Nice video. For my Jon boat I went with the larger Beaver Dam kit and the HF 15.8 HP motor. Took a little time getting it dialed in, but I'm very happy with it. The Beaver Dam owner, Mr. Robert Milner is First Rate! We were in constant contact via chat and calls, as I dialed in my set-up. Since I'm tall, and the distance to my transom and the first bench seat is a little far, I ended up having them make me a longer handle. Now I'm very comfortable as it runs through the water. I'm looking for to Ducks and Deer this season. Did do a little fishing out of my rig also and discovered I needed a long paddle in the boat to help me get away from the shore, the docks, and structure at certain times. Rangers... Lead the Way!
Good point Bryan. I ran a Beaver Dam years ago and I like the upgrades they have made to the kit. It is most definitely super strong and beefy! Cant wait to get out on the water and play some more with the BDMR kit.
I have the swamp runner it's a older one I bought second hand I have run it for 4 year's now but I think it's time for a new one the beaver tail is the one I think I will go with this side by side comparison is extremely helpful it was good to see the difference in construction the transom mount is what sold me thank you.
Thank you Randy B. Sorry it took so long, it was a lot of video to edit and I wanted to make sure I covered all the details. It's amazing how tough it is to film an entire video and not insert your opinion at all until the very end! Glad I took the time to do it so everyone has something solid to go off when deciding which motor to buy.
@@SendItJonBoats man I'm sure it was tough! Looks like I'll be ordering the beaver dam kit after having the 420 motor sitting in the garage for probably over a year so clearly I wasn't in a big hurry anyways! I've got a couple jons I can test it on but I don't have one exactly like I'm wanting. Probably going to end up buying a 1436 when I can find a deal on one. Thanks again for the videos and keep up the good work!
As someone who lives in the great plains and has zero use for a boat, let alone one with a mud motor, I like the beaver dam. For the price, it really seems like the best value and build quality. Excellent review.
Great review, as a tool maker I appreciate all the numerical specs. I could easily build one in the shop, and just buy the throttle cable. pretty straight forward.
Tool maker.... hmmmm I may need your expertise for a future build! Email me if you are interested in helping out with a project I will be building soon. chris@atfhydrographics.com
I was literally going through your channel, I just discovered it and I was like “I wonder if he’s reviewed any specific mud motor kits” and here you are reviewing all of them at once lol
Excellent video ! I'd been leaning toward the Swamp Runner only because that's the one I'd had the most exposure too. It was nice to have such a well balanced, side-by-side evaluation of these three.
Great Video and Honest, accurate review. Can't beat the FACTS! This was way over due for the Thai longtails. Too much BS online. Thanks for setting the record straight.
I bought the SwampRunner Kit just a few more things to ad, on my 301 Pred I had to cut the motor shaft down for the kit to fit aswell as the keyway like you mentioned, also allot of the extra parts on SwampRunners website you have to register your kit to even buy the parts like they are some special longtail club or something.
Thats a good point bud, didn't even think to talk about that in the video. I think it is crazy how you have to be a member of their site in order to get parts, you would think they would want to sell parts to anyone with money!?! but what do I know, it's not like I run my own business or anything lol.
@@SendItJonBoats IIRC, early on they had people getting factory parts, cloning them overseas and trying to make false claims. Happens a lot in a lot of product lines. This is just their attempt to protect their R&D and products.
I also have a swap runner small kit and a 212 hopped up a lil... its on a 1430 flat bottom. I get about 15 downriver downwind with a 6.5 hurricane prop tached @4675 with stock internals! She doesn't like doing it very long.. im also registered, and it makes sense to me that they keep the parts to the owners of their kits. Also imo the skag on the bottom of the shaft is much beefier on the swamp runner kits.. but the adaptation of powerplant capability and brass bushing is a tough to beat feature! I've got some serious considerations to make when I upgrade so I can keep up with my buddies in our long tail crew
@@SendItJonBoats I bought my swamprunner before Beaver Dam started making a kit that fit everything from 8-23hp. I had concerns about the cast aluminum coupler and galvanic corrosion with the brass bushing in a steel shaft running in saltwater. In hindsight I wonder if those issues are more in my head than out in the real world. Sure the swamprunner coupler is steel but it's bolted to a cast aluminum engine. And after replacing 2 bushings in 200 hours I'm wondering if brass wouldn't be nice. But I can confirm that registering to get parts is a royal PITA and is enough to make me not recommend a swamprunner. Beaver Dam did a smart thing making one kit fit the 13 and 23 motor because I can tell you I have a strong desire to slap a 23 on my weldcraft 1436. If I was buying an import kit again I'd go Beaver Dam. Anywho, nice channel!
At first skipper but it was kind of crap. Broke the coupler pretty quick. Tried the swamp runner and haven’t looked back. Bent rods on 22hp and ran it for 2 years till it broke the gimbal bracket. Still made it home and didn’t even realize it till next day. (Alcohol mite be responsible) 50$ was great cheap replacement. So tried a built motor and bent expensive rods… still run swamp runner. Stock quiet 22 100” bullet prop and super reliable. Breaks props sometimes. But best parts and prop selection. Through bolted the transom bracket and like I said haven’t looked back. Whole lot of dead ducks. Bass fillets. And stabbed fish. Really has held together and hasn’t left me stranded in 5 years.
Thank you Stanley, I appreciate that. Just want to give a good review and keep it honest. Many more cool videos to come, and much faster speeds to achieve!
great job sir! love the side by side comparisons for sure! i was a bit lost on the shorter key part, my 13 predator key fit the swamp runner medium without modification. also, i totally agree swamp runner dropped the ball on the kill switch. i ended up wiring a 4 wheeler kill switch that mounted perfectly on the handle but still, it shoulda come factory like that to me.... i upgraded to the saltwater extreme shaft with the bayou bushing so my kit came into about 745$ shipped if that helps anyone wondering and i did order the 8.5" stainless prop. i will carry the aluminum for my spares. i really like the way the beaver dam mounts to the motor, making sure the swamp runner long shaft was seated properly was my biggest issue on my installation. keep shooting, i'll keep watching!
Hey Chris. thanks for checking out the video. On the Swamp Runner I got, the stock sized key would not allow the adapter shaft to slide all the way on, I had to use a shorter one in order to get the adapter on all the way on so the screws would tighten down against the engine shaft. For as much Ra Ra team swamp runner stuff I have seen over the last few years on social media... it was not all that it was cracked up to be. Not a bad kit by any means, it works fine, just not up to the hype.
What had to be dialed in on the Beaver Dam. Obviously it's the heaviest built. I will be putting together a rig this spring and after this video will be going with BD. So I was wondering what fine tuning if any during testing you may have had to do?
LOL... I hate unboxing videos, they drive me insane!!! Im like dude no body wants to hear paper crackling for 30 minutes and another 10 minutes of, hmm, whats that, hmmm wow, oh look a bag of bolts, oh looky here there is the instructions..... ughhhhh! LOL
Excellent review! Probably an ignorant question... Newbie here thinking of doing something like this. As cheap as the Predator engines are, or other Honda clones and how cost of upgrades can quickly add up to be more than the engines themselves, I thought it may make sense to buy 2 or 3 inexpensive engines, then tie them together to go to one of these kits. Is thereab adapter out there for this purpose, or with some creativity could one do a DIY hack. Or, is this just a bad idea for some reason?
I’ve run a swamp runner mini with a 79cc predator engine for 3 years now and it’s a pretty decent kit. On my layout boat I’ve hit 13mph (empty with the 5.5” prop) but loaded going hunting 7-8mph is pretty standard with the 5” prop. Only bad thing about the kit is the engine on it, is a pain in the ass some times.
