If you had a similar sized excel f4 with .125 upgrade and a gator trax hd hybrid. Which would go faster with the same sized motor?

Of those choices, the Gatortail, Phowler or Pro-Drive boat would be faster.

Do some site searching on the two you mentioned. You can thank me later.

gator trax

buy what you like but be sure you can afford the motor to push it.

Luna, this cat is probably at one dealership that offers two lines of boats. Somebody needs to give him a hint that there is more out there to look at than Gatortrax or Excel. If one of those two is what he ends up with after doing his research that's ok with me. Some guys are really happy with those boats but a whole lot aren't. Since he asked about speed, maybe it's important to him. You tell me: Are those two tank manufacturers known for building speedy mud boats?

Sorry but u r also assuming the guy does not know about those hulls and the other 10 or so smaller manufacturers which could b possibilities for him.. He asked about 2 hulls. Jus sayin..

Also.. A 17 foot tin can will beat all these boats if speed is only goal and safety, turn ability, resale cLue etc r unimportant

I have been in both of those hulls, the excel I have found plows more water with a load than a Gator Trax. The rake on an Excel is not ideal in my opinion. I personally have owned a Go Devil hull and now own a Gator Tail extreme series, I would definitely look into the gator tail! Good Luck!

Of course there are Gator Trax boats that run 30 plus. Most dont. Heavy round chine boats are what they are known for. I have seen them, rode in them and I think there are better solutions for most guys. Like I said above, if you do your research and chose one of those, fine. Just don't limit yourself to those two.

If you think about it, both of those boat lines have a small niche of followers and they are very different. Exel is a heavy boxy boat that is more like a boat that you would put an outboard on than a mud motor and Gator Trax is a round chine heavy built boat that usually needs to be narrow and is almost a specialty boat to me. (I'd like to have one as a secondary boat. It would be small, narrow, empty and would probably have a longtail on it.) Both are different than 80% of all the other boats being built for mud motors. Yet somehow its a coincidence that he is considering these two vastly different types of boats and has 4 posts here.

Yes, I might be ASSuming but I still bet he is at a midget dealership. I won't make any more cracks about MudButty. That's been covered here and he'll find that out if he does the searches.

"Come on man. Learn a little then come back."

Luna, congrats on your one year anniversary of joining MMT.

You're a certified f'ing MME now, LOL. Do they still say that here or was that just on the old MMT site?

Small niche... Interesting comment.

Have any idea how many boats excel and gt sell per year?

There r also quite a few folks on this very site that have went round and won't go back... Just saying. Your comments r painting w a brush larger than reality.

Yeah, I have the sales figures right in front of me.

Go to the reviews section and tell me how many out of the last 20 boats reviwed have round chines.

Round chines are great... for a small percentage of guys. The rest would be better off with something else.

Ya ya lol

How many did gt sell?

I was kidding about having the numbers. I'm sure it's as many as GT could build and that's a good thing.

Do you not agree that Gator Trax and Excel are different types of boats for different types of customers?

I won't talk down any other brands as a rule, but to say a Gtrax is a slow, heavy boat just ain't right. It can be built as small and light as you want it built. It's up to the buyer.

Mine is 18'8" long, has a 71" beam, and still runs low 30's in deep water.

Mb

I have the f 86 excel It is a tank I run 30-31 I like it wish it was a little faster but with the .125 I can run over a lot of things and keep going.

I have the Gator Trax 1754 Hybrid Hunt Deck and really like it. For me, the thing that appeals to me about the Gator Trax is you can totally customize it. Very well built boats. You can get it with or without flotation. Pick whatever layout you want.

Also, make sure you are comparing apples to apples when looking at the two. Gator Trax's come standard with .125 5086 aluminum. Make sure you're comparing those prices to the Excels that are also made of .125 5086 (e.g. their F86 series).

I think I'm somehwat qualified to answer this post...

In 2007 I purchsed a Excel 1754 (.125)... it ran OK, but I didn't feel I was getting the performance that others online claim to get. I didn't even know anyone who has a surface drive so I have nothing else to compare it to...

