I have owned two Mud Motors now and my present one is a 23 GDSD. I put this on a Riveted AlumnaCraft 15ft Hull. I am mainly a fisherman but occasionally I do get in shallow water. I have run over several stumps but all were hidden under water and I hit them at dead slow. My bottom is already bent to crap. How much stronger is a real Mud Hull and what is the recommended thickness?

No comparison, my bottom is 3/16. Built like a tank!

I got 1/8 bottom on my Prodrive hull. Couple of dings but nothing that will hinder performance. Trust when I say you will never go back once you have a true mm rig.

Go ahead and get a hull that can accommodate a 35 , it will happen soon enough

Of course a 3/16 bottom would last you forever, but im not a big fan of that heavy of a plate with a mud motor on the back. Cant go wrong with getting a 1/8 hull, as long as you dont bring it to hell and back it would last you a long time, well a hell of alot longer than the .100 hull you have now.

We run rocks and swift water here in Alaska. Don't have much mud but we do have wood. I am real happy with the way our Go Devil Surface Srive boats handle the bumps. They are built out of .125 5086 bottom and sides. Never run a 3/16 bottom but if made from 5086 it would be about bomb proof. Duckdon

I need to take you out in my boat. Or just get you to come ride the river or Waco one day. I think you'll be impressed...

Haha. Well hell! Sounds like you already know you need to bite the bullet and upgrade then!

I am a new owner of a go-devil 16/48 and love the way it runs. I went from a 1448 rivited hull that was super lite to a bigger heavier hull and gained 1 mile an hour on the top end ,and all around performance that definately make it worth the money. I am in the process of removing the foam and creating more storage instead of having flotation that will not float the weight of the boat. I will have a new topic started here soon showing how its done. I am running a mud buddy 23hp bandi running speeds of 28 with one person and a dog and 23-24 with 3 people and the dog. All deep water speeds.

Impressive. I did the same with my old 18/44 go devil hull. I think all that foam is a waste of storage space.

Sounds like a 1/8th godevil boat would suit you just fine.

And if you skimp on thickness/bracing it hooks the hull and you loose more performance and resale value than if you had done it right the first time.

Thickness needed depends on the area you run. The places Owen and I run, 1/8 thick performs like shit even after half a duck season the way we really USE our boats. If you're running LOTS of stumps and rocks 3/16 only way to go.

You can brace a 1/8th hull like crazy and it's still going to dent due to strength to surface area ratio. You also then add just about as much weight to the boat as if you just went ahead with 3/16 thick. It only adds 80lbs but the strength you gain totally out weighs the extra weight.

However, if you're just running places where you may hit something every now and then, 1/8 braced properly should be plenty for you.

If you look at Alumacraft's website, none of them are made out of 0.1. In fact the smaller riveted hulls ones are half that thick at .05, some at 0.06, and the bigger ones at 0.07.

Also don't forget that part of the point of the mud hulls is that the stringers are longitudinal instead of horizontal so what hooks you do get in the hull do not have as much of a negative effect on performance.

How much more would a 3/16 bottom weight?? It can't be that much??