Wondering if any of you do long distance trips with your mud motors.

My Predator 212 overheats like halfway (4-5 miles in @ 80% WOT), but I'm not sure if something is wrong with it.

Do any of you run these smaller motors (Predator 212, Honda GX200, etc.) 10-20 mile trips and have overheating problems?

I have to get to a campsite that's 11 miles from the closest boat ramp.

Is it a bad idea to be trying to take one of these smaller motors this far?

I don't have any experience with these smaller motors on a boat. I do have the Honda motors on a few pieces of equipment and there strong little motors. Maybe try stopping half way and letting it cool down. Drink a beer or two and run the other half. I've ran my 35 Briggs 32 miles before and it never "overheated". It was def. hot though. But on that run I varied the speed I was running every so often. Those little motors have to work pretty hard to push a boat so it may be asking a quite a bit out of them.

I had the same experience. I thought I ran out of gas but the damn thing was hot. Had a 1236 boat with a 6.5 predator long tail. Shuttling back and forth 4 hunters to a spot about a mile up the river. When I went back to get the last guy to go home the damn thing crapped out on me. Finally was able to get it cranked after about half an hour.


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Made this trip with my 23 MBLT about 60 miles round trip and took around 8 gallons. The south line of stars from furthest east to the furthest west star. Took forever. Wouldn't have done it without my buddy tagging along with his Go-Devil LT and 100 other airboats out there. They thought we were nuts when we got to the hangout spot.

I routinely hunt 20-25 miles (1 way) from the ramp. Solo.


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Your motor is air cooled. If the air is not cooling it, you have other issues.
How do you know it's "overheating"?

It just shuts off and feels really hot. You can't pull the cord to start it until it cools off after 5-10 minutes, it just jerks back in.

I got a reading of 680F with a infrared thermometer on the underside of the muffler yesterday about 5 seconds after it shut off.

Are you running lean? Sounds like it

At 80% full throttle, that engine should just run. Period. If it's overheating or shutting off for some other reason, Bryce is right. Lean causes more heat, valve lash not being set correctly on the exhaust side, valve timing (though this shouldn't be an issue unless you've installed an aftermarket cam that isn't right), etc. Plenty of potential issues, none of which are as simple as "the motor can only run for so long before it needs a siesta."

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The engine is brand new 2 weeks old, and is completely stock. I'm going to get it replaced and see if I still have the same problem. If so I'm just going to get a Honda GX200, hopefully the real deal doesn't have the same problem.

We had one of the little hondas make a 20+ mile run at caddo with us a few years back with no issues. The big blocks make those runs all the time.

But you have short arms. You get tired with any of them.

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23 miles one way to my camp....no problems with the big block.

Had a 16 HP GD that has made the trip a time or two.

If you're getting overheated, do you think your outdrive is in some kind of bind?


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I messed around with the knockoff motors and they seem to hve issues with running for. Long periods of time..13 and 16 ho

My GX390 GDLT is too slow on the 1536 to run that far but it's the goofy clutch commercial model. My Predator 22hp in a GDLT on a welded 1548 will run 15-20 loaded and we have ran 7 gallons of gas through it over the course of a long day riding with a couple stops for the kids. Some of the QC isn't as good on the knockoff motors and you need to check your valves, fuel system, oil system (low level sensor and filter), and anything else you can easily check to make sure there isn't a bigger problem.

Up here you can't run that far in a boat unless you are on the river. Even then, if you ran 25 miles you'd pass several boat ramps.

We have dickheads everywhere.


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Here's some pics of the spark plug after breaking in the motor + 2 hour of use after changing the oil to full synthetic. There did seem to be too much oil in it when I drained it.

This is rich + overheating right?

http://imgur.com/a/g3M0r

If you had too much oil in it, excessive crank case pressure will build up and the motor will stall.

I used to make long runs with my 24 Honda all the time, never had a lick of issue.

These motors were meant to run for long periods of time wide open in just about every application, I agree you have a bug in the motor you need to work out

There are classes of race karts that run "box stock" 212cc predators all over the country. All they can do is pull the governor and add a small exhaust pipe. They run WOT at 5000-5500 RPMs all day long with no problems. Some jets are "sealed" for EPA standard but you can change to a fatter jet.

What size prop? I had the best luck with the 4.5'' on the modded motor.

Check the oil. 14oz should be good.

Easy place for parts and upgrades:

http://www.nrracing.com/category-s/2523.htm

I put a kart built predator on a Swamp Runner brand Thai long tail and made several 6 mile one way runs with it - no problem. Never ran a stock on a mud motor.