Re: Gator-Tail vs. Typical outboard motor
HI Chuck. Welcome to iboats. Traditional outboards are water-cooled, 2 or 4 stroke motors that cycle lake/sea water through the power head to keep it cool, just like your car uses a radiator. Gator-Tail/L-Drive/aka "Thai mud motors" are generally air-cooled engines that do not require cooling water to operate, like a VW bug or a lawnmower. As a result, you are able to lift the LU out of the water as needed to get over obstacles/mud/muck that would otherwise be impossible in a traditional outboard. Traditional outboards usually have Forward, Reverse and Neutral gears whereas mud motors are usually direct drive and FWD only. The decision to go with one over the other depends on how/where you're gonna use your boat the most. If you live some where with lots of shallow, mucky water with lots of stumps and submerged objects, a mud motor is probably best. You loose a bit of performance, but you'll have better reliability. If you do more long distance, open-water runs a traditional outboard will be best. They both have their strengths and weaknesses it's mostly just an issue of how/where you use your boat.
