Assembling the Beaver Dam Mud Motor Kit 8-hp to16-hp
We are now starting the assembly portion of this series. To start it off, we will be assembling the Beaver Dam Mud Motor kit. This kit is for a 8hp to 16hp engine. We have already unboxed the kit and looked at all the main parts, so we will go right into it.
Before Assembly
Assembling the Beaver Dam Mud Runner DIY Mud Motor Kit 8hp – 16hp
After reading through the directions and looking at the parts, I found that the instructions were out of date and needed to be updated. It did have a list of tools for you that you. I went ahead and gathered the tools I thought I could use, and this is what I ended up using:
Tools and Extra Parts:
- Crescent Wrenches (Adjustable Wrenches) x 2
- Flat Head Screw Driver
- Philips Head Screw Driver
- Pliers
- Side Cutters
- Blue Thread Lock
- Electrical Tape (safety kill switch)
- Zip-Ties
- Grease
- Insulated Wire (safety kill switch)
- Wire Connectors (safety kill switch)
Recommended
- Socket Set
- Wrench Set
- Shop Rags
Overview of Assembly
The assembly was pretty straight forward. Most of the time, Thai long tail mud motors have the same major components, and assembly can be very similar. This kit is no exception: it has a long tail, has a coupler, an engine base, transom bracket, and tiller handle. There is more to these kits, and each part is different from the other kits, but the only MAJOR differences are; The set of directions you receive with your kit; when you couple the output shaft on the engine to the spline of the long tail shaft; and then the difference in safety kill switches and their wiring.
Directions
The directions that came with the Beaver Dam Mud Runner kit were okay. It came in an “Owners Manual” that is 12 pieces of paper stapled together. Roughly 7 of them explaining the installation of the kit with the others giving some information on safety and tips on how to run your kit. The pictures were black and white, pixelated, and were out dated for the kit they are currently selling. The wording of the instructions them selves are okay, a little long winded. They could improve their instructions by updating the images/diagrams, shortening up the sentence structure, and labeling the part bags better.
Coupling the Longtail Shaft
The way the longtail shaft is mated to the output shaft on the engine is through a coupler. Beaver Dam has an adapter that slides over the output shaft on the engine, and a bolt that goes though the adapter and into the output shaft on the engine. Then you thread on a splined adapter to the first adapter, and your longtail shaft fits into that splined adapter. This rotation of the motor tightens that threaded adapter so you will never have to worry about it unthreading. With this design, you do not gain any major length on your longtail, but I will go more in depth on that in the final assembly comparison.
Safety Kill Switch
Assembling your Beaver Dam mud motor kit would be much easier if you purchased their pre-wired harness for your kill switch, but its an extra $25. What comes in your kit is a kill switch, the tether, and an eye bolt that you mount the kill switch too. It does NOT come with the wires to connect it to your engine, and it is the only one that did not come with wiring. Wiring it yourself is probably the hardest part of assembling this kit.
Beaver Dam Mud Runners – CLP
- Most expensive kit at $549 + shipping
Swamp Runner Mud Motors – SPS
- Middle Price kit at $499 + shipping
