Comparing the Best Long-Tail Mud Motor Kits of 2018! Final Conclusion S4E1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- What is the best longtail mud motor kit?! After unboxing, assembling, and water testing these kits side by side, here is my conclusion! We tested the CLP Beaver Dam Mud Runner kit vs the SPS Swamp Runner Mud Motor kit, vs the CKS Mud Skipper kit. The boat was an Alumacraft 1436lt and the engine was a 13hp 420cc Predator engine from Harbor Freight, no mods.
Article - www.jtgatoring...
Season 1: Unboxing
E1- CLP Beaver Dam _ • S1E1: Unboxing CLP Bea...
E2- SPS Swamp Runner _ • S1E2: Unboxing SPS Swa...
E3- CKS Mud Skipper _ • S1E3: Unboxing CKS Mud...
E4- Comparison _ • S1E4 Beaver Dam, Swamp...
Season 2: Assembly
E1- CLP Beaver Dam _ • S2E1: Beaver Dam Long-...
E2- SPS Swamp Runner _ • Swamp Runner Long-tail...
E3- CKS Mud Skipper _ • Mud Skipper Long-tail ...
E4- Comparison _ • Longtail Mud Motor Ass...
Season 3: Water Test
E1- CLP Beaver Dam _ • Beaver Dam (CLP) Water...
E2- CKS Mud Skipper _ • First Run with the Mud...
E3- SPS Swamp Runner _ • SPS Swamp Runner Mud M...
Season 4: Final
E1 - Final Conclusion - this video
_Bonus Content
Comparison videos:
Transom Bracket - • Transom Bracket Compar...
Engine Base - • Engine Base Comparison...
Coupler Housing - • Who has the best Long ...
Props - • Prop Comparison - Thai...
Throttle Lever - • Tiller Handle & Thrott...
Tiller Handle - • Tiller Handle & Thrott...
Long Tail Shaft - • Shaft Comparison Long ...
#tltmudmotors
Facebook Group - / 1159407327494878
Beaver Dam (CLP) - www.beaverdamm...
Swamp Runner (SPS) - mudmotorkit.co...
Mud Skipper (CKS) - mud-skipper.com...
Facebook - / jtgatoring
Instagram - / jtgatoring
Website - www.jtgatoring...
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Article is posted and it has all the information on it so check that out if you are interested! - www.jtgatoring.com/comparing-best-long-tail-mud-motor-kits-2018/
You are the best sales man for swamprunner! I bought mine after watching your videos .
i just got the swamp runner kit(medium) and im 100% satisfied with the durability and the performance. thanks to you i bought the right mud motor kit for me!!!! i have a video of it running but id love to do a more detailed video. thanks for the help and i will stay tuned!
Awesome! I'm glad to hear that @Trash Collector Bowfishing! And thank you for taking your time to let me know. I really appreciate it 👊
When I bought my SPS kit a couple years ago, I called to get some more info on it & talked to one of the guys there for about 30 minutes. Such knowledge & honesty from them was paramount in my choice on buying an SPS and it felt like I was talking to an old friend. Great people & great product.
That is was what I experienced when I first called. Just an over all great experience with the Swamp Runner.
Best informative vids. Wish I’d have watched these before buying mud skipper. Thought I was the only one with these issues. Definitely deserves a subscription.
Thank you Noah, I appreciate that. I hope you're able to figure out a way to get your kit running the way you want it too.
Dude, you are totally chilled out! Yeah, SPS is better thought out and better refined. Call up JD sometime and let him tell you about the history of these motors. It's fascinating. The SPS kit goes back to the Thailand gentleman who invented the coupler to mate a motor to a long shaft.
Yeah, that's why I plan on building my boat with a much more plumb transom. It will have some rake, but nothing like the Alumacraft.
Yeah, that's the same experience I had with my small kit. All the SPS guys were happy, and everyone else was miserable. Also that the SPS forums had the one section where people are building motors that you could on get access to with an actual serial number from you motor. That told me this was the real deal.
I plan to keep my small kit and buy a long shaft with the new handle.
Its was a nice day but very very windy and this was the only place to hide and get out of it, so I thought it would be a great time/place for a video! I'll have to talk to JD and have him tell me more about it. Your new boat build sounds cool. I'm interested to see if it will bring out the best in that mud motor!
Great video. I had gotten the mud-skipper kit. Next time I’m gonna get the swamp runner.
Keep the videos coming.
