Choosing The Right Boat??????

[muddin redneck]

i live on the mississippi river and im wanting a new boat. i currently have a 16' bass tracker (aluminum) with a 70hp motor. i have never had a motor boat in a river bofore i moved here. i bought this boat because it was cheap and ran very well. i am now starting to see things i dont like about it and want to sell it and get a new one but i dont want to have it for a year or so and not like it. everyone here usually run 14'-18' flat bottom jon boat with small outboards on them and they dont go very fast. so i am asking all of you experts in the boating world to help me pick my new boat. these are the tings i would like my boat to have. length 14'-16'; speed 30+ mph; very shallow water(less than a foot at times); motor? i have been wanting a longtail motor for shallow water purposes but not sure about them because of manueverability and speed, or a surface drive mud motor again not sure of speed, i have been looking at surface piercing props but not sure what kind of motor they go on or how they work totally but seem to go fast and in shallow water. the new boat will have an electric trolling motor on it for fishing. all in all i want a fast, short, shallow water boat and motor to fish and maybe hunt from!!!!

[messabout]

Redneck: you can have some of the things you want but you can not have all of them in the same boat. Sorry about that reality. The biggest obstacle to your wants is the desire for speed. Why do you need to go 30 MPH? is your house on fire or something? A 30 mph flat bottomed,jon boat will pound the fillings from your teeth. Then you will have dental bills that are attributable to your need for speed. High speed as a symbol of masculinity is an expensive and dangerous myth. I do not mean to insinuate anything here, please forgive. I am just telling it like it is. Go slower, save a ton of money, catch just as many fish while practicing safer boating.

The locals that you describe have been through the learning curve and they have smaller motors. Does that not suggest something worth consideration?

[muddin redneck]

thanks for the input. so 30mph is fast? i was thinking 30mph was on the slow end of the spectrum. what about a modified v hull aluminum boat they would be smoother on the water i think. what are your thought on the longtail motors or the surface drive mud motors?

[rasorinc]

If you want to build, go fast in shallow water, in a stable boat then look at this with a jet pump. only draw 7"
https://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=740 Plus it is a beautiful boat.

[portacruise]

There used to be a company up in Washington state that sold Thailand longtails without the gas engine. I bought one and ran it for awhile with a 2hp electric motor. You have to adjust the balance carefully on the pivot that allows the tail to swivel for turning. Virtually all the weight is on the transom, so you need a boat that compensates for that. If you look at pictures of the mounted long tails, they are used with very long narrow boats to compensate for this weight.
You can use as big a motor as your transom can handle, so they can be very fast with an automotive V-8? like in the James Bond movie. They are the best of any motors in shallow mud, sand or shell with their tiny aggressive prop. Yet they can do well in open water. Negatives are no reverse, very heavy, and the huge total length takes a lot of storage space. You might be able to devise a way to swing the tail completely around to fit inside the boat so it is trailerable though.

Porta

Originally Posted by muddin redneck

thanks for the input. so 30mph is fast? i was thinking 30mph was on the slow end of the spectrum. what about a modified v hull aluminum boat they would be smoother on the water i think. what are your thought on the longtail motors or the surface drive mud motors?

[messabout]

Rasorinc is right about the jet drive boat. You can go plenty fast while keeping shallow water capability. The problem for jet operation in the shallows is premature pump deterioration. The jet sucks up mud, sand, brickbats, and babydolls in shallow water. Fuel consumption for jet drives is higher than conventional prop driven rigs too. Further, steering is less than ideal when operating at low speed.

If you fish alone you could actually use a jetski. Many of 'em will top 50MPH and they will float in skinny water too. You can buy a used one very cheap here in Florida.

Dragon tail boats are ugly, often noisy, and take up a lot of space but they do a lot of things a conventional boat can not do, like slide along in the mud or thick weed patches. Duck hunters seem to favor them a lot.

[muddin redneck]

thanks for all the in put guys. i was worried about what i was wanting out of a boat and motor. i was trying to have my cake and eat it too i guess. thats why they make so many different type of boats and motor. what do yall think about the surface piercing props on an inboard type motor like they discuss on the surface drive threads in this forum? is speed obtained by a smaller prop spinning faster or a larger prop spinning slower or a large prop spinning fast? i dont quite understand why you must use gear reducers on motors. isnt faster;faster? from what ive been reading im leaning towards a longtail type motor for shallow water and giving up on some of the speed. is there some place on the web or do you know how to determine the hp and prop size the is efficient for differnt types of boats.

[masalai]

muddin redneck, your apparent dilemma is one most boat-upgrade or boating-entry folk have to face... Curreent economic climate ADDS to that dilemma, and seriously consider my caveat - - DO NOT BORROW or go in to debt for a boat.... It is usually considered a "luxury, discretionary, optional item for the financially good times", Not usually in the necessity category... A boat is a design compromise to meet a few expectations, and also known as a hole in the water into which one pours money to keep it operationally afloat... It is not necessary to add "trinkets of technology" for the glamour or chutzpah...

What do you want to do, do you honestly feel you will regularly do with the new boat that which you have in mind?... How often will you use the boat? will you get good "bang for the buck" including maintenance costs, fuel and ancillary costs like skis, ropes, fishing gear, prop repairs, insurance and so forth... Ensure that you ALL can enjoy your "folley" and that the whole family can derive maximum benefit / happiness and have no feelings of regret or "I wish I had this or that instead"....

[Frosty]

Never say ,----I wish I had this or that instead.

Pretty much impossible for a mere human being would'nt you say? Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife.

Boy am I going to hell or what?

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors boat.

Again --guilty as charged.

[RHP]

May the good lord forgive you on both counts.

[messabout]

Words of wisdom Masalai.