Go Devil - question

[Stef]

How good they can last?

Seen 2 years warranty on engine and also 2 years on frame.

Checked couple videos ( especially the video with the 35hp demo in "mud"....amazing )

www.godevil.com

Any info on them -------» Welcome

Stef

[trappnman]

can't give you any specifics- but lots of people like them in the backwaters here.

[robertw]

The props wear out but is easliy fixed at a machine shop. It is auger flighting.

[Stef]

What is "props" Robert?

[trappnman]

props = propellers

[Stef]

thanks

[rk660]

go-devil props are a special type prop, no auger flighting, and are fairly expensive. think my buddy gives around $200 for his. He will wear one out in a year fur trapping if your running shallow in a lot of sand. they are around 8" dia and wear down to around 5". could probibly be rebuilt by a prop rebuilder if someone has the mandrels for the special pitch. a lot less pitch than most outboards.

I have a scavenger backwater motor, about same deal as go-devil but simplier. no u-joints in drive line and it does have a prop that is basically a piece of auer flighting on a metal hub. I dont think they have as much thrust as a go-devil prop but they do last longer.

[rk660]

Step, problem with them is the weight, and many places you need one may not have a boat ramp so if having to drag boat and motor by hand to water, you dont want too big of motor. A 11 hp go devil is a chore for one guy top carry on flat ground, let alone up and down a river bank.

Go devils are kinda notorious for wearing out the brass bushings that guide the drive line, and wearing out u-joints due to severe operating angle. The Mud Buddy motor made in MN I think, looks like they have improved the driveline over a go-devil. The scavenger is simpler than either of them, and could be made yourself if you where handy at fabrication and knew a machinist.

[mustelameister]

Stef---IMO, you've got to be able to hook up the right boat with the right mudmotor. RK says it well. Not enough hp and you'll be pushing the water and not getting up on plane, or if you do, it's a slow boat upriver.

I've bought and sold the following Go Devils since '87: 5, 5.5, 8, 13, 18, 20, and 23 hp. I currently run a 9 hp on a 14-foot V-bow, and a 35 hp on an 18-foot flat.

Both motors I feel are optimum for each boat, though I'm waiting for the 40+ hp for the bigger flat.

Here's the smaller rig:


To solve RK's problem with having to haul this thing up and down a bank, I've mounted wheels on the back of the transom that flip up when not in use. If I need to crank it up a bank I run a cable to the bow back to a gasoline winch, flip the wheels down, and it rolls up the bank.

Otherwise, at my own "improved boat landings", I simply cut a notch in the bank to slide the rig down into the water, then when it's time to yank it out, I tied a stout rope from the trailer to the bow and 4WD the boat out 'till it's up on top, then run it up on the trailer.

Heavy, awkward, no reverse . . . yes. But the perfect rig for running a river full of timber. Have chainsaw will travel!

Props get eaten up mostly in sand. Keep it up out of the sand and wear is greatly reduced.

Bushings get changed out every two years and if you keep on top of things with the grease gun you should get good life out of the U-joint.

Best to know somebody local with one, go for a ride, and see what you think. Not for most fellas, still too foreign.

You'll also need to consider longtail versus surface drive. I've gone with the longtail just because of the heavy vegetation I sometimes run it through (thick aquatic weeds) and the ability to "play" with the motor when sliding over logs and jams.

PM with questions if you feel like it. I love 'em.

[mr. finch]

keep them in mud and they are fine try and run it through a all sand bottom river and it will sit there and shine a prop up real nice

[markymark]

Not for most fellas, still too foreign.

All they did was take the idea that the Vietnamese have been using for the last 40 years. Since the day they started using outboards all they have used is long-tails.

[Wright Brothers]

I never ran one of those but did learn that tines from a broken pitch fork, rigged in front of the prop, is a prop saver in some areas.

[mustelameister]

MM--I drooled over those things when I was in Thailand 73/74, zipping up and down the canals. Big aircooled car engines on 'em, boats 20' long, shafts 12' out the back . . . unreal.

Sand based river is where I run 'em half the time. If you don't have at least 6" of water, forget it. You'll melt the prop. But 10"+ and you're good to go.

Running a sand river requires the ability to look ahead and figure out how deep the river is. Running the current helps, but you know how the river flattens out and shallows up real quick. Best to come into those spots full bore, then back off the gas, push down on the handle, and slide across with the momentum.

[markymark]

I have a 25 hp For Sale with a 16' boat used one hour.

[gunny]

I hunted alligators in the swamps with them. Got stuck in the middle of the night with alligators and water moccasins all around. So they will get stuck. Overall they are very navigable. The ones we used the motor pivoted and you could just "dip" the prop in the water to gain movement in shallow water. Because the motor pivoted you had to manhandle it some and it would wear you out in a few hours.

[mustelameister]

If you had to manhandle it, you probably didn't have it balanced properly, or perhaps the cavitation plate wasn't bent at the right angle.

[Stef]

Thanks guy... very informative informations.

They must be a rare thing up here in Canada.
I never see one...that's why I asked.

Is there other brand(s) selling marine engine like Go Devil ?

[mustelameister]

Mudbuddy has a good website.

www.mudbuddy.com

And now there's a bunch of garage gurus coming out with their own versions . . like this one:

www.floridamudmotors.com

There's always other considerations, such as jet drives, which I would prefer to run rocky rivers in.

[amik]

Stef go on the forum of SDQ ( sauvaginier du quebec ) lot,s a duck hunter are starting to have them they will give you all the information you need and then some

[braveheart]

I had one Ron Hansen made for me.They work well but wore me out running it up and down the banks.He also made and balanced the props.The props. don't last very long in the sand and gravel.