I have a 1542 FLD War Eagle, I have rebuilt and camo out.
Installed 2" foam in floor then skinned it with aluminum . so I have a flat floor.
I have a 40Hp on it now for fishing. and the grandkids.
Want to start duck hunting, so am looking for a mud motor.
Question... surface drive vs long tail??
What HP??
I have a 16 inch transom.

My wife, will only let me get away with doing this once, so I need to do it right

Thanks for your help.
Ron

I had that same boat with a 23hp godevil on it. It ran in the high teens. I will caution you, though, that motor beat the heck out of the thin metal of that boat. My war eagle had an .080 hull and it cracked on both sides of the bow where the sides are welded to the front. Big 6-8" cracks, I guess from bumping stuff and going over logs and debris. I had them welded and they cracked again. The front deck also cracked where it was welded to the sides. The bow eye ripped out from winching it on the trailer, you will find it hard to drive up on your trailer. You may have better luck, but I would be careful with it. For comparison, I bought a mud motor boat with a .125 hull and had no problems. I wonded the WE for 5yrs and have owned the godevil boat for 6yrs.

War Eagle + Mudmotor = bad idea

I saw in another thread where you said you are 68, a longtail probably isn't a great idea for you. They tend to beat the hell out of you till you learn to run it right, and they are still hell on shoulders if you are hitting stuff under the surface.

What kind of areas do you plan to run that you think you can't use an outboard in?

chesapeake bay tidle,

New to this part of the country so I have to figure it out. VA.
I am not bummed about the time I spent on the War Eagle.
Well I enjoyed fix in the boat up, so I can always sale it and start over.

Six grandkids oldest is 12yr. so I had better plan on a bigger boat.
I get to teach them to hunt and fish.
I have a few months to get another boat and get it ready for next year.

Hmm, it looks like a longtail wouldn't be a bad option for that area google images show a lot of shallow sand bars. Shallow hard bottoms is where the longtail shines. There are 2 new motors that are supposed to be a little more user friendly and not as tough to drive. Back water motors has a very nice longtail that is shorter than traditional longtails which means less tiller torque and easier to drive. MB "makes" a super longtail that is belt driven and also has a slightly shorter shaft than a godevil and is also supposed to easier to drive. The caveat with MB is that you never know when you can get one.

You will definitely need a bigger boat with 6 kids, something in the 18-20 range by 48-54 inch bottom. Back water just introduced a line of longtail boats that pair with their motors. Both motor companies make a 35 hp motor which you would need with a bigger boat. If you think you can work with your boat a 23 hp is about max.

Have the same boat as you and had a 23 hp long tail on it. Ran 21 22unloaded and 14 load 3 guys gear etc. Like stated before a long tail is rough. I did love the torque it had. I bought 25 GTR this year and absolutely love it so much more. I hunt a lot of brakes and havnt had any problems with boat holding up but I try to be easy but I'm sure one day ill beat it up. I would highly suggest a surface drive over long tail unless you are in extreme stumps. Best thing would be get another boat. My boat is great for hunting 2 folks and crowded with 3. This is a pic of a tree I hit last year due to throttle cable pinching in half due to cold weather. Long story but to me the boat held up pretty good. Didn't crack the hull just dented the heck out of it.

I'm running a 1999 ware eagle 1542 with a 31 GDLT. Took a little getting use to since this is my first mudmotor. I agree with everyone that they can be rough on ya. With my new prop im running 19-20 with just myself in the boat. Motor pushes boat good but would be alot better if i had a true flat bottom. I make long runs (10 miles to some of my spots) with my rig and can be a little rough on her and she is holding up well. I love my rig but i wish it was bigger. Ideally id like a 16 or 17 and at least 48 in. wide. I'd also like to get a SD. Better speed and reverse sounds nice.