Kicker Motor advice?

[Fishn Technishn]

Well, I know it was Mother's Day but she brought it up!!

She told me to look for a "kicker" motor for the new boat so "she can troll for Muskies/Walleyes etc"

Damn I LOVE that girl!!

Anyways, before I lay out the cash for it, I thought I would ask for suggestions

1/ What motor would you reccommend & why?

2/ What's the BEST way to hang it off the transom? Clamp it on/kicker bracket?

3/ Anything I should watch for/ shaft length( how to determine?)

 

This Motor will be gong on my 16' Sylvan with dual console and 75 HP Merc.

 

I would like to be able to troll slow for Walleyes & faster for Muskies.

Is a BiGfoot or High Thrust one worth the extra etc etc.

 

Thanks FT

[Smokey]

Other then making sure the shaft is the right length for your boat. The only advice I like to offer is try to match your motor to your main one for fuel supply. It just makes it easier using one fuel tank for both instead of fitting a second one on the boat. So if you have a 4 stroke go for the 4 stroke kicker and same with 2 stroke.

[Blue_Axela]

The high trust kickers (Bigfoot, Yamaha T8) are nice, but like you said, you will be spending top dollar on them. That is because they come with fancy features like electric start, electric tilt/trim and some even come with the remote throttle. An alternative is just to buy a used 2 stroke 8HP or 9.9HP for trolling. Four strokes are bit a heavier so make sure your transom can bear the weight. Its nice to be able to use one fuel source for both motors but its not a huge deal to have an extra fuel tank onboard for the kicker if your boat is bigger.

[Uncle Buck]

i wouldn't bother with a remote, but spend the $$ and get a pro-troll control (dial in the speed) much easier then tapping the shifter up/down looking for that sweet spot...

 

on a 16' boat, you won't need a high thrust... boat is small enough to be able to get away with a regular motor...

look at the prop on a 9.9 high thrust, and then look at a regular 9.9 prop, huge difference... the high thrust is made to push a mass (torque) not for speed...

4 stroke definitely... gas ain't getting any cheaper and the 4 stroke is definitely cheaper on gas...

clamp it to your transom if possible much stronger...

bolt it also, many have lost kickers (unclamping.loosening while powering out in waves...)

[Fishn Technishn]

Thank you to all who replied! I am definitely going 4 stroke. Merc, Honda, Yamaha, I haven't made up my mind yet.

How do you determine the proper shaft legth?? Any tips?

 

FT

[Gerry]

I agree with the others that 4 stroke is the way to go. Not for the gas consumption but more so for the no smoke and reduced noise. But are you sure you need a 9.9 HP or even an 8HP? I would think that for a 16' boat a 6HP would be a better fit. I have a 9.9HP ProKicker on the beast that I drive and it is plenty for my heavy rig.

[taper]

I have an 8hp Yamaha high thrust and love it. I would think you could get away with a six but don't think they make a high thrust in a six. I would recomend high thrust if you fish the great lakes at all. On a dual console 16 footer on a windy day you wont be able to steer easily at low trolling speeds, the high thrust allows you to idle and still have control of your boat. In my opinion you can never go wrong with a Yamaha.

[Gerry]

Taper, I don't disagree with you on the Yamaha but what concerns me is the weight. He's probably maxed out with the 75HP on a 16 footer and adding a 4 stroke 9.9 could present problems that cannot be solved without selling the motor or the boat....a major expense. I had a friend who did just that, maxed out a 16 foot aluminum and added a 9.9. