OK, up until about a month ago I had no idea mud boats and motors even existed....

I live on a bayou northwest of Tampa in Florida. I always thought that if you wanted to go shallow you'd get a flats skiff and a jackplate.

About two years ago I needed a skiff that was practical to be towed about by my 40 foot houseboat. I had a local manufacture custom make me a narrow 16 foot skiff with high sides and bow, and a flat bottom. I put a brand new ETEC 25 with a Bob's machine hydraulic jackplate and low water pickup.

Frankly the boat is dissapointing. It drafts too much on the hull because it is narrow and doesn't have enough bouyancy and the jackplate set up probably brings the motor up two inches tops when it is on plane, maybe four at idle before it starts cavitating.

I have ten grand in the boat and it is fine little dinghy but it really doesn't go shallow and I go through a prop everytime I explore around areas I don't already know.

I drew 6 gator tags this season and I'm going to use the skiff for gator hunting. It is far from ideal for this use or the use I originally had in mind.

I want to have a mudboat made up to fit conditions here in on the flats and rivers of Florida, and still be able to tow it behind my houseboat at times.

About 40 miles North of here the the uninhabited part of the Florida coast begins and there are many gorgeous spring fed rivers and huge swampy coastal areas. I have explored some of the areas but I need a real flats (mud boat) boat to really look around without being constantly on the verge of losing a prop. I also intend to continue gator hunting and so need a boat suited to that too.

Now this boat would have to be able to transit the open Gulf too, probably no more than a few feet of chop but some areas get worse.

Note: this is not the open ocean, the water out here is shallow and north of here the Gulf gets deep at the rate of a foot a mile. My catamaran houseboat does fine in these waters. We are not talking about huge ocean rollers and whatnot. However a short sided jon boat would be quickly swamped at times.

So here are my thoughts and please feel free to call BS or make suggestions as I know boats in general but only know what I've recently read about mud boats.

1. I'm thinking a flat bottom with high sides and a pointy bow. Something like the Prowler Extreme Vee line.

2. I'm thinking around 20 feet long by 50 to 56 inches wide on the bottom. I am assuming that with the limited power of these motors you want to go narrow. Narrow also helps to make the ride over chop better. I figure you should go long (to span the waves) and narrow (to keep the beating down in the chop).

How much of a performance penalty do ya get for going wider? I actually read one article that claimed wider goes faster because you run shallower????

3. I'm thinking 26 or even 28 inch sides to take the big water if need be. The downside is weight, are we talking a significant amount of weight over a 24 inch deep boat? Maybe 28 inch in the bow tapering down to 24 in the stern? I want a strong bottom on the boat but is it a problem to drop to .10 inch thick or less above the waterline??

4. I want to go 25 mph or better as I intend to take longer trips up the coast on occasion.

5. Definitely want remote steering, probably hydraulic.

6. Prodrive looks like the motor that will fit my needs, just because it seems more outboard-like and conducive to remote steering. Are there better choices? Suggestions?

7. I want a light boat. By light I want to be able to push it off a beach and maneuver it around by hand when I have to. Is it possible to rig a boat like this to be around a thousand pounds?

My little skiff I have now is easy to throw around, push off a beach and whatnot, it is about 650 pounds plus accumulated crap on board. I figure around a thousand pounds would be OK.... but I suppose if it floats in very little draft you might be able to get away with more wt??

8. Question: Exactly how much does a typical mud boat hull draft sitting at anchor? Many of the pictures I see... it looks like three or even four inches??

Thanks in advance, I will add that I intend to buy the boat next year before the August Gator season. I want to be able to do this boat with electronics and fully rigged for 20K.

custom built, all 1/8, 18 54, with the big block motor of your choice(with reverse). 24 inch sides. you will run 25 all day

You didn't mention what types of bottoms your crossing over....

Example - a good 1860 tunnel with 60 to 90 hp will run across sandbars
on plane about like a MM will - where the MM excells is where the bottom
is soft and usable by the prop....

In general the "sweet spot" for a MM hull is in the 18 x 48 to 18 x 60 range
but hi sides also mean more wind resistance and more weight --- you are
always compromising one thing to achieve another especially when you
only have 35 hp to push it....

