Duck Boat?

**Jay Dangers** · 11-26-2012, 06:49 PM

Whats everyones opinion on what brand of duck boat to get. How long and wide, motors.... long tail mud motor or surface drive.
I have a 14' but it's narrow and why my chessy leans to the side, we almost take on water. I looked at a beavertail and really liked it until I seen the price tag.

**Paul "Happy" Gilmore** · 11-26-2012, 06:59 PM

13' Boston Whaler and a gallon of green duck boat paint. Outfit with a 40hp and you can haul as much as you can fit into the boat. Three guys lean to one side and won't tip it over. Draws about 4" of water if you get out of the boat. Will take a beating and is easily repairable. I've run mine in Rivers for years and just now am due to fix the holes but, it still floats so they aren't really a priority.

**gdgnyc** · 11-26-2012, 11:14 PM

South Bay duckboat. It's low profile and stable. Get the grassboards and spray dodger with it. I have seen them run with 2hp up to 15 hp.but I don't remember the motor it's rated for.

**DJS** · 11-27-2012, 01:29 AM

I'm fairly new to duck boats/mud motors etc.....but I'm Building up a duck boat too. Here in Utah I need a shallow water boat that's somewhat light, not huge, and able to carry myself, dog and gear. I'll be running an Alumacraft 1650 all-weld jon boat with a go devil 23 hp longtail on it. The Mud buddy factory is 40 minutes from my house, but it looks like they are getting away from longtails (they don't have as many longtail models as they use too) and is going mainly to surface drives. Surface drives are nice, but are out of my budget and most of the marshes here are too shallow for all outboards. I'm going with go devil since they have plenty of longtail motor options and there is dealer here in Utah.

**John Robinson** · 11-27-2012, 09:08 AM

These aren't for everybody, but if you like building things yourself and have a little room in your garage for a months long project, Devlin Designs (Sam Devlin) has about a dozen different duck boat plans from a small one man boat up to an 18 footer. I have built two, the one shown below is at the larger end of the scale, 15'-4" LOA by 6'-0" beam , it draws 5 1/2" fully loaded, maybe 4" if we get out of the boat to pull it through shallow areas. . I love it, it is rock steady at high speed, very roomy, hides well and is easy to shoot out of.

This is my buddy's Devlin "Snow Goose", a little bigger than my boat. I showed it so you can see how we hide the boat in the cattails.

My boat up against some old tree stumps...

**PMG 131** · 11-27-2012, 04:13 PM

I love the Lowe Roughneck, 16ft but I am looking for bigger.

**Buck Mann** · 11-27-2012, 04:25 PM

I have a 1744 Gator Trax with a 35hp MudBuddy surface drive with aftermarket carburetor and exhaust. The boat is a tank, extremely well built and stable. We hunt 2 people and 2 dogs out of it with no problem. With two people, dog, decoys and other assorted gear it runs 27 mph.