What made you buy the brand you have? I'll be looking to buy something under 30hp next summer for a 14' flat, but I'm stuck on do I really want FPR or would I rather have the field serviceability of a belt driven unit.

Either way, I'm not buying brand new, but I haven't decided what I want to look for.

demo rides are free with each of the brands. on your own boat if u want.
especially if u live close by.

take each out to the lake and go rip up calvins cove and get the one u like best. that's the best way to see.

and don't be afraid to run the bad stuff, that's why u spend 6k on a mudmotor.


good luck.

they all are good BUT when the sheet hits the fan I want to know that I got FPR

If you want FPR there's only one option.

FPR has gotten us out of some bad situations. I also like the tiller setup better on the Prodrive.

FPR is a great feature.

I personally had to decide between PD & GT. I knew I wanted instant reverse which is why I went with GT I do a lot of fishing from my rig and using instant reverse at the ramps, docks or while picking up decoys is a nice feature. My rig will back up in some thick mud too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnRQ74uXldE

Shit if I knew a GDSD drive could climb I would have bought one and used it for deer hunting.Thanks Giga I going to look into this

I'm looking to buy used, so I'm not planning to drop 5 or 6 grand on one. 5 or 6 grand is the price of a new unit.

My new blind has 2 feet of water all the time. My buddies blind gets shallow for an outboard though, so I'm considering a surface drive. Kind of like owning a 4wd truck over a 2wd truck. Even though you may not use 4wd all the time, it's there if you need it. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I didn't think I necessarily needed a MM in the areas I was targeting. I owned a small 16' jon with 30hp outboard and it just didn't cut it.

I thought perhaps I could get by with a good tunnel hull, jack plate etc.. Boy was I wrong. I've run areas I wouldn't dream of taking an outboard and exploring has taken a whole new meaning

I can get into skinny water to chase reds on the days that others can't and its those days that the hunting is usually the best!

Go demo the mud motors you wont regret it!

after re-reading ur post, i have realized that i have wasted enough of my time trying to give u any advice.

good luck with whatever u end up with.

If you don't absolutely have to have reverse, go with a MB mini lite. Lightest motor on the market, but MB doesn't offer a reverse. I got a 27hp and love it.

I test drove them all and i liked the FPR on the pro-drive but i like the instant reverse better on the Gator-Tail so thats what i went with. I do alot of fishing at the lakes and in the bayous so having instant reverse is real nice when you are docking the boat and so forth. Just really depends on what you will be using it for. What i haven't driven is the Hydro FPR. I know that when i got in some sticky situations i was not able to rotate the lower end on the PD. With the gator tail, you just grab that handle and back right on out of it. Granted the Gator-tail doesn't have the purpullsion in reverse that a PD does but i have back through the same stuff that the PD has went through no problem. Just depends on you man. I fish and hunt so i bought the INstant reverse, hasn't let me down yet and the KYLE and HOYT are some great guys to work with, haven't done me wrong yet. Good luck with your purchase and let any one of us on here know if you have any more questions!