# Has Anyone Here Made a Homemade Short Shaft Mud Motor?



## BloodStone (Aug 19, 2011)

*Based on some of the replies to my post about jet powered Jon boats suggesting that I give serious consideration to a Mud Buddy style motor, I went to a local marine shop & checked them out today. And after the sticker shock wore off, I got to wondering if anyone here had successfully made a short shaft Mud Buddy out of say a 6.5 hp horizontal shaft motor? Or is there a link to a site that shows you how (much like this site with the boat mods & restoration step by step process)? Thanks in advance *


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## Lil' Blue Rude (Aug 19, 2011)

If you need to run in 3 inches of water an outboard jet is the only way to go. For a boat your size I think a 25hp would do just fine. you might want a little wider boat then what you have now buthtat depends on th weight of your setup now and how the boat plains out. I have a 16' 42" with a 40/28 and it'll plain out just fine as long as I'm not loaded down with more hten two people and some coolersand those kinda things. Most people run a 48" but I think you can get away with a narrower bottom just fine.
Cutting a motor down to a short shaft can be kinda dangerous and alot of people advise against it unless you know what your doing and can do it properley. Bad things can happen when stuff flies apart at wide open. It's hard to kep things lined up properly and you have to make sure all welds are good and strong. Not sayin it can't be done but from reading your post on the jet section I think a 25hp would be just fine for you. Get a short shaft 25-35hp omc and build the transom up to 22" tall.


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## fastcajun (Aug 19, 2011)

He isnt talking about cutting any motor down. Also, a mud motor will go places that jet wont even think about going. he is asking about building a mud motor from scratch. Search Boghog motors, i think they have a kit, and there are plans somewhere I dont know where though


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## FishinsMyLife (Aug 19, 2011)

Go to duckhuntingchat.com (or something like that) and search, I read about someone making one on there a while back.

A jet drive would choke after 20 feet of the stuff a mud motor will go through.


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## Lil' Blue Rude (Aug 19, 2011)

The kinda river he's talking about would be just fine for a outboard jet. He said it was normally 3-5ft and some places was 2-3" deep and the bottom is gravel. I've never seen a prop motor that would run that. If you've got one then I'd love to see it.


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## crkdltr (Aug 19, 2011)

How about something like this?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/22696840/mad-mud-motor-plans-attention-duck

I bought the plans but haven't built one yet.


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## fastcajun (Aug 20, 2011)

A mud motor would run in that. a long tail would be better than a surface drive. just put a rock guard on it, you might wear out props faster than a non gravel bottom, however props on those motors dont have the life like a outboard prop.


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## Lil' Blue Rude (Aug 20, 2011)

That's the great thing about the jet 3" of water and you'll never touch. just run right over it sometimes even 2". mud motors got there place but this sounds more like a outboard jet kinda river.


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## J.P. (Oct 14, 2011)

i know a guy who made his own mud motor. here's his topic from our local forum. it's a long thread, but he does finish the build (up to a point):
https://pinoyboats.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2002&start=0
prototype ran well (as you can see in the latter pages of the thread).
he was gonna sell for around $400 each. i was gonna get one, but production was halted and it's back to drawing board because of corrosion issues on the motorcycle chain. 
he's been busy with other stuff and i don't think he's really that keen on making money out of it, so i'm hoping somebody here can help solve the problem. so that production can commence.


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## Pappy (Oct 14, 2011)

Rude - The problem with a jet in that condition is that it will not start from a dead stop in 3" of water with a gravel bottom. All that junk will go right through the impeller causing far more damage than to a mud motor. Muds are air cooled as well which is another plus. Watch the top video on this link. The mud motors in this video are pushing through zero inches of water. Those things are pretty amazing. Very cool video. 

https://www.copperheadmfg.com/videos

I watch these things run right through lily pads thick enough to almost walk across in one of the spots I fish in.


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## Lil' Blue Rude (Oct 14, 2011)

Pappy I'm very familiar with what an outboard jet is capable of. I've done alot more with one in the past 2 years then most have done in there lives with them. Yes outboard jets can't take off in 3" of water that's why the operator needs to have anough sence to not shut down in that shallow.
Not sayin a mud motor won't run shallow but I don't thing it will do as well in gravel and rocky bottom as it would in a muddy swamp or marsh. Both motors have there places. You've got to decide which is the best choice for what your nedding.
That's my 2 cents take it how you will.


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