I know this video is three years old but the new gatortail 23 micro with reverse is a game changer on a small boat. Geared so that 23 is turning the same size prop as the big block at the same rpm and u have reverse.
On bass boat, ski boat, it’s tilt down to come out of the hole and get on plain; then when on plain, tilt up a little to get the highest speed - steering resistance is also minimized at that point. You’re going to love it, and the sad will always be faster than longtail
You did good going with the carbureted 23hp you can add a lot of muscle and speed fairly cheap on them. I had the 27hp efi mud buddy and had lots of fuel problems and not much in the upgrade department besides invasive engine work. Those 23s can run like a 35hp if you work em up
This is exactly what he needs to do. I have this same motor on my 12/42 and it rips. No need for reverse or power trim once you get it sorted. Also, like the guy said earlier make sure she’s running 3900-4200 rpm. Grab bar and standing will also help but you also need time on the water with these. Way different but once you get the hang of how to handle it you’ll be fine. Like, when you need to drop it in the mud with the manual release it’s a lot quicker than with an electronic trim and you have more control and can manhandle the crap out of it.
When you get the trim set just perfect the steering will be alot easier. You will have to adjust trim to match your load in the boat. Once you get used to it its not that bad!
It takes a lot to get used to but with ur left to right issue is a weight distribution issue if ur by ur self put all ur gear on the left side of boat, if got a partner u offset him to the opposite side of u and try not to put weight in the front or back try to keep in middle of boat, that should help u a lot
I ran a copper head on my 15 Jon boat reverse and trim arnt that important u learn to work around it pretty easy. I always carryed a push pole and a paddle. U can also use motor to spin ur self around by lifting up and just letting the prop barely touch the water works like a bow thruster if you know what one of those are lol. Also it helps to keep ur trailer alittle bit higher out of the ramp when putting the boat on the bunks will grab the boat and guide u on better.
After using both myself I order a beaver tail over a surface drive. Where I hunt I have to get through some shallow and hard to navigate through waters that are extremely shallow. I do know you hunt tons of different spots but I wouldn’t hesitate to use the beaver tail when going somewhere with a lot of weeds and shallow water
Nice! Save that merc. Always good for a back up. You can decide after some time with new motor. But it’s very nice. Good luck reverse sure would be good! Shoot’m dead!
We had problem with our surface drive not have having enough power with all of our duck gear in it. If you run into that I would recommend a delta level three upgrade.
Just a tip, when you start the motor pop it out the water before because I have a similar motor and copper head manufacturer told me that’s what you gotta do to start it
I have the mudbuddy sport V. Has a lot of mercury components and drives more like an outboard than other surface drives I've used. Great to have reverse and power trim, but like you said, for duck hunting its more of a nice to have and not necessary as long as you have a good paddle or push poll.
If your still having trouble with the motor pulling on you the bottom Skeg is designed to be bent left or right depending on if the handle is pushing or pulling on you, and a good indicator of your motor being trimmed right is it should be turning at about 3800 rpms on the tach for a stock motor, I’ve been running these motors my whole life
Pick you up a Push Pole with a Ducks Feet on the end without Reverse you will find that you will need it if your Hunting the Mash . I have a Longtail and love it my Boat it a 16 footer I have a Homemade Push pole .
Hey josh we had the same issue with our mud buddy where it seems to pull when your running at higher speeds especially when your trim is up, to fix this you have to spend the sort below your prop almost up to a 45 degree angle to get it to stop pulling. On newer motors this comes standard. But you may have to adjust yourz
I’m down in south Louisiana and have a gator tail. Trust me they are the way to go for duck season. You need a solid 10-15 hours in it before you get adjusted for the most part. Get 10-15 hours on it and then see how you like it. Everything takes a little adjusting to.
Bought same motor last year. Recommend buying a heavy duty spring for the plate that sets the motor in its lowest position. First stump you hit with the stock spring will snap it off.
Be sure to bolt that baby down as well! Don’t just trust the clamps. In that shallow water when you start hitting stuff, you’d be surprised how easy it will come off. Tiller torque will get better when trim is set
If its fighting you turning make sure the motor is centered on your boat mine was a 1/2in off and it kept pulling to the right super bad! Otherwise sweet setup hope you enjoy it!
Keep an eye on your transom and the welds on the gunwales (looked like it was a wood transom). That motor is twice as heavy as the outboard. You should be standing and/or sitting higher than the bench you're sitting on, that's why the handle is way above you head. There is more tiller torque on mud motors/surface drives of that size and larger.
I have a 2020 mud buddy 23 efi try to adjust trim so when you plain out your running between 3900 rpm and 4200 rpm once I figured that out I was golden
You got a couple options. Mount it off center, and adjust weight in boat to combat the tiller torque. Orrrrr, take that skeg off and get a 3lb sledge, and adjust according.
Surface drives are super weight sensitive. If the tiller is pushing against you or away from you, weight needs to be shifted. You can also put a bend in the end of the skeg. Weight will determine everything regarding trim and ride.
Should be throwing a rooster tail pretty high, it’s gonna be thought trying to get it set up in rough water since it comes in and out of the water but once you get it set right you won’t want to go back to a outboard. You can get so many places that you never thought you could
Pods welded onto the back will help the boat plane faster and that nose up look. Most mud specific boats have pods from the factory. Mud buddy and other company’s sell them though.
Pods are good with a load in the shallows but you can wave dive in heavy ie great for hunting weather. I have a g3 1548vbw and a copper head 23 in New Zealand and in big waves i trim the boat bow up and bounce along. You can’t trim bow up with pods
Pods are for outboard mainly, now a hunt deck is what u need for a mud boat at that point save up a year or 2 and buy an actual rig for hunting. I fucked off for years being cheap adding shit to my mud boats was a big waste of time save ur money and buy a slightly used name brand boat full set up. Next year or 2 everyone is gonna be selling there boats they got with stimulus money during COVID
The root reason of it being so hard to turn starts at you having a long boat with underpowered motor. It’s equivalent to trying to turn a long kayak with a short paddle. The lever action drag from the front end will indefinitely fight you hence why huge barges need tugs to turn the front end in channels.
Can we get a comparison video between a surface drive and outboard, I’m thinking of getting a duck boat this year and have never had a boat with either
trimming it right will help with steering but steering torque is unavoidable with a surface drive especially if running a two blade prop i got a built 35hp gatortail on a godevil and after owning dozens of boats its by far my favorite but it will get away from you also with no reverse a push poll is your friend along with bunk slides will help in launching but congrats on the new rig
Outboards are not great for going shallow. They need water running through them to cool the engine. Vegetation can plug the water intake and blow the motor. Mud motors are air cooled and can take beatings.
@@OutdoorLimits I been using an outboard motor for years with no issue going in 3 feet of water with a boat like what you have. Just have to tilt the motor up. That motor looks heavy too since a forklift had to be use to lift it to be place on your boat. Be hard taking it off to put the outboard back on in the spring. But good luck with that loud motor this season.
@@lonnieyancer5735 I wouldn't really say 3ft is all that shallow, these motors can go in 10 inches of water or shallower with the right bottom. It's pretty much all you will see in south Louisiana with the muddy bottom there.
@@amb221989 we have mucky bottom lakes here in Michigan. My friend had a mud motor. He got rid of it as it was so loud it scared the birds going up river at 4am. Since going back to outboard been seeing more birds.
@@lonnieyancer5735 that's really interesting, I just moved to Ohio and my girlfriend is from Muskegon michigan and I've been looking into hunting some new areas. Any tips on good areas to go in MI? I left my boat in Alabama with my dad so he can use it so would mostly be bank hunting for me right now.
I know this video is three years old but the new gatortail 23 micro with reverse is a game changer on a small boat. Geared so that 23 is turning the same size prop as the big block at the same rpm and u have reverse.
Low key regrets buying it I think lol 😆
Surface drives are the best way to go I’ve had em all and definitely worth the money.
On bass boat, ski boat, it’s tilt down to come out of the hole and get on plain; then when on plain, tilt up a little to get the highest speed - steering resistance is also minimized at that point. You’re going to love it, and the sad will always be faster than longtail
Sd
You did good going with the carbureted 23hp you can add a lot of muscle and speed fairly cheap on them. I had the 27hp efi mud buddy and had lots of fuel problems and not much in the upgrade department besides invasive engine work. Those 23s can run like a 35hp if you work em up
You gonna love that thing surface drives are the way to go
If you are fighting with the tiller handle take a crescent wrench and bend the skeg just a little at a time and it’ll almost drive itself
This is exactly what he needs to do. I have this same motor on my 12/42 and it rips. No need for reverse or power trim once you get it sorted. Also, like the guy said earlier make sure she’s running 3900-4200 rpm. Grab bar and standing will also help but you also need time on the water with these. Way different but once you get the hang of how to handle it you’ll be fine. Like, when you need to drop it in the mud with the manual release it’s a lot quicker than with an electronic trim and you have more control and can manhandle the crap out of it.
When you get the trim set just perfect the steering will be alot easier. You will have to adjust trim to match your load in the boat. Once you get used to it its not that bad!
Thanks for the tip!
It takes a lot to get used to but with ur left to right issue is a weight distribution issue if ur by ur self put all ur gear on the left side of boat, if got a partner u offset him to the opposite side of u and try not to put weight in the front or back try to keep in middle of boat, that should help u a lot
I ran a copper head on my 15 Jon boat reverse and trim arnt that important u learn to work around it pretty easy. I always carryed a push pole and a paddle. U can also use motor to spin ur self around by lifting up and just letting the prop barely touch the water works like a bow thruster if you know what one of those are lol. Also it helps to keep ur trailer alittle bit higher out of the ramp when putting the boat on the bunks will grab the boat and guide u on better.
After using both myself I order a beaver tail over a surface drive. Where I hunt I have to get through some shallow and hard to navigate through waters that are extremely shallow. I do know you hunt tons of different spots but I wouldn’t hesitate to use the beaver tail when going somewhere with a lot of weeds and shallow water
Nice! Save that merc. Always good for a back up. You can decide after some time with new motor. But it’s very nice. Good luck reverse sure would be good! Shoot’m dead!
We had problem with our surface drive not have having enough power with all of our duck gear in it. If you run into that I would recommend a delta level three upgrade.
Just a tip, when you start the motor pop it out the water before because I have a similar motor and copper head manufacturer told me that’s what you gotta do to start it
I have the mudbuddy sport V. Has a lot of mercury components and drives more like an outboard than other surface drives I've used. Great to have reverse and power trim, but like you said, for duck hunting its more of a nice to have and not necessary as long as you have a good paddle or push poll.
If your still having trouble with the motor pulling on you the bottom Skeg is designed to be bent left or right depending on if the handle is pushing or pulling on you, and a good indicator of your motor being trimmed right is it should be turning at about 3800 rpms on the tach for a stock motor, I’ve been running these motors my whole life
Pick you up a Push Pole with a Ducks Feet on the end without Reverse you will find that you will need it if your Hunting the Mash . I have a Longtail and love it my Boat it a 16 footer I have a Homemade Push pole .
Hey josh we had the same issue with our mud buddy where it seems to pull when your running at higher speeds especially when your trim is up, to fix this you have to spend the sort below your prop almost up to a 45 degree angle to get it to stop pulling. On newer motors this comes standard. But you may have to adjust yourz
I’m down in south Louisiana and have a gator tail. Trust me they are the way to go for duck season. You need a solid 10-15 hours in it before you get adjusted for the most part. Get 10-15 hours on it and then see how you like it. Everything takes a little adjusting to.
Bought same motor last year. Recommend buying a heavy duty spring for the plate that sets the motor in its lowest position. First stump you hit with the stock spring will snap it off.
Be sure to bolt that baby down as well! Don’t just trust the clamps. In that shallow water when you start hitting stuff, you’d be surprised how easy it will come off. Tiller torque will get better when trim is set
Its bolted in. just didnt make it in the video
Awesome! You’ll enjoy it! Stress free stump smashin
Thats no joke!
If its fighting you turning make sure the motor is centered on your boat mine was a 1/2in off and it kept pulling to the right super bad! Otherwise sweet setup hope you enjoy it!
Keep an eye on your transom and the welds on the gunwales (looked like it was a wood transom). That motor is twice as heavy as the outboard. You should be standing and/or sitting higher than the bench you're sitting on, that's why the handle is way above you head. There is more tiller torque on mud motors/surface drives of that size and larger.
I have a 2020 mud buddy 23 efi try to adjust trim so when you plain out your running between 3900 rpm and 4200 rpm once I figured that out I was golden
You got a couple options. Mount it off center, and adjust weight in boat to combat the tiller torque. Orrrrr, take that skeg off and get a 3lb sledge, and adjust according.
Surface drives are super weight sensitive. If the tiller is pushing against you or away from you, weight needs to be shifted. You can also put a bend in the end of the skeg. Weight will determine everything regarding trim and ride.
Hope you enjoy it!
I would highly recommend that you install a grab bar in your boat. they are great, especially when using a mud motor.
Thats on the to do list!
Love the content! I can't wait to see what else you do to the boat! That's one of my dreams is to have a hunting boat.
