Greetings everyone. I'm new on here and to the world of mud motors, so please bear with me.

Background: Dad and I are from Arkansas and were blessed to have ample duck hunting opportunities all our lives. Fast forward to 10 years ago, I moved to San Antonio . . . he followed along 2 years back after my son was born and he retired (occurring pretty much simultaneously!). Duck opportunities in our backyard are slim, but we've dabbled at the Texas coast with good results, and have started looking for freshwater opportunities as well.

We quickly learned last season that a little bass boat with an outboard was not great for shallow coastal flats, so he did some research and decided that, short of shelling out major $$$ for an airboat, that a mud motor was the way to go. He decided on a custom job from Beavertail (an 18x60) with a B&S 37 EFI motor on the back.

We first tried it out on the coast, and found that our hopes of being able to comfortably cruise through 8" of coastal muck was not the piece of cake we were expecting. Lots of bottom dragging and poling through the skinny stuff was the norm. A bow-mounted trolling motor helped to some extent.

Next up, we tried some fresh water (Choke Canyon), and the Beavertail was just the ticket for pushing back into shallow weeds with 12" of water. On the other hand, it seemed to take a ton of finesse to find the "sweet spot" for the trim setting when we wanted to cover distance quickly (it does comfortably cruise in the ~20-22mph region once we can get it going).

The real problem we have is the major hassle of daily trailering (or, more specifically launching and landing) of this boat. No reverse is a big problem, and being able to smoothly get the boat up onto a trailer in anything other than wide open, glass-like water is a crapshoot.

I realize that several of these items are almost certainly a matter or practicing to get our collective comfort level higher. I've poked around on these boards to see if anyone has had success using the Beavertail in coastal flats areas, and/or if there were any general tips on working with these motors, and I've come up empty (seems that most folks on here aren't huge fans of the Beavertails period). We love the boat, and wish that we loved the engine.

I would really appreciate any light that anyone can shed on how we can improve performance on the flats, learn the most effective way of launching/trailering a boat with no reverse, and most easily get the boat up to speed on open water.

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

Is this beavertail surface drive or long tail? Does the boat have pods?

Surface drive and yes, it has pods.

What's the trailer look like does it have guides

Trim as far down as you can once you start moving good start trimming up as you pick up speed keep it hammered you'll start to move better what's the hull like is it flat or ribbed

Can youtrim down into the muck? Or is it hard bottom?

Get down in there and work your tiller back and forth (prop slinging muck) to get some water where the prop will bite. Once you get moving and on pllane you can start trimming up. You don't need more finesse. You need to give it a little more hell

I have a Beavertail 1754 and Beavertail 35hp surface drive. The best thing I ever did was cut the factory pods off. They disrupt the water flow to the prop and it seemed like it could never getting trimmed right. Once the pods were removed the prop finally got a chance to hit clean water and I am now running 26mph consistently versus the 23mph I use to run. I know it sucks cutting into a new boat but you wont regret it, plus an 1860 has plenty of flotation so the pods won't be necessary.

When you're putting it on the trailer trim the prop up about half out of the water like you do when you're running full speed. Takes bite away from the prop and slows everything down. Also just leave yourself more trailer out of the water than you normally would so that the front of the boat sticks and then trim down and just drive on up it to the stop.
I have an 1860 and I can push it around on the trailer to straighten it up once it's out of the water. You should be able to too.


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Really appreciate all of the help folks. Sounds like we need to be more aggressive if we want the holeshot to work out better. And the tip on keeping the prop up high for low speed stuff makes a lot of sense. And yes...you're right, Bueller, cutting those pods off a new boat would suck, but sounds like it might be a necessity to get the most out of our setup.

No need whatsoever for pods on an 1860 hull. That's a lot of surface area on the water to hold that motor up. Get rid of the pods, or get rid of the hull all together and go with something else. As for loading the boat. I back in until the water barely touches the boards, then come to the trailer just above idle and the boat slides all the way to the stop. I have GG but it is worn pretty good where it sits on the boards. It sticks just right to kill the motor and walk up front to hook the winch up. Launching the boat is easy. On ramps with a shallow grade I loop the rope around the winch post and back in until the back of the boat starts to float and then just bump the brakes, it slides off and the trailer holds the rope, then just pull the boat around to the side and park the truck. On ramps with a steeper grade I will unhook everything but the safety chain, back down the ramp until the back of the boat and motor is over the water and give it a shove. The boat just slides off.

One thing I really like on a trailer is actual side bunk boards that fit the boat, not guide posts (I don't ever have to put the trailer far enough in the water that I can't see it) the side bunks that sit a foot away from the boat don't do much good either. As long as I get the boat between the bunks, it goes straight on the trailer, no adjusting or pushing/pulling/fighting needed...