Thinking about ordering a 14x38 with a hunt deck, round chine, and a 16 longtail. I hunt either just me and my dog or maybe 1 more person, so I don't expect to ever have too much of a load in the boat. I hunt a lot of sloughs off the river, with lots of logs and stumps so I think that I will need a LT for the added leverage. I don't get too excited or have the ego to have to be the fastest on the water, I just get up a little earlier. I have thought about getting the boat built with 18" sides, do you think that would be overkill/unnecessary? Thanks for any input, I think I finally have a good idea about what I want & need but want to make sure before I go and pull the trigger on this. I want to get this setup right so that I don't want to go and buy a new boat in a couple of years.

Now this is just my opinon, but I like 16ft or longer boats. I am sure there are some people on here with short boats that like them for one reason or another. I have been in several boats 14ft and 15ft and they were a little small and unstable, even the wide ones. The reviews on this site about 14ft boats with mud motors all seem concerned with swamping the boat at the back due to the weight of the motor. They end up trying to add a modification to the boat to help it perform. There is no margin for error or for those couple times a season when you end up with more load to carry. When I get out in 20deg water I don't want to have worry about an unstable boat.

I have a 16X44 boat and have no problem with the motor swamping it. I have plenty of room and it feels stable with or without a load. I don't know how well a 16hp would push the larger boat. I have a 23hp lt which does pretty good.

thanks, I had considered the swamping issue and hoped the huntdeck would alleviate that issue, but I could be dead wrong.

So you find that you get more stability from the length of the boat than the width? I am sincerely asking, as this seems counter to my thinking. It would not be that big of a deal to get a 15' foot boat with the deck on the back, which I think adds around another 18-20" in overall length. I just want to get the right size boat because the 16 hp motor is what I am building this package around. I am intentionally trying to keep it a smaller rig, so that I have a legit reason to keep from taking too many people to my holes. That being said, I am not wanting to sacrifice safety.

I am not a boat expert in any way. I was just posting what I have seen with my limited experience. You have put alot more thought into it than I have and I did not know you already had the 16 hp. Maybe someone with a simular setup will post. Sorry I can't help more.

Larry

No reason to apologize, you offered exactly what I was looking for, an experienced opinion and I appreciate it.

You are right I have put a lot of thought into it, but no time on the water. That is the down side to ordering a custom built hull, not being able to test it out with different setups.

I have a 1440 with a 20 hp GDLT and it does pretty good stability wise but he is right about the swaming issue and i think that the hunt deck is a good idea and will most likely eliminate the problem or make it a much smaller problem and with you only hunting 2 people at most the 14' should be fine mine holds 3 without losing too much power due to load. Hope that my $.02 helps..

Round Chine - sits lower in the water than tapered or square too

x2 - long and thin is very desirable

Sam III here has the 18x36 GoDevil skiff with 23 GDSD - I have to say
it is one of the most impressive smaller hulls I have seen in action with
my own eyes. In the Wallisville threads there are several pics of it in
action with a very big guy as a passenger I might add. And he threaded
the timber with ease too.

Your combo will be a little stouter than mine as it will be welded. I have a riveted hull...14X36 The 16 was recommended to me, but I chose the honda for its reliability. In sloughs and backwater my boat is ok as far as swamping goes..
However my buddy borrowed my boat one weekend while I was out of town and said he was getting worried when he took it out in high wind on the river..water was white capping in my boat and they had to drag it on an island til they could see what they were doing and rebalance all the weight.

I think the surenuff mud boats are built a little better to displace the weight of the motor..My transom sags too much and I need approx 6 in of water to run. My hunting load is typically what you described and my 13 sometimes lack the umf to get me over obstacles. I know yours is 3 more hp..but that is also realistically not that much

I was considering a new boat and had several members tell me if I buy again to go with at least 16ft no matter what the width you run. as it will allow you to disperse all the weight.
I saw this for myself yesterday. Another buddy had a 15x42 FB with a 20hpLT during season he was getting 14 by hisself and 9 with a load of 4 people. Knocked a hole in that boat placed the motor on a 16x48FB by hisself got 17.5 and loaded 10mph in shallow, 13 in river with current

Im not trying to push a product here but have you considered a go-devil duck skiff? I have talked to several people that had them with the same motor you are running and were VERY pleased with the setup.

If you're interested in going the 16' route I can tell you it will run about 13 with two guys and a light load on a 1648 Weld-Craft. I have a 1644 Weld-Craft with a 27 and it pushes about 18 with the same load.

your combo will probably do all right, i'm running a 14/36 riveted with a 20 hp honda go devil longtail. just replaced the prop last week. me and my son @ 325lbs. 6 gal gas, full size marine battery, tackel box, 6' cast net, 15 lb anchor, 54qt cooler w/ice, we ran 16 mph with prop underwater. we ran 18-18.5 mph with the prop on the surface. everything i have read and heard is longtails do better with longer narrow boats. i used to run the same load with a 6.5 hp beavertail. talk about slow, upgrading the motor was a big help. now if i can convince the wife to let me upgrade the boat