Hay guys I need your opinion. I'm looking at buying my first mud motor. I am looking at a mud buddy sport with an upgraded drive shaft that makes it like a hyper sport. Has heated grip, power trip and a 31 hp Vanguard with dual SS exhaust. Any thing is should be looking out for. How do you think the resale will be down the road. Putting it on a 17X54. Don't care about speed just want to get away from the crazy people flaring all the birds. Any issues with the power head. It seems like they had a lot of variations on the market once upon a time. You input is greatly appreciated.

Oh ya! has 48 hours on it. Can I get a price check on lane 1? ballpark is fine. What do you all think

4000 + -

Powerhead is fine. Believe its the same block as the 35. May have the case gasket issue, but not really a big deal. The motors hold their value pretty well. Exhaust may add a little value.

Hour meters can be wrong/replaced - they last about 2 years and then the
internal battery runs down - best thing is a good test drive to see
how she runs - possibly a compression test after a short warm up

if the price is right - go for it...

Do I need to run an in-line water/fuel separator from my tank. If so Why doesn't the outboard community use them? Can you rope start these things? The lower skag is bent to port. This come from the factory to counter torque is that correct? A fixed trim tab I'm guessing. Are there major bearing that are important and is it easy to change the belt in the case or is it a chain. I'm assuming if the belt goes your done just curious what guys do for a back up. Does Mud Buddy sell a maintenance manual for this thing? I do all my own maintenance but this machine is new to me.

skeg is bent to help with the tiller torque, belt breaks your down and I have never changed a belt on a mud buddy so I cannot answer that.

If you think that this is going to get you away from people flaring birds you are going to be upset when you get where you are going and someone will already be there with one of these motors .

If you rope start it be sure to video it and post it here.

Have changed belt and housings from short to tall. Mudbuddy is very user friendly when making these adjustments.
Yes mudbuddy has a kit for belt adjustment. Bent skeg is for tiller torque. All motors outboard and mudmotors now benefit
from using a water separator filter because of the use of ethanol in motor fuels. Rope start not possible on 27hp and up way too much torque to spin the fly wheel. You might consider a kick start

I owned an original balanced Hyper in the past.

Never used a water seperator, but a lot of guys run them.

The belt swap is about an hour or so job. Not a huge deal, but you'll need a tension guage. If it fries on the water, you're done. You have to change it standing behind the motor. It was because of this issue that I put a trolling motor on my boat. 3 hour paddle back to the landing in the middle of the night was NOT fun.

It's a lawn mower engine, so if you have questions about the power head before you buy, see if the seller will allow you to have a lawn mower shop check it out.

Good luck on your purchase, & welcome to the insanity.

YOU GUYS ARE BURSTING MY BUBBLE. I'm hoping to have hunts with my son that I've dreamed of and now your saying I get to share it with the same dip shits that are shooting at birds 1000 feet in the air 75 yards away. I watch all these dudes on TV hunt and I keep thinking some day I'll find a honey hole just like theirs. Anyone do any hunting on the Mississippi? I live in Wisconsin and its about 2 hours away. I fly over it all the time thinking there has to be a quiet place down there some where. You guys are actually making me think twice about investing more money into this program.

I'm getting this thing for 3000, delivered. I'm told if it arrives and I'm not satisfied to ship it back. He's that confident in this motor.
I tried to post a picture but not sure of the issues.

sounds like a good deal to me. if u like it, buy it.

just like with everything, if u put out the effort to scout and find the birds, i'm sure u will do fine.


good luck

There's no MudMotors in Wi. Just shallowwater outboards.


Seriously tho if it fits your budget and you like the way it performs go for it, also a lot of us run the Mississippi and it's a zoo come season with all the east siders showing up.

oh please cheese heads give it up. Its the westerners that wreck the mighty Miss. LOL Seriously I will not hunt without a MM anymore. And if you go back where you need a MM to get to the one thing I have noticed is that even though someone is already back there, they are generally a little more serious and less likely to be THOSE ASSHATS. Because they have such a significant investment in the sport. My .02

Just got it delivered today. It will be on the boat this weekend, cant wait. The previous owner put a hyper outdrive on it and sent me the older/longer sport tail with a used prop. Do you all think there is a any reason to keep this second outdrive. I like the shorter drive unit. Not sure if there is a market for used stuff like this.

Go to www.mudbuddy.com. Sign up for the Mudbuddy Forums. Get on the classified and post up that extra outdrive. This would be the best place to sell it.