Thank you GetOutTheHouseGoFish! Let me know how the Mud Skipper kit treats you. I'll be keeping up with your channel so I'll see it if you make a video about it. Once you finish braking in the motor and letting it eat, thats when the fun begins. With having the 6.5 hp motor, you may or may not reach that speed where the prop starts to become hard to handle like it did for me. Excited to see how it turns out for you!
Thanks for your time and efforts on the Mud motors. I have a 15'x60" aluminum free to me boat that im gonna put one on. Swamp Runner is what I plan on going with.
Eric Reitzel, thank you! That's awesome! If the very bottom your transom is wider than 36" to 42", I would recommend getting the 100" shaft. Let me know how your build goes, and if you have any questions!
I had both kits , your totally right love mine on my 1436 tracker .
I'm really enjoying my 1436 setup up. Seems to do everything I need it to do. Id like to get a tracker and compare it to the alumacraft.
@@JTgatoring my friend has an alumacraft I have a tracker they both run 18.3 mph top end
@@jefftucker4219 Wow and both hold up the same? I had an issue with my alumacrafts transom.
@@JTgatoring so far no problems the alumacraft is 6 years old and the tracker is a year old
Great video bud. And yea, even on my little 1436 tracker, the mud skipper is hard to drive and maintain the prop in the water. I had to weld a tag on the skeg to get mine to work correctly. I wish I'd gotten the swamp runner
Thank you C Price! I hope that others are able to find this to help them with their decision. Some people don't have the skills that you have to make the kit work, and it ruins their experience with longtail mud motors. And again, very, very cool video with your bow fishing rig! If you could, could you make another video or send me pictures on how it is attached to the motor, and what the handle looks like?
JTgatoring send me a number to text u some pictures. My email is down right now or I would send them that way
I got the mudskipper twister med. and wish I had got the swamp runner. I have hard time getting it out of the water
@@b_hill1380 your 5 years to late lol
I have the swamp runner on a 12'x3' alumacraft.6.5.like a 4 wheeler for the river.i love it
Haha a setup like that is the 4 wheeler of boats. Especially that rig because everything is light enough to move by self if you REALLY get stuck
An angled ,flat wedge spacer could be used on the motor mount (transom) to adjust prop angle on boats with angled transom or adjustment srews could be added to fine tune 🐸
Adding a wedge spacer would mainly be for mounting purchases. It would just help the transom bracket fit better on the transom. There would be little rise/lower of the gimbal shaft for change in the prop angle, but it would definitely make me feel better mounting wise. Thank you for the input
Great info and sound advice to make my choice ....glad I subbed👍
👊 Thank you for watching, and commenting! I'll keep uploading videos of these kits in action and keep the channel updated about them! I'd like to also grow the longtail community and support other longtail mud motor owners so tag me in some photos or videos of yours on Instagram or Facebook if you would like!
I got a mudskipper kit I do not have any problems with it I do not know why you do maybe it’s just because of your boat I’ve had mine for over two years now and not a problem I think it’s a very good kit maybe it’s because of the size engine do you put on there because my engine is a 670 which is extremely heavy but it works perfectly on my boat
From the looks of your videos, it seems like you have a large kit that would fit your 22hp 670 predator. The kits I tested were medium kits that fit a horsepower range of 8-16. Mud Skipper's large kit (16-23hp) allows you to change your tail weight, where as their medium kit does not. I believe my kit didn't handle well because I was not able to adjust the tail weight. With your Mud Skipper kit, you have the ability to adjust it and its a lot bigger motor and different design compared to their 8-16 hp kit.
JTgatoring Yes I do have a bigger kit it’s a 22 hp predator engine and whereabouts in Florida do you live Maybe we can meet up and do a comparison or something
Its called transom rake. Most transoms rake between 12 to 15 degrees.
I really wish I found out about this before I bought the beaver damn kit… had a buddy say “it’s so worth the money” handle is booty, and I read your forum about the throttle issue. Good god. The throttle issue is my biggest problem. I have a weird problem with that “nugget” piece always popping out. Did you come across this?
I came across a good amount of issues but I do not recall having the nugget piece of the throttle coming out of the lever. I did this review a while ago and had hoped they would have improved their kit based on it. I would say that the swamp runner duckbill throttle lever is a lifetime lever and definitely worth it if you're going to try to make your kit work. You'd have to make your own handle though. I don't know how much weaker it would make the current one if you bent it straighter to your liking, but I'm here if you have any questions. I'm glad to help Izak
Good video and information thanks
Correct the CKS has a poor motor mount not balanced right, it will never balance correctly. I have a CLP works well but I make my own transom mount. The SPS is the best as you say hands down, as soon as my CLP wears out I will get an SPS but its been 15 years for that set up LOL. The previous one was KKK they aren't available in the US, best go with SPS as he says.