I watch a lot of reviews online and young man, you did one of the most complete comparisons that I’ve seen on anything. Great job. We have a 3 seat Saturn Kaboat. I really like the beaver. Have a great day!
Thanks for your review! I came to the same conclusion you did. I thought the Beaver Dam was beefier and since it came with 3 props, and the installation not needing it's own special tool, that's the one I would probably go with as well. I did just get a Predator motor with the Mud Skipper installed, and I'm thinking someone found a 9" prop to put on it. I took it on trade and haven't had it out yet, but looking forward to it. I have it mounted to a 14' fiberglass old bass boat that's been gutted and pretty much plain Jane. So, will see soon how it pushes that boat.
I really appreciate your efforts to produce an honest comparison. I am hoping you will soon compare surface drives soon. Physical limitations due to injuries make surface drives my only option.
If I had surface drive money I would have already bought them and compared. Them things are expensive. Maybe one day I will get some of these companies to send me some.
The swamp runner offers the 100 inch saltwater shaft that allows a 18-20hp motor to be used on the 13-18hp kit. So you can opt for a more versatial kit for the same price as a 18-23hp option. You can take it in the saltwater without fear
Bro very very helpful video. I started filling out all the purchace info on a mudskipper…..the same exact one u reviewed and this video helped sell me on it. Im not a filthy rich guy and the good quality at a reasonable price im in. Thanks for this review.
Thank you CMMC, I appreciate that! Got a lot more cool stuff coming. It needs to hurry up and get warm so I can go FULL SEND on the river! I hear the fish calling my name!
If I was gonna get me a long tail this small I’d personally get a Go Devil with a sixteen horsepower Vanguard. I know it’s not a diy kit and it’s more expensive but they are some of the best mud motors you can get. We have had our Go Devil with a 23 horsepower vanguard for 36 years and it has never given us any major problems and still runs great. Anyways nice review. I stayed here and watched even though I’m not interested in a diy kit.
I agree and would love to have a go devil or backwater.... I just like playing around with these kits because they are cheap and I want to run some different motor ideas.
@@SendItJonBoats Honestly they should sell their long tails and let you get your own engine for it. They only sell them with Vanguards and Hondas which are both very expensive engines. They are half of the price the long tail itself is fairly cheap. These things are also so simple to maintain and engine swap if you have to. We are thinking about getting a new Vanguard for ours. The old one runs fine but we just don’t want to take a chance of it quitting while we are duck hunting.
I have a 12ft Alumacraft jon boat and just purchased a mud skipper rated for 5-7 horsepower engine. I'm going to get it at Harbor Freight, but I am just not sure which one I am suppose to get. Any help would be appreciated.
5 star excellent job ! The beaver Dam kit offering the larger motor option which on a lightly loaded boat will not give you more top end but loaded will run closer to your top speed like you were doing. I had a 40 Merc upgraded to a 65 then ran 21mph empty or with 2 additional people ! I built the smaller SPS kit years ago stock and alone in my 18ft Lowe Big John 6mph ! Bought and upgraded everything but the case -The flywheel and electric start option probably best option ! My $450.00 upgraded got me 9.6 mph turned the 6 into 9hp. OMB warehouse has the aluminum flywheel so if you disconnect the gov. no China made flywheel to com apart ! An out board motor is about a 3 to 1 gear drive,speed wise a 15hp outboard will still out run a 22hp longtail ! These days I have a full gear shift 35hp Gatortail with hydraulic steering works like power steering in your car ! Crazy but do a youtube search for worlds fastest mud motor luck that guy did not hit anything and get launched !
I own the sps kit and have put a couple hundred hours on it. Great kit and has held up to the abuse of numerous seasons of duck hunting and fishing. I highly recommend it. Stupid simple design that just works!
Great video! Good production quality (camera, lighting, audio, editing, continuity). Your representation and presentation are spot on. You said what you were going to do but most importantly, you did what you said you were going to do. There was never any guessing about what was fact, and what was opinion. You have earned yourself a new subscriber. I have been researching these motor kits for over a year now (mostly TH-cam videos). There are not many that do the "side by side" like you have here. The majority of them are biased one way or another. However, a lot of them are trying to appear objective. This leaves the viewer to sort out details that are often hidden "between the lines", if not outright omitted. As my project is getting closer to completion, I will need to make a decision about which motor kit to purchase soon. Your video has caused me to reevaluate my choices. I had just about settled on the Swamp Runner. After watching this though, I'm inclined to agree with your (clearly stated) opinion. I had no idea that the Beaver Dam would bolt up to two different classes of engines. For me, that is an important feature. Thank you for making such a great video. I will need to watch the rest of you videos. I'm especially interested in the upcoming transom floats video. I would, however, like to share one critique with you. There seems to be some confusion about what is a key and what is a keyway. I'm including (below) an excerpt from a technical blog that explains it better than I can. Keep up the great work! "Key, Keyway, and Keyseat A key is a piece of metal used to connect a rotating machine element to the shaft. A key prevents a relative rotation between the two parts, and may enable torque transmission to occur. For a key to function properly, both the shaft and rotating elements (gear, pulley and coupling) must have a keyway and a keyseat. Usually the term keyseat is referred as a groove or pocket on a shaft, and a keyway is a slot in a hub in which the key fits into. The complete system is called a keyed joint." Here is the link to the site this came from: www.lovejoy-inc.com/resources/technical-articles/why-power-transmission-shafts-have-both-keys-keyways/
Thanks Bob I really appreciate that. I worked really hard to keep my opinion out of it during the video because I wanted it to be a real down to earth honest review of the popular kits and get the truth out there. I got so tired of seeing and hearing that RA RA team whatever company, and I wanted to set the record straight. They all worked just fine, unlike many of the reviews I have seen where people bashed and talked trash about the products they didn't like or weren't getting paid by.
Yeah I'm risking being seen as a terminal pest asking questions on a public forum but I value your and others opinions so here goes....... I'm in Tasmania and the only kit I can source comes with the shaft in two pieces, are you aware of any issues this may cause such as balance. Shaft is 100" 13hp kit. Thanks.
I'm curious but still new to watching the channel. Is there a reason why you don't use surface drives vs long tails? I've made the swap because the ease of maneuverability seems to be way better with my surface drive copperhead kit vs my stump jumper kit.
I love surface drives and I want one sooooo bad.... they are just so expensive. I am going to try to build my own at some point so stay tuned for that.
@@SendItJonBoats can't wait to see that. Down here in South GA, small surface drives are everywhere especially around Tallahassee because of a Copperhead dealer and Mud Walker in Jacksonville.
Because I wanted to compare apples to apples for each company so I picked the kits that were closest in design and reasonably priced for the average buyer looking to buy their first kit. These are the kits that were most popular for new people when I researched the interwebs.
I can tell you from personal experience the backwater is the best kit on the planet but it is way out of my price range. We only wanted to test the cheapest kits out there, the backwater is no comparison.
I never said any of them were bad products and never said they wouldn't last a long time. I even made a point to say they were all good and they worked just fine.
Some very good information you shared. These motors have been getting my attention lately. Might just be reaching out to you about one of these kits. Thanks for the great video Chris.
Are you happy with the beaver dam? Made a post on the predator motor groups on Facebook and everyone is pushing the backwater. Not going to lie the short shaft is appealing. I’m going to be fishing with it and sometimes in tighter areas. That being said I’m not sure the $1850 long tail price isn’t appealing. Do you have experience with the backwater? Is it worth it when I can buy 3 beaver dam kits for the price of 1 backwater… going to run a 22hp predator on a 1542 Jon boat. Thanks, love your videos!
Backwaters are amazing... I would love to have one, I just don't have the money for one right now. Out of these cheaper kits, I like the beaver dam or the mud skipper. Can't go wrong with either in my opinion. They both work great at a fraction of the cost of a backwater. If money were not an issue I would be buying a backwater for sure!
Backwaters are amazing... I would love to have one, I just don't have the money for one right now. Out of these cheaper kits, I like the beaver dam or the mud skipper. Can't go wrong with either in my opinion. They both work great at a fraction of the cost of a backwater. If money were not an issue I would be buying a backwater for sure!
@@SendItJonBoats damn I’m surprised the swamp runner wasn’t one of your recommendations. I just got a 1436 that came with a swamp runner. (First long tail I’ve owned) only had it out once and no complaints yet. Beaver dam was my first choice but couldn’t pass up this combo deal I found on marketplace
Solid review. I bought the mud skipper kit with a 2 piece 100” shaft and I’m running it on a 1448 with a 420. I was having trouble keeping the prop in the water and my motor seemed to bog down quite a bit ( it died several time’s on me) I had a 9 1/2” prop on witch could have been the problem. But do you have any tips on getting this thing to run better Iv thought about adding an anti cavitation kit but don’t know if that will fix my issue.
Cavitation plate is a waste of money, I tried that several times and never got it to run. Start by going down in prop size. My 420 motors like a7.5 to 8 inch prop. Also if the motor is dying them you have a motor issue that needs to be addressed so fix that before you do anything else.
I have a swamp runner and love it! Never used a surface drive or an American longtail so I can't really tell you if those are worth the money... But I will tell you that these 3 are great ways to get on the water and go places an outboard can't.
Great video man!! Quick question, how tall are you? I've been wanting to do a build like this and i would like to stand up to run it as well. I am kinda tall
I am 6 ft tall. The beaver dam handle was the perfect height for me. The swamp runner I had to lean down just a tad and the mud skipper was almost perfect.
Best and most honest mud motor review by far! Great info, very thorough, left it all on the table! Awesome video to help us jon boat guys get exactly what we want!
Thanks Jeremy, glad it was helpful. It was a lot of work but it was nice to be able to get an honest review out there and not just trash talk any of the companies. They all work fine, just got to pick whats most important, money or product quality.
I found your video by accident. Its great! I had never given any thought to a mud motor other than watching a 007 movie. But now I have like a 100 questions, Chris Funk kind of answered part of one will they work in salt water. "2" can you sit down and drive it. Being 65 bad knees I don't have the best balance when I'm sober I'd be wet in no time. Thank you keep up the great videos.
Chris Funk has some good info as well, and he is super nice guy. You can definitely run them sitting down, I just like to stand up so I can see better.
Second year of duck hunting. I dont currently own a truck so I got a boat I can fit ontop of my car. I got a ppf mud motor kit and a beavertail final attack... Honda gx200 motors are really hard to find right now and honda is about 6 months behind on production... the 6.5ish hp Predator motor is available new for cheap. Im just curious since I see that's all your run, how do you feel about the reliability of the motors and are they ok in cold situations?
I've had zero issues with the predator motors over the years. Give them good gas, change the oil, and don;t let old gas sit in the carb and they seem to work fine. It doesn't get crazy cold here in Georgia, maybe low 30s and it cranks with no issues.
I also owned a 420 predator great motor put the extended warranty on it brought it home ran it for 2 minutes turned it off change the oil removes all flashing and debris left behind by milling process that quality control misses add new oil run for 5 minutes change oil only holds a little more than a quart I believe well worth the investment modified 420 predator on a 1448 semi-v John hitting 21 mph two guys
Great review😎 wondering what speed you would get at idle🧐 also I’ve seen them with the shorter s shaped prop shafts. What benefit or disadvantages those shafts have compared to the long shaft 🤔
Pull out the Hatter-Ade....The "Key Way" is the slot. The "Key" is the cold rolled piece of square steel or other wise known in full length, as "Key Stock".
Swamp Runner kits on their site do not match what you have. Their medium kit engine base has 4 positions and yours has 2. Have they changed things or do you have a mixed parts kit? My older med SR kit has 4 positions on the mount. ???
@@robertmilner157 Completely untrue statement by Robert Milner of Beaver Dam Mud Runners. This guy talks like he knows more about our products than we do. LOL Swamp Runner’s change in side rail length was done solely for improved balance, making the additional pivot holes obsolete.
@@MudMotorKit hmmmm, wonder why your old brackets are breaking at that point then? Is it a coincidence? I have seen and heard of it from multiple people. I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say it was just a few bad ones then. I'll just assume that the reason you changed was just a rumor. I am a NICE competitor. I love you Jon Dobbs!
Personally if it wasn't breaking, I would have left it alone. The more adjustment you have, the better in most cases. You can fit a wider variety of motors on a wider variety of boats. If you have a wake meeting further behind on a boat, you can adjust it so that the prop will sit in the wake without buying a longer shaft. If you want more weight on the prop, you can adjust it for that.
I like both, all comes down to budget. Thai style longtails are cheap, American longtails are a little more expensive, surface drives are really expensive.
Hey thanks for your channel, I'm in Tasmania zero experience with long tails here, they seem to be getting a bad rap on the forums lately, hard to steer, hard work, slow........etc. etc. is this just forum speak [bullsh..] I'm about to order one from Thailand and would be interested in your opinion and others .Thanks.
I have been running them for years and I dont have any issues. The ones that say the are hard to steer don't know how to set them up properly. The ones that say they are hard work need to go to a gym and quit being a weakling. The ones that say they are slow are usually trying to run them on really heavy boats or really big boats with a tiny motor.
I liked the video about all three. With the Beaver Dam kit, did you have to cut the shaft of the motor a little to install the kit? I have the Swamp Runner kit and the only thing I hate about it is the throttle is just hard to squeeze and hold for a long time. Wonder if I could put a twist throttle on it? I also see that you had to zip tie your wires on the Beaver Dam handle but could you insert them into the handle like the Swamp Runner?
No shaft cutting was required for the Beaver Dam and the handle was pretty comfortable. I just zip tied the wires for now, but yes you can drill another hole and run the wires inside the bar if you wanted too.
@@jonboatnationandstuff3301 Heck yeah! In all seriousness I would love to start a mud motor drag racing series here in the states like they do in Thailand!
@@jonboatnationandstuff3301 Yeah and Lanier is too crowded. Which lake near Madison, talking about Oconee? That might work. Jackson isn't too far from me and there are a few decent spots up near the river that arent too bad, I wonder who we ask permission from in order to be able to set up a drag racing event? DNR?
@@SendItJonBoats yeah this is the first one i have owned. after i sold my Bass boat i needed to get something to get back on the water and i figured a jon boat was the way to go. never really seen mud motors before because growing up everyone just ran air boats in the shallows.
Well done. Note, I would never use a stainless steel prop with these kits. Especially with Predator engines. Let the key and propeller (aluminum) take the force of an impact..
A couple of things I noticed was that you didn't mention that the SPS has gimble bearings at the pivot points where the others do not. That will make a big difference over time in how smooth it will operate. Also, the throttle cable on the SPS is (supposedly) stainless steel, where the others are not. I think in other areas that you presented that the Beaverdam is of very good quality, but the shipping pricing is off by $100 or so.. I don't think anyone would be disappointed in the quality of a BDMR
Good point on the bearings... I didn't even look at that. I just looked at the mud skipper and it just has some spacers in there. The BDMR kit has what looks like a greaseable bushing in the pivot so thats better than nothing. Like I said in the video, none of them are bad kits at all. Just all depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to spend.
