re: Changing out gatortail motor for outboard on gatortail extreme 1854 cc hull; thoughts?

I made the swap probably 4 years ago because my lease at the time required it. I've never measured top speed with a GPS but I can do that for you next time I run it. It runs a regular hunting load about 37-38mph. I've also never experimented with props and just threw a leftover stainless prop on it that my dealer had when I bought the motor. If I had to guess it'll touch 40-42. It's a commercial boat with no HP max, but the 60 pushes it fast enough such that if you let the tiller go at speed you'd have a problem. The torque is also insane. If you're not sitting down and someone gets on it, you're out of the boat.

The biggest performance gains were pushing a hunting load. I can have 3 guys, 2 dogs, decoys, and gear in my boat and it only marginally affects the boat's speed. With the jack plate (Atlas microjacker), the only places I can't run where I ran my surface drive are places where I'm literally sitting on mud. It's also really nice not feeling like I have a giant fart can running next to my ear the entire time I'm driving . If you're really interested, holler at me on Instagram or Facebook. I can send you some more info about it.