hi. i have an airboat and a 1448 jon boat with 25 outboard and i was thinking of selling both to get a 1660 go devil with a 35 surface drive. the idea is to have one boat that i can fish and hunt out of. i have a pretty good idea where the go devil boat would take me in the fresh water marshes but i have no idea how it would handle in the salt water areas i would take it. to be specific, how do surface drives work in deep water with a good chop? what about a foot of water with a hard sand bottom? what kind of speed can i expect with this boat with and without a load? what about hitting oyster bars? willl the engine hold up in the salt water environment? sorry for having so many questions...i'm new to this. any help would be appreciated. thanks. --brian

Thanks Gigafowl. I'm located in Jacksonville, FL and spend time in Lake Okeechobee (Everglades type swamp), various lakes in central FL, Jacksonville estuary (depths from 5 inches to 50 feet), and some time in the Gulf. I'm glad to hear that you had your boat in a 3 foot swells and did OK. Occasionally I like to go just outside the inlet in Jacksonville to fish for tarpon (on good days) and I was worried that the surface drive would come out of the water in the swell....sounds like that isn't a big problem.

The speeds sound similair to my 1448 with the 25 outboard. How would you expect the boat to run with a heavy load of 4 people and gear?

Buying a prop every once in a while is going to be much much cheaper than the cost of keeping up two boats...i'm definatly not worried about that.

I'm so glad to hear that you run yours in salt water and everything is fine.

I haven't gotten a test ride yet, but it's on my mine.

Would a different size boat increase the speed? What size would you recommend?

Thanks!!

Brian

Choosing a hull is ALWAYS a compromise of sorts....

I chose the 1648 - cause I run tight places with lots of logs and cypress
knees - usually solo and 40 percent with a second person.... So small and
light were priorities - for me...

If you imagine running with 3 to 4 people most of the time go 18 footer...

Like the GDSD 1860 - you will loose a few mph solo - but gain a few mph
with 3 or 4 people.... Jokingly my GD guy says that 4 fishermen are lighter
than 2 hunters - he might be right - my butt is 220 and I am one of the
smallest guys in my circle of hunting buddies not to mebtion all the other stuff
we toss in to make a hunt - LOL


PS - If you pull up Trinity Bay on a map - you will see it is a huge inland bay
with lots of rivers bayous and marshes to hunt and fish - I am not afraid to
go anywhere in Trinity Bay along the coastline - anyday - but a fellow needs
to use a bit of common sense about when to cross the "big water" like a 20
mile run to Smith Point or out to Galveston from the mouth of the Trinity River...

Bottom line the GDSD is the simplest and most reliable of the SDs...
The GDSD hulls are designed to maximize theiir performance and have
a ton of floatation and are USCG approved....

Go with the 1860 instead of 1660. It caries a load soooooooooo much better & with flat out scoot with just 1 or 2 ppl in it. RobertB4wd has this setup with a 35 GDSD with a MM exhaust. 29-30 all day long. Very stable rig too. Just my .02

X2 on the 18' hull. It will run flatter and hold a load way better, you'll like it better in the rough stuff, we run rough water over here a lot and the 18' boat is more comfortable in these situations.



Do your homework and check out all the manufacturers before you go with a certain brand, you may like some more than others. Nothing like buying something out of convenience, then hanging out on here wishing you had something else.

OK, so far I'm getting that the longer the boat, the better it is at handleing a load. The two main things i would use the boat for is:
1) duck hunting with me and my father and our gear....approx 600 lbs people and gear.
2) fishing with about the same weight and running very shallow water.

every once in a while I would be taking the inlaws or friends out for a boat ride and would increase the load to 4 or 5.

how does the length and/or width effect the preformance in shallow water?

it doesn't seem like the size of the boat effects the top end very much? the thought of putting a 35hp outboard on a 1860 seems way under powered...why is a 35SD enough?

thanks for the comments, I really appreciate it.

brian

I was runnin a 1644 with a MB 4000 & he could go pretty much anywhere I could in his 1860. The 35 is plenty enough power for it, but you can always beef it up with some mods if ya not happy with it. Not sure how set on a GD you are, but you can get a modded MB with a warranty if you're wantin more power. Kinda sounds like you haven't had much, if any experience in a mud boat. I would definitely found you some dealers and try em all before you shell out the $$$. Everybody on here is gonna be biased to their brand, so without having ever driven any of them, ya just gonna end up more confused on what to do in the end.

Tight places - shorter and narrower is better

In the mud vegies & stumps - longer and narrower is better

With a load - longer and wider is better

In the chop while fishing - longer and wider is better

So - 1660 or 1860 - you are buying the extra 2 feet for those days you
want to take on the extra guys.... The 1660 is a bit more maneuverable
when running twisting bayous....There is only a small weight difference
and price difference.... You gotta make the call....

But get you a test ride or two first....

Team Camo....you hit the nail on the head...i have no experience with mud motors. I'm just tired of maitaining and airboat and a jonboat. I'm hoping to get a do everything boat and eliminate having two boats. right now i'm in the learning phase of the purchase with the goal of getting the boat right the first time. i would rather spend the money the first time and get it right than going the cheap route and redoing in a few years later. i know that is much easier said than done, but i'm going to try. thanks fr the help and please stay tuned...i'll have more questions soon. THANKS! --brian