Hey everybody. First time mud boat owner so bear with me.

Bought a 1648 G3 Ribbed Hull flat with a 35 HP GDSD mounted on the transom. Transom is 20". Can get the boat up on step and plane out with 2 people and a load (2 guns, blind bags, cooler, no decoys) but can't get the boat running faster than 21-24 mph. Throwing what I would consider to be a good roster tail and prop where it needs to be in the water. Running anywhere from 3500-3900 RPM.

On top of this, if I add one more person the boat will not plane, and just plows through the water no matter how much I toy with the trim at about 10 mph running at 3900 RPM, not throwing anything close to a rooster tail.

Is this a case of just too much weight, or am I not distributing it well? Try to put both guys towards the bow. For reference I'm about 250lbs so certainly not a small guy in the back. Also have measured the prop and all looks well.

Ultimately, I feel like I should be able to get more speed with 2, and definitely be able to plane with 3... I'm thinking trim tabs or a welded plate to help the boat get on step could help, but I'm new to mud boats so thought I would get the opinions of people on here before making any moves. Thanks in advance for suggestions.

That's not a lot of planing surface to try to step 3 men with limited Hp. Try to move the weight around and see if that helps. For you're stuck with that hull for a while, some lift/spray rails may do the trick. Your speeds with two men sound about right depending on the condition of your prop.

I would suggest some mods to help with a load. Cam, heads, and exhaust will help. My buddy has a 35 mbsd with cam, heads, carb, and exhaust on a G3 1648 modv. He gets 27mph by himself or with 2 extra guys,3 kayaks, and hunting gear.

I step a 3 man load just fine with my 35gtr 16x50 xpress boat. the guys need to sit right in front of you in the center can't put them toward the bow because all that does is make your boat plow water. always put my gear to each side toward the bow kind of even then make my passengers sit right in front of where I stand and I can get on step pretty quick in ankle deep water and deep water

Welcome to the life of a MM owner. The problem is the hull and not the motor. Too little surface area to float the load. You'd be better off with a bigger hull. You have 3 choices: Keep your loads to 2 guys + gear, spend some coin on mods for the motor, or change out the hull to something a little longer and wider. 1648's just don't do well with MM's, IMO.

Yea man these guys are right. That's not the best size hull for load. Mods on the slow devil will help as well as distributing weight differently. That's your best bet to help with load carrying outside of a 1750 or 1854

For what some are paying to mod, you could pick up a used MM hull that would perform better with a stock engine.

Thanks all. Stuck with the hull for the time being so I'll try to mess around with the weight distribution. It seemed counter-intuitive to me, but I've been told the same by a few people now so I'll just tinker with it. That's what the split is for.

Regardless, the boat is still getting me to the blind, so I can't complain too much.

Still open to any other suggestions or comments. Thanks.

i'm in the same boat... 1650 with 35 hp gtr.... i guess i'm just gonna end up being an outboard guy. i have a need for speed!

Don't mean to high jack this thread but would a good setup to push three hunters, dog and gear.


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Seeing as I'm stuck with the hull, I thought about getting a set of these nauticus trim tabs (https://www.amazon.com/Nauticus-SX9510- ... B001DYUL4W) and installing them.

They now have a bracket that you can use to pull them up so I can run them flat to avoid digging into the mud or anything at slower speeds or once we've pulled up to the bank.

Has anyone heard of this/seen this done before? Want to know what I'm getting into before drilling into the boat.

Thanks

Don't know if those would help you much or not as I've never seen them on a boat but the PITA factor looks pretty high. Raising them up/down and wrapping veggies around them when backing out of hides, etc are factors I'd consider. I'd probably install pods before I did something like that and I'm not a big fan of pods for a MM.