold air intake heater ( gets heat from around the muffler) to make the Kohler run in duck weather. Both were awesome and very tough machines. I always enjoyed taking a green horn back where we hunted. Jumping logs and beaver dams, going through heavy vegetation, mud and sand. Later I had my eye on the newer surface prop units before I retired duck hunting. I'm pretty sure that they are faster than the long tails. Not sure if the drive system is as tough as the original Go Devil and sure would have to be careful in reverse I imagine. I'm sure they would be a lot more manuverable. Anybody can work on the motors and they are air coolec. No water pump to clog and fail, no rubber hub in the prop to fail. Just be sure to get a cable lube kit and keep the throttle cable lubed with something that displaces water during duck season. Those cables WILL freeze otherwise and you can't work your throttle. Mine was tough as a tank and I wasnt afraid to go anywhere. Just dont jam a stiff Go Devil boat between two trees in deep water LOL. That made an interesting hour and half long escape for us one afternoon! |
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I've had a few of the long tail go-devils, wasn't another option and Warren Coco was in our office on a regular basis. Haven't had one of the newer ones since they seem to have exploded. Mostly used in areas of stick up timber and not real super shallow water. First was old school briggs and stratton engine. |
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Pro drive is my choice simply for the full power reverse. You don't hear much bad stuff about gator tails either. Fuck mud buddy with a rusty spoon. Have a friend that was an unwilling guinea pig for them for their new airboat. As for the hull, remember that mud motors were originally designed to go on long skinny "pirogue" style boats in the phillipines. So don't get too wide of a boat. Also, the refuge forums has a mud motor forum that may help.
http://refugeforums.com/refuge/forums/mud-motors.99/ |
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Quoted:
Pro drive is my choice simply for the full power reverse. You don't hear much bad stuff about gator tails either. Fuck mud buddy with a rusty spoon. Have a friend that was an unwilling guinea pig for them for their new airboat. As for the hull, remember that mud motors were originally designed to go on long skinny "pirogue" style boats in the phillipines. So don't get too wide of a boat. Also, the refuge forums has a mud motor forum that may help. http://refugeforums.com/refuge/forums/mud-motors.99/ Yep on the long skinny boats on which long-tails were originally used...hence the bigger more powerful surface drive gear driven motors used on bigger boats used/required for duck hunting. These things sound like Harleys going through the woods or down the river. |
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Ran a 27 pro drive and a 36 on a 16ft x54 hull. Also ran gator tails.
The full power reverse is nice but takes a while. The gear drive is nice if you check the oil for water and keep up on Maint. The gator tail is faster and the reverse works like a regular boat. Is it a hard bottom where you hunt? |
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Quoted:
Ran a 27 pro drive and a 36 on a 16ft x54 hull. Also ran gator tails. The full power reverse is nice but takes a while. The gear drive is nice if you check the oil for water and keep up on Maint. The gator tail is faster and the reverse works like a regular boat. Is it a hard bottom where you hunt? Yes, mostly. But it can get sloppy in shallow water obviously. Lots of fallen logs, cypress knees, and brush. The full power reverse seems cool, but the thought of the lower unit rotating 180 degrees just seems like an invitation for heartache over time. I'm leaning toward a 1756 with a 44hp mud motor...Mud Buddy. |
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Quoted:
Yes, mostly. But it can get sloppy in shallow water obviously. Lots of fallen logs, cypress knees, and brush. The full power reverse seems cool, but the thought of the lower unit rotating 180 degrees just seems like an invitation for heartache over time. I'm leaning toward a 1756 with a 44hp mud motor...Mud Buddy. Quoted:
Quoted:
Ran a 27 pro drive and a 36 on a 16ft x54 hull. Also ran gator tails. The full power reverse is nice but takes a while. The gear drive is nice if you check the oil for water and keep up on Maint. The gator tail is faster and the reverse works like a regular boat. Is it a hard bottom where you hunt? Yes, mostly. But it can get sloppy in shallow water obviously. Lots of fallen logs, cypress knees, and brush. The full power reverse seems cool, but the thought of the lower unit rotating 180 degrees just seems like an invitation for heartache over time. I'm leaning toward a 1756 with a 44hp mud motor...Mud Buddy. The full power reverse is impossible to break, unless you go hudraulic and then it's very robust. Id be a little cautious about the mud buddy's, they are a little high strung. |
| I've run a 35hp go devil for about 5 years now as the price was right when I bought it. Got a buddy with a prodrive boat and motor and it is a beast. Another friend who is also on mud motor talk gets a new one each year and he has brother bro in south LA build it for him and always throws a prodrive on it and he is a certified pro drive mechanic. When the red river flooded back in may I had my boat with one other guy and a friend had his mud buddy with the 44HP sport V with 4 people and he was doing circles around me. If you are hunting Meto or the White River then these guys with the suped up "25HP" that are making 50HP are going to run circles around you. Also note that if you are hunting any of these WMA's in Arkansas you are limited to a 36 HP mud motor. |
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I've run a 35hp go devil for about 5 years now as the price was right when I bought it. Got a buddy with a prodrive boat and motor and it is a beast. Another friend who is also on mud motor talk gets a new one each year and he has brother bro in south LA build it for him and always throws a prodrive on it and he is a certified pro drive mechanic. When the red river flooded back in may I had my boat with one other guy and a friend had his mud buddy with the 44HP sport V with 4 people and he was doing circles around me. If you are hunting Meto or the White River then these guys with the suped up "25HP" that are making 50HP are going to run circles around you. Also note that if you are hunting any of these WMA's in Arkansas you are limited to a 36 HP mud motor. Yep...not on the White...it's a NWR, not a WMA...if you want to run twin 300s you can.  Darwin is always close to those guys running 60mph+ at 4:00AM. 
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Quoted:
Yep...not on the White...it's a NWR, not a WMA...if you want to run twin 300s you can. Darwin is always close to those guys running 60mph+ at 4:00AM.
Quoted:
Quoted:
I've run a 35hp go devil for about 5 years now as the price was right when I bought it. Got a buddy with a prodrive boat and motor and it is a beast. Another friend who is also on mud motor talk gets a new one each year and he has brother bro in south LA build it for him and always throws a prodrive on it and he is a certified pro drive mechanic. When the red river flooded back in may I had my boat with one other guy and a friend had his mud buddy with the 44HP sport V with 4 people and he was doing circles around me. If you are hunting Meto or the White River then these guys with the suped up "25HP" that are making 50HP are going to run circles around you. Also note that if you are hunting any of these WMA's in Arkansas you are limited to a 36 HP mud motor. Yep...not on the White...it's a NWR, not a WMA...if you want to run twin 300s you can. Darwin is always close to those guys running 60mph+ at 4:00AM.
I haven't hunted the White but those idiots over at Bayou Meto can keep it. It's become more of a "look at my $60K truck and my $30K boat and all my drake gear". I hate it will not go back and participate in that again. |