Small mud motors.

J

Jerod Hahn

New member
I am looking into small mud motors. I will be using it on an alumacraft ducker. As far as I can tell no one is manufacturing the weed whip long tails currently. The Swamp Runner mini weigh around 60 lbs with a 98 cc engine. I am guessing that is too heavy?? Is anyone running some combo that works well on the ducker? I am not going to jump levy or pound down cattail just want to get arround.
 
Jerod, Welcome to the best place on the 'ol interweb. Mark W. has had a bunch of experience with the little longtails, wait for him to chime in. You out there Mark? He also has a new to him Ducker so you guys should have plenty to chat about. There are some other guys who have used the little longtails too but I just don't remember who they are.
 
I was in the same situation 3 years ago you are now...
i vaguely remember glancing at the ducker, however if I remember right its a moderately sized rig.

I wanted small and portable..so I went with a 13 hp..big mistake. Go with at least a 23 hp.. I know thats a big jump but you won't be thinking of upgrading within the same season.
The weight of the 13hp is slightly less..however the 13 hp has the fuel tank on top of the motor...so weight is the same (with 2 gallons of fuel)

unless you are going to use a plastic rig such as a momarsh or aqua pod, etc you wont be happy with the small hp LTs
 
I like to go fast but the Ducker is 12 feet long and 62 lbs. That may be like a big block in a pinto. I am just looking for 6-8 mph small pond or river get around speed.
 
I use a 6.5 HP Go-Devil on a 12' Springbok aluminum cartopper and even though the motor weighs 109lb the combination works fine. However not sure how you would clamp it on a Ducker.
 
I like to go fast but the Ducker is 12 feet long and 62 lbs. That may be like a big block in a pinto. I am just looking for 6-8 mph small pond or river get around speed.
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I think the 6.5 hp predator type long tails would work just fine, the Thai offerings by swamp runner might suit your needs.


Haha...a 23hp on that baby would fly lol. The only thing contacting the water would be the prop.... The boat would actually be flying! LOLOLOL
 
Jarod,

I have a standard Ducker and the square stern version called the Ducker Retriever. Side mount on Ducker handles a 3 hp. Ducker Retriever was rated for 3 hp. I also own a PPF Woodduck mudmotor with the 6.5 hp Predator for power. 59 lbs of mudmotor. I did get the hop up to about 9.5 or 10 hp on my 6.5 but I don't think I would venture to use it on either the Ducker or the Ducker Retriever. I agree with Tom about waiting for Mark W to chime in on this. He has built a couple weed whip powered mud motors for smaller craft. You might want to also consider a small hp Tanaka. You can find them in 1.2 hp up to about 3 hp. Really light and small.
 
I have many small mud motors, 3 or 4 actually. I made 3 of them myself and purchased a Rickshaw used from another member on this site. The homemade ones work as well as the Rickshaw and were quite a bit cheaper. The Rickshaw uses the Honda GX35 motor which is a huge benefit as far as power, noise, starting in cold weather, and gas consumption. Speed and performance are the exact same.

My home made ones weigh in around 12-15 lbs and the Rickshaw 20lbs or so. These motors push my Hoefgen (little longer than the Ducker and about the same weight), 6.2 or 6.8 mph upriver against a fairly strong current. Speed on flat water is about the same. These motors will push the boat at about hull speed which is right around the 6 mph mark.

If you have any mechanical skill, and it doesn't take mush as I made 3 of these things, you can do this very easily. There are plans on the internet that tell you how to make these small weed eater mud motors and the link below is everything, and more, that you can learn how to build them. I also have a nice handbook on how to build these if you have an interest. I would need you emaill to send it to you however.

http://www.boatdesign.net/...conversion-1681.html

Here are some shots of my homebuilt using a 53cc 2 stroke motor. This one was the best of the homebuilts. You can find these motors for around $100 new and the rest of the parts are less than $100. One more thing, you will hear from all sorts of doubters who have never built one of these tell you it will never work. When you come across these folks, ask them if they ever actually built one themselves of if they are blowing hot air. Take it from someone who has biult and used these for a number of years now, they work, and they work well.

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Mark W

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I have a rickshaw motor that pushes my 12 footer with full gear load and 2 people up to about 6 mph. I'm in no hurry, and I don't expect to plow through solid weeds or 2 inches of water. It works great, starts easy, and is nice and light. In my mind, it is loud and I wouldn't want to run it for miles, but the noise is not bad with my ear muffs on, which I wear while shooting anyway.
It was pricy, but seems well made.
I give it 4 stars out of five.
Mike
 
Jerod,

What you need is a Rickshaw motor. Unfortunately they are no longer in production. There is a guy with one for sale on Iowa water fowlers.com the last time I talked to him. He goes by Homer. You might give him a hail.
 
You might want to give Mark Cheney at Utah Marsh Motors a call, he builds an aluminum framed 7hp that weighs in at under 70lbs ready to run. He's a good guy who knows his stuff, and his motors have a good reputation around here.
 
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I don't think I would put a 70 lb motor on the back of a ducker. Not really built for that much weight on the back end.

Mark W
 
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