Looking for Motor recommendations for shallow river, gravel and rocky. In Central Texas we have a few rivers that can be explored if the water is running.

Long Tail vs. Short tail, any major advantage from a shallow water perspective? No mudding application (wish there was).

If your not running in any mud I would recommend an outboard with a jet foot.

if you plan on a smaller boat ide go with a sd. when i say small boat i mean up to 17 foot with a smaller load. if you have to haul a ton o people then a big boat with a jet. i would never run a jet of the same hp as a sd. i wouldnt think jet until i needed 60 plus hp. for the money vs. proformance there is no way ide run a jet hp to hp vs. a sd. again it all has to do with the boat and load you need.

Agree, the jet takes a big engine to get similar performance. I think surface drive with rock guard will do it.

Agree on the power for the jet. had a 25/20 mercury jet on a 14/48 Jon it was about worthless not near enough power plus try to start in somewhat shallow water intake will be clogged with gravel.

It was just a suggestion. They are very popular on the river up here on similar sized rigs, it's hard to find a regular outboard over 15hp and almost no MMs. Including mine there are 4 MM rigs and 2 airboats, most everything else uses a jet motor with a cover on the intake to prevent sucking up rocks.