@@SendItJonBoats , it's not something that is readily noticeable, just wanted to mention it. Also, the throttle should be using the return spring of the engine vs. the handle. This will assure that the cable is indeed returning the throttle back to idle properly, and to adjust for full throttle operating range.. I think the Beaver Dam kit has a much better shaft and I like the idea of a double retention bolt system where the shaft connects to the base. I think you did an excellent job on the review.
Awesome review, man! I've been tempted to try out a mud motor. Out of curiosity, what is the total weight (engine included) of each motor when fully assembled? Ballpark estimates are fine.
Get you one dude, they are a lot of fun and have yet to get stuck with one. The 420 predator I was using in this video weighs about 75-80 lbs with gas and oil. The mud motor kits vary but they are all around 70-80 pounds, so about 150-170ish weight range.
@@TheWeekendAngler What size boat are you running? I put one of these on my 10 ft boat and it ran it just fine. It sat really low in the back end but so long as I was careful when slowing down I had no issues. If I slowed down too fast I took some back wash over the transom, but only a few gallon, not enough for me to worry about. I wouldn't hesitate to put one on a boat 12 ft or larger.
@@TheWeekendAngler Oh nice, I will have to go check your videos out. I am so behind it watching videos right now, work has been insane. I would get a 420 for your 14 footer any day of the week. I had a 212 on my last 1436 and it was extremely under powered.
Question, I have the 212 and the 2 piece long tail, I cannot for the life of my figure out how to get this thing mounted right, mine just dives down, like it has stupid tail weight, there is no way I was running one handed looking forward because I had to use both arms to hold this thing close to the surface, what might I be doing wrong?
Move the mounting holes so the motor is as far forward as possible. You can also flip the transom mount to the inside of the boat and that may help some.
Backwater is the best of the best, but also cost a whole lot more than these kits. These are simply for people who want the cheapest options to get on the water. They still work great but the Backwater is a whole different level of mud motor.
Regardless of “Scooters” comments, I thank you for the time and details you put into this. It has helped! Would you be willing to do a performance test with these on the bateau? The predator 420 vs the 670, fully loaded weight for duck season, and give us a couple runs up into your “honey” holes. I’m just looking for your honest opinion if the 420 feels “underpowered” vs the 670
I was watching your mud motor review 2021 and was interested in the beaver dam kit but I can’t find it anywhere. Did they quit making them or are my search skills just that lame? Any help would be appreciated.
Man this is the best side by side comparison video I’ve seen. Very detailed and non biased, honest review. Two thumbs up.
Thank you Brock, glad you enjoyed the video.
Nice video. For my Jon boat I went with the larger Beaver Dam kit and the HF 15.8 HP motor. Took a little time getting it dialed in, but I'm very happy with it. The Beaver Dam owner, Mr. Robert Milner is First Rate! We were in constant contact via chat and calls, as I dialed in my set-up. Since I'm tall, and the distance to my transom and the first bench seat is a little far, I ended up having them make me a longer handle. Now I'm very comfortable as it runs through the water. I'm looking for to Ducks and Deer this season. Did do a little fishing out of my rig also and discovered I needed a long paddle in the boat to help me get away from the shore, the docks, and structure at certain times.
Rangers... Lead the Way!
Rangers lead the way! Awesome that you got your motor dialed in my man!
I agree with the decision, the Beaver Dam just seemed to be made better. Even before your "opinion"!
Good point Bryan. I ran a Beaver Dam years ago and I like the upgrades they have made to the kit. It is most definitely super strong and beefy! Cant wait to get out on the water and play some more with the BDMR kit.
I have the swamp runner it's a older one I bought second hand I have run it for 4 year's now but I think it's time for a new one the beaver tail is the one I think I will go with this side by side comparison is extremely helpful it was good to see the difference in construction the transom mount is what sold me thank you.
Finally the video I've been waiting for! Appreciate the unbiased opinion👍
Thank you Randy B. Sorry it took so long, it was a lot of video to edit and I wanted to make sure I covered all the details. It's amazing how tough it is to film an entire video and not insert your opinion at all until the very end! Glad I took the time to do it so everyone has something solid to go off when deciding which motor to buy.
@@SendItJonBoats man I'm sure it was tough! Looks like I'll be ordering the beaver dam kit after having the 420 motor sitting in the garage for probably over a year so clearly I wasn't in a big hurry anyways! I've got a couple jons I can test it on but I don't have one exactly like I'm wanting. Probably going to end up buying a 1436 when I can find a deal on one. Thanks again for the videos and keep up the good work!
@@randyb3135 HA HA! Yeah man get that 420 roaring with a kit! So much fun. I bet with a few mods you could run over 20 mph easy.
As someone who doesnt even need a mud motor and only use outboards, i like the beaver dam. And i enjoyed watching this video too.
I wish I knew more about outboard to test them, but where I like to fish, and outboard wouldnt make it
As someone who lives in the great plains and has zero use for a boat, let alone one with a mud motor, I like the beaver dam. For the price, it really seems like the best value and build quality. Excellent review.
Very good job, very detailed, you helped me make my decision, I'm going to go with a predator 22hp beaver dam kit.
Awesome Eric. You will love it. I have been very pleased with my 22hp Beaver Dam Kit.
When you say "point three nine" instead of "point thirty nine" that makes my soul happy
LOL, I am so glad that my counting skills had enough satisfaction to tickle your insides! LMAO. Love it!
Great review, as a tool maker I appreciate all the numerical specs. I could easily build one in the shop, and just buy the throttle cable. pretty straight forward.
Tool maker.... hmmmm I may need your expertise for a future build! Email me if you are interested in helping out with a project I will be building soon. chris@atfhydrographics.com
I was literally going through your channel, I just discovered it and I was like “I wonder if he’s reviewed any specific mud motor kits” and here you are reviewing all of them at once lol
LOL... yeah I reviewed them, got some more reviews coming soon.
Excellent video ! I'd been leaning toward the Swamp Runner only because that's the one I'd had the most exposure too. It was nice to have such a well balanced, side-by-side evaluation of these three.
That’s the best and most beautiful presentation I’ve ever seen for a product !!!!!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Great Video and Honest, accurate review. Can't beat the FACTS! This was way over due for the Thai longtails. Too much BS online. Thanks for setting the record straight.
👍
Thanks Man, You shed some good light on some stuff that I've been wandering about.
I bought the SwampRunner Kit just a few more things to ad, on my 301 Pred I had to cut the motor shaft down for the kit to fit aswell as the keyway like you mentioned, also allot of the extra parts on SwampRunners website you have to register your kit to even buy the parts like they are some special longtail club or something.
Thats a good point bud, didn't even think to talk about that in the video. I think it is crazy how you have to be a member of their site in order to get parts, you would think they would want to sell parts to anyone with money!?! but what do I know, it's not like I run my own business or anything lol.
@@SendItJonBoats IIRC, early on they had people getting factory parts, cloning them overseas and trying to make false claims. Happens a lot in a lot of product lines. This is just their attempt to protect their R&D and products.
@@johnnybarbar7435 That's a good point, did not even think about that. Cloning is a huge issue in a lot of markets.
I also have a swap runner small kit and a 212 hopped up a lil... its on a 1430 flat bottom. I get about 15 downriver downwind with a 6.5 hurricane prop tached @4675 with stock internals! She doesn't like doing it very long.. im also registered, and it makes sense to me that they keep the parts to the owners of their kits. Also imo the skag on the bottom of the shaft is much beefier on the swamp runner kits.. but the adaptation of powerplant capability and brass bushing is a tough to beat feature! I've got some serious considerations to make when I upgrade so I can keep up with my buddies in our long tail crew
@@SendItJonBoats I bought my swamprunner before Beaver Dam started making a kit that fit everything from 8-23hp. I had concerns about the cast aluminum coupler and galvanic corrosion with the brass bushing in a steel shaft running in saltwater. In hindsight I wonder if those issues are more in my head than out in the real world. Sure the swamprunner coupler is steel but it's bolted to a cast aluminum engine. And after replacing 2 bushings in 200 hours I'm wondering if brass wouldn't be nice.
