I have not owned an excel, but I know they do not have a good reputation over on mudmotortalk. I'd ask over there where there is a lot of first hand knowledge.

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Bad rep on the mud motor or the boat? I was going to do an outboard. Seems tho the more I read to go Cutom if I'm going to spend that much on a cookie cutter boat.

 

Both.

For the sake of your question though there are a lot of people over there with very poor opinions of excel boats. Don't know if it's better now or not but I'd ask over there.

There are plenty of mud buddy haters over there, but I don't know how much of that is simply brand loyalty. I do know there have been a whole lot of legitimate complaints made against the sport-v model mud buddy, and mud buddy's customer service in general but that's a different debate.

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My boat is far from new but I have a 2006 1554 excel it's got dents in don't get me wrong, but best I can tell and since I've had never needed to be patched or broken a weld or anything like that. It's just a open tiller hull, personally I wouldn't ever have anything else other than open tiller hull. If your buying new you could get more boat for the same money from some custom builders. If your willing and able to do some of work yourself like wiring, and the rigging you can save yourself a lot of money. Friend of mine got a custom made 2060 from uncle j for around 5500 I believe. That was bare unpainted hull it's a heck of a boat. Nothing fancy just a big flat bottom, but very stout. He runs a outboard on it old 70hp evinrude tiller works really well on it with a jack plate.

 

I have an excel with a mud buddy on the back. I've acruelly had a very good experience with their customer service, although I'd rather not have had to talk to them. It was minor. I know you're going for an outboard so I'd look at their viper hulls. As far as I know they're the same layout basically, same flat bottom, but have an inverted chine that really turns well and a motor mount that hops out of the water if you hit something. With that said, if I had it to do over again, I'd opt for an open floor plan. The storage is nice for things that actually fit in it. But for 100% of my duck hunting, it's all but useless. Don't get me wrong, I love the excel. I think it's very well built and if I was going to bust the hull I'd have done it by now. But since you're opting for an outboard I'd look into a more open floor with sides and a rake that displaces more water. Mine can be a very wet ride.

 

Would you then go for the thicker hull or no because of weight?

 

Why excel though? You can get a gator tail with the pointed bow, pro drive, gator trax, uncle J, brother breaux, or many other well built boats with any inside layout you want AND they run .125 gauge aluminum bottom so they take way more abuse for very little additional weight.

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It would be worth your while to check out Phowler in Iowa.

 

Yea I'm reading that more and more. I starting to like Prodigy boats but I have no idea what I like don't like. What works best for the rivers in my area like mud motor or outboard. Need to hunt in a boat to get an idea because I feel like if I call them up to spec one out I would have no idea where to start lol

 

Prodigy makes nice boats and you won't hear complaints about them other than the insane price tag. Uncle J and others can build them just as nice for quite a bit less.

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I recently bought a 1754 excel with a mudbuddy HDR 37efi. So far I love it. Standard option is .100 gauge but you can upgrade to .125 for not much.
I haven't owned it for very long, so take my review for what it's worth, but it's performed very well. Me 2 guys and 2 dogs were in about 6"-8" on the river and it did really well.
Like I said I haven't had it for long so I haven't gotten to test it to its full potential yet but it's been great so far.

 

Yea I'm reading that more and more. I starting to like Prodigy boats but I have no idea what I like don't like. What works best for the rivers in my area like mud motor or outboard. Need to hunt in a boat to get an idea because I feel like if I call them up to spec one out I would have no idea where to start lol

Where are you going to be using and running this boat primarily? What is the waterway like river, lake, hard bottom, mud bottom, rocky what? Are you going to just hunt or fish to? I know for me my preferred boat is a tiller steer open hull. I wouldn't have anything else it's easy to throw camping gear, coolers, and fishing stuff in for the summer trips, it's easy to pile decoys and guys in for hunting. It's easy for people to move around in for fishing. It works for me it's the most versatile hull I think. Now I run a flat bottom with a outboard jet cause I like fishing rivers for smallmouth a lot and duck hunt the same rivers and jet is the best for running shallow gravely/sandy rivers with long shallow stretches when it's low. A mudmotor could work but I'd be wearing down expensive props a lot in sand and rocks. So that's why I went with a jet, but I don't know what kind of water you intend to hunt if you inform us of that we could help you more.

 

I've owned a Phowler boat since 2008 and the thing is pretty indestructible. Paul from Phowler knows about running big river and lake water and can match a hull to the power (outboard or mud motor) you intend to put on it. Phowler boats aren't what I would term eye candy like a tricked out Excel or War Eagle, but they are solid and I would buy one again. Talk to Paul and you will get some good info.

My good friend has been the Excel and Mud Buddy dealer in these parts since 2004. I have been in many of his Excel boats. Excel builds a good boat. I was just in his newest demo boat, an 1860 F4 with Optifade camo. Very nice boat. The gun boxes, built-in gas tank and other creature comforts are very trick. As another poster said, if you are looking at Excel for use in the marsh do yourself a favor and upgrade to the .125 hull thickness.

There are a certain amount of Excel haters on Mud Motor talk that cap on the brand for it's association with Mudbuddy. You need to take it all with a huge grain of salt. Guys want to rehash Excel issues that were fixed a decade ago.

 

I've owned a Phowler boat since 2008 and the thing is pretty indestructible. Paul from Phowler knows about running big river and lake water and can match a hull to the power (outboard or mud motor) you intend to put on it. Phowler boats aren't what I would term eye candy like a tricked out Excel or War Eagle, but they are solid and I would buy one again. Talk to Paul and you will get some good info.

My good friend has been the Excel and Mud Buddy dealer in these parts since 2004. I have been in many of his Excel boats. Excel builds a good boat. I was just in his newest demo boat, an 1860 F4 with Optifade camo. Very nice boat. The gun boxes, built-in gas tank and other creature comforts are very trick. As another poster said, if you are looking at Excel for use in the marsh do yourself a favor and upgrade to the .125 hull thickness.

There are a certain amount of Excel haters on Mud Motor talk that cap on the brand for it's association with Mudbuddy. You need to take it all with a huge grain of salt. Guys want to rehash Excel issues that were fixed a decade ago.

I've noticed the hate for mudbuddy and excel on MMT too, just out of curiosity why do they hate mudbuddy so bad?

 

I don't know I'm on a number of forums this one for duck hunting and boats, tinboats, some other fishing ones, but I have not and probably never will make a profile on MMT. I have looked at topics on there on occasion as some of them do have good information, but overall there is just to much overly opinionated BS on there for me. I'm not trying to bash anyone on here that likes MMT, or is on it, and I do read on there now and again, but it's just not my thing.

As far as the boats go once again more info on what you want to do with it and where and how you plan to run it will help us to try and help you. As said before the excel hulls are good I have an older one from 2006 I have had the past 5-6 years from what I can tell it has never had any repairs or punctures. It's got plenty of dings and dents on the bottom but it over all it's still solid and a good hull. But if I hadn't got a deal on it being used I wouldn't be stuck on just excel. Look around do your research get what will work for you. If you get the right boat and a good one it should last you a very long time. As advised already after having my hull that is .125" thick I wouldn't ever go less now. I do run a jet and run rivers where scraping over sand, gravel, mud, and hitting rocks or logs is almost inevitable.