Someone familiar with these tell me about them.

What would you recommend and what would you tell me to stay away from? What kind of maintenance is required? What's the range?

I'm interested in getting a boat that will get me to the remote backwaters and extreme shallows. Must hold up in salt. Will be used primarily for fishing and duck hunting in POC.

I don't plan to actually hunt from the boat. Just need it to get me, buddies, guns, dogs, and dekes where we need to go.

Any information is appreciated!

I would go with a relatively long (17 or 18') flat bottomed aluminum boat, 25 hp Mercury with tiller, a stainless steal prop, and a good push pole.

http://www.mudbuddy.com/Videos%20Amazing%20Mud.html

I'd like to hear y'all's take on this too.

And how well does a mud boat work as a flats boat?

airboat?

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That is what popped into my feeble little mind.

Mud Buddy looks good. I ran a 16 hp "Go Devil" for a good no. of years With good results and very little maint.

I used to run a 18 hp GoDevil long shaft on a 16 ft flat bottom that I used at Somerville and Camp Creek for duck hunting. Had it out on Aransas Pass twice. It worked and ran great. Very little maintenance. I bought this setup from a guy that used it to flounder gig at the coast. I finally found a couple of places I have access to where I can walk in. No need to hassle with pulling a boat around anymore! I sold the engine several years ago.

from what i understand, won't a mud boat/motor eventually get you into more trouble than it's worth? it would suck getting stuck way out in the middle of nowhere and having to walk back through boot-stealing slop.

I would think salt water flats would be a lot harsher on one as opposed to using one in the marsh. My airboat has a 3/8" kevlar pad that runs from about 6" above the the flat portion of the front of the boat to the transom. Maybe you can see that on the bottom of the transom.

There is lots of stuff that will get you running around in very little water in the flats....you could not run for very long without a pad. I would think a mud boat set up would be extremely hard on props where you have shell etc.

www.mudmotortalk.com

I think they are awesome, and will have one within a year or two. Not sure which hull I'm going to go with, but the engine will be Pro Drive (w/ reverse) and hooked up to a center console with steering. If I have the money I'll do 2 engines.

Google for dealerships, there is only 1 that sells both ProDrive and Mud Buddy and it is in East Texas. I called the mud boat "specialist" there and he was extremely helpful.

I use a Majek Redfish Line with a Yamaha TRP.
It works and I can fish from it as well.

I second the Majek RFL with a trp. I used to run a rfl and its scary how shallow you can get while on plane, especially with trim tabs. But its like owning a 4 wheel drive truck. Yeah it will get you further but it will also get you "stucker".


Basically, if you want to run saltwater do not even consider investing in a mud boat or mud motor. I have done it with a gator trax boat and mudbuddy 35 vanguard.

1. Sandy bottoms and completely flat aluminum boats do not mix. The sand grabs at the aluminum and the boat cannot slide over it like it does with mud. Reasoning behind poly bottoms on air boats
2. Salt water and mud motors do not work well together. The open design of a mud motor makes easy entry for every saltwater particle. Combine that with the constant sunlight on all of your wiring connections and you've got a pile of rust with your connections dry-rotting. If you even consider using the motor in salt water, INSTALL A SACRIFICIAL ANODE!!

For the record everyone who hunts around us runs either an airboat or a mud motor in the salt. Its kind of funny to match their faces when we pull in with a Majek.

I keep trying to talk one of my friendsor my brother into buying an airboat because I just do not want the maintenance or the cost but I would echo everything that has been said about mud motors and airboat engines not mixxing well with salt water.

Also, let me tell you the story of the mud motor trip from charlie's to mule slough.

Had been using the boat on some lakes around central texas while at school at a&m. It was my buddy's boat and he was in law school and had nowhere to store it at his new house in houston. So, what a great idea, while at home for christmas I'll take it down to POC since the guy i hunt with's airboat is out of commission. We have about six guys with us so we split up.

We put two of us in the mud boat and the other four in the flats cat. I was following the flats cat that morning so i figured that there would be no problem. WRONG! That boat was doing circles around me! As they were burning right along, I was pushing. I eventually pushed the boat up in some marsh grass and left it there and hopped in the other boat. So with six guys, 2 dogs, and dekes we were going where a gator trax could not.

Well the morning hunt sucked and my hangover was setting in pretty good and the tide was going out. The trip back needs no explanation.

Mud boats are worthless in sand!!

I know there are practical applications for mud boats in salt marshes with mud bottoms. I've done just fine in muddy marshes. However, I am mostly a fisherman and I could have been running the damn thing completely wrong.

