You ain't gonna keep no outboard trimmed up in 1-6 inches of water without burning her up, I don't care how good you are. They all have a place. Just depends on the terrain you hunt. I fish out of my mud boat all the time. It has a 40 hp mud motor and runs 27 mph, whereas a 25-50hp outboard will run the same up to high 30's with a 50hp. Different strokes for different folks......

A outboard won't go were the mud motors can go. Air cooled engines and lower drive system design is the reason mud motors work in areas with little or no water. If you try to do this with a outboard you will get yourself in trouble. Heck, even mud motors have limitations and can get stuck given circumstances. If finances are a issue, a outboard rig with a pirogue works great and cost much less.

REB

Boat

Like Coot, I use my Surface drive rig to hunt and fish. I fish more than I duck hunt, so I had mine built and set up more for fishing.

And as stated before, there is no way possible to take an outboard the places these boats will go. Believe me, I've tried and have the cracked blocks to prove it!

Ive seen people hunt biloxi before in outboards but when the water drops in january you are sort of limited to where you can go.. I would have got stuck every time almost in an outboard though on a good north wind...cant tell you how many times i ran across a flat for hundreds of yards that looked deep but come to find out it only had two inches of water..just get you a surface drive if you got a long run.

I have an 18 ft custom built flat boat and I have NEVER had a problem hunting the same place as the people with the mud boats. I can stay on top and run through 6-8 inches of water and get almost anywhere I have ever wanted to hunt, weather it be hopedale, delacroix, or venice. It is also much quiter and scares up a small fraction of the ducks. Then in the summer I can also load up and go fish anything from trout to snapper. Yes, I do have to bring a pirouge along with me but omg how hard is a little paddling to get you all the way to the blind, plus I can hide a pirouge to the point where its almost invisible compared to a 15 ft boat with a boat blind. Then on top of that I can get everwhere twice as fast! Most ppl are just scared and freak when their motor buzzer goes off as if they just blew their motor up when in reality this happens way before your motor is hot enough to do damage. Just put back in neutral clean the intake off until you get water flow again, then the buzzer will go off in prob 30 sec then you can continue on your way. O and all of this for the same price.

definetly, don't try an outboard, trouble!! pro-drive for duck hunting and great for fishing, no problem!! won't be sorry!!!!

I think it all comes down to where you hunt and what your personal needs are. What's good for one area may not be so good for another . Personally for hunting areas like Venice, wax or the main delta area I'd rather have a aluminum center consold with like a 90 and a yack. I have been using a aluminum boat with a 25 for years and with a push pole and my yack I have never not been able to go anyplace I want.The catch is it just takes a little more time an work , you just have to know where your limitations and adapt around that. The main reason I got a outboard over a mud moter is I used it more for fishing and made a lot of longer runs. I was advised by a friend who works in the marsh every day with them that its miserable on anything over a 45 min boat ride. Now I don't use it to fish anymore and just use my aluminum boat for hunting and wish I had one mostly because Im lazier now, but that's a different story. You just hafta consider your personal situation on how and where you will be using your boat and figure out what's best for you. If you realy want a outboard don't let everybody scare you how do you think people got around the marsh before they ever came out with a surface drive.

I'd go for a surface drive rather than the outboard for 35HP or lower.

That's a nice setup!

look on youtube and type in 40 mercury the guys name is bayouk5 look and see what he has done and can do with an outboard. he takes off in less the 3 inchs of water and can run threw a half a mile of hyacinthe. the boat is bad.

Can't view the utube link, but there have been guys that modify the stock cooling system on mercurys, by running a radiator/fan inside the boat, then the motor does not depned on the lower unit to pump water thru the motor.It becomes much like a car with the cooling system in the boat. One like that would probably still suck as far as reverse goes, but I imagine that you could jack the motor to the moon in shallow water with a hydl jackplate.