CKS is "KKK". Same company just changed the initials around, I'm sure its because KKK means different in the US than it does in other areas of the world and some people wouldn't want to be showing off their mud motor branded with "KKK" on it
Since you have all them different kits.... How about a video on the best part of each kit and making a "Frankenstein" mud motor and a test on the water.??
Thanks for the idea @Casey the Kid! After pondering that thought, I don't think I would use anything off of the CKS Mud Skipper kit. I didn't like the build of it and the other two kits had better parts than it. The SPS kit is balanced and runs good so I wouldn't have to change anything on it, I could never get the CLP Beaver Dam kit to run well. I will test out all the different props that I have on the SPS kit and see who has the better props. What parts did you want to see together? What would your "Frankenstein Mud Motor" be??
my small kit swamp runner on a 1542 trackers runs great only thing i would change is motor size my boat feels a little under powered with a predator 212
Yeah that is a little smaller of an engine for that size boat. What are the speeds you are getting?
Around 14 with a 40lb battery and a 40 pound thrust trolling motor
@@davidcarter1372 Thats not that bad! I thought it would be slower. It is underpowered, most people put the 22hp predator and the large kit on it, but if you don't want to spend that much you could probably do the 13hp and medium kit?
JTgatoring I am most likely going to upgrade to a 13 hp predator because the lake i live on is covered in pads and has a bunch of mud so if I get stuck a 22hp would be a lot harder to move than a 13 hp and I also fish by myself a lot so it would most likely be me trying to pull the boat
@@davidcarter1372 That makes sense to me 👌
great vid i have a few questions!!What motor to put on what kit being the biggest and i mean swamp runner kits!!!How fast and fuel consumption.I see you have a can of gas back there how often do you need to refuel can you hook that rig up to a marine gas tank?Or can or should you do that?I
Thank you for stopping by @hippytreehugger1! I have only had a 6.5hp Predator engine with the SPS small kit and a 13hp Predator engine with an SPS medium kit. With both engines, it seems like I can run full throttle for over one hour of constant run time. I spent a whole day fishing and running around over 10 miles and still had fuel. I've never been able to run either engine out of fuel in one day, and my normal hours on the boat is from 7 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon. These Predator engines have a gravity fed fuel system. You would have to modify the motor or look up how to add a separate fuel tank. I left both of my motor stock just so I know they are as reliable as they can be.
nice my concern was having to refuel constantly thank you!!Those kits look very tempting
Are you going to do a follow up video for long term maintenance and issues you've done?
I could do a video of that. I guess its about time to do that now. Times moving quick. That should be a video I do soon
Nice video can't wait to see the boat coating video been thinking about getting a swamp runner but I have found some other companies ppf wood duck, stump jumper and back water check them out wood love to see them tested
The boat coating intro will be this Saturday's video! I'm pretty excited about it too! I'll look into those other companies. Just to help me out with my research, do you see them having any advantages over the Swamp Runner kit?
JTgatoring yes I have heard that there are lighter and it's not as easy to bend the shaft they also have plates over the top of the prop as well forgot what it's called also the props aren't aluminum their stainless steel and a lot thicker don't know about the swamp Runner props if they're stainless steel or aluminum but I know the other companies you were talking about that I looked into were aluminum props and heard that they would break easy didn't know if that was the same case with the swamp Runner
Also with the other companies the shaft doesn't have to be greased as often as the Swamp Runner or mudskipper or beavertail been looking into this stuff for a while trying to build a duck boat if there is any advice you could give me would sure appreciate it and I don't mind spending a little extra cash for a better thicker shaft and propeller to go on the back of my boat also was wondering if your boat is weighed down does the swamp Runner plain out the boat
Weight comparison for 6.5hp motor kits because ppf does not have a bigger kit like the 13 hp kit in my videos so - Swamp Runner = 46lbs _ Backwater = 84-90 lbs _ PPF = 24.5 lbs _ Stump Jumper doesn't say. I do not think you will bend the shaft on Swamp Runner. You can shove that in the mud or through a thick patch of grass to find water and you're not going to bend the skeg or the shaft. I would almost guarantee it, and I feel the same way about the other Thai (Mud Skipper, Beaver Dam) long tails. The other mud motors have a drive/planing plate other call it a cavitation plate, everyone will know what you mean, and those are to help those motors handle better because with out them, it would be hard to control that motor with the way the shaft angle is with the Backwater, PPF, or Stump Jumper. The Thai longtail mud motors have the long tail to reach the wake behind the boat. The main positives of that is that it is more efficient; that