Thread: Longtail Mud Motors

Finally gonna get a gas motor for my little jon boat and im probably gonna build a mud motor with either a kit or seperate parts. Does anyone know if they have a reverse gear and is there anything else that i should know about?

We ran a GoDevil 16x56 boat with a 35 Koehler long tail for years duck hunting, fantastic rig for shallow muddy weedy places.

No, no reverse gear.

What size boat? I would not put one on anything less than a 14x48. You drive standing up so you need a stable boat. And a Grab Bar to hold onto.
HP for HP, they are heavier than outboards. As much as twice as heavy. So don't plan on putting a mud motor that is the max rated boat HP on the transom. Putting floatation pods on the stern will help a lot.
I've seen guys running 16 hp long tails on little 14x36 job boats during duck duck season. With all their gear, and the weight of that motor on the stern, they had little freeboard left and no ability to handle anything more than a little chop. Scary sight to see on 45 degree water in December.

They are slow. As in 10-12 mph top speed slow. Don't plan on going anywhere fast. But you can run in 2" of water in sloppy mud & solid milfoil. They do not perform well in shallow water over sand & shells, which really grind up the prop and keep the boat from sliding.

They don't turn like an outboard, try to make too sharp a turn and the motor will go perpendicular to the stern and drive the opposite corner under water. Don't ask how I know.
Always use the kill switch cord!!

Overall, small mud motors on small boat have their place, in shallow, muddy, weedy SHELTERED waters where you have no chance of getting into heavy chop or waves.
If you have to run any big water that has a chance to get rough when a storm blows up, then you need a bigger boat with a bigger mud motor.

My 2 cents.

I went with a short tail surface drive. It's a 27hp go devil. It's paired with a 1860 lowe roughneck. We hunted out of it last your and love it. It will be coming do to Bama with us next year. Figured we would fish little lagoon in it

Probably gonna upgrade to a 14x36 soon but the one i have right now is an 12x36 and definitely sounds too small going by what youre saying. I was planning on running a 5 or 8 hp motor. That boat would only be going around in the rivers and Weeks bay so it wouldnt get too choppy but when i go back in some of the sloughs and creeks in the river im pretty sure a regular outboard wouldnt do so well which was why i was wondering about a mud motor. And with the trolling motor im using now if i turn too sharp it just about takes the motor off the transom so i can imagine what a larger motor would do bolted to the boat

The extra foot of width sure does make it a bit more STABLE.

Get a 14x48. I would never buy a 36" wide jon boat for anything other than pond fishing. Too narrow, too unstable and not enough gunwale height. Even in Weeks Bay or Fish River, the wind can pick up (or a large boat can throw up a wake) and you are suddenly in a bad situation.

Most tidal creeks are pretty deep, unless you are duck hunting shallow flats and bays up in the Delta, I don't see the need for a long-tail motor.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Get a 14x48. I would never buy a 36" wide jon boat for anything other than pond fishing. Too narrow, too unstable and not enough gunwale height. Even in Weeks Bay or Fish River, the wind can pick up (or a large boat can throw up a wake) and you are suddenly in a bad situation.

Most tidal creeks are pretty deep, unless you are duck hunting shallow flats and bays up in the Delta, I don't see the need for a long-tail motor.

I lost a 12x36 in wolf bay due to another's boat wake many years ago. So I would definitely go wider if you are going to be in the bays or the larger rivers.