Cole - where do you hunt? I went back and forth for months on whether or not to hook up my surface drive to a center console or not. Where I'm at there are a lot of logs and debris and with the hand held surface drive you can quickly raise the unit up to get over stuff. Ultimately I went with the handheld for that reason. Depending on the environment you hunt you may look into it.

To the OP -
I hunt the marshes and bays around Houston and for the previous three years used a 16 ft aluminum with a 25hp johnson outboard. For the most part, the boat got me where I needed to go with only minimal problems, but it kept me from getting where I wanted to go. I hit logs, sand, shell, mud and even a fridge in that boat. It worked, but the engine took a beating. The outboard motors will absolutely NOT work in marsh mud. I can't tell you how many times i have seen outboards stuck in the middle of the marsh. The sand will destroy your prop. Aluminum doesn't stand a chance..2 or 3 props a year. I switched to steel and held up better but lost around 30% in one year. Keep in mind that I'm driving the prop down into the sand, so normal wear and tear is non-existent. i was tired of hitting trees, replacing props, and sucking up that sh*t water in the engine so I switched this year to a true mud boat. You may not need one depending on where you hunt.

Boat - Excel F4 shallow water series. Great boat. .100 aluminum with less drag because of the hull design. It has a new triple tapered chime design which allows the boat to turn on a dime and gain traction in mud.

Motor - Vanguard mud buddy 55 hp backwater performance series. It's a new motor for this year. Short tail. Easy to hand operate trim.

Depending on the environment you hunt makes a huge difference on the type of boat you get. Around Houston, you might be in 6 in ches of water, but step off and your in thigh deep mud that is thicker than anything you have seen. If the bays are shallower than normal then there is no way an outboard can dig down in the mud to give you enough torque to operate. There were days when i couldn't get to my spots in the old boat. The other big factor is timber hunting. Down here I can stay north of Interstate 10 and hunt timber or go just south and hunt in marshes. The outboard engine definitely kept me out of timberholes because i was worried about damaging the lower unit. The new boat lets me jump logs fairly easily. I can't comment on air boats performance, but I do know those loud SOB's wake me up in the morning out at the cabin.

Hope this helps, now you got me pumped up again for hunting season.

[This message has been edited by AgLandMan (edited 6/16/2010 10:01a).]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

I may be more confused now than when I posted. But thanks for the responses anyway.

jayelbee (and to whom it may concern): I'm always looking for folks to hunt with and places to go.

anyone ever take a duck rig (gator trax, excel, etc) and use interchangeable motors? For example take a 17'50" flat aluminum hull and run a 40hp tiller during non-hunting season or when its more advantageous and a 25hp or less surface drive for marsh hunting or when more advantageous. Keeping the mud motor below 25hp will give an option to stay legal in many of the NFWRs in SE Texas.

Maybe put a jack plate on it so I'm not subject to open transom from different hole patterns. The downside is jacked up motors like tunnel hulls and that a tunnel hull might hurt flotation when running the surface drive/mud motor. Anyone have an experience here? Not sure if the mud motor would mount on the jack plate?

I'd be selling my 18' Gulf Coast and classic cancelling my storage while replacing it with a boat that will store beside my garage. Would serve as my all around rig obviously compromising open bay running to spend more time in the marsh and flats. Primary use would be NW Galv Bay, Bastrop bay, Upper Trinity, Anahuac, and maybe some river action from the Colorado to the Trinity.

Maybe something like these without the extra extended deck. I like the gator trax cat walks that you can make gun and rod storage as well.

Id like to plug a guy in the Tyler area. He makes some great custom boats with Gator Tails.

Peter Willet makes some gorgeous boats.

http://www.wccustomboats.com

Not advocating this boat specifically but you could probably get a lot of bang for your buck by getting a rig similar to this:


https://www.trackerboats.com/boat/?boat=3947

And then getting a mud motor like this:

https://www.backwaterinc.com/swomp-35.html

Or for something more economical to replace when the salt water makes the surface drive a mess:

https://www.harborfreight.com/engines-generators/gas-engines/22-hp-708cc-v-twin-vertical-shaft-gas-engine-epa-62879.html

http://mud-skipper.com/index.php/longtails/16-23-hp-longtail-motor-drive-system.html

Holy thread bump batman.

Sabine skiffs just rigged one of their versatiles with an air cooled surface drive / OB hybrid. They're being secretive on performance but I'm intrigued.

https://www.freedom-outboard.com