How big of a difference does a smooth bottom make than a ribbed bottom boat in the lilies and mud?

Look, first of all your posts are pretty much in the WRONG forum, but to answer your post smooth bottoms have less drag.

Ive witnessed both first hand, it makes all the difference but its a sliding little bitch in shallow water.

the difference in going with the slick and sticking with a ribbed

Alot and I will likley never go back to a ribbed boat for a mud motor.
Think about this. You have a 48" wide bottom with both style boats.
The smooth bottom is 48" wide
The ribbbed boat is 48" wide but has 5 ribs, 1 inch down, 1" wide, 1 inch back up on each rib. That is 2 more inches of drag per rib or 10" total. Now you have a 58" wide bottom surface with still only a 48" wide boat. More drag and 5 ribs to catch and hold on to what ever you contact. IMO slick is the way to go...Duckdon

My skiff is 40" wide 19' long and has 3, 1-1/2" corrigations (ribs or runners) on the bottom. It doesnt slide one bit, It also goes where any of yall boats will go. Ive been on the mud runs and compared the two and went more places than most. I dont find they hurt one bit in the mud. If your motor cant handle the little xtra drag those little things put on your boat then ya got problems. I actually prefer mine over a smooth bottom. Only downfall I had was when I would hang up on cypress knees while crawfishing, I couldnt slide the boat sideways off of them. I had to just go forward or back off of them. Other than that, I can run wide open down the skinniest, curviest bayous and not slide at all. I like it. Been running this boat for almost 2 years and will probably have runners on my next boat too. They also help stiffen up the bottom .

If you have anything on the bottom it will not go where a completely slick bottom will Just won't!!

Smooth bottom would be the smart mans choice for a
mud motor.

tenpoint i find this interesting. i take it its one u built?

no interesting in what u know. always heard smooth is better.

No doubt the ribs track better.
I have a ribbed boat and it doesn't hold me back in grass.

The only thing is on stumps and trying to slide over beaver dams and stuff it will hang.

in the nastiest of mud flats a ribbed bottom will not turn as good as a flat (smooth bottom)!!

I've run smooth and ribbed bottoms, and I have to agree with Tenpoint for the most part. 99% of the time a ribbed will go where a smooth will. The one real advantage of a smooth bottom is it is easier turn around if you are pushing it out of the mud. The ribs will grab more in the mud. I guess you can go through a little more chit with a smooth bottom, but once you get past the phase of seeing what you CAN run through, and start using the boat to run through what you NEED to, the ribbed bottom will be just fine. A corrugated bottom will be much stronger and rigid than a smooth bottom. Not to mention better manuverabilty. All that said, I still prefer a smooth bottom for a mud boat, but my next skiff will have plenty of runners.

Slick bottom with round or tapered chines.

It's comon since that a smooth will hang on less than a ribbed. Although, there's alot of variables that go into it as well, some ribbed boats, depending on situations will go just as many places as slicks. How? No idea. I'd been on both and can say the slick would definitely run circles around the ribbed any day. But, I've seen ribbed boats go places slicks do to. I think it may depend on how wid they are and how much they weigh. Check out the vids of chops. Dude runs in some pretty nasty stuff, on an old ass rough looking ribbed boat, running all the places the slicks are. All in all, slicks will do better in mud and veggies. As to how much better depends all on the situation as I stated above.

Brasso, you can't use that as a comparison. That is an old light ass Alweld hull that had a whole lot more hp than it needed.

Oh I know, that's why I said "it depends on the situation"

I would be running mostly grass and lilies and occasionally some mud

slick bottom only good with round or taper chine imo.
had a ribbed bottom boat for years and always wanted slick bottom.
now have a slick bottom and want tenpoint to weld a coupla runners on the bottom.
i guess if all you did was PLAY on mudflats with the boat,youd want it slick and lite as possible.
myself,i like the turning ability the runners give you.
plus it makes the bottom that much stronger.

GatorTail Xtreme hull,Slick bottom and will turn

My buddy used to have a Mod Vee with a crimped bottom... Had a 40 Evinrude on the back and That mofo SLID.. One time i was taking it back from the Camp. I had it sliding in the intracostal getting back to the Franklin.. Crimped bots still slide when You get most of the raggedy hull out of the water

A crimped 1/8" bottom will b much more strong and rigid than a 1/8" flat bottom. I'll never own a slick bottom, can't c where it could be that much better.

Get stuck were theres no water and hard ground you'd wish it was slick bottom and not have runners. Been there done that hell with runners unless it on a boat that wount see these kinda conditions

That hard ground sneaks up on you...