Affordable shallow water engine

[TnRiver46]

Years ago, I bit the bullet and ordered a long tail kit straight from Thailand for running the river. A lot of folks told me it wouldn’t work well in the rocks but i had to try. This setup is fairly incredible!! I can run almost as shallow as a jet boat (5-7”) for a small fraction of the cost. So, then there’s the matter of the engine. I got a 420cc predator engine (Honda clone) from harbor freight for like $280 (with the 20% coupon). So all together I have about $800 in a boat motor than can run in 5-7” of water on plane. I figured this motor would just run for a bit then I would replace it knowing the reputation of harbor freight equipment. Well 7 years later and it’s good as new somehow! I haven’t used it in two years + because we haven’t had much shallow water with plentiful rainfall. I took it off the boat and just laid it underneath the hull in the driveway completely neglected. One of my friends was having motor problems on his boat so I figured I would try to start the ole predator and by golly it’s ready to rock! It puts my Briggs and Stratton push mower to shame . I now have probably a dozen buddies running the same or a similar setup including one full time smallmouth/trout guide. It costs less than a lot of kayaks on the market today and you won’t need a shuttle (I still love all my yaks though, don’t come after me paddle mafia )

 

 

[Gator_Bait]

I use to see that type of motor all over when I lived in Baton Rouge. I fished the swamps and bayou 2 sometimes 3 days a week. They had two main types, long tail (like yours) and surface drive. Most up to 40HP Vanguard Marine motors. Go Devil, Gator Tail, Havoc and Pro Drive. They would run them through open water, weeds, heavy vegetation, mud, over logs, short pieces of land...just whatever was in the way! ?

 

Veg-O-Matic Boat !!

 

 

[TnRiver46]

It’s like having 4 wheel drive! 

[CountryboyinDC]

13 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

It costs less than a lot of kayaks on the market today and you won’t need a shuttle

You can go upriver in a kayak, the whitewater folks call it attainment.  I call it having no shuttle, but that's what I was left doing today.  It sucks a lot worse in a 34" wide fishing kayak than I remember it being in my whitewater canoe a decade ago.  That's probably a combination of serious decline in my physical condition and the kayak itself.  It was worth the effort, since this is the first time I've been out fishing this year.  But if I lived along a river like the Susquehana, there'd probably be a lot of attaining in my kayak fishing.

[TnRiver46]

12 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

You can go upriver in a kayak, the whitewater folks call it attainment.  I call it having no shuttle, but that's what I was left doing today.  It sucks a lot worse in a 34" wide fishing kayak than I remember it being in my whitewater canoe a decade ago.  That's probably a combination of serious decline in my physical condition and the kayak itself.  It was worth the effort, since this is the first time I've been out fishing this year.  But if I lived along a river like the Susquehana, there'd probably be a lot of attaining in my kayak fishing.

I paddle

upriver in kayaks and canoes a few times a week, but it’s not 15 mph and I can’t go 15 miles up river 

[CountryboyinDC]

23 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

it’s not 15 mph and I can’t go 15 miles up river 

That would take some practice.

[TnRiver46]

3 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

That would take some practice.

My buddy has a long sit - in kayak and he leaves us in the dust regularly. They have Kayak time trials near my house every Wednesday evening and some folks can really fly 

[CountryboyinDC]

16 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

My buddy has a long sit - in kayak and he leaves us in the dust regularly. They have Kayak time trials near my house every Wednesday evening and some folks can really fly 

Some of the touring and racing kayaks can go a lot faster than I can in anything I have, but they're not much for fishing out of.  I think that motor solution you posted about originally is a neat idea.  I try to have as few things with combustion engines as possible to keep things simple.  But for someone looking to cover some smallmouth country without spending River Rocket money, that is pretty cool.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, CountryboyinDC said:

Some of the touring and racing kayaks can go a lot faster than I can in anything I have, but they're not much for fishing out of.  I think that motor solution you posted about originally is a neat idea.  I try to have as few things with combustion engines as possible to keep things simple.  But for someone looking to cover some smallmouth country without spending River Rocket money, that is pretty cool.

Join the Long tail club! It’s never too late