BBSB w/ MudMotor??

S

ScottCK

Active member
I did a search on this and came up with nothing so .......

Just thinking to myself – a true BBSB has a displacement hull which is slow even when powered by a decent hp outboard. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of running a short tail mud motor on one? I know it will not perform in the mud like a flat bottom mud boat but you would be able to run through weeds that would stop a true outboard. Will a MM even work on a displacement hull? Or would it just be a case of matching two styles of hunting that eliminates the benefit of either?
 
I think it would be a waste of motor or boat -both. Even in a mod v or v format hull the mud-motor will not perform like it will in a true flat bottom, which is its true match. So placing a mud motor short tail on a true displacement hull really wont show any performacne advantages. Plus most of the shortails are pretty darn heavy motors. My 35 mud buddy weighs amost a 1/3 to 1/2 of a comparable outboard.
 
It depends on how you define "work". Will it push yuor boat along - sure. Will it get you through the weeds yoi mention - certainly. Will it get you on plane and push the boat 25 mph+ - probably not. I would be careful though with the short shaft, they are very heavy motors. A long tail can be much lighter.

It will "work" but it is not the most eficient type of oat for a mud motor.

Mark W
 
I realize that it will not perform like it would on a mud boat. I guess my question is would the displacement hull cause it to be too slow to be functional. I'm not thinking of making a mud boat out of a BBSB but what would be the downside to the standard use of a BBSB if it was powered by a mud motor? I could see where the additional weight could be an issue.

I guess what I am asking is from the use of a BBSB view and not the optimal use of a Mud Motor view.
 
I know what I did is not exactly what you are trying to do but the similarities may provide some guidance.

I put a homebuilt 2hp longtail mud motor on a 65lb, 15' long Hoefgen Duck Boat. I wanted it to get me through shallow water, upstream against current and even to be used on small bodies of water. Does it work - heck ya it does. Would a smll outboard be able to do the same thing - probably not. The Hoefegn is basically a canoe with a deck. It has a wider beam but a wdier canoe with a deck is a good description. The hull speed on the boat is around 6 mph give or take a little. It doesn't take much hp to get a boat like this to hull speed but it would take quite a bit more hp to get the boat on place a flying acroos the water. Boat would be dangerous as hell but ti would sure be a ride.

I don't know the specs on you boat but I am guessing that if you want to go slow and get through stuff, a mud motor would work. If you want to get somewhere fast, the mudmotor is probably not a good answer.

Go look at Ira's site at Momarsh. He put a 6.5 hp longtail on a Fatboy and you can see how well that motor pushed his boat.

mark W
 
I am running a 27 hp Mud Buddy on a Devlin Cackler with a modified transom. The motor is a HD Lite which is made for smaller/lighter boats. I run 24 mph on gps. Where I hunt is a lot of shallow water with vegetation. The HD Lites are small frame short tail. The benefit of running in vegetation would be a plus if that is what you hunt all the time. I don't see where it would make a difference otherwise if you are not looking for speed to begin with. The other plus is you can crank the motor and let it warm up out of water before you launch and there is no water pump to freeze in cold weather. Also, the motor is not going to over heat in vegetation. I have hunted since 1974, build my own boats, paint my own decoys, and could care less about hunting anything else but ducks ( except spring turkey ). After hunting a couple of seasons with a short tail mud motor, I would not have anything else. If you already have the boat, try to find a buddy to let you try out a motor before you make the final decision. I thing the HD Lites ate down to 6-9 hp range now.
 
I don't own a BBSB (yet), I hunt out of a 19' x 95" TDB style boat and will be building a layout this summer. I'm just starting the planning process for the next boat. I need one that is a bit easier to handle alone and has better small water ability. If I need to hit big water, I will take the big boat. I will be out on the lake Thursday and the forecast is for 20+mph winds so I know there will be some good waves to go along with it. Those conditions are fine in the big boat. It is not the Great Lakes but it can still kick up some good waves. I would like to have a smaller boat for days like this when I will be hunting alone. As had been said "no one boat fits all conditions".
 

Here is a previous post by a guy up in Canada discussing their use of longtail mud motors on BBSB hulls.

http://duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=37716;search_string=pascal;#37716

Looks like a workable solution for crossing big water where the BBSB displacement hull offers better sea worthiness than a flat bottom or jon and then being able to run in a shallow vegetation/marsh situation as well. A traditional, displacement hull BBSB will not really plane so 10 hp or so is all you need for this use.

I saved a link to this thread because I have a similar spot I like to hunt - about a mile of Great Lakes open water and then a shallow marsh with deep, soft mud that is too shallow for an outboard and the mud is too soft to pole efficiently. This looks like a good setup for that type of situation.
 
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