New to the forums but figured I would see if anyone was willing to give me advice, I currently have a Landau 1670 weighing approx 260 pounds, the boat is currently set up with a 1998 mercury 25hp 2 stroke. with 3 people and a hunting load the boat will run around 24 MPH. With just myself and no load I can top out around 29MPH. However I cannot run the places I need to be running. I have been looking at throwing a mud motor on the boat for quite some time. I am certainly not new to mud motors, I have ran several different brands, everything from backwater long tails to pro drives. I have also done some work on a few of my buddies motors.

After crunching some numbers Ive narrowed my options down to a backwater long tail 23hp or 26.7hp. I have also considered throwing a 23hp copperhead on the boat. Weight is obviously an issue and I will be moving my battery and gas tank to the front. As of now I am leaning towards a 23 copperhead.. Speed is not a major concern because speed does not kill ducks but I would like to be able to get around 22-24 MPH with myself, a buddy, and a hunting load... The only excess weight in the boat will be the gas tank, battery, decoys, waders, and extra person.. I do not hunt out of the boat as I usually only use the boat to get from the ramp to places I can wade.

With the speeds you are wanting, copperhead.
That's what I'd go with.

I have a JB Mudmotor 28efi surface drive. Weighs 205, and I have it on a 1542. A buddy and I with hunt loads mid 20s. It also come with an electric clutch so you have neutral. Look them up on face book. They are great to deal with.



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I run an Alumacaft 1648 Jon with a Modded MB BD 45 on it. Runs in the mid thirties. It weighed in at 290 LBs. Has had two different Surface Drives on it, in last seven years. Does a good job. And has held up well running back and forth to our Pontoon blind and fishing a very shallow river.