Can you help me understand?

M

mikeNHBayhunter

Member
I am up in NH, and I have only seen one guy ever with a surface drive, we mostly use tiller motors up here. What is the difference between a surface drive and a mud motor other than how they look?

Thanks Mike
 
Surface Drive MM

Advatages to SD - Torque & speed/can use remote steering (steering wheel/stick steer)/air cooled

Disadvantages to SD - Price/more moving parts in gear case/not saltwater resistent


Long Tail MM

Advantages to LT - Price & able to whaller out of holes when stuck in grass or tussuts/Direct drive, less moving parts/air cooled

Disadvantages to LT - Less torque & speed/manuvarability/not saltwater resistent


Outboard
Advantages to OB - Speed/saltwater resistent

Disadvantages to OB - Water cooled/will not plow through mud/grass & most everything else a duck hunter encounters


I still use a LT due to the conditions I run in & it's not my primary duck boat.

Really like that new PD stick steer though!!!
 
I believe a surface drive has a different type of prop that is design to be driven only part-way in the water and does not need to be fully submersed.
 
That's true, a surface drive runs a surface-piercing prop that runs about half out of the water when they're properly trimmed. That's what gives them their signature rooster tail wake. The props also have much more pitch than an outboard prop, for example my 14hp SD ran a 9x9 prop. Once a SD is up and running there isn't a motor setup that I know of that draws less water or will run through thicker mud, weeds, or whatever. I still say a longtail is better for starting out in the muck and general ease of use. If you don't hunt the shallows, mud, or spots where you have to negotiate lots of weeds or stumps an outboard is the best choice, as neither a surface drive or a longtail are at their best in deeper water.
 
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Do you meen surface or Jet drive .
I have a jet and I run it where no prop would dare to go.

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A recent acquaintance of mine has a jet drive. He fishes on a river, does not hunt ducks.

In talking to him, it does not sound like a jet drive would be good for mucky ducky backwaters.

What say you?

Thanks!
 
A recent acquaintance of mine has a jet drive. He fishes on a river, does not hunt ducks.

In talking to him, it does not sound like a jet drive would be good for mucky ducky backwaters.

What say you?

Thanks!
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Mud Motor!!!
 
A recent acquaintance of mine has a jet drive. He fishes on a river, does not hunt ducks.

In talking to him, it does not sound like a jet drive would be good for mucky ducky backwaters.

What say you?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Mud Motor!!!
 
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Doug,
I run my prop where no jet can go........
Just depends on the water conditions.
I like your rig though. Wish I had one just like it, for the times I cant use my big boat.

Just rode in a true mud boat, with twin long tails yesterday. My first time in a mud boat. Dang. Talk about 4x4 for a boat. Wouldnt have been fun going 7-14 miles from the launch like I routinely do. BUT I couldnt have hunted the lake we were in with my boat at all.
 
mud motors have their place but saltwater eats them up, jet motors suck everthing up did not work in salt water for me got tired of stopping to clean it out, i will stick with a prop motor just my two cents
 
Doug,
I run my prop where no jet can go........
Just depends on the water conditions.
I like your rig though. Wish I had one just like it, for the times I cant use my big boat.

Just rode in a true mud boat, with twin long tails yesterday. My first time in a mud boat. Dang. Talk about 4x4 for a boat. Wouldnt have been fun going 7-14 miles from the launch like I routinely do. BUT I couldnt have hunted the lake we were in with my boat at all.
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I know the jet is not for all conditions as props aren't either
Out here the bottoms are all rock and stones, they eat props , only way to go is with a jet, I know two out here who totaled their prop drives this year.
It will clog on weeds and you have to pull them off the shue but if the boat will float over it the motor will too with a jet.

I would never of had one if I still hunted the muck of South Jersey but in shallow rivers it is the only motor I feel safe useing.

