# Anyone use a long-tail motor on driftboat?



## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

I'm going to cross-post this over in fly-fishing as well - 

Has anyone ever experienced the mating of a long-tail motor with a small drift boat? 

I'm getting positive vibes from SHWBO about getting a new drift boat - she likes panfishing off of them on our lake in the summer, I LOVE fishing off of them on the rivers for trout in the summer.....then come late fall/winter I turn waterfowl crazy....and then switch to other's jon boats or my 15' square-stern canoe. 

Unfortunately, we're running out of room in our current home and will be moving to the cottage within 5 years and will have significantly less room. 

I know the standard thinking is "have one boat for each sport" but I'm running out of room and I've never been a standard thinker. 

Anyone have any luck by putting a long-tail on a drift boat? 

Thanks in advance - 

Wind


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## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

well im sure it would run fine, not very fast motors, and if im not mistaken drift boats sit fairly low in the water, so if their is a fair amount of the hull underwater, there is no real reason to put a mud motor on it, because you wont be able to run in shallow water where they excel anyways...


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

Got it opposite.....

Drift boats draft very little water - huge wide bottom/floor make them extremely stable - putting a regular long-shaft outboard on one will make it scoot, but not in the rocky/crappy shallows - you'll risk losing your prop.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

If your def of scoot is a couple miles per hour. My guess is you will have the same issue outboards do on drift boats due to the hull design, the more power applied the more the back will drop.


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## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

shoot, well i dont have much experience with drift boats obviously...what i DO know is that i have a 14 foot long 70 inch wide flatbottom with a 16 hp go-devil, which may be somewhat comparable? It runs well in shallow water, not a speed demon in open water by anymeans, but the torque could throw ya out of the boat if your not careful


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## highcaliberconsecrator (Oct 16, 2009)

I have seen a few setup like this before. They were in the Pere Marquette river. I always questioned this as I piloted drift boats before and know the importance of reverse action....although they did have oars. I question steering abilities on open water....how will it track with such shallow draft? Good Luck to you and I hope you find you're answer!


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## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

yea the reverse would probably be the biggest issue...get a shortshaft!


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## highcaliberconsecrator (Oct 16, 2009)

was talking about back-paddling...in a river.


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

In my opinion the drift boat is one of those specialty tools that does not cross into other sports well or at all. They have a very specific purpose and trying to get it to do something else will be very ineffective at best. I can sympathize with what you want to do as I am sure we all have been there at one time or another but I just don't see it working very good.


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

I'm wondering if I put a mud motor/long tail motor on the back of a drift boat and use it during waterfowl season to navigate the flooded fields of the SRSGA, or the shallows of Saginaw Bay if that would work. 

Not interested in motoring while fishing - that's strictly a drifting thing for me. 

As for a drift boat being a specialty, it's got a wide, flat bottom with a V-Front - like many jon's or other flat-bottoms out there. 

I dont need it to do mach II, just be able to motor where my fat butt don't want to row!!!!


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Have you mounted a motor on a drift boat before? I guess it all is what your expectation is and how much a mud motor weighs. From what I've seen anything more than the thrust of a 6hp outboard is wasted. Anything more than the thrust of a 6hp and the back of the boat starts to dip down because of the shape of the hull.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

the rocker on a drift boat is what makes it behave different than a regular flat bottom.


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

Its no different than the duck hunters from gator boats. With these boats and traditional Outboards you need a hydro foil to keep the boat at a good angle. 

Now drift boats have a much greater banana shape but I think it wild act the same. The back will push down as the front rises but only equal to the thrust needed to propel the boat at that throttle. 

Now I know people use longtails on duckhunters but the back of the boat is higher on a drift boat And yo may not like the way the boat rides.
bottom line borrow one this summer and try it out.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

You ever try and wrestle a drift boat around? I guess it will depend on what kind it is but I've done alot of wrestling with driftboats(Hydes/Clackcrafts) to name a few and I can tell you for certain they are not easy boats to move so for an area like SRSGA you would HATE it......HATE it. You probably couldn't even use it there if your drift boat is anything like the newer Hydes or Clackacrafts. Those boats can be moved across land but they are very awkward to move and are quite heavy compared to others. I really think you should try it out for one day and that will give you the answer. 

Quick story. Last winter we hit the upper manistee river to throw streamers. Nobody does that in the winter and we encountered a few trees down across the river. We had to portage the drift boat just like you would with a dike pull and I can tell you after having to do that 2 times I was wore out. There were only two of us which certainly didnt help but even with 3 guys it still would of sucked. I personally would seriously try and figure out a way to store one of those Jon Boats or that flat back. Those would be far superior for duck hunting than a drift boat. As I said before a drift boat is about as one dimensional as they get. I can do alot of different things with a canoe or flat bottom boat, a drift boat is good for one thing and one thing only and its slipping water on a stream or river. Mount a motor on them and they get squirly as hell. Maybe where your moving too you can befriend someone who will let you store one of the other boats in trade for a few hunts.


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## windknot (Jul 22, 2001)

Was thinking about a Stealthcraft 13 footer - with the Kevlar, but basically what you're saying is............






Thanks everyone....methinks I'll just have to have a whole fleet of boats.


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Ha ha ha. I love that part of the movie.


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