So when I saw a used Gator Trax 175? in 2009 for sale I bought it, and kept the Excel hull. With the same motor the Gator Trax performed worse. I think it was heavier than the Excel and never seemed to "ride high" in the water. I felt like the excel was built better than the Gator Trax, so after a few months I put the motor back on the Excel and kept it for a few years. (The silver lining is that I sold the Gator Trax for $400 more than I paid for it)

There was a lot I didn't know, but in the end I found niether of them to be all that good with my motor. I'm not saying anything bad about Excel or Gator Trax, but I would make sure I looked other boats too.

Thanks, my local dealer sells both so I was just curious. I still think I'm leaning towards a gator trax, just gotta get a big enough motor to push it.

Gator Trax is likely to hold up beter under normal MM use and offers
more nice user comfort and utility ad-ons....

There have been several threads about Excel bottom damage but
very few negative threads on Gator Trax - except weight and speed
so most owners don't run stock 35s....

I find the weight comments of a gator trax to be interesting when i see them here and on any site. A gt is made of .125 5086 just like many of the other boats folks post pics of here. 1x2 stringers are used and the boat has a deck and a floor.

Quite a few of the custom boats I see built on here have 3/16 bottoms w 1/8 sides which would make them a big heavier in reality. Granted there are advantages and certain situations call for the thicker bottom.

The excel is prob about the same weight as the GT also due to the skin on the inside, the boxes in the back etc.

Of course if u build any boat w 2 half boxes, 2 gun boxes and put a ton of batteries and extra crap in it it will be heavier.

But.......If u take a 1751 Excel F86, A 1750GT, A 1748 PD, A 1748 gator tail, a 1748 uncle j, a 1748 willett hull, a 1748 brother breaux hull and weigh them all id like to see the numbers. I'd imagine they are all within 50 lbs of each other when laid out comparably. They all come from the same material..........many actually come from the same material suppliers. As many of u already know.

Now, if u are saying the diff is in the chine......then that is a whole diff can of worms that we all know has been gone through 1000's of times so no need to dig that up.

I will say there are many very nice boats folks post up on this site and actually build themselves. Very impressive.

I personally like a open layout and that leans me towards a GT when compared to a excel. I also like the higher in the water and dry hunt deck for my dog to stand on.

If u are hunting timber 90% of the time id buy a excel honestly.

Otherwise I would go w a GT and keep the layout open.

As for speed under load in my experience the GT will outrun the excel in the same conditions.

Again, there may be 50 people line up and say their experience is different but there are many factors to speed .............prop condition, what is in the boat, experience of the driver, optimally tuned motor, etc etc etc

Of the two boats mentioned I would buy a Gator Trax, hands down, no comparison.

Really? lol

We all know motors can not be setup just right and that affects performance............rpm's not right, prop worn, too much weight in the front of the boat,.......the list could go on and on and on as u konw. I have seen quite a few posts where folks post up and say their boat is slow and they do not have a tach on the motor so they are unaware of their rpm's etc.

Perception is not always reality..............kinda like the heavy comments which occur on all the sites about various boats. All these boats are heavy and are heavy for a reason is all im saying.

its not hard to sell a lot of boats if you are supplying the box stores......round chines suck in my opinion. My narrow square will turn like a round chine. If you run deep water through twisty turns that you can run wot and want a boat over 40" bottom, then by all means get a round chine boat. If you run shallow water get a square, they draft less and in shallow water it dosent matter the chine, they all slide. Do you run stumps or have to jump levees? If not, go lighter gauge aluminum, which will give you more top end. If I had to pick between the two brands mentioned, it would be the gtrax. And then Id sell it and go custom. Custom boat builders are the only way to get what you want without being restricted to what hull sizes they offer.....custom builder will also build any layout you want. you choose the size of the front deck, how tall the sides are, how storage is divided up and how many deck hatches you want or the size hunt deck you want, anything you want they will do.