But I can confirm that registering to get parts is a royal PITA and is enough to make me not recommend a swamprunner. Beaver Dam did a smart thing making one kit fit the 13 and 23 motor because I can tell you I have a strong desire to slap a 23 on my weldcraft 1436. If I was buying an import kit again I'd go Beaver Dam.
Anywho, nice channel!
At first skipper but it was kind of crap. Broke the coupler pretty quick. Tried the swamp runner and haven’t looked back. Bent rods on 22hp and ran it for 2 years till it broke the gimbal bracket. Still made it home and didn’t even realize it till next day. (Alcohol mite be responsible) 50$ was great cheap replacement. So tried a built motor and bent expensive rods… still run swamp runner. Stock quiet 22 100” bullet prop and super reliable. Breaks props sometimes. But best parts and prop selection. Through bolted the transom bracket and like I said haven’t looked back. Whole lot of dead ducks. Bass fillets. And stabbed fish. Really has held together and hasn’t left me stranded in 5 years.
Thanks for the reviews and stating all the facts before your opinion. Not many channels can do that. Keep it up.
Thank you Stanley, I appreciate that. Just want to give a good review and keep it honest. Many more cool videos to come, and much faster speeds to achieve!
great job sir! love the side by side comparisons for sure! i was a bit lost on the shorter key part, my 13 predator key fit the swamp runner medium without modification. also, i totally agree swamp runner dropped the ball on the kill switch. i ended up wiring a 4 wheeler kill switch that mounted perfectly on the handle but still, it shoulda come factory like that to me.... i upgraded to the saltwater extreme shaft with the bayou bushing so my kit came into about 745$ shipped if that helps anyone wondering and i did order the 8.5" stainless prop. i will carry the aluminum for my spares. i really like the way the beaver dam mounts to the motor, making sure the swamp runner long shaft was seated properly was my biggest issue on my installation. keep shooting, i'll keep watching!
Hey Chris. thanks for checking out the video.
On the Swamp Runner I got, the stock sized key would not allow the adapter shaft to slide all the way on, I had to use a shorter one in order to get the adapter on all the way on so the screws would tighten down against the engine shaft.
For as much Ra Ra team swamp runner stuff I have seen over the last few years on social media... it was not all that it was cracked up to be. Not a bad kit by any means, it works fine, just not up to the hype.
The predator 420 has a switch on the engine. So why do you need a switch on the tiller.
@@jeffconley6366 so i didn't have to turn around and take my eyes off where i was going to stop it. just faster and safer to me.
@@ChrisFunktheFeralOne In that case, release the throttle and push the tiller down and prop comes out of water.
What had to be dialed in on the Beaver Dam. Obviously it's the heaviest built. I will be putting together a rig this spring and after this video will be going with BD. So I was wondering what fine tuning if any during testing you may have had to do?
Had to adjust the motor back 2 holes from center, and change the prop sizes to fin what my boat liked best.
If every unboxing kit was a funny as the 3 seconds you spent on yours id watch those.
LOL... I hate unboxing videos, they drive me insane!!! Im like dude no body wants to hear paper crackling for 30 minutes and another 10 minutes of, hmm, whats that, hmmm wow, oh look a bag of bolts, oh looky here there is the instructions..... ughhhhh! LOL
Excellent review!
Probably an ignorant question...
Newbie here thinking of doing something like this. As cheap as the Predator engines are, or other Honda clones and how cost of upgrades can quickly add up to be more than the engines themselves, I thought it may make sense to buy 2 or 3 inexpensive engines, then tie them together to go to one of these kits. Is thereab adapter out there for this purpose, or with some creativity could one do a DIY hack. Or, is this just a bad idea for some reason?
This is one of the most informative videos I have ever seen. Well done. Subscribed.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video.
I’ve run a swamp runner mini with a 79cc predator engine for 3 years now and it’s a pretty decent kit. On my layout boat I’ve hit 13mph (empty with the 5.5” prop) but loaded going hunting 7-8mph is pretty standard with the 5” prop. Only bad thing about the kit is the engine on it, is a pain in the ass some times.
None of the kits were bad at all. Just showing the minor differences in the kits for those that ask me all the time.
I have have ran a swamp runner for about 10 years and so far it has continued to impress me . I have had to made a few mods though .
They all work fine. I didn't have any issues with any of them.
I watch a lot of reviews online and young man, you did one of the most complete comparisons that I’ve seen on anything. Great job. We have a 3 seat Saturn Kaboat. I really like the beaver. Have a great day!
I appreciate that! Thanks for checking out the video.
Thanks for your review! I came to the same conclusion you did. I thought the Beaver Dam was beefier and since it came with 3 props, and the installation not needing it's own special tool, that's the one I would probably go with as well. I did just get a Predator motor with the Mud Skipper installed, and I'm thinking someone found a 9" prop to put on it. I took it on trade and haven't had it out yet, but looking forward to it. I have it mounted to a 14' fiberglass old bass boat that's been gutted and pretty much plain Jane. So, will see soon how it pushes that boat.
Never ran one on a fiberglass boat. I'm curious how it will push it.
I really appreciate your efforts to produce an honest comparison.
I am hoping you will soon compare surface drives soon. Physical limitations due to injuries make surface drives my only option.
If I had surface drive money I would have already bought them and compared. Them things are expensive. Maybe one day I will get some of these companies to send me some.
The swamp runner offers the 100 inch saltwater shaft that allows a 18-20hp motor to be used on the 13-18hp kit. So you can opt for a more versatial kit for the same price as a 18-23hp option. You can take it in the saltwater without fear
Bro very very helpful video. I started filling out all the purchace info on a mudskipper…..the same exact one u reviewed and this video helped sell me on it. Im not a filthy rich guy and the good quality at a reasonable price im in. Thanks for this review.
Glad I could help. Thanks for watching
Love the content chief. Keep it up!
Thank you CMMC, I appreciate that! Got a lot more cool stuff coming. It needs to hurry up and get warm so I can go FULL SEND on the river! I hear the fish calling my name!
Have you tried the mud skipper twister yet? Just curious what your opinion on it would be.
I have not personally tried it, but I have read a ton of no so great reviews. I think I would rather have a short tail than the twister.
Yeah I think so too. It's kinda hard to control and find that sweet spot. Think I'll be looking at some more motors after duck season is over.
I'm sold on Beaver Dam. The "Twister" served me well. 9hp full kit with electric start, for $600. at the time.
I heard a lot of mixed stuff on the twister. I would love to try one out and see how it goes, but I do like my beaver dam kit as well.
If I was gonna get me a long tail this small I’d personally get a Go Devil with a sixteen horsepower Vanguard. I know it’s not a diy kit and it’s more expensive but they are some of the best mud motors you can get. We have had our Go Devil with a 23 horsepower vanguard for 36 years and it has never given us any major problems and still runs great. Anyways nice review. I stayed here and watched even though I’m not interested in a diy kit.
I agree and would love to have a go devil or backwater.... I just like playing around with these kits because they are cheap and I want to run some different motor ideas.
@@SendItJonBoats Honestly they should sell their long tails and let you get your own engine for it. They only sell them with Vanguards and Hondas which are both very expensive engines. They are half of the price the long tail itself is fairly cheap. These things are also so simple to maintain and engine swap if you have to. We are thinking about getting a new Vanguard for ours. The old one runs fine but we just don’t want to take a chance of it quitting while we are duck hunting.