The other motor used a lot out here is the mud motor and you are right it is like a 4 X 4 for a boat, its popular on the lakes and shallow ponds because of the big fluctuation in water levels , low levels meen lots of mud on some of them impoundments.
 
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What is the top speed you can get of a mud motor? Where I hunt, I have to travel 3.5 miles over open water and then I get to the muddy shallow duck hunting places. I need the an outboard and a mud motor. Can mud motors handle rough water?
 
Depends on the hull & motor size.

I have a GD 18/44 hull with a 25hp Kohler long tail.

With (2) two hunters, gear, dog & (1) one (70) seventy pound Aquapod, my top speed in shallow water (3 three feet or less) is 18 mph.


My buddy who was running a 16x48 joh-boat hull with a 23 hp MB short tail with the same load was running 20 mph down the same trail.

Due to his hull being lighter, his boat runs faster on the smoother water/airboat trails.

But once we enter the marsh, my hull out performs his due to the smooth bottom, no chines or keel.

When it comes to a MM, everythings a trade off with no perfect boat.

In my opinion, if you want the best performance out of a MM, attach it to a hull that was designed for them.
 
I run a 2066 Phowler with a slightly modified ProDrive X36. Loaded to the gunwales with nearly 200 dekes, four hunters, dog and gear, it will eek out about 12mph in deep water and 15mph in skinny water. With a light load the split is 17/20, and just me and my boys with no gear about 19/21.

I ran outboards for over 30 years before making the switch to a mud motor. I wish I had made the change much sooner. Mine will take me places where I cannot float a spread of decoys! You just have to remember that it is a lawnmower motor bolted onto a nearly bulletproof drive and you can start to live with the thing. Treat it like an outboard and you won't get far. However, when the tide goes out and your decoys are tipped over on their keels, that slow ill tempered noisy son of a gun comes into it's own.

By the way, as mentioned above, sand and gravel are death on a mud motor.
 
By the way, as mentioned above, sand and gravel are death on a mud motor.
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Death on the props for sure.

In the late 90's & early 2000's, I hunt Merrit Island NWR every weekend & the sand would burn up a prop in just (1) one season.

The prop metals are much better now!!!

I get my props from Hopkins Prop Service in Covington, LA.

www.hopkinspropellers.com/mudprops/

Since switching to Glen's prop. I haven't had to replace it in over (4) four years.

In regards to my comments on attaching the right MM to the right MM boat, I have friends running MB's & PD's near 30 mph, STOCK!!!
 
Doug,
I agree with you.
I run a prop.
My stepdad has a jet.
And if I could I would own a Mud Motor too.
Unfortunately I cant convince my wife I NEED another boat. A 14-16 footer with a jet would be next. Then a 17 foot mud boat after that.

Mike
 
Long tail MM's run better with a long/narrow boat.

Short tails MM's run better with a wide longer boat.


As I said before, I run a 18x44 GD with a 25 hp LT.

My buddy runs a 16x44 GD with a 29 hp LT (I had the same hull with a 25 hp & got rid of it) & runs 2 mph LESS that I do just due to the length.

Wewelded up a set of pods a couple season back & added (2) two feet to the stern of his boat & now he runs 2 mph FASTER that mine.

Again, the LT's like narrow & long hulls.
 
Before I built my boats I was running my LT on a 1336 aluminum jon, I made some pods that added about 20" to her and I can't believe what a difference they made. In fact I believe that Beavertail includes pods as standard on all of their aluminum boats now.
 
I had a bit of a dilema trying to decide on which motor to put on my 1648 Tracker Griz. I opted for a 60hp 2 stroke Evinrude. My boat is rated for a 50hp but I got a good deal on my 60 and I figured there wouldn't be big difference. If it weren't for the long ride and the potential for rough water, I might have gone with a mud motor or surface drive. But like you said, my hull isn't the best kind for those types of motors. But I got to say I've been really pleased with my 60 so far. It's a real river rocket!
 
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