I have some issues with my back, so I can't stand in the boat to run the mud motor-well I can, for about 3 minutes and 12.61 seconds, then it's just too painful. And pain means no fun, and I don't go the lake/river to hurt all the time. I'd just as soon sit in my Tempress seat and run a tiller steered outboard. Still hurts some but NOTHING like having to stand up and try to WORK the mud motor.
I don't use my boat anymore for what a mud motor's really designed for. I value my equipment. But I was also young and dumb at one point and run across a deal on a well modified older welded Duracraft (Noah) with a go-devil, and latched onto it thinking this'd be great for duck hunting. It wasn't too bad but the problem I ran into was steering, maneuvering it around between the trees in tight flooded timber, the noise, and the fact that sorta like 4x4, you get a false sense of security in that you "think" you can go anywhere with it....and they will if there's enough water...but it also has a tendency to beat the crap out of the bottom of the boat, and in my case, beats the motor up too (and my arms from trying to hold onto it). Duck hunting went into the past (for me) for many reasons, and I sold that boat for considerably more than I paid for it; and the new owner said he got a great deal on it. I'm glad he liked it. Was boatless for a good while, then picked up a 12 footer with no motor for floating around, liked it, but it was stolen out of the back of my El Camino, and I was disgusted to the point where I didn't even want to fish anymore. Work got in the way, and drag racing, went about 5 years without going. Coworker asked me if I wanted to go with him to the lake, I already had plans, but went anyway-and the rest is history. Bought a brand new boat, put a used motor on it (that ended up being free), and still have it to this day....just a typical 25hp outboard with a prop (no jet), and it works perfectly fine for what I need it for. One particular river-gravel/rocky bottom and shallow in some areas, I fish it once in a while and usually rent a long skinny river boat designed specifically for that river, with a jet outboard....which will run fine in a few inches of water. It's to the point where the boat doesn't even have to float, just drag across the gravel bottom, and I'm still ok with the motor running in it. DOesn't affect it. I HAVE gotten hung up on a shoal before but the neat thing about those boats is that the bottom is sorta banana shaped fore to aft, so if you get stuck, walk forward and usually it just floats on off of the hangup. If not, get out and it pulls right across manually-very easily, but makes for an interesting trip. Done it several times.