I have a 12ft Alumacraft jon boat and just purchased a mud skipper rated for 5-7 horsepower engine. I'm going to get it at Harbor Freight, but I am just not sure which one I am suppose to get. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for the video! I like the Beaver Dam kit...
Thanks for watching!
Great unbiased review....keep up the good work!
Thanks Dustin! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for this, I’m getting ready to refurb a 1432 and have been waiting for this mud motor review.
Awesome, thanks for watching Jeremy. A 420 predator would make your boat scoot pretty good!
@@SendItJonBoats ive been curious what size i need on my 14. Thanks man!
@@jtotherog 13hp is the way to go. It's a good solid motor and does decent speeds.
Nice review. Plan to go with a Beaver Dam. What grease do you recommend for an area what gets hot and freezes in the same season?
corn head grease is what most people like. I use whatever I have in the shop and it has not let me down.
Great job on the review. Covered everything with just the right amount of detail. And thank you for not showing the unboxing!
LOL, I hate unboxing videos, they drive me insane! Glad the review was helpful.
G'day great info video mate and the best unboxing video on youtube 👍😂
LOL. I knew you would like that unboxing! Thanks for watching.
5 star excellent job ! The beaver Dam kit offering the larger motor option which on a lightly loaded boat will not give you more top end but loaded will run closer to your top speed like you were doing. I had a 40 Merc upgraded to a 65 then ran 21mph empty or with 2 additional people ! I built the smaller SPS kit years ago stock and alone in my 18ft Lowe Big John 6mph ! Bought and upgraded everything but the case -The flywheel and electric start option probably best option ! My $450.00 upgraded got me 9.6 mph turned the 6 into 9hp. OMB warehouse has the aluminum flywheel so if you disconnect the gov. no China made flywheel to com apart ! An out board motor is about a 3 to 1 gear drive,speed wise a 15hp outboard will still out run a 22hp longtail ! These days I have a full gear shift 35hp Gatortail with hydraulic steering works like power steering in your car ! Crazy but do a youtube search for worlds fastest mud motor luck that guy did not hit anything and get launched !
Cool thanks for the info.
the 18ft Lowe Big John is a very wide boat. I believe it is not recommended to go wider than 48" with long tails.
I own the sps kit and have put a couple hundred hours on it. Great kit and has held up to the abuse of numerous seasons of duck hunting and fishing. I highly recommend it. Stupid simple design that just works!
Nice, I never said the sps was a bad kit, they all worked just fine.
Well done. One I have not seen a comparison on is the backwater. A side by side comparison of that one and the beaver dam would be awesome.
The backwater is a whole nother ball game. the backwater is the strongest and beefiest of them all and I want one, just don't have the money for one.
Great video! Good production quality (camera, lighting, audio, editing, continuity). Your representation and presentation are spot on. You said what you were going to do but most importantly, you did what you said you were going to do. There was never any guessing about what was fact, and what was opinion. You have earned yourself a new subscriber.
I have been researching these motor kits for over a year now (mostly TH-cam videos). There are not many that do the "side by side" like you have here. The majority of them are biased one way or another. However, a lot of them are trying to appear objective. This leaves the viewer to sort out details that are often hidden "between the lines", if not outright omitted.
As my project is getting closer to completion, I will need to make a decision about which motor kit to purchase soon. Your video has caused me to reevaluate my choices. I had just about settled on the Swamp Runner. After watching this though, I'm inclined to agree with your (clearly stated) opinion. I had no idea that the Beaver Dam would bolt up to two different classes of engines. For me, that is an important feature.
Thank you for making such a great video. I will need to watch the rest of you videos. I'm especially interested in the upcoming transom floats video.
I would, however, like to share one critique with you. There seems to be some confusion about what is a key and what is a keyway. I'm including (below) an excerpt from a technical blog that explains it better than I can. Keep up the great work!
"Key, Keyway, and Keyseat
A key is a piece of metal used to connect a rotating machine element to the shaft. A key prevents a relative rotation between the two parts, and may enable torque transmission to occur. For a key to function properly, both the shaft and rotating elements (gear, pulley and coupling) must have a keyway and a keyseat. Usually the term keyseat is referred as a groove or pocket on a shaft, and a keyway is a slot in a hub in which the key fits into. The complete system is called a keyed joint."
Here is the link to the site this came from:
www.lovejoy-inc.com/resources/technical-articles/why-power-transmission-shafts-have-both-keys-keyways/
Thanks Bob I really appreciate that. I worked really hard to keep my opinion out of it during the video because I wanted it to be a real down to earth honest review of the popular kits and get the truth out there. I got so tired of seeing and hearing that RA RA team whatever company, and I wanted to set the record straight. They all worked just fine, unlike many of the reviews I have seen where people bashed and talked trash about the products they didn't like or weren't getting paid by.
Great Video, keep up the good work!
I just purchased the mud skipper two piece using a 3hp predator for a roundabout boat, its definitely going to be interesting to see how it handles
I heard good stuff about the mud skipper small kits, haven't used one myself but any of those kits will work good
Yeah I'm risking being seen as a terminal pest asking questions on a public forum but I value your and others opinions so here goes....... I'm in Tasmania and the only kit I can source comes with the shaft in two pieces, are you aware of any issues this may cause such as balance. Shaft is 100" 13hp kit. Thanks.
No clue, I have never used a 2 piece shaft
I'm curious but still new to watching the channel. Is there a reason why you don't use surface drives vs long tails? I've made the swap because the ease of maneuverability seems to be way better with my surface drive copperhead kit vs my stump jumper kit.
I love surface drives and I want one sooooo bad.... they are just so expensive. I am going to try to build my own at some point so stay tuned for that.
@@SendItJonBoats can't wait to see that. Down here in South GA, small surface drives are everywhere especially around Tallahassee because of a Copperhead dealer and Mud Walker in Jacksonville.
@@SouthernCountryboy10 I may have to make a trip down there and check them out, heard a lot about them.
Awesome review answered all my questions about each kit thank you very much
Glad I could help. I tried to think of all the things I was curious about when I was shopping for a kit.
Awesome review. Did you say the beaver dam would run on a v twin? If so how does it adapt to the larger diameter shaft?
I went to the website. I found the answer.
Yup it works on v twin and they make different size shaft adapters.
Digital caliper bud! Measures thousand. Not hatin just helpin. Love your videos.
Just out of curiosity, why not test the Mud Skipper Custom 8-23hp kit?
Because I wanted to compare apples to apples for each company so I picked the kits that were closest in design and reasonably priced for the average buyer looking to buy their first kit. These are the kits that were most popular for new people when I researched the interwebs.
great video only i wish you add to the test the backwater to see if worth it since its more expensive thanks for the info
I can tell you from personal experience the backwater is the best kit on the planet but it is way out of my price range. We only wanted to test the cheapest kits out there, the backwater is no comparison.
I have had a swamp runner for two years now and have absolutely beat the shit out of it with zero problems
I never said any of them were bad products and never said they wouldn't last a long time. I even made a point to say they were all good and they worked just fine.
Some very good information you shared. These motors have been getting my attention lately. Might just be reaching out to you about one of these kits. Thanks for the great video Chris.
I really like them and they are really cheap. Feel free to reach out any time!
Are you happy with the beaver dam? Made a post on the predator motor groups on Facebook and everyone is pushing the backwater. Not going to lie the short shaft is appealing. I’m going to be fishing with it and sometimes in tighter areas. That being said I’m not sure the $1850 long tail price isn’t appealing. Do you have experience with the backwater? Is it worth it when I can buy 3 beaver dam kits for the price of 1 backwater… going to run a 22hp predator on a 1542 Jon boat. Thanks, love your videos!
