# Making A Mud Motor



## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I work with a guy who is a hunter/fisherman he has been looking at Mud Motors to buy but cannot swing the cost I have never seen one except for pictures of them. So I told him I would help out he had a motor and a prop I built everything inbetween. I started with a solid piece of scrap 6" aluminum about 2" long and machined a flange to fit the bolt pattern of the motor I then bored it to 10 under 2" heated up the flange on my BBQ grill and shrunk it onto a 6' aluminum 2' tube made a motor mount and ended up with this to start with.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then welded it up and this is how it looked when I got done.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then started on the bearing housing for the other end some use bushings and pump the tube full of grease it seems crude and a waste to me so I will go with sealed ball bearings. The grooves you see are for O rings to fit in the tube and make it water tight.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then machined the outside to true it up and prepare to bore for the bearings.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then started boring for three 3/4 X 1 5/8 sealed bearings.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

The finish bore I will cut for a snap ring groove and thread it with a custom left hand thread for the cap.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Snap ring groove cut and ready for bearings.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here are the threads  being cut and then  a relief cut for an O ring for the cap.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here I did not want to stack the bearings together I wanted a little more support spread out so I machined spacers inbetween each bearing.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here I am pressing the bearings into the housing the fit was real nice. You will have to forgive the mess at my little shop I have about 6 (friends projects) going on at the same time it is much better now.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here are the new bearings pressed in ready to go!


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then started boring for the cap it will have a mating left hand thread on it with three seals just to be safe.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

# I am just about done cutting the taper on the front of the snout. i will also drill a couple holes for a spanner wrench to tighten it up.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Seals installed threads fit nice this part is ready to go as well.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then roughed out a shape for the rear fin.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here I roughed out a shape for the cavitaion plate mount I changed the shape later to make it look better and to lighten it up.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I have a good friend who has a cnc router that cut me out some nice blocks to hold the parts straight so I can weld them up.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

All welded up bearing housing installed ready for more.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Again ignore the mess in the back ground here is another shot as to how nice the blocks to align the fin up. The motor will bolt up to the far end with a shaft coupler the mount that hangs down has a hole drilled in it and fastens to the motor mount I made for the boat.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here I cut threads in a 3/4 X 6' stressproof shaft the left hand grooves are cut to keep crap out of the seals it is suppose to  push it out instead of pulling it in.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here is the same shot with the cap next to it.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here is the splash plate or cavitaion plate or whatever you want to call it. I guess its suppose to help plain the boat level. Ray


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here is a simple mount I made him to get him going it will move both directions.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

I then made a handle bar this will bolt to the bottom of the motor to tip and steer this beast.


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Here is another shot I would love to show it too you with the stainless prop on and it bolted to the motor with it all painted up but I gave it to him for testing and he seems to be having so much fun I cant get it back long enough for a photo. Duck season will be over soon then maybe I can get a photo. Thanks for looking. Ray


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## bosephus (Oct 4, 2014)

i admit it took me a moment to figure out what you was building , i worked on a drill rig in my youth and the mud motor is a whole differant beast in a drill . 

 kudos though , looks like a very nice job .   also reminds me why i have never owned a boat


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## iron man (Oct 4, 2014)

Thanks I think the idea come from Vietnam they use to use or still use this type of outboard in the rice fields or in the southern states where the swamps are shallow I really dont know who was first but we probably had more gas engines in the beginning than Vietnam did. They really do work well in shallow water he sent me a short video I have not seen it since. I gave it to him a week ago and told him to bring it back for pictures he must be having a good time with it. Here is a picture of one.  Ray

http://swamprattmudmotors.com/


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## zmotorsports (Oct 4, 2014)

Looks great.  I am not a duck hunter but I have a friend who is an and he bought a duck boat a few years ago that had a mud buddy motor that had a siezed up bearing in the output housing and I had to machine a new houseing and seal surface for it.  I had never worked on one before but it was kind of a cool project.

Thanks for posting pics up, cool to see one built start to finish.


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## Ulma Doctor (Oct 4, 2014)

great work on the build!!!!


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## iron man (Oct 7, 2014)

zmotorsports said:


> Looks great.  I am not a duck hunter but I have a friend who is an and he bought a duck boat a few years ago that had a mud buddy motor that had a siezed up bearing in the output housing and I had to machine a new houseing and seal surface for it.  I had never worked on one before but it was kind of a cool project.
> 
> Thanks for posting pics up, cool to see one built start to finish.



 Thanks I never saw one either I will try and get some pictures of the finished unit when he gets done playing with it. Ray


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