Need guidance
 

In the market for a small fast shallow
Boat. Wintertime marshing, possibly bow fishing, trying to hit all the spots that are too sketchy for the bay boat. My first thought was edge with tohatsu. But now I'm looking a pro drives. We will not be hunting. Strictly fishing. My only issue with mud motors are the noise and speed. Any thoughts?

You can get the extra speed out of mud motors with some mods. I know my Prodrive will run 32-33 on a 17X54 Prodrive boat.


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if your not hunting and don't need deep marsh backwater access, why not just go standard flat boat with 50hp motor?

I have a 17/52 that will go in 5" of water drifting or push poling and you can fish with trolling motor in as little as 18" of water

I gotta have 40 mph. Don't need to walk mud flats. But it would be cool to be able to make some shortcuts in the marsh and not have to use the bays and lakes

Minimum 40 mph

They have some people that will chime in, but what your looking for is more of S Texas or Florida boat. Lots of boats to choose from; you can find good deals.

Something 17-19 ft would be sweet.


Or just put a hopped up 40merc on a 18/42 and roll.

Tunnel hull

Those tohatsu 40s sound like they are something to consider... Couple in depth threads in here about them. I have them saved if you wanna read them I'll post them in here

that's what I have, the tohatsu 40hp 4 stroke and you remove the restrictor plate on the throttle body and it becomes about a 45hp motor with just that.

with just me in it and one ice chest, 3 batteries, 80 lbs trolling motor, and gas, my 17/52 Alweld "v" front flat does 33-34mph with it and a ss Yamaha 15 pitch prop

this is how it looks: http://www.saltycajun.com/forum/album.php?albumid=608

Nice!! I've got a mud motor and it's slow but I love not having to worry about water pissing out of my motor and can be a little more rough on it in general.. But I do miss the speed

Leaker. That's a nice rig! The only thing steering me away from a mud motor is speed. So if I'm rolling ~34 I would just get a mud motor

Meaux you think I can get 40 out of a loaded down tunnel hull?

IMO-
Yes, you can get 40mph out of a tunnel but it will require more than 40-50hp.

Hydraulic jackplate/trim without jack plate might be the best compromise, for the speed you desire.

Cajun Christian would be able to tell you exactly what you need to achieve your goal.

I'm sure you know this but 35mph is easily attainable for a loaded down boat under 90hp but, when your wanting 40+mph it becomes difficult.

Good luck.

Cajun Christian informs me that this setup is difficult to achieve and not practical. With that being said, what is the fastest surface drive rig I can get?

How much$$$$$$$$$ you willing to spend, you can drop some $$ modding a law motor engine to run faster than 33mph.

Gatortail 37hp EFI is prob the fastest stock motor you can buy, Pro-Drive may be a little slower but not much.

Pick one of those 2, both good motors.

I'm trying to stay under 25k for the whole rig

well for my example:

alweld 1752 mod v hull boat - $2500 http://www.alweld.com/custom_boats_vee_bottom.html

tohatsu/Nissan 40hp 4 stroke outboard - $5000 http://www.tohatsu.com/outboards/40_4st.html

extra wide extra long tongue trailer - $1700

had the floor covered with aluminum sheet metal, the rear seat raised and hinged lids added for storage, had the original front deck removed and enlarged along with a large front storage box added with twin battery holder mounts for the trolling motor and trolling motor mounting box. - cost me $1800 at aluminum fab shop

all this was just around $12,000 after taxes and tags and all that

only thing I would do different was I would have gotten bed liner sprayed on the whole thing instead of the roll on stuff.

Keaker I'm starting to like your boat more and more. I really like that side console. If you had it to do over again would you change anything?

well I think I would have had a built in 12-15 gallon gas tank built into the rear seat rather then putting 2 portable tanks in there that are removable that I have to switch the fuel lines on but that's it.

I love it and go anywhere and everywhere with it except open offshore areas. it takes water well and if I get in a chop I just go slow and stay dry. it really is a dream for anything from marsh fishing to perch jerking in the fresh water canals.

im in laplace (about 30 minute drive away) if you want to come over and take a look at it in person, im always home since im retired. if interested just pm me and i'll send you my address

one last note that's important, you can choose the color so get the gray color so the seat isn't 100 degrees in summer lol. it makes a huge difference trust me

Glad to see this thread cuz I'm thinking of selling my Yammie 50 and getting a shallow drive motor. Not real concerned about speed, just want a strong reverse in case I run up on a mud flat. Today, I ran out in the marsh to a spot that I had never been before, but I had some "directions". The directions included "don't get off a step or you will be poling your way back". Well, the directions were correct and although I didn't fall off a step, I came close a few times.

I'm hearing ProDrive has the strongest reverse and Gatortail is the best overall. From those who have those motors,I would appreciate any advice you might have.

What you are told is correct about the Pro-Drive reverse it is a beast. And it is closer to driving a outboard than the Gatortails IMO.


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If you're using it strictly for fishing, I'd suggest the Gatortail solely because of the instant reverse. I love my Prodrive, but it can be a bit of a headache when you need to reverse quick. As far as speeds go I have the 37EFI PD on a 1748 and have touched 30 mph with 2 people and a fishing load with one Hell of a tail wind. I'm usually in the 25-28 mph range. Not a speed demon, but she'll get you to the spots you pass in any outboard and wish you could get to.

The new hydro reverse is quicker than the one on my gen two Prodrive for sure.


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That's for damn sure. Night and day difference between my '09 27hp and my new 37. There are times I wish I had instant reverse though.

I have operated both and I agree 100%

The thing to do if you are looking into getting a mud motor try and test drive the motors you are interested in and see which one you are more comfortable with. Most guys will be more than happy to give you a lil demo. And ask questions about everything you can think to ask.


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Kinda what I was thinking, that the PD would be more like driving an outboard in the handling except for the "non instant reverse". Another question, when reversing in a Gatortail, if you power up quite a bit, does it spray mud/water into the boat? One more, is the length of the lower unit on the GT make it more like driving a long tail (I used to have one years ago) in that you had to lean way out to make turns?

Reverse spray only really an issue when your trimmed up too high. Prop must be submerged for reverse to work; if you buy an older unit without reverse plate install one, they make a big difference.

Reverse spray only really an issue when your trimmed up too high. Prop must be submerged for reverse to work; if you buy an older unit without reverse plate install one, they make a big difference.

In the times that I have driven my friends GTR the tiller torque is considerably more than that of the PD. Wouldn't say it's like running a long tail though. The three blade GTR prop seems to reduce it quite a bit though.


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