Backwaters are amazing... I would love to have one, I just don't have the money for one right now. Out of these cheaper kits, I like the beaver dam or the mud skipper. Can't go wrong with either in my opinion. They both work great at a fraction of the cost of a backwater. If money were not an issue I would be buying a backwater for sure!
Backwaters are amazing... I would love to have one, I just don't have the money for one right now. Out of these cheaper kits, I like the beaver dam or the mud skipper. Can't go wrong with either in my opinion. They both work great at a fraction of the cost of a backwater. If money were not an issue I would be buying a backwater for sure!
@@SendItJonBoats damn I’m surprised the swamp runner wasn’t one of your recommendations. I just got a 1436 that came with a swamp runner. (First long tail I’ve owned) only had it out once and no complaints yet. Beaver dam was my first choice but couldn’t pass up this combo deal I found on marketplace
Solid review. I bought the mud skipper kit with a 2 piece 100” shaft and I’m running it on a 1448 with a 420. I was having trouble keeping the prop in the water and my motor seemed to bog down quite a bit ( it died several time’s on me) I had a 9 1/2” prop on witch could have been the problem. But do you have any tips on getting this thing to run better Iv thought about adding an anti cavitation kit but don’t know if that will fix my issue.
Cavitation plate is a waste of money, I tried that several times and never got it to run. Start by going down in prop size. My 420 motors like a7.5 to 8 inch prop. Also if the motor is dying them you have a motor issue that needs to be addressed so fix that before you do anything else.
Get an 8 inch prop and upgrade your fuel pump, carburetor, air intake and put in the twister cam. You'll be thoroughly surprised.
Could try and make all the changes besides prop and see how it preforms due to the cam upgrade. But you may need to go to an 8 inch.
I have a swamp runner and love it! Never used a surface drive or an American longtail so I can't really tell you if those are worth the money... But I will tell you that these 3 are great ways to get on the water and go places an outboard can't.
Went to order a kit today from beaver dam they changed it since you posted and now are on back order for 2 -4 months
NO, they are shipping next month(October)
Looks like Beaver Dam already responded, they coming and it's worth the wait.
This vid is the BOOOOOMB! i will try the Swamp kit i like that bottom fin design.
Glad you like it! Thank you for watching
Great video man!! Quick question, how tall are you? I've been wanting to do a build like this and i would like to stand up to run it as well. I am kinda tall
I am 6 ft tall. The beaver dam handle was the perfect height for me. The swamp runner I had to lean down just a tad and the mud skipper was almost perfect.
Best and most honest mud motor review by far! Great info, very thorough, left it all on the table! Awesome video to help us jon boat guys get exactly what we want!
Thanks Jeremy, glad it was helpful. It was a lot of work but it was nice to be able to get an honest review out there and not just trash talk any of the companies. They all work fine, just got to pick whats most important, money or product quality.
I found your video by accident. Its great! I had never given any thought to a mud motor other than watching a 007 movie. But now I have like a 100 questions, Chris Funk kind of answered part of one will they work in salt water. "2" can you sit down and drive it. Being 65 bad knees I don't have the best balance when I'm sober I'd be wet in no time. Thank you keep up the great videos.
Chris Funk has some good info as well, and he is super nice guy. You can definitely run them sitting down, I just like to stand up so I can see better.
Awesome review you did a great job
Appreciate that Rex Slay. It was a lot of work but it was worth it to get a good honest review out there!
Second year of duck hunting. I dont currently own a truck so I got a boat I can fit ontop of my car. I got a ppf mud motor kit and a beavertail final attack... Honda gx200 motors are really hard to find right now and honda is about 6 months behind on production... the 6.5ish hp Predator motor is available new for cheap. Im just curious since I see that's all your run, how do you feel about the reliability of the motors and are they ok in cold situations?
I've had zero issues with the predator motors over the years. Give them good gas, change the oil, and don;t let old gas sit in the carb and they seem to work fine. It doesn't get crazy cold here in Georgia, maybe low 30s and it cranks with no issues.
I also owned a 420 predator great motor put the extended warranty on it brought it home ran it for 2 minutes turned it off change the oil removes all flashing and debris left behind by milling process that quality control misses add new oil run for 5 minutes change oil only holds a little more than a quart I believe well worth the investment modified 420 predator on a 1448 semi-v John hitting 21 mph two guys
Love this video very glad you made this thank you
Great review😎 wondering what speed you would get at idle🧐 also I’ve seen them with the shorter s shaped prop shafts. What benefit or disadvantages those shafts have compared to the long shaft 🤔
The straight shafts are better and more robust in my opinion. My idle speeds are usually 5-8 mph
Pull out the Hatter-Ade....The "Key Way" is the slot. The "Key" is the cold rolled piece of square steel or other wise known in full length, as "Key Stock".
But the real question is. How would the beaver dam kit compare to the sps and mud skipper large kits
Good Questions. One day I will try it out and see.
Swamp Runner kits on their site do not match what you have. Their medium kit engine base has 4 positions and yours has 2. Have they changed things or do you have a mixed parts kit? My older med SR kit has 4 positions on the mount. ???
I got the kit late summer last year. I clicked on the medium kit and that is what they sent me. I did not know they changed anything.
swamp runner did away with the 4 holes. They were having issues with the bracket breaking because it weakened it too much.
@@robertmilner157 Completely untrue statement by Robert Milner of Beaver Dam Mud Runners.
This guy talks like he knows more about our products than we do. LOL
Swamp Runner’s change in side rail length was done solely for improved balance, making the additional pivot holes obsolete.
@@MudMotorKit hmmmm, wonder why your old brackets are breaking at that point then? Is it a coincidence? I have seen and heard of it from multiple people. I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say it was just a few bad ones then. I'll just assume that the reason you changed was just a rumor. I am a NICE competitor. I love you Jon Dobbs!
Personally if it wasn't breaking, I would have left it alone. The more adjustment you have, the better in most cases. You can fit a wider variety of motors on a wider variety of boats. If you have a wake meeting further behind on a boat, you can adjust it so that the prop will sit in the wake without buying a longer shaft. If you want more weight on the prop, you can adjust it for that.
I've been looking at putting a mud motor on my Jon boat would you say you like a long tail rather than surface drive?
I like both, all comes down to budget. Thai style longtails are cheap, American longtails are a little more expensive, surface drives are really expensive.
Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad you like it!
As with everything you will get what you pay for. I chose the mud-skipper. The transom bracket does need additional support.
The mud skipper wasn't a bad kit at all.
Should I get a mud skipper brand new or beaver dam used both are $800
They are the 420cc version
Either will work fine.
Hey thanks for your channel, I'm in Tasmania zero experience with long tails here, they seem to be getting a bad rap on the forums lately, hard to steer, hard work, slow........etc. etc. is this just forum speak [bullsh..] I'm about to order one from Thailand and would be interested in your opinion and others .Thanks.
I have been running them for years and I dont have any issues. The ones that say the are hard to steer don't know how to set them up properly. The ones that say they are hard work need to go to a gym and quit being a weakling. The ones that say they are slow are usually trying to run them on really heavy boats or really big boats with a tiny motor.
@@SendItJonBoats Thanks for taking the time to reply, based on your answer I'll give one a try and dismiss the forums for what they are, talk.
Excellent. Thank you.
THanks for watching
I liked the video about all three. With the Beaver Dam kit, did you have to cut the shaft of the motor a little to install the kit? I have the Swamp Runner kit and the only thing I hate about it is the throttle is just hard to squeeze and hold for a long time. Wonder if I could put a twist throttle on it? I also see that you had to zip tie your wires on the Beaver Dam handle but could you insert them into the handle like the Swamp Runner?
