Mud motors ?

[cmr2]

Know this had a great Deal of interest before, question is how/what is the best to size the motor to the boat ? Is it the same as regular outboards ?

If this is bring'n up a old question that's been answered please Piont in to the post . Thanks Chris

[foxman]

Im curious as well! I just got a 12 foot john boat..flat bottom. I wanna make it my river boat. Could use a good mud motor.

[thebeav2]

I'm sure that mustelameister will be around and he can tell you all you need to know he Is the expert on mud motors.

[RiverRat]

I run a scavenger motor.
www.scavengerbackwater.com/

[mustelameister]

Feb 14, 2012 21:47:05 GMT -6 @thebeav2 said:

I'm sure that mustelameister will be around and he can tell you all you need to know he Is the expert on mud motors.

Yea, okay.

Mud motors cannot be compared to regular outboards horse to horse. A 10-horse outboard will push a small boat much faster than a 10-horse mud motor. But the mud motor will get you into areas the outboard shouldn't and/or couldn't.

12-foot jon boat is too short. Mud motors start in the 80-100 pound range for the smaller engines. Add your 150-200 pounds to that and see what happens when you've already got 250-300 pounds in the back of a 12-foot jon boat.

Can't imagine how this 12-foot jon boat would float with that much weight in the back end. Maybe foxman has a deep 12-footer, that would make a little difference. At least go 14-foot boat.



Best thing you could do for yourself would be to find someone who has a rig similar to what you're thinking about, and go for a ride. See for yourself what it's going to be before spending some money.

Biggest mistake most guys make is buying a motor that's too small for the job intended.

I suggest this rough scale:

14-foot boat: 9 or 10 horse mudmotor. 1 guy, gear, and a load up front. Go V-bow for more payload in the front end. This was a rig that worked very well for me on a smaller river. 9 horse Honda on 14-foot V-bow.



16-foot+ boat: 23 to 35 horse, depending on your boat. If you're gonna run a jon boat, get a wide one. More displacement of water means you can have more weight in the back end and get up on plane faster and load more gear into it.

Here's the 18-foot Lowe jon boat with a 35-horse longtail. Excellent rig for fishing and duck hunting.





Same motor on this 16-foot V-bow that's strictly for trapping. Made the mistake of buying a 23-horse for this boat thinking it would be enough to push boat and gear. Well, it was 'till I loaded the front end up with 'coon and said motor got hot. So the 35-horse came off the jon boat and went onto this trapping boat. Will be buying another 35-horse this fall to put on trapping boat and swap this one back onto the fishing/duck hunting boat.



Boat came as a 15" transom. Buddy of mine beefed this up to 20" with thick aluminum plating. Does not flex one bit.



Now here's a pretty little setup. Not mine, snagged this picture off the 'net somewhere. This is a Sportspal canoe, wide stern I believe. I've got this boat in the narrower version stern. Very stable with the sponsons on the outside. I'm not sure what the mud motor is, but obviously you're not going to plane. From the looks of it though, would be slick to stick in the back end of a truck, unbolt the mud motor and set inside the boat/truck when driving from one location to the next.



So I'm looking for a small, light weight mud motor to bolt onto my 13-foot Sportspal. Stumbled onto this website:

www.crawdadmotors.com/

This motor looks exactly like what I'm looking for. Talked to my Go Devil dealer, he's aware of it, but didn't have much good to say about it from what he's heard.

All that being said I've recently purchased this little beauty:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRQuO7kEXMk&feature=related

Anyway, the one I have looks just like the one in the video. Air cooled. I'm going to hook it up with the Sportspal and see what happens this summer. If it's a good runner just might be what I'm looking for in those way back marshes.

All fun and good to think about. Good luck in your quest. Once you've got the right combination, you'll really enjoy these motors. I haven't run a standard outboard motor since the mid 80s. And where Susan and I can get back in to fish we rarely see others. Makes for an excellent duck rig too. I'd be a dealer but I'm a mechanical idiot. At least I'm honest. And nope, no expert. Just been around 'em long enough to know a few things.

[trappnman]

excellent advise as always mike-

why on earth, are mud motors so heavy? You would think, that the lighter the better?

[mustelameister]

Just the nature of the beast. You've got that Brigg's engine, or Honda, or whatever, plus the frame, plus the shaft and housing and all. That fella that puts the Crawdad together on that link may be on to something.

[foxman]

Hmm, ya shes a shallow one! I weigh 180, plus 3-4 dozen traps... wire, pipes, shovel, bait/lures other tools.... plus a mud motor. Think id sink it huh? Well, cant say i have the cash to just go get another boat and i picked this one up for 70 bucks off a buddy.... What would u recommend???

[foxman]

I need to save up and get one of them crawdads...

[Scott W.]

This is what I ran this fall. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFPJdGgk_CY&feature=player_detailpage

[mustelameister]

Foxman: Here might be another option for you. I've had no experience with Mudbuddies, but this 6 hp Robin I see weighs all of 72 pounds. Might be the ticket.

www.mudbuddy.com/Mini%20Longtails.htm

Scott: I'd be a little nervous if I was the fella in the video if I hit a stump or log underwater that shifted the canoe sideways. Sooner or later he's headed for the drink.

[foxman]

Thank you, sir.

[Scott W.]

I'm the fella in the video, and I have to say I can't believe how stable this rig is. I stand up all day long. If I hit something I just hang on to the handle, the prop comes out of the water, and I stay standing. I've never even had a close call. This will not get the canoe up on plain, but then I don't need to go that fast anyway. It uses about 1/2 gallon of gas to run 17 miles of river.

[mustelameister]

Scott, wear a life jacket buddy. Someday you're gonna roll that thing. That has to be one stable canoe. What's the motor weigh? I do like the transom mount. Haven't seen that setup before.

[Scott W.]

Guilty. Most of this river is less than 3 ft. deep, but you are right.
Motor weighs 72#.
I usually start the morning with some water in buckets up front for ballast, and as the day progresses I replace the water with coon. The river limits the number of coon I can carry, but the canoe is rated for 1000#.

[calvin]

Last year I ran a 1442 jon with a 9hp Orion surface drive. They claim 82lbs for the motor weight, but it feels heavier than that. Anything more than that motor isn't really portable anymore.

Agree with Mike, 14ft is the shortest I/d go. Front weight (length) and width of the boat makes a difference. I just used my setup for rats and about ran out of room...but caught lots of rats that most guys couldn't get to.

Also prop pitch is something to consider as well. I found the power prop they sent me was pretty slow. Orion was really nice and said they would keep sending me different pitches until I was satisfied. And these aren't flimsy props...Super HD stainless steel props. I quit slowing down for logs. And they actually gain speed in milfoil mats.

[cmr2]

Thanks guys for the responses !! This is helpful ,very helpful .

Hearing experances from guys that have used them and has went thru a few runs makes it easier for the rest of use .
Went and was talking to a dealer yesterday at a show here locally , think it surprised him the questions I had , geuss the not the norm for a show , he went from short answers to very detailed quickly

[mustelameister]

good to hear!