Mud motor on a canoe?

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

I wanna know speeds and how shallow. Could be pretty sweet rig.

It could just be me but lights on the bow always seemed good till I got out in the marsh. I’d turn em off and always make my buddies turn their headlamps off. I could see better without. Doesn’t sound right but it sure enough was that way for me.

Look forward to hearing how it performs and handles

[Bonecrusher101]

I’m exhausted, it’s now 8pm I’m home and watching this playoff game. I woke up at 1am after about 3 hours of sleep and couldn’t shake it. I just couldn’t go back to sleep. I was scared and nervous, this really is a pretty dangerous way to test this thing and was outside of my comfort zone.

Ok, my friend couldn’t get off work and get his stuff to the ramp till 9am.

So I was alone in the dark first thing this morning. Everything went better than I expected. The lights looked good and hit some branches but held up nicely. This morning I went downstream and I never even touched the throttle and was hauling mail at idle. With the fog and low visibility that thing was just clicking. Ive never used a mud motor before and I’ve never had the guts to put a motor any bigger than a troller on my canoe. I really made the right choice though the thing has plenty of power and is way faster than we could ever drive a a Jon boat with an outboard.

The different loads on the boat really make a difference. I weigh 160. This morning solo I had a small car 12 v battery with lights a few tools, roll of duck tape and a 2.5 gal gas can full, a summit viper, a rifle, a Fanny pack. Idle downstream had to be 6-8 mph. It wasn’t checked by phone. But my best guess. When I went back to ramp to pickup my friend I was able to stand up and drive the boat while standing. I also opened the trottle at time wide open it was running nicely around 9-10mphs, again my guess.

Once my friend got in the boat the boat really didn’t turn and respond as well as it did with just myself and gear. He weighs 225 and also had a climber rifle and Fanny pack. He sat in middle and we had our stuff towards the front of the canoe. we went up stream and upcurrent we were running wide open 7-9mph checked by his phone. Down stream we touched 15mphs at one point but we mainly stayed around 12-14 mphs. I’m sure we could reposition if we were going for more speed.

Again a stock 6.5hp predator and I have no idea how to adjust things on a mud motor but I’m sure there’s room for improvement.

I’ve got a few minor issues that I need to fix or adjust. Bolts on the Tiller are stripped out. Mostly My fault but I will remedy it. Another thing that should be brought up but wasn’t. My throttle cable got pinched when I spun the motor at one point I need to come up with a way to keep it clear in the future.

My friend said it took him 50 minutes to get from ramp to where we hunt, he’s got an older boat and motor and tries not to tear it up. Today he timed it and we cut that time in half and we’re there in 25 minutes.



Hunting sucked we didn’t see a deer all day. But the thing is awesome, it’s a game changer for me and my friends who I hunt with.

[Bonecrusher101]

You asked how shallow. Im not exactly sure but as long as the sticks stumps and debris weren’t above the surface it was good to go and you wouldn’t feel them.

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Dude. 15 mph in that thing is hauling !

I fell out of mine once yrs ago. Never used the tether. Scared the crap out of me. Slightly disoriented when I hit the water but I knew to get up and get the H out of the way quick as that motor was running in circles. Was able to grab the bow and get back in. Luckily it was shallow sandy bottom.

Be safe out there

[Trail]

This is a setup I've been wanting to try for a while. Glad to hear that things are going well with your build.

15 mph on that thing with two people is super impressive. About how heavy is your canoe with the 6.5 on it?

[Bonecrusher101]

This is a setup I've been wanting to try for a while. Glad to hear that things are going well with your build.

15 mph on that thing with two people is super impressive. About how heavy is your canoe with the 6.5 on it?

It’s a pretty heavy canoe but she’s stable. Think canoe alone is around 95 lbs. then the kit is around 40 and the motor is around 30 so all in all she’s around 170-180.

Again the canoe is rated for a 1000 pounds or 4 person.

[Bonecrusher101]

The hitch extender and having the canoe stick out of the back of the suv works. It’s drafty when driving and when you get to the ramp after a day of hunting, picking that boat up is gonna be a pain. Also everything gets unloaded outta the canoe then loaded back up into the canoe then strapped down then time to roll.

I imagine I will still use the hitch extender on places that don’t have an established ramp. That is the beauty of this too, it’s manageable to get it into and out of ditches and creeks.

A small trailer would make life much easier. My buddy picked up a small garden trailer for free. We are gonna see about using it.

[Bonecrusher101]

The hitch extender and having the canoe stick out of the back of the suv works. It’s drafty when driving and when you get to the ramp after a day of hunting, picking that boat up is gonna be a pain. Also everything gets unloaded outta the canoe then loaded back up into the canoe then strapped down then time to roll.

I imagine I will still use the hitch extender on places that don’t have an established ramp. That is the beauty of this too, it’s manageable to get it into and out of ditches and creeks.

A small trailer would make life much easier. My buddy picked up a small garden trailer for free. We are gonna see about using it.

[Trail]

This is a setup I've been wanting to try for a while. Glad to hear that things are going well with your build.

15 mph on that thing with two people is super impressive. About how heavy is your canoe with the 6.5 on it?

It’s a pretty heavy canoe but she’s stable. Think canoe alone is around 95 lbs. then the kit is around 40 and the motor is around 30 so all in all she’s around 170-180.

Again the canoe is rated for a 1000 pounds or 4 person.

Thank you. That's not too bad of a haul. I can see where a setup like that would be more maneuverable and manageable than a small jon boat.

[PK_]

Glad the rig is working out for you.

Give the passenger a paddle (if they know how to use it), it really helps steer the boat when you are loaded down also to push off obstacles and whatnot.

[Bonecrusher101]

Glad the rig is working out for you.

Give the passenger a paddle (if they know how to use it), it really helps steer the boat when you are loaded down also to push off obstacles and whatnot.

Great tip. It’s definitely going to be a learning curve. I’m planning on taking it out quite a bit this spring and summer. Do some scouting, maybe some fishing and maybe put my family in it after I get comfortable with it.

One thing that I didn’t realize would happen when the motor stops is that the back end with the prop on it sinks straight down and the tiller ends up vertical. So I was never really hands free if we got stopped. So I made a catch hook. I think it’s going to make Using it much easier.

[PK_]

Haha, yea I have the same model catch strap

Yea I didn’t realize you were going to be straight to hunting with the rig. You will definitely get much more comfortable over the off-season. I really wish I got to use my rig more often, it’s a lot of fun.

[Bonecrusher101]

Haha, yea I have the same model catch strap

Yea I didn’t realize you were going to be straight to hunting with the rig. You will definitely get much more comfortable over the off-season. I really wish I got to use my rig more often, it’s a lot of fun.

Ha thanks! You need to plan an outta state up here next season and we will get together and use it!

[moarcher88]

That's a nice setup, how do these motors and props hold up to rocks? Most of the small creeks and rivers around me have some rock in the shallower areas.

[Bonecrusher101]

That's a nice setup, how do these motors and props hold up to rocks? Most of the small creeks and rivers around me have some rock in the shallower areas.

It’s all new to me and I only have trees and sand. The props are said to handle it really well. It’s designed to break the prop before damaging the shaft but there are all kinds of abuse test on YouTube where people try to tear them up and struggle doing so. The props and prop nuts are fairly cheap and can be changed out while out on the water.

My kit came with two props and I bring the spare prop, spare prop nut, and the tools to change it out with me in the canoe.