No shaft cutting was required for the Beaver Dam and the handle was pretty comfortable. I just zip tied the wires for now, but yes you can drill another hole and run the wires inside the bar if you wanted too.
In the swamp runner kit they have holes that the wires run through. Maybe we can have a Jon Boat race! Lol
@@jonboatnationandstuff3301 Heck yeah! In all seriousness I would love to start a mud motor drag racing series here in the states like they do in Thailand!
Let's do it man!! What lake can this be held at? Not Lake Lanier. Too many deaths. What about the lake near Madison?
@@jonboatnationandstuff3301 Yeah and Lanier is too crowded. Which lake near Madison, talking about Oconee? That might work. Jackson isn't too far from me and there are a few decent spots up near the river that arent too bad, I wonder who we ask permission from in order to be able to set up a drag racing event? DNR?
i just ordered the Mud-Skipper 2-7HP kit for my little 1232 jon boat. excited to get it and test it out on a little snakehead and bass fishing
Awesome man! Mud motors are a lof of fun and there is so much you can do with them.
@@SendItJonBoats yeah this is the first one i have owned. after i sold my Bass boat i needed to get something to get back on the water and i figured a jon boat was the way to go. never really seen mud motors before because growing up everyone just ran air boats in the shallows.
@@gonzalomanriquez4956 I would love to build a small airboat in the future, they look like so much fun.
@@SendItJonBoats they are fun but can be dangerous because they are so top heavy
@@gonzalomanriquez4956 I have heard that, I don't know a whole lot about them other than it is easy to roll them over. Sure looks like fun though.
Great detailed info. Thank you
Appreciate that GreenPig Hunter! Glad you enjoyed the video.
When buying the motor from Harbor Freight do you get 6.5 EPA motor or the 6.5 carb motor? I’m guessing the carb.
I buy the carb models. The EPA models are for communist states like California.
@@SendItJonBoats lol
Just for future reference those aren’t key ways, those are called keys. The slot in the shaft would be your key way. Great informative video!
Thanks for clarifying. Sometimes my mouth moves faster than my brain can process.
Well done. Note, I would never use a stainless steel prop with these kits. Especially with Predator engines. Let the key and propeller (aluminum) take the force of an impact..
A couple of things I noticed was that you didn't mention that the SPS has gimble bearings at the pivot points where the others do not. That will make a big difference over time in how smooth it will operate. Also, the throttle cable on the SPS is (supposedly) stainless steel, where the others are not. I think in other areas that you presented that the Beaverdam is of very good quality, but the shipping pricing is off by $100 or so.. I don't think anyone would be disappointed in the quality of a BDMR
Good point on the bearings... I didn't even look at that. I just looked at the mud skipper and it just has some spacers in there. The BDMR kit has what looks like a greaseable bushing in the pivot so thats better than nothing. Like I said in the video, none of them are bad kits at all. Just all depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to spend.
@@SendItJonBoats , it's not something that is readily noticeable, just wanted to mention it. Also, the throttle should be using the return spring of the engine vs. the handle. This will assure that the cable is indeed returning the throttle back to idle properly, and to adjust for full throttle operating range.. I think the Beaver Dam kit has a much better shaft and I like the idea of a double retention bolt system where the shaft connects to the base. I think you did an excellent job on the review.
Beaver dam shaft length comes in two size: 85” and 65”. Which is better?
I’m looking to put a 22hp on a 1648 or something similar, do I need the 100” shaft or can I get away with the 85” shaft? Thanks bro
For a 48 inch wide boat you need a 100 inch shaft. Thank me later. The 85 is manageable but its worth it to get a 100 inch, makes life a lot easier.
Who sells the 85” shaft?
Did the motor come with kit or was it at an extra cost
No the motor is extra. I buy them at harbor freight.
It’s been a year and no one has matched this review yet!
I will probably be doing an updated version in the next year or so, seems like some new stuff is coming out.
Excellent in depth review. Have one for surface drives as well? Would love to see a comparison.
I would love to do one for surface drives but dang them things are expensive. If they will send me some I will review them.
ok.... you got a new subscription just for the box opening
love ur videos and ur sense of humor, love it!!!lol!
Thank you so much!! Appreciate you checking out the video
Awesome review, man! I've been tempted to try out a mud motor. Out of curiosity, what is the total weight (engine included) of each motor when fully assembled? Ballpark estimates are fine.
Get you one dude, they are a lot of fun and have yet to get stuck with one.
The 420 predator I was using in this video weighs about 75-80 lbs with gas and oil. The mud motor kits vary but they are all around 70-80 pounds, so about 150-170ish weight range.
@@SendItJonBoats that's not horrible for a weight. A little too much for my latest project jon boat, but a 1648 could definitely rock one.
@@TheWeekendAngler What size boat are you running? I put one of these on my 10 ft boat and it ran it just fine. It sat really low in the back end but so long as I was careful when slowing down I had no issues. If I slowed down too fast I took some back wash over the transom, but only a few gallon, not enough for me to worry about. I wouldn't hesitate to put one on a boat 12 ft or larger.
@@SendItJonBoats its a 14' lake jon. Probably rated for a 20hp outboard. It can be seen in my boat buying tips video from a couple of weeks ago.
@@TheWeekendAngler Oh nice, I will have to go check your videos out. I am so behind it watching videos right now, work has been insane. I would get a 420 for your 14 footer any day of the week. I had a 212 on my last 1436 and it was extremely under powered.
Question, I have the 212 and the 2 piece long tail, I cannot for the life of my figure out how to get this thing mounted right, mine just dives down, like it has stupid tail weight, there is no way I was running one handed looking forward because I had to use both arms to hold this thing close to the surface, what might I be doing wrong?
Move the mounting holes so the motor is as far forward as possible. You can also flip the transom mount to the inside of the boat and that may help some.
I like the way you think I'm in Wisconsin and planed to buy a mud motor kit soon
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Very good review and comparison 👍👍
Thanks man! appreciate you watching the video.
Have you ever tried the black water ones I heard there supposed to be the best but I’ve never tried em or are these better
Backwater is the best of the best, but also cost a whole lot more than these kits. These are simply for people who want the cheapest options to get on the water. They still work great but the Backwater is a whole different level of mud motor.
Backwater
@@SendItJonBoats ok thank you
Very curious what speeds you get under load.
Beaver dam on a kayak! Now thats a good time!
Subbed just cause of the Intro “Send it”
😂🤣
LOL... many more unicorn videos coming soon!
Do i need the 85 or the 100 inch shaft for the beaver dam kit. My boat is 1440
I would go 100 to be safe. Always better to be longer than shorter... trust me, go ask any lady, they will tell you ! LOL
@@SendItJonBoats 🤣🤣🤣 i hope youre wrong for my sake...about the women i mean😎✊
@@jtotherog LMAO.... I wouldn't know. I can't touch the bottom, but I can dang sure stretch out the edges.
Regardless of “Scooters” comments, I thank you for the time and details you put into this. It has helped!
Would you be willing to do a performance test with these on the bateau? The predator 420 vs the 670, fully loaded weight for duck season, and give us a couple runs up into your “honey” holes.
I’m just looking for your honest opinion if the 420 feels “underpowered” vs the 670
Glad the video could help. I already have a comparison video filmed on those motors in this boat. i will be working on it soon.
I was watching your mud motor review 2021 and was interested in the beaver dam kit but I can’t find it anywhere. Did they quit making them or are my search skills just that lame? Any help would be appreciated.
Shipping kits in May- www.beaverdammudrunners.com/
Thanks Robert
Looks like they are back in stock