Swamp Runner Longtail Mud Motor Kit Test Run: On the Water

Swamp Runner Longtail Mud Motor Kit Test Run

These are my experiences with a 2016 Alumacraft 1436 LT riveted jon boat with a Predator 13 hp 420cc engine. Your experience may differ from mine depending on your boat and motor. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and watch the videos that go along with these reviews!

The last kit to be water tested in this Longtail Mud Motor Kit Comparison series is the SPS Swamp Runner Mud Motor kit! First kit tested was the CLP Beaver Dam kit, it rode poorly. Second kit tested was the CKS Mud Skipper kit. Due to having the 100 inch shaft, I thought it would ride better, it didn’t. So now onto the SPS Swamp Runner…

Swamp Runner Mud Motor Kit Testing

Swamp Runner Longtail Mud Motor Kit Test Run

The SPS Swamp Runner longtail mud motor kit ran great! After running the CLP Beaver Dam kit, and the CKS Mud Skipper kit, and having both of those kits under perform, I was starting to think that my boat was the problem. I was able to mount the SPS Swamp Runner kit on the transom with ease, put the gimbal on the outside of the boat, and run this kit with out ever having to touch the transom bracket again. I did have to adjust the skeg, but after that, it was a fun, long day of cruising.

Swamp Runner Longtail Mud Motor Kit Test Run

The Issues Experienced

Prop jumping out of wake – At high speeds the prop would jump out of the wake. With a few easy adjustments of bending the skeg, that problem was fixed.
Tail Weight – The tail weight seemed heavier than the other kits, but then again, it was the only kit where the prop would stay in the water with ease.

Tail Weight

The tail weight wasn’t an issue, but it was worth noting. This SPS Swamp Runner kit has more tailweight compared to the other two kits, but it was the only kit where the prop would stay in the water. Once you get on plane, you no longer feel any tail weight and it should seem weightless. It did for me.

Prop Jumping Out

After running this kit for an hour, I noticed that the prop would act like it wanted to jump out of the water. This would only happen when I reached 18-19 mph. At the time, I had a 8.5″ regular prop, it was very easy to handle at speeds lower than 18 mph, and it was just me in the boat. I didn’t want to go down a prop size, and the tail weight felt a little heavy already, so I tried bending the skeg and that fixed my issue! All I did was put an adjustable wrench on the end of skeg, bent it just slightly toward the port side of the boat, and that was it!

After looking back at the footage and going back out to test, I was actually out running the wake of the boat. I was going up to 20mph and that is when I would out run the wake. So if I had the 100″ shaft, it may ride even better, and allow me to get some more speed. If I pulled up on the tiller handle, and forced that prop in the water, I got up to 23 mph. Pretty quick for a 1436 jon boat with a fully stock 13hp predator engine.

Positives

Easy to Handle – The prop would stay in the water and become weightless when on plane.
Adjustable Tiller Handle – You have multiple angles you can safely put the tiller handle at.
Range of Motion – Engine base doesn’t bottom out like other kits
Experience – Overall wonderful experience compared to the other kits

Adjustable Tiller Handle

Unlike the CLP Beaver Dam kit, where the handle twisted on me and became loose, this SPS Swamp Runner tiller handle has a bolt that protrudes into the tiller handle so that way it can not twist. The tiller handle also has holes that allow you to put this bolt in the handle to allow for different angles of your choice. I kept my handle straight up but I may play with it to see if an angle would benefit me or not.

Easy to Handle

Once I got on plane, I no longer felt any tail weight and it became weightless. It was so easy you could drive it with one hand.

Range of Motion

The CLP Beaver Dam kit and the CKS Mud Skipper kit would bottom out on their own transom bracket. I didn’t have that issue with the SPS Swamp Runner kit so that was nice.

Experience

My experience with this kit was just so much better than the other two kits, because this SPS Swamp Runner kit was the only one that was easy, and enjoyable to drive and handle. After running the CLP Beaver Dam kit and the CKS Mud Skipper kit back to back and having both of them ride awful, it wasn’t looking good for the SPS Swamp Runner but it work!

Conclusion

The Swamp Runner Longtail Mud Motor Kit Test Run went even better than I had hoped for. Going back to back, with both the CLP Beaver Dam kit and the CKS Mud Skipper kit, where neither kit ran easily, and both were hard to control, I was thinking my boat was the problem and that none of the kits were going to work. I was down on my luck, but sure enough, the SPS Swamp Runner kit would able to beat those odds and run perfectly fine. So the next article will be the comparison of the water test trials and what I experienced over all when running these kits. I hope you enjoyed the article, and if you’d like, head over to the YouTube channel and pass some time watching the videos there!

Beaver Dam Mud Runners – CLP

Most expensive kit at $549 + shipping

Swamp Runner Mud Motors – SPS

Middle Price kit at $499 + shipping

Mud Skipper – CKS

Least Expensive kit at $395