What is the best SD motor

DRBugman85 said:

Working MOST of the electrical problems out don't work for me,That's why I will stick with a carb it has not yet give me a problem yet.A carb is very easy to fix are replace the EFI is not.

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Im with you on that. I can take a mikuni off, clean it, put it back on, and tune it in about 10 minutes. And when I turn the key, it fires. I wouldn't even know how to dial in an efi motor

As stated above sand and props don't mix. It doesn't matter what mud motor you get, it will break. You would probably be best off getting a jet drive for running in shallow water with sand. I use to run the oconee river from dyers pasture all the way to Barnett shoals which had to be 10 plus miles one way in half a foot of water or less. The prop would be fried after one trip. Also as stated above your boat with a SD will not preform well. A mud motor weighs every bit of 250 pounds plus ( gear driven with be heavier than belt). The back end of your boat will squat bad and with out a hunt deck reverse will do you no good except to back the boat off of the trailer. At best you have .100 gauge hull. You are asking to put a hole in it if you want to ride over logs etc. That's just my .02 cents.

If you decide to go belt drive mudbuddy and gtr are obvious choices. Owned a couple over the years and as long as you keep the oil changed, grease lower unit, check the valve lash regularly and don't dog the crap out of it you will be fine.

As stated above the right hull will be the difference in how pleased you are with performance.

I think deleting the case gasket was the best move I have done, And it only took briggs 10 years to figure that one out. I'm keepin an eye out for the ecotech 3cyl.

Gaducker said:

I think deleting the case gasket was the best move I have done, And it only took briggs 10 years to figure that out.

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I'm knocking on wood, but my motor must be balanced pretty well. Never had tiller torque that gator tail is known for, and ever since I put a new cam in about 4 years ago, no leaks at the case gasket. Again, I humbly type this while crossing my fingers, rubbing a rabbits foot, and knocking on wood

mizzippi jb said:

I'm knocking on wood, but my motor must be balanced pretty well. Never had tiller torque that gator tail is known for, and ever since I put a new cam in about 4 years ago, no leaks at the case gasket. Again, I humbly type this while crossing my fingers, rubbing a rabbits foot, and knocking on wood

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On an HDR the skig is bolted and I can tell when the bolts start getting a little loose because it will create some bad tiller torque. I finally put lock tight on them and they've stayed tight for about 15 hours now. If you get those SD lined up just right they have very little to no tiller torque, almost like an outboard. My only problem is straightening up after a sharper turn at higher speeds. I literally have to pull or push as hard as I can to get her straight again. Anyone else have that problem? At lower speeds I can whip it around on a dime. Maybe I just need to work out more