I am brand new to the sport and my Dad and I are looking at the Excel 1860 with 4400 Black Death. I was told we may want to consider going with the low gear option for better power holeshot with the bigger boat and loads. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

Just out of curiosity, why THAT setup? Why excel and a mud buddy? Does the name Freddy king ring a bell?


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Stock gears are 38 tooth top and 50teeth bottom. You wont know if you need to swap gears until after you get some run time on it. It might be just fine the way it is.

He probably has a dealership close. Since you're new to the sport i'll put it like this, type "excel boats mudmotortalk" into a google search and just read through a few of the posts. I have never owned an excel but i came close when i bought my first rig. Lots of my hunting buddies did and when they sold them they were trashed. Friendly word of advice, dont do it. Call around to some of the custom builders. Instagator, uncle j, prodigy, just to name a few. Also keep in mind that with a boat that size you will want more horsepower. Do yourself a favor and just buy a stock motor and send it to a reputable builder on here and have it built. You'll actually save money that way in the long run and have more hp.

You won't need to change gear for that boat. If you do decide to swap later, it isn't difficult.

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Talked to to Russ a minute ago. He said you werent considering the flat bottom option. What kind of terrain are you running? Stumps? Hard or soft bottom? Vegetation? How tight do you need the boat to be able to turn?

Yeah I was considering the Viper Hull but after more thought we just don't want to jeopardize any shallow water performance. There is a lot of territory we want to explore with this boat and we don't know what the terrain is going to be. I was considering for the chop and ride but Russ made a great point by saying there's gonna be spray either way. Plus I don't think top end speed will even be enough to make a difference between the hulls. So that being said I would rather have full shallow performance. I'm just now wondering if the lower gear option would make sense for the heavier loads or if it will lose too much top end speed in return...