A brief prelude... I own a Lowe 1448M - Mod-V. Had decided i could not put a 27 or larger prodrive on my boat (the motor i want) and cant afford this day a new complete rig. Had decided i could live with my boat if I could find a SD to match. Research led me to the 18 copperhead for its weight and report on power. Drove 3.5 hours to Illowa Marine/Phowler boat to test, and, I really thought, highly likely to buy. Arrange with owner Paul to test the 18 first on an 1840 Phowler Lite Jon, then on my boat. My thinking was that I was going to get great performance on my Lowe, but that I would soon be in a position to buy bigger, and wanted to see how the Copperhead 18 performed on the bigger boat, if and when i wanted to make that move.

MM Brand: Copperhead
Horsepower: 18 with clutch
Boat Brand: Lowe
Boat Size: 1448 Riveted Mod-V
Boat Layout: Bench seat back and mid / front deck
Speeds | Shallow Water: Never got to shallow water
Speeds | Deep Water: Did not register. Boat never got on plane and we just turned around and took it back
Total Boat Load With Gear Etc: 3 guys total weight 610; "gear" (bags of salt and dog food) 165lbs
Conditions Tested In: Calm river / high water / good flow

Comments: Ouch! I really expected the boat to jump right up to plane and move. It never did. We shifted weight, changed trims. Could not get it up. Really frustrating and disappointed. I do NOT think this was about the motor. Think completely it was about the size and design of the boat. Unloaded one guy and performance was not really any better.

I don't think the 18 Copperhead is the right motor for that boat (if any is), so I don't think it was a good test of the motor. It started well, trimmed well. The weight of the motor what it is, the manual trim worked great, and easy. The clutch was nice as well. I had heard, and the Bubba at Phwler confirmed, that i had to get RPMs upfor it to fully engage. That was not an issue.

Final comment... The guys at Phowler / Illowa were great. Thanks to Paul and Bubba for taking the time to do this, to answer all our questions. To give us items to consider. To recognize, in the end that I had not yet found "the answer" , and to not try to push me into something for the sake of the sale.

Sorry ta hear bud. As much as ya wanna save on the boat, it comes down ta just that. The boat is as much a factor as which motor ya put on it. That V in yer hill is killin ya. Here's ta hopin ya find a good deal on an entire setup.

BTW, how'd it do on that 1840? What were the speeds and what kinda load?

See post same title #1

I liked the 1840. Very Nice. Would like it better with your 27

more learnin. always good.

also got schooled to learn you need to test drive the rig. cant assume any particular motor will or will not work with any particular boat. I thought the 1840 would drag and the 1448 would jump. Turns out the 1840 was much better. Not great with that motor, but much better with that motor than the 1448

I cant tell you how many guys have tried a mod-v with these smaller surface drives without much luck, the v shaped hull is always creating lift to keep the boat on plane where a flat boat once on plane only requires "push" to stay on step. I would recommend a 35 to achieve good results with a mod-v but it still wont perform as well as a flat boat. Good luck with your research.

Get a 35 and forget about it!

are you sayin 35 on the 1448. Dont think that will work... too heavy, no? same with a 27. too heavy. boat is rated for 25 hp., that is 120 ppounds of motor, not 250...

Do what you think is safe for you!I ran a 32 prodrive and then a 36 prodrive for years on a 14/48 Alweld!

Still ain't gonna perform on a V bottom boat.

27 on a V hull sucks too. If yer sayin like a 27 on a flat hull, I doubt he'd see 25mph outa even a 35 on a V hull.

I have seen a 36 Prodrive on a modV Express hull and it sucked bad. Great engine, and a great hull for an outboard, but just not the right boat for a mud motor. The other guys are right. Mod-v or any V hull is just bad for mud motors.

Also, the Copperheads are phenomenal engines but it is unreasonable to put a 12 or 18 hp engine on a 18 foot boat and expect it to perform great. Heck... my 20 foot boat is going to get a 150 or a 200... of course it is a variable deadrise V hull not a mud boat, but still, I get a kick out of people expecting miracles.