I can tell you that with the GoDevil hulls I am familiar with the WOT speed
with 2 guys is about identical on an 18x48 a 16x60 or a 18x60 at about
25mph to 27mph with stock motor and a good prop - the hi sided versions
are a tad slower.... The wider ones will haul 4 guys better and the narrower
ones will weave thru the tight timber better....


All that said --- I run an 18x44 lo sided GD hull all over Trinity Bay in 2 to 3
foot chop with no problems at all --- you do have to slow down in the chop
or you will get pretty wet from spray but I have never caught enough water
to need to run the bilge but for a minute here or there..... I also used to run
a bigger CC G3 tunnel with 90 on a jack plate in the same conditions with good
results too.... The big payoff on the MM is twofold - fuel cost is about 1/4th
of what that 90 burned on the same runs and when you really push into the
backwaters with softer bottoms the MM is able to get to vast amounts of
terain that the CC never could get into and out of effectively but on the
upper end of the bay over sand and oysters the CC and MM were pretty
much identical needing 6" of water to move well....

Weight is considerably less with the MM hulls and when you are solo it is
pretty easy to move these slick bottom rascals - a few pieces of pvc are
helpfull over oysters and so is a good winch and cajun anchor to pull
from too - LOL

Hope that helps a bit...

IMO - only buy one with USCG approved floatation and not a commercial
non floatation hull - the floatation could save your life and only adds
a few pounds of weight - seen 2 of the non floatation ones drop to
the bottom in a heartbeat - scarry on a cold day or in deeper water....

Yeah, I thought about jet outboards and tunnels too.

I'm just not convinced that I can run the tunnelboats with the prop no lower than the bottom, do they really run as shallow as a MM? If so an aluminum flat bottom tunnel? Am I wrong in assuming that the surface drive MM run shallower than the tunnels? They sure seem like they would be resistant to having the prop getting all dinged up as much.

I am not convinced a jet boats is the best way because they clog up with seaweed. Also jet boats, you run a 150hp and it is like a 105 hp. That has to add up to a lot of gas between getting clogged up in the lakes and rivers when I gator hunt. Out in the Gulf I am sure it would outrun a MM easy.

The bottoms around here are sand and the occasional rock out in the Gulf north of here, and of course lots of oyster bars too. Then sand, rocks, and logs up the rivers. Mud is not very common in Florida, or that I have seen on the coast. Inland waters, not too familar yet, but I was on a lake recently and it was shallow and full of weeds.

A good tunnel can skate across sandbars in 4" water pretty well but
when you toss in veggies the MM has a big edge - no water intake to clog
and a prop that can take a vast amount of abuse....

If it was shallows only - I 'd say go tunnel - like I said though it is always
a compromise buying a boat you give up something to get something....

Sustained speed on plane and takeoff over sand is pretty much identical
from my experience with my G3 tunnel and my MM - a slight edge maybe
to the MM but not much over hard sand and oysters....

My G3 tunnel was a better fishing and family boat - but my MM rig is
a way better back waters hunting rig for 2 guys and gear....

Pretty close call - IMO

I'm in florida as well and i'm in tampa and I hunt the coast where your talking about , I've got a 1754 gatortraxs and a mudbuddy dude in those winter low tides where i hunt no boat will get you there without having a boat with a 3/16th bottom I'm talking ozello , crystal river , hudson area , no outboards. I would go with a 1854 boat 35 or bigger The best luck that I've had was with my longtail for getting in those area's that where very skinny even my new rigs will struggle in there.

Hudson? Thanks, I live over on Miller's Bayou in Port Richey. I've run my 22 inch draft houseboat all up and down the coast as far as 90 miles up the Suwannee, Cedar Key, Yankeetown, Crystal River, Homossasa, Wicki Wachee, and CHassaswitzka. Of course I'm not getting up in the areas you are talking about but with the 2 foot tides I can come up some areas at high tide and let the boat sit on the bottom at low tide.

Anyways, there seems to be so much I'm missing on this coast that a MM might allow me to see. For instance, I've lived here 11 years and although the Salt Springs SP is across the street there is lots I have not seen up in there.

I really like the idea of a jet outboard - just I used to have a waverunner and I'd have to clear it out a couple of times an hour sometimes. That I think would preclude operating one up into some of the swampy areas. Seems a MM is cheaper too.