wake is higher than the water around it so your long tail is riding above the water line so you are less likely to hit submerged obstacles, and your recycling some of that energy from the wake. The props are aluminum because it is meant to be the sacrificial piece in the system. So the prop is meant to break before the key way on the engine breaks, before the splines break on the shaft, or worse internal parts of your engine. When you hit a very hard object where it stops that stainless steel prop, something has to give and its not going to be that stainless prop, it will be the key in your key way, or an engine part. Something you can not fix out on the water. That is why the Thai kits run an aluminum prop, and they are cheap and easy to replace that can be fixed on the water and still get you home. Swamp Runner has a new bushing out that they call their Bayou Extreme Bushing that seems sounds great. I have had my small kit and have put two pumps of grease in it in the last 3 years with out any issue (and it doesn't have the Bayou bushing in it either) so you really don't NEED to grease it, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker to squirt some grease in there every now and then. My boat is pretty light. The boat is 135lbs + the deck ~45 lbs + battery, trolling motor, etc.. + 90 lbs+ 13hp motor 73lbs + Swamp Runner 57lbs = 400lbs in total. + me 160lbs thats around 560lbs and my kit has gotten me to 23mph and it planes out easy and handles very easily. I have only looked into the Thai long tail kits so I know more about them and very little about the other companies you mentioned, but these are the reason why I would go with the Thai long tail over the other companies. Thai long tail is will cost less, there is a lot of adjusting you can do to fit your needs ( longer or shorter shaft, prop size, motor/kit size), simplicity of the kit; if I brake something on my kit, it will still get me home, it may vibrate, or sound bad, but it will get me home. When I run my Swamp Runner kit, I would be more afraid of my Predator engine braking than mud motor kit. I can fix the kit and make it home and if I can't fix that broken piece, I can remove it and still drive it home. I don't know about the kits, but I know that about my Swamp Runner. Let me know if I missed anything or if this was a little over kill. I plan on making a video about the points I discussed but I have a few projects lined up before I can get to that.
I appreciate it man definitely Overkill but love the information that you just shared with me helps me out with my decision I really like the idea of having the 13 horsepower or even maybe a V-twin engine with a bigger kit have been looking at the prices of the swamp Runner and that's about the cheapest compared to the other companies for quality maybe the 23 horsepower but I don't want to Overkill it all I have is a 1442 flat bottom I just wanted to get through the Timber and maybe even in the sound to kill some sea ducks and if I want to get in the swamp to kill some puddle ducks I'll probably be purchasing a swamp Runner here in a month or two thank you for all your help
I've got the mudskipper and I have my transom bracket turned around.
How do you like your mud skipper?
How heavy are they? I’ve got a pelican predator, looking for a small motor for it. Transom is rated for a 7hp, so it could be perfect.... I throw my boat in the back of my truck
The longtail is 46 pounds and the engine is 38 pounds, so around 85 pounds for the complete setup.
@JTgatoring I have a Beaverdam MR small kit that I just built. Ran it for 2 min and shaft was really hot (not boiling water hot). Is that normal?
With the swamp runner kit I run, the shaft itself doesn't get warm or hot, but the coupler housing gets pretty warm, but still not hot. The BDMR kit is different in a few ways and that may be normal for them. That is something I did not notice or check on the kit when I was testing it.
@@JTgatoring if there is something different in design then that could explain such. BD says it is normal for shaft housing to get warm/hot so I will just watch it and observe hopefully it will hold up. Thanks for responding and I enjoy your channel.
@@drewellis80 Yeah, just keep it greased (not over greased) and run it without worry. It should be fine. Thank you for getting back to me and supporting the channel drewwllis80! Have fun out there
Not trying to debate you, using your videos as a resource: do you think the beaver dam or the mud skipper gave you some trouble because of the transom mount being flipped? (Referring to the props coming out of the water, etc.) Thanks and keep up the good vids!
Oh, no worries! Yes, I do think they rode bad based on the transom bracket being flipped. I would think that did play a major role. The Alumacraft they were tested on is a popular jon boat that is sold across many states, and I am still surprised that their transom mounts would not fit properly on the boat. I think the beaver damn would have had a better chance at riding better because you could at least adjust the tail weight on that kit compared to the mud skipper kit that had no adjusting and had very, very little chance of riding pleasantly. Thank you for stopping by and asking! Anything else I'd be more than glad to help with!
JTgatoring good info, thanks! I was sold on the mud skipper and about ready to buy, but I’m having second thoughts now. These videos are a great help. I appreciate it, brother!
