ZF and GatorTail: Forging a Path Through the Mud
Part 1
Take a trip down South to meet the founder of GatorTail mud motors and bayou enthusiast, Kyle Broussard. With a lifetime spent in the marshes and the same day-to-day boating experiences as his customers, Kyle combines his deep, swamp-traversing knowledge with engineering expertise to create motors and vessels whose reputation has crossed hemispheres. Relied on by both outdoorsmen and commercial users alike, find out how GatorTail products get the job done.
ZF has been the trusted name in marine propulsion for generations, equipping nearly every type of major commercial and pleasure craft. Our unique partnership with GatorTail Outboards is driven by GatorTail’s shared values of unmatched reliability, innovation, and outstanding customer support.
Born and bred in the heart of Louisiana's Cajun country, specifically in the small town of Loreauville, GatorTail is the original belt-driven, surface-drive outboard manufacturer. This location is no coincidence; Loreauville is perfectly positioned as a gateway to the challenging, vegetation-choked waters of the Atchafalaya Basin, one of the country's most vital duck hunting regions. GatorTail founder and ZF customer Kyle Broussard grew up right here, and one could say that creating GatorTail was destined to be his calling.
Kyle Broussard (Photo: GatorTail)
The Genesis: When Outboards Fail the Bayou
Kyle’s family's passion for the outdoors set the stage for innovation. He joined his family on duck-hunting trips as far back as he can remember, later hunting with his father in high school. The excitement was always palpable: “When I was a kid, I’d get so excited to go hunt that I couldn’t sleep the night before. It was better than vacation.”
His father, Blaine, owned a CNC machine shop and an oil-field equipment manufacturing facility, where Kyle worked after high school, gaining invaluable experience.
“I used to take his customers on a longtail and an outboard tunnel hull to go hunting,” Kyle said.
But the equipment they used was simply not up to the task of the rugged Louisiana swamps. They routinely ran into problems that plagued every hunter or fisherman.
“When the water would get low, the boats wouldn’t run; water pumps would clog with mud and we would have to get out and walk. We tore up enough outboards to know that they couldn't do what we wanted them to do.”
The inadequate motors not only failed to deliver on performance, but also wore out the boaters’ physical stamina and prevented them from maximizing their days on the water.
Building a Better Way
With generations of his family’s passion for the outdoors guiding how he grew up, Kyle knew there had to be a better way to tackle the mud and muck. When the time came for college, Kyle elected a path that spoke to another passion of his: engineering. In his senior year as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, he put an idea to the test that would flip outboards on their head: an air-cooled mud motor.
Kyle took a longtail vessel, dismantled it, and rebuilt it using the powerhead and propeller in his new design. The result, tested in the spring of 2002, was nothing short of revolutionary. He and his father were blown away when they tested it – they could ride through mud without issue.
The father-son duo continued testing and refining the motor, as Blaine recognized the advantage and uniqueness of the design. He invested in the idea, and in 2004, GatorTail was born. (And, yes, Kyle received an “A” on his senior project.)
ZF Boards the GatorTail Fleet
As the business grew, Kyle knew he had to stay ahead of the game. In addition to his steadfast principles of superior customer service and ongoing innovation, he began scouting out ZF gear to level up his vessels’ performance and reliability. The key partnership between GatorTail and ZF took off at an International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans, and the company now incorporates ZF transmissions into all its higher-horsepower vessels.
GatorTail produces a variety of surface-drive mud motors and boats. The popular Extreme Series leads the fleet, while all vessels range from 14’ to 24’ in length and 4’ to 6’ in width, powered by engines ranging from 23 to 40 HP.
The versatility of the custom rigs means they are built for diverse needs:
A mechanic assembles propulsion systems in the GatorTail shop (Photo: GatorTail)
The largest 24’ vessels can even sport dual 40-HP motors on the rear. All of their boats are U.S. Coast Guard-approved and can be used for recreational and commercial applications alike.
GatorTail vessels also support military, law enforcement, wildlife agents, and rescue agency missions, which often operate off the beaten path. The boats are especially equipped for human and animal rescue operations not only in marshy areas, but in floods, storms, fires and other perilous conditions, in addition to daily patrol routes.
Kyle keeps a mantra of “always making something better than what you had.” It’s this relentless mindset that has made GatorTail synonymous with innovative motors and optimized aluminum boats, making them the go-to equipment for traversing swamp or other low water level areas.
Family, Foundation, and Future
While the original idea was Kyle’s, he’s quick to credit his father, Blaine, as the true foundation of the business. From his younger years joining the family on the boat, to his young adult years working for his dad, Kyle’s drive is firmly rooted in family tradition and admiration for his father:
“He’s irreplaceable,” said Kyle.
On his entrepreneurship, he added, “That's all that I knew growing up. My grandfather owned his own business; my parents owned their own business. It just made sense to me. I also would be remiss if I didn’t thank my wife for supporting this dream. I couldn’t do this without her.”
Today, GatorTail is 60 employees strong, and its wake can be seen all around the world, taking on diverse missions that range from saving lives to surveying marshlands, and everything in between.
Kyle and Blaine Broussard (Photo: GatorTail)
Up Next
Part 2: GatorTail Shakes Off the Mud with a Next-Generation Outboard
Read part two for the next installment of Kyle’s story to find out how GatorTail boats are used and where, and the unique partnership between ZF and GatorTail that is based on sheer ingenuity.
Part 3: The Power of Keeping the Bayou Legacy Alive
