Never seen one run before anyone with personal experience chime in! I'm fairly new to the surface drive world so here's a ignorant question, the MB's 5500, and 6000, and 7000 refer to the HP correct? For example a 7000 model would be a 70 horse? Also opinions on mudbuddys in general, really torn here, thanks!

There are a lot of mud buttie owners on here and they will chime in I'm sure. And you'll also see a lot of other people saying how bad their customer service is. I personally wouldn't ever own one, but I have a good buddy that runs them exclusively.

My 2 cents.... Buy a ProDrive or if you must, a gator tail.

NO, nothing in the names have anything to do with horsepower. It's just a model once you get above the stock 35.

I'm between a prodrive and mudbuddy right now. If i get a prodrive i want to rebuild the motor to a stage 3 upgrade, but i've never been a big fan of tearing a motor apart and build it for horsepower. buddy of mine has the 5500 model black death, is that the "biggest" one they got? sorry for all the questions just trying to make the right decision here!

My two cents: If you want honest answers about the Mud Buddy engine go over to their forum. You will get a lot of diluted Poo Drive and Gator Fail answers here.

BTW...the Black Death models are not the biggest they have. You want to go with the MAG (Magnum) series for those.

I was referring to the model differences of the performance engine.

you'll have a better hole shot with a single carb setup. Dual carbs have better top end but can be a bitch to tune.

Go to MBs forum and get the 'inside' scoop on the new Sport-Vs and Hs. You could end up like some people and be smaet enough to put a down deposit on a new line that was suppose to release in August!

I'm calling them today, just wanted to get some background yesterday due to the fact i couldn't call them (labor day). I realize that the black death 5500 is a modded stock motor, and i would be able to machine the motor myself to save some money, but if i get a prodrive then I would be doing the machining after the manufacturing of the motor, the black death for example would be modded from the factory with a warranty on it i'm assuming.

dingleberry - read my other post dumbass

Get a stock Prodrive, add a Mikuni Carb, SETX custom heads and open exhaust yourself for less than $2k and you'll run with a M B 7000 all day and have reverse to boot.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of boat do you have?

I just purchased a new 45 MAG and had it put on the boat last week. I did plenty of research on these motors and the combinations and then upgrade options after purchase and so on. From my research and speaking with dealers and some leaders with extensive knowledge of MM the 5500 Black Death is very close in power to the 45 MAG but the upgrade path is very different due to different internals.

To upgrade a 45 MAG to a 55 MAG is two external bolt-ons: Carb and Heads

To upgrade a 5500 Black Death to a 55 MAG would require you to start breaking seals to get to some internals. Not a very smart option if you can avoid it.

The 55 MAG produces around 52.5 HP while the 7000 produces around 54-55. The difference between the two in parts is the extra carb and direct intakes on the 7000. The 7000 will get you approximately 2-3 MPH top end while the 55 MAG will get you greater hole shot along with better load carrying ability with greater throttle response throughout your RPM range.

I am no expert on MM and do not claim to be. Just sharing my experience while shopping these motors.

If you got the 45mag now. I would let Cody at Setx do your heads. Do that and and mikuni and you will pass by every 7000. Mbs 55 mag runs ok but not as good as one of codys. My black death 5500 would run about 1-2 mph slower than a 7000. Not really worth 10k to me.

That combo (Will) has actually rip's really good. My buddy has the same boat with a modded pro-drive and it flys. 33mph empty. Exhaust,heads,carb,and cam

My 1756 phowler extreme runs that right now empty with a hd 5500 with only 4hrs on it. But 5 guys, 5 layout blinds, and 50 plus honker decoys the pro-drive doesnt hold a candle with ^^ those mod's.. I loose hardly any speed loaded down

Seems to me the gearing in a Prodrive would help with the load carrying about as much as rods and pistons will. Mb runs tall gears in them things.

The 6000 I been around produced some hp not sure if their the same or not. I'm Talking about some 5000 rpm motors. Big difference in a 4250 motor and a 5000 rpm motor.

My buddy ordered a new Gator Trax with a HD7000 right when they came out. The motor ran strong, when it was running right. At one point the block cracked, the trim control started on fire, and the engine studs managed to work themselves out, all three were situations that left him stranded. And it did not come from a lack of maintenance, the boat/motor were sold with less than 20 hrs on the meter.

Every time something happened the motor was under warranty but the MB dealer was anything but a pleasure to work with. MB never wanted to warranty any of those items. After enough persistence MB eventually gave him a new motor which had an entirely new set of issues. All in all I think it is a good motor but it is far too modded to be reliable or practical for everyday hunting use.