@@TheLukeSmusic what was the reason for you being sold on the mud skipper kit, if you don't mind me asking?
JTgatoring Familiarity, cost, and simplicity. I had heard about the mud skipper kits from my brother and a few other guys and had simply heard the name more than swamp runner or beaver dam. I’m not “actually” super familiar with any of them. I liked the fact that it was cheaper and I thought the “simplicity” of the kit meant it wouldn’t be too much trouble. You’ve highlighted some of the issues with “cheaper” and “simpler” in your videos. To be honest, I didn’t realize that mud motors were adjustable for balance at all, so that was a huge help. This will be my first mud motor, so I’ve been trying to read up and watch a lot of videos to make a more informed decision. A friend turned me on to your review series. Certainly glad I’ve looked further into it and will continue to for a little while.
@@TheLukeSmusic Awesome. The mud skipper kit may ride nice for you, but if it doesn't, there's no way of fixing. What I mean by not riding nice is that any time you go up on plane, you will have to fight the prop to stay in the water by pulling up on the handle. The swamp runner you can adjust to have more or less tail weight and I can drive it with one finger. The one thing I like about the adjustable tail weight is that you can adjust it for your liking. If you do a lot of idling around, you can put more weight forward so it is virtually weightless, but if you run on plane a lot, you can put a little or a lot more weight on the tail and the prop will stay in the water on plane and control it with one finger. There is a happy place between those two but some guys just idle throw stump infested areas so they just idle around.
From my experience, I would only recommend a swamp runner after testing all those kits. I've had a couple people message me on facebook and comment on these videos that they wish they would have paid the extra $100 more and they end up selling the kit on craigslist and getting the swamp runner. Swamp runner also has different shafts and bushings. They have the regular standard shaft, then an extreme shaft that has their bayou bushing that sounds awesome, and then they have a "saltwater series" that has a stainless steel inner shaft with the bayou bushings which sound awesome if your willing to pay the extra cost, but for what I do I like the standard shaft and I'll be upgrading to the bayou bushing soon.
Swamp Runner was also the only one who had a decent weedless prop that actually ran faster than the standard props, and the coupler and coupler housing has a lifetime warranty on them. Beaver dam and mud skipper have a two-year warranty. I did all this research a couple years ago when I bought my first small kit and I went with swamp runner. I did the research again when I did this review and swamp runner still seems like the best bang for the buck.
In short, if you don't want to read all that, Swamp Runner is the way to go.
Did I make a big mistake buying a kkk mud motor kit?
Since this review, the kits have been changed but I do not think of them as a quality kit. It is still difficult to get parts for it, and people are still having issues with them.
@@JTgatoring I bought it 5 years ago just decided to put it together.cant seem to find any parts .I think I can make ,mostly everything I need thanks for the response OA
Is the 13 hp swamp runner overkill for a 14/36?
Not at all. Perfect set up for a 1436. I love it.
@@JTgatoring great thank you 👍
you convince me swamp runner for me
If you end up getting a longtail, let me know how it goes, and thank you for watching Mr. Fuhrman!
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you should try a Back water kit
I would like that to be my next comparison when I get the funds to support that project. I have had a good amount of people that were interested in an SPS Swamp Runner kit vs a Backwater Kit. I'm hoping it will be soon
Backwater all the way.
@@matthewzimmerman6081 Getting close to having enough funds. I'm really interested in how they will compare
make a video on how to make a boat like that
I'm interested. Do you have the 100" kit?
Right now I have the 85" shaft with the Swamp Runner kit. In all the videos that are on the channel, it is an 85" shaft on the SPS kit. I think I would benefit if I went to the 100" shaft though. After I hit 20 mph I start to outrun the wake behind my boat and becomes difficult to handle so having that extra reach would help with that, I think...
My boat has a 15" transom, with a 42" bottom width, at 12' long. The side note, on the order form asks if you have a transom 17" or greater, or if a bottom width 40" to 48". If so, you would need a 100" shaft. Also long tails and not recommend for bottom widths greater than 48". Thank you for your experienced information. Your channel has influenced the creation of my boat.
That's awesome to hear, that means a lot David Kalb Jr! In my opinion, it wouldn't hurt to have the 100" shaft over the 85" shaft. I see no downside to having the 100" over the 85" shaft. Especially with your transom, I would err on the side of caution and get the 100" shaft. I would like to test the 85" shaft against the 100" shaft and see how they compare. Let me know how your rig ends up handling!
SPS ok
Go devil is best long tail