that guy in your link is a buddy of mine, Brad Snuggs. i have ridden with him a few times too. the difference between the mud in miller lake (where he is riding) and the mud in the other video is that the mud in miller lake has a bottom to it. the other pond, which is in Port Neches, Texas does not.

and what i mean by bottom is that if you step out of the boat into the mud, you will sink a lil bit but eventually stop say a foot or so after sinking, you have reached the bottom. when the mud doesnt have a bottom to it you can litterally sink of to your chest in it. when there isnt any bottom to the mud, you need to be able to trim down as deep as you can get goin in that stuff.

we even had a guy last year step out into the mud cuz he thought he was gonna push his boat out. he sunk up to his chest and we had to use a boat to pull him out it was so bad.

if your interested, there is a ride down in Port Neches on Feb 26th of this year. its called the SETX Mud Run. its a big event where guys from all over the area and different states come over to ride with us and put our mudmotors to the test. there are places to stay and there will prob be 30 or more boats this year. all are invited to come and join. if you go to mudmotortalk.com and search for it you can find out more info on it.

What I can't understand is the need for reverse. When mud motors came out it was long tails only. I didn't need reverse then. Then the hypers and surface drives came out. I still didn't need a reverse. I have never needed reverse. To me the "Oh I got to have reverse" Is the result of marketing in a post saturated market.

I'll shall explain, or try to explain anyway. The industry was good for a couple of compannies for quite some time. Others saw the MM industry and jumped in to lap up on a growing industry. Once the market leveled off after these companies were all up and running, they needed a new start. That new start came in the form of hypers and surface drives. Yes they were better than the long tails speaking of speed and weight capacity. So for MM company X to keep up with MM company Y they had to follow suit and market the latest and greatest too. The most recent latest and greatest is reverse.

Not knowing it people who buy brand X somehow become enemies of brand Y as they have a financial interest in the company now. Nobody wants to admit that he invested a lot of money in brand X when all the while brand y is a better product. Thus the mud motor wars.

The truth!! There is nothing better or worse about any of them. Make your choice but get educated on your choice before you spend your money.

Here is somehting to help you along in what I am saying. Go to any mud motor company web sight and look at the videos. They did not put the videos on their site for any other reason other than to sell mud motors. Now watch the propellers and how fast they sink into the mud. You can't see the water but the propeller goes right down into the mud. That is not a fair comparison for what you are looking for. There isn't a mud motor including homemade that can't get going in that mud. It is nothing short of silt drilling mud. I consider it a lie for them to use that video. They search the country far and wide to get that mud and then send a film crew to make great videos.

Here is what happens. You get the motor and you head straight for your place to run the mud. It doesn't work like on the video becuase you have mud but it is sitting on a hard bottom. You try to get going and your motor struggles. Boom you instantly think you are doing it wrong or whatever but by God it aint the motor becuase brand X is the best.

What really kills me is some bonerhead here will get on here and tell the world "You can't go throgh this mud unless you got this motor". Wow! What a marketeer!! That is the dumbest thing I have ever EVER read on this forum.

There are so many different factors involved that brand of motor really can't be factored in the equation. Motor to boat cobination, propellers I could go on and on. The last thing I would look at is the brand of motor when figuring on where I could or could not go.

There's another video of a guy with a GT trying to go in reverse through some grassy type stuff. I've been looking for the stinking video for 2 days and can't seem to find it again. It will make you think even harder about a GT(for reverse purposes). The grass stuff comes up on top of the prop and piles up on the lower unit. Then the guy has to go forward a little to clear it, and then backwards again(thus not making much ground in reverse). I'd put good money on it that wouldn't be a problem with a PD in reverse.

I'm not knocking GT. Just trying to point out some things that helped me go towards the PD.

WAL...what you are saying makes a lot of sense and I agree with everything except for the need for reverse. I stated above in 30 running hours I have only had one need for and used it a couple times from pure convenience. I ran way back in this creek and it was SHALLOW sink to your crotch type mud. I got to the back and it ended and there was no way to turn around. I put the PD in reverse and ran out until it get wide enough I could spin it around and take off. Now, I could've got out and dealt with all the mud and pushed the boat on the dry ground to get it out but it was SO nice to put it in reverse and take off.

On the reverse deal...I think if I had a GT I would use reverse more because in tight situations it would be nice, like a busy boat ramp for example. But to use like the first place I mentioned the PD was the motor or choice.

I mentioned one reason in the prior post about why I chose the PD over the GT and here is another. If I am on a stumpy flat I can run over logs and stumps easier with the PD reverse because it protects the prop better. Now, if you get a stump hung up on the back of the boat because the transom isn't curved like the bow then it won't help you at all. So you can't go through quite as much in reverse as you can in forward but close. I believe that I could actually go in shallower water in reverse than I can in forward just because of the way the prop forces water under the hull...I haven't tested that theory but it makes sense.

Anyway...you are dead on right that someone just needs to understand the differences and figure out which one is better for their situation.

I own a PD but at the same time I would buy a GT too so there isn't any brand bashing or hating on my part. But I have posted on MMT before and read their stuff sometimes and your right it is a constant pissing match over which rig is better between some over there...I figured they were just buddies screwing with each other. Similar to the bass guys and their rigs.

Thanks cmelvin for the explanation and Feb kicks off sporting clays for me so not 100% sure I can make it down there but it sounds like a great time and I appreciate you mentioning it.

did the guy in the video get out?

come to the ride this February and you will see some instances where the need for reverse will be present. and are you referring to me saying that i was pushing one brand over the other?

I have no idea. If I stated that was the dumbest thing I have ever read on this forum, you can bet I didn't take the time to go back and read it again to find the author. I really couldn't give less of a rats behind. I have been to the rallys, I know where they take place and may or may not show up. If I do, I am sure I will see someone using reverse. That still does not mean I need to buy a motor with reverse nor need it in the future. I didn't buy a mud motor so I could go mudding. I bought mine as a tool to get me from here to there and back. If I am loaded and going to the blind I will choose areas that I know I can make it through. If I am out tooling around and having fun then I'll venture into a little mud. But to go to a rally and try and tell everyone I have a bigger wiener just aint my style. So enjoy yourself while your backing up at the rally!!

I am not about change at all. If it is somehting I need then I will spend a lot of money and time to get it. I have run a lot of mud motors and never needed reverse.

Now if I bought a mud motor to go to the rallies and push the boat through things I truly believe I could not make it through, then I might actually need reverse. As it stands now I don't need it.

I am a duck hunter. I go to the spot I am going to hunt and come back. I am open to go to the rallie but I don't plan on attending every year.

So call me frugal and a hard sell not ignorant and closed minded and i'll agree.

Oh! Why do you not have reverse?

I have a 90hp merc outboard on an xpress.. Ill go to that rally.. Ask Brett hes seen it in mud

Oh and i have reverse

Alright cmelvin that is twice. I tried to make humor out of a situation that apparently made you mad. Do it again and I might have to come to the rally and pull you out of the mud myself. I know I'll have to because you didn't buy the right motor and you said so yourself if you don't have the one particular motor you aren't going to get in and get out. Close minded my eye, I've even offered to come pull you out of the mud. See what a nice guy I am.

Alright cmelvin that is twice. I tried to make humor out of a situation that apparently made you mad. Do it again and I might have to come to the rally and pull you out of the mud myself. I know I'll have to because you didn't buy the right motor and you said so yourself if you don't have the one particular motor you aren't going to get in and get out. Close minded my eye, I've even offered to come pull you out of the mud. See what a nice guy I am.

Sooooo should I go with a Pro drive, go devil or a gator trax???