I put all my other projects on the back burner and got my mud boat all rigged up today.
The aluminum I was going to use wouldn't quite fit the motor so I had to improvise. The only easiest stock to build with that I had on hand was stainless so I did without all the bracing and extra reinforcing I was going to use to try to save some weight. All in all it came out looking pretty good and I guess not too heavy.....








Going to drop it in the water and test run it in the morning. It might be hard to find some mud since the tides have been high for the past few days. I just hope the damn thing floats with all that motor hanging off the back!

I'm only about 175.
It's not as bad as the pics make it look. I need to close up the hole where the fuel line is running through in the pics (that's where the old long tail mount was) and level off that dip in the splash guard. Other than that, it's the same as a 15" transom. For some reason you cant see the angle of the little mini hunt deck back there.


*EDIT* Oh, Yeah, and I should add that I never ever plan to do ANY open water riding in this thing! Tomorrows test run will be in a little slough that is not much more than a big marshy ditch.

Cover that transom with some plywood or tie a milk jug with a long rope to it.

I wont need too much of a rope, I don't plan on going anywhere with water more than knee deep.

as for the transom.....Maybe I'll duct tape over it

Can you adjust the heim joints on that thing to change the trim angle or to make it better suited for transom angle? If so, that's pretty cool.

yeah you can. I wish they had more down adjustment though for shallower transoms.
Mine came adjusted all the way down from the factory. My transom as 10* so I had to add 5* into the transom bracket for a total of 15*. At 15* and cheating the motor bracket height as much as I could, the tip of the prop is only about 1/2" below the bottom of the boat when trimmed all the way down.

Another thing I've already noticed is I will need to notch one of the gussets about 1/4" to allow the motor to turn farther. That little 1/4" notch will allow about another 15 degrees of turn to the motor and help me load it farther into the truck.

I think I will need to make a pair of ramps so I can drag it ass first into the truck by myself. As it stands now I think I would seriously hurt myself trying to load and unload it by myself without a boat ramp.

What's that mounted to the back of the motor in the 4th pic?

Some kind of heat sync and electronic shit for the tach

I've been very busy with another project so I havent even looked at the engine since I picked it up from Copperhead 2 weeks ago. I'm going to run it for a bit tomorrow and after that it will be lucky to see the light of day until after the duck season split.......

Dammit man. Good job on finishing it up. . Duct tape is #1.. you should know that we use it on the boats all the time. .

Well, that didn't work out AT ALL!
Mostly because I bought the motor before I picked up the boat, but also I'm pretty sure the motor is significantly heavier than I was lead to believe when I bought it. (I'm guessing it's somewhere up close to 150lbs but I could be wrong)
My hull would float the engine and myself after I fix the transom, but not enough to be safe. With just me and the motor (not even a battery) the ass end of the boat is sitting about 10" in the water. That isnt much leeway with a 15" transom.

Better put ya floaties on man..

I jumped in it at the boat ramp, tripped over the seat and almost capsized the bitch first thing.......

I forgot that it wouldn't be as stable as my 2280XL supply boat!

Stop being a cheap ass and get a hull made. Or go look behind the warehouse and ask for one of the many sitting back there..

That would defeat the whole purpose of the project. I wanted something that would fit in the back of the truck and be able to be handled by one person. If I wanted the hassle of a trailer and all the accompanying bullshit I would have gone in a completely different direction.... i.e. clutch, reverse, etc.

Duct tape is the only other way then.

They did make some sweet duct tape boats on myth busters.....
Maybe I could make a knockoff uncle-j out of duct tape!

You can fit a bigger boat In your truck If this guy fit this boat in his car.

Where there's a will there's way
uploadfromtaptalk1373329466351.jpg

That's a badass for sure

SummamaBITCH! I decided not to bow to defeat and make another run at it. I made a duct tape dam across the false transom, plugged the old longtail mount hole with a rag, duct taped around it to seal the bolt holes and took off looking like sanford and son of the mud motor world.

I tried to launch in a ditch that leads to factory bayou, a tiny little bayou that opens to a mud flat with a little marsh. I fucked up and slid off in the ditch trying to back down enough to launch the boat without killing myself.
Damn near flipped the truck, had to lunge on it 4 times with my dad's F-350 flatbed boom truck to get it out.




Then I figured I should abort that launch before the cops showed up...
I went back to the boat ramp where I failed the first time and put in. The duct tape and rag improvements made anough of a difference and I was pissed off enough at this point to make an attempt at pulling out from the launch. I headed for a marshy area not too far down the bayou. I played around trying to find the sweet spot with the trim and get used to the setup. Then I had fun for about 45 minutes or so jumping marsh islands. I got stuck in a little slough that was only about 3 1/2' wide. I was hauling ass and slid sideways up into the grass. The mud slide seems to work pretty well as I can push the boat across dry marsh grass without too much trouble. I caught some air jumping some little marsh islands but it's pretty sketchy in the little boat because if hit it with too much gusto the bow wants to take a dive.






It was probably running a little shy of 30mph in deep water. I need to add a wing nut to the trim bolt because the motor bounces a little in 2-3" of chop and it has a tendancy to trim down on its own. I might raise the sheer 3 or 4 inches on the last 4 feet of the boat to help keep the water out too.

Damn clay...... slid right off the bank

also what am I fucking up on the youtube embed? - Nevermind.... SUCCESS!

I should send them an application for "qualifications" I will just attach a picture of my duct tape transom.
(BTW, the duct tape transom is patent pending and coast guard disapproved!)

Dude that is funny shit... told you duct tape is your friend. .

Yeah, took me back to my shrimp boat days!
♪♪ Memories!♪♪

Shit im still duct taping shit on this boat.. holds till they come down and fix the shit..

Everywhere I have worked before, if you make it work with duct tape they NEVER come fix it.
Basically unless it causes downtime or complete loss of a contract they never give a shit.

You right about that.. enough bitching they come down and fix it.. what size hull you got it on..

13-36 but it's only about 32 or 33 at the stern. The kohler website lists it at 72.8lbs but after doing some digging I found some technical data sheets that list it at 99lbs. I'm pretty positive that 99 is the correct number.

Kool deal man reason is me and a buddy have a older wooden pirogue we glassed amd added to the sides for a longtail 23hp but sold the motor and showed him the pics and video and now he wants to buy a chopperhead for ir so we can leave it at the houseboat..

That is awesome! Glad you got it to work out. GPS it and give up some real speeds it looked like of was hauling balls

Ole lady must be sleeping..
Yea that lil video is nice looks like it is hauling ass

Yeah, it was hauling ass for sure. I will try to gps it when I get home again in october.

Also as a testament to the level of customer service you get from copperhead, they have been keeping in touch with me and have offered me some options to make the setup work better for my little boat. I probably wont take them up on their offer though as I just flat out don't have the time to dick around with it.

Worst case scenario is I sink my rig this winter and spend a few hundred bucks on a lighter motor. Until then, call me Cap'n Danger!

I also have considered chopping the belt box down about 4 inches, welding it back together and getting a shorter belt. It would lower the center of gravity and greatly improve the stability of the boat. I only see this enging in me fucking up a really nice motor though.....

**EDIT**

I figured out the discrepancy on the engine weight..... sort of...... The 99lbs was a shipping weight. So I'm back to square one scratching my head and wondering why it is so heavy.
Maybe it's all in my head....... I should buy a cheap bathroom scale.

Deep water running

Txkingfisher you thinking to much man.. take a viking and drank a beer and it will all be good...