I need some advice from you guys. Which is better, surface motors or long shaft motors and why?

all depends on what u plan on usin it for. need more info...

well im going to be on open water and in swamp land but i was just wondering what the diffference between the two were

longtails are simpler units, cheaper, and perform better in real shallow water with hard bottoms and in real shallow swampy terrain with lots of stumps. However, they are much slower and more difficult to handle.

surface drives or more complicated units, cost more, but are faster & most are much easier to handle than a longtail. Their performance in mud and vegetation is better than a longtail in most cases, especially with a reverse feature.

some like it long and slow....others like it short and fast.

thanks for the help

Its like a 4x4 truck... Long tail is 4 low... SD is 4 high...

so...unless im going to be in a lot of mud, the longtail would be the best? surface drives are mainly for mud right?

no thats not what they are saying. look go here http://www.godevil.com/Comparison.html and look at what godevil says the difference between the two are. i have had both and hunt all kind of terrain, including the kind you talked about. and IMO surface drive is the way to go.

Thanks man that helped out alot. I appreciate it