My huntin buddy bought a Mud Buddy 23 surface drive last season and ran it on a 15' xpress. I kept telling him he needed a mud boat instead. He is thinking about a Excel shallow water F4. He keeps thinking he wanting to go in the 16' direction. I dont have a mud boat (yet) but I read alot on these forums gleening information, and from what I can tell a 17' would perform better.

Let me add to this that we DO not want to go with the 35 hp motor. Some of the areas in which we hunt have a 25 restriction, so we dont want to go with the 35.

Do any of yall have any experience with similar setups you could offer any input on?

A 17 would allow better load carrying, nothing wrong with 16 though. Bottom width would be important to think about, nothing wrong with a 23, but it's still a 23, bigger isn't always better on boat size.

Where are you located? Do you hit many under water obstructions?

Since you are going to stick with the 23, I would suggest something in the 16-17 ft range with a 48" bottom. You need to keep the accessories and boxes and shit to a minimum since your not gonna have a whole lotta horse power. Something with an open layout.

I am running a 16 foot boat with a 42 inch bottom and its perfect for the 23 not to big but less is more sometimes, especially if you hunt any kind of flooded timber. keep it simple kill more ducks

i got my 23 Sport on a 1648 Monark rivited jon boat. Other than a little weld job to beef up transom it is perfect for what I do. i dont hunt wooded areas though, only marsh. Good speeds out of it as well. Gonna have a custom boat built eventually that will be 16.6' x 46" by Instagator911. Better look hard at Excels as one thread in here really explains a very bad experience with the boat and customer service.

After I posted this I just read that terrible post about excel. Can anyone suggest any good boats? I imagine he could probably get a good custom boat to fit his motor for less than 8K right?

Any good ol' boy recommendations on manufacturers or builders?

Check into the sponsor section, there are alot of builders on this site. They will build you a great boat for a good price.

Once again, where are you located?

Central Arkansas

definitly close enough to talk to the custom builders. I think a 1648 would serve you buddy well. 1/8th bottom and sides and keep the floor plan open and lite.

Personally, I'd take a 17x42 over a 16x48

The narrower bottom will cut through grass and trails better, probably run a little flatter too.
X2 on no boxes

I like Instagator boats. He builds them down here in SETX. Search and there are some pics on here fron Z712.0. He builds a great boat and whatever you want, i.e. thickness, accessories, etc. Lots of boat builders round here. Just depends on your preference after talking to several of them. PM Jay. His screen name is Instagator911.

X2 for an Instagator Boat. I'll let you know how mine runs in June when I get it. I run a 23 mini with Carb and exhaust.