This will be my first rig, but im not sure what direction i should go in. i want a surface drive motor for sure and of course want a boat thats big enough for about three people and all the gear. I am not sure what the best options on a boat are and who makes the best surface drives. I really dont know much about these things in general. How long do the motors usually last with normal fluid changing and maintenance. what are the quirks these things have? really any info on buying my first rig would be greatly appreciated.

With proper maintenance & upkeep, these motors will last hundres, even thousands of hours. Think about how many hours are on your lawn mower, now think about how many are on a commercial mower. Take care of it, & it'll last you. Neglect & abuse it, you better have some cash set aside for a new one. As far as which one's better, they're all good, & they all suck. Pick the one you're most comfortable running.

I havent ran any of them yet. How hard is it to keep them up in the saltwater, which is mainly where i will be hunting. can you just spray them down with freshwater after a trip or is that a no no. what do i look for if i buy used as far as wear and tear goes.

Hit it with the water hose, then spray it down with WD40, Remoil, Corrosion X, or whatever oil you choose. That's all I do anyhow.

Sent by carrier pigeon.

thats a cake walk.

You know where I run... West Bay, Galveston,TX and my boat hardly ever touches freshwater unless getting a wash down before being put back into storage. Depending upon what you want to use it for will depend on what size boat you may want etc.

what sizeboat you run depends on what conditions you huntin, wide open marsh you could have a 60 wide boat with no problems or if you hunt timber like me you probably will not want anything wider than a 48, generally the best length is 18 feet. as far i as the chine a square chine will draft less and carry a good load but will slide when lightly loaded, a round chine will draft slightly more but will turn when your runnin WFO and a tapered chine is somewere in between, then you have a stepped chine(like a gator tail xtreme) that drafts shallow and turns very well. as far as the motor all of them run briggs you jus have to decide what feature you want, go devil has no nuetral or power trim and no reverse, mud buddy has nuetral and power trim but no reverse, gator tail has power trim nuetral and instant reverse, pro drive has powere trim,nuetraln and full power reverse(lower unit rotates 180 degrees for reverse). it jus all depends on what features you want.

if nothing else test drive

good luck with your choice,trey

Less than 10 grand, best bet is to buy a used rig.

http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee29 ... e%20Drive/

that is a rig im looking at. opinions? any red flags?

The best thing u can do is test run it. I have a boat similar to WEA without floatation, i like my GTR especially the reverse. I would not have a godevil, i have had them and i didn't like them, thats just my opinion. once again test drive or ask someone with a boat for a ride.

What didnt you like about them? Dont alot of boats come on the market for cheap after the end of the season haha

I had a long tail that worked my ass off, had a surface drive was hard to control also,didn't like the prop spinning all the time, neutral is nice, my gator tail is easy to handle.

Ah i see. no reverse and no neutral could be a pain in the ass. wish i could find a nice GTR for a nice price.

they gotem, keep looking. Where are u?

I live in galveston tx. dont mind driving to get a good deal. ive been using allofcraigs.com, this website and duckhuntingchat.com to look at boats for the last couple of weeks.

and a few other sites as well. lots of rigs out there for sale, but none that just grab me ya know.

I cant watch videos while i am offshore and i dont think ill be around for the houston boat show. only going to be back in TX for a few days before i go to the next job. will check out the site though.

Dude doesnt have an email on that site either.

any other info or advice is welcome.

Where in TX are you located when not offshore?

Galveston tx, but like i said i dont mind driving for a good deal.

WestEndAngler is doing a damn fine job of convincing me to just order a new boat from the dudes at Gator Tail.

u will not regret it.

ya thats what i hear but im such a bad buyer. i hate buying big ticket items and dropping 17k or so is going to be so hard for me hahaha.

ive been daydreaming though.

K-

Do you realize that the 1st time you hopped onto my Gator-Tail last season and went hunting with me that you shot a banded Pintail. Go buy one so you can take me & I can finally get a banded bird

So what happens if your running down those narrow curvy bayous and trails with your round chines and your hauling ass around a bend and meet another boat head on and don't have time to avoid it? Sounds dangerous to me!! I can't believe you would put the lives of your passengers at risk giga and robin.

Much like WEA said for our area i would stick with the 3 brands he listed. Our hard bottoms are rough on the PD's and i had trouble with mine in comparison...never had "Trouble".

Like the features our not i think the GD's are an extremely practical choice for wallisville area as there is so much hard bottom and sand.

I have not found any problem with running my MB in the area either with the exception of needing a little more water to get up on a hard bottom than the GD's.

GT's seem to run well here too but i have no first hand experience with them.

I would try to drive all 3 and choose the one you enjoy and usually as important can get the right deal on!

If you and WEA ever want to meet up you can run my MB and im sure Robin would let you do the same with his GD.

Why would one motor run better in hard bottom and sand than another besides depth of operation. I stick to west bay mostly but with my new found mobility id like to check out more areas for sure. Most likely that would be the matagorda area and some freshwater spots inland.

I am really torn between the one i posted the photobucket of earlier in the thread, buying a custom one, or foregoing the waiting process and picking up this one:
http://www.louisianasportsman.com/lpca/ ... 2146f99b01