Bend the skag little at a time and try it out I have a mud buddy 5500 and it's really easy to turn
Lots of guys swap motors for the season where I live I wish I had both but I only have my gtr
thats sick man ! i just got my first boat this year and cant wait for season down here in southwest florida .. cant wait for the videos as well
I'd love to get a mud buddy for my war eagle
Make sure you install a grab bar that thing could send you flying with the torque it has
The boats coming along really nice dude. You can always take out the governor to get some more horses haha
10 Hours? Time for that first oil change!!
This. Break in oil change
And valves!
We need some more off season tricks and organizing
Should be throwing a rooster tail pretty high, it’s gonna be thought trying to get it set up in rough water since it comes in and out of the water but once you get it set right you won’t want to go back to a outboard. You can get so many places that you never thought you could
Pods welded onto the back will help the boat plane faster and that nose up look. Most mud specific boats have pods from the factory. Mud buddy and other company’s sell them though.
If I put pods on I wont be able to use my trolling motor. I'll have to make due without them unfortunately
Pods are good with a load in the shallows but you can wave dive in heavy ie great for hunting weather. I have a g3 1548vbw and a copper head 23 in New Zealand and in big waves i trim the boat bow up and bounce along. You can’t trim bow up with pods
Pods are for outboard mainly, now a hunt deck is what u need for a mud boat at that point save up a year or 2 and buy an actual rig for hunting. I fucked off for years being cheap adding shit to my mud boats was a big waste of time save ur money and buy a slightly used name brand boat full set up. Next year or 2 everyone is gonna be selling there boats they got with stimulus money during COVID
@@jayneup4776 good advice here.
your trim will change as you load it with people, dog and decoys
Nice setup.
I knew that was going to happen, looks powerful enough ‘
The root reason of it being so hard to turn starts at you having a long boat with underpowered motor. It’s equivalent to trying to turn a long kayak with a short paddle. The lever action drag from the front end will indefinitely fight you hence why huge barges need tugs to turn the front end in channels.
Can we get a comparison video between a surface drive and outboard, I’m thinking of getting a duck boat this year and have never had a boat with either
I had to bend the skeg tip to the left a little and now i can run mine with 2 fingers.
jack plate, with power trim.
Wish I had one for duck season on my duck boat .Duck season can get pretty hard on props if you know what I mean
Have you looked into a jet pump?
trimming it right will help with steering but steering torque is unavoidable with a surface drive especially if running a two blade prop i got a built 35hp gatortail on a godevil and after owning dozens of boats its by far my favorite but it will get away from you also with no reverse a push poll is your friend along with bunk slides will help in launching but congrats on the new rig
What happened to your other motor ?? Could it run that boat too?
Can you do a 20 gauge vs 12 gauge video
You need a grab bar
Need to have a garter tail
secure that start key to your motor before you loose it
Where is your PFD. ??
Where was your life vest 🤔
Probably need pods for that boat
You don't list what boat this is on?
Get a grab bar and stand up it’ll help you steer
Thats on the to do list
Sheesh
Looks like to need a grab handle so you can stand up. Looks very uncomfortable to drive like having ape hangers on a Harley lol
Id leave it on so u can learn to drive cuz opening day i learned how to drive my long tail not fun
Put a louder pipe in it
Don't understand why get a mud motor as they are so loud, and scares all the ducks. Your outboard motor will be easier to use.
Outboards are not great for going shallow. They need water running through them to cool the engine. Vegetation can plug the water intake and blow the motor. Mud motors are air cooled and can take beatings.
@@OutdoorLimits I been using an outboard motor for years with no issue going in 3 feet of water with a boat like what you have. Just have to tilt the motor up.
That motor looks heavy too since a forklift had to be use to lift it to be place on your boat. Be hard taking it off to put the outboard back on in the spring.
But good luck with that loud motor this season.
@@lonnieyancer5735 I wouldn't really say 3ft is all that shallow, these motors can go in 10 inches of water or shallower with the right bottom. It's pretty much all you will see in south Louisiana with the muddy bottom there.
@@amb221989 we have mucky bottom lakes here in Michigan. My friend had a mud motor. He got rid of it as it was so loud it scared the birds going up river at 4am. Since going back to outboard been seeing more birds.
@@lonnieyancer5735 that's really interesting, I just moved to Ohio and my girlfriend is from Muskegon michigan and I've been looking into hunting some new areas. Any tips on good areas to go in MI? I left my boat in Alabama with my dad so he can use it so would mostly be bank hunting for me right now.
jessie
Long tails are better