Surface drive on a TDB 14????

Phil Nowack

Phil Nowack

Well-known member
Just Curious... has anyone out there put a surface drive on a TDB 14 Classic???? If so what size and how did it perform? I can see and think of about 100 reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea... but just curious....
 
I contemplated it on a project TDB-type 14' hull, but determined there really wasn't any feasable way to make a transom/motor mount that I felt confident would stand up to the stress of a 165# surface drive....one of the smaller, 12hp copperheads or such (around 110#) might be feasable, but the the design of the motor mount extension needed would still need some added structural support/tying into the hull to counter the torque/impact stresses you might have.....aside from all of that, there's no reason one wouldn't perform just like a heavy for HP outboard, mostly.
 
Bill, would that hull have been the one that I have? Weight is a slight concern... I think my motormount is suffiecient, but I guess I was thinking a downside would be pushing a fiberglass/epoxied hull across mud, and worse sumerged logs... at speed... The boat is awesome currently and I can get into everyplace I need to .. but the vegetation is always a pain with the outboard.
 
Phill the veg is a pain on a surface drive too It can get wraped so tight the motor won't turn over you could not pull the weeds off by hand they had to be cut off . Also found out when you get stuck your in a world of shit
 
Phil. I was just reading about your BBIII build. Do you also have a tdb. Not satisfied with the bb3?
After I added a rock guard to my outboard, the veg collects ion the guard instead of the prop (for the most part). When there's too much drag, just raise the motor and the veg slides off the guard. Power tilt a must.
 
as rob said, a tdb does not have the correct hull design for these types of motors. Its like trying to make something it isn't. the tdbs are meant for an outboard. Performance wise, im sure a surface drive would push the boat in open water, but once it was put in any other sort of environment(ie: mud, vegetation, stumps, log jams, etc.) it would fail. theres a reason why they put mud motors on flat bottoms jons and skiffs.
 
yep, your hull, Phil. The stuff a transom is subjected to with a surface drive mudmotor are much more than what an outboard normally does (IMO), that any 'extension' type of mount gives some added leverage to the forces applied.. I'm not saying that the good looking work you've done wouldn't work with something in the 12hp/110# range, either....but if you step up to the 165# class of shorttails, we're talking the 23hp+ motors, and exponentially more torque and speed to subject the transom and hull to with impacts, etc. It might never fail, but if it did, it might also rip the entire stern off.
 
Thats what I was thinking... but I didn't realize the surface drives had vegitation issues... I used to have GoDevil long tail, and never had an issue with the weeds, so I assumed that the short tails wouldn't have a problem.

The 14' that I have is a FLAT FLAT bottom.

I actually never built a BBIII... I built an EXTREMELY modified Devlin Honker... then I bought a Devlin BBII from a friend... but I hated the displacement hull.... I was thinking of cutting the II and resaping the hull so it would be a BBIII... but for the amount of effort it wasn't worth it. Then the hull of this TDBish (TDB knock off) came up as did a buyer for my BBII.. SO I reglassed and fixed the TDB and am loving it..

My real fear of putting some sort of mud motor on the bottom of the glass boat is actually having speed in the skinny backwaters and the effects of a log or sump would be terrible...
 
Actually, the weeds are no more of an issue with the surface drives I've run/sold than with any longtail.....it's what we run in all the time, millfoil, hydrilla, hyacinth, etc.....I've never had one 'lock up', though anytime you play in enough trash, you'll collect some....but by and large, you can do everything with a surface drive that you can do with a longtail....only faster and more maneuverably...regardless of load/terrain. The only reason I'd opt for a longtail, over a shorttail is if I couldn't afford the shorttail or they weren't available....it's just a better peice of gear for the weeds/mud/hunting. The copperhead mudmotors are the lightest shorttails I know of, and their 12hp runs around 110#....but it might be a slight underpower or have less performance than you want on that hull.....the next step up in performance would be the MudBuddy minis, which weigh in around #165.....both of which are lighter than any longtail with comparable HP/performance, but about 30% or more heavier than an outboard. If weeds are your only concern, then you might lokk into an ultrajack.

http://pages.prodigy.net/lee_self/
 
I've never had a problem with vegetation clogging my surface drive, other than running it through cord grass on a hurricane tide. This thing eat floating and submergent vegetation 100% better than a longtail. Now, a long tail, would dig out of a lot tougher spot than a surface drive will, simply because of the reach and leverage.
 
Thanks for the input... I don't see me going to the shorttail.. The 25 Yamaha is on it's 3rd season and works fine... I just got a wild hair up my..... waiting for the wind to arrive I guess. The Mudbuddy Hyper drives were in the 165# range for the HP I was looking for.. 1 Benefit to a service drive... I bet I wouldn't cavitate in high speed turns..... :)
 
From what I've read, the guys that run the fiberglass boat and mud motors all say the same thing. If you get a puncture or a hole in the boats its an easy fix but the boat is going to be HEAVY.
 
I am not so sure about the weight.. but the repair would be easy... The bigger issue for me if I compromise the hull, is: #1 the ability to get back too the landing... and #2 the HUGE inconvience due to timing and temps when said compromise occured.... Because it would be during duck season when hopefully temps are below 40 degrees, and epoxy isn't as easy to get a q
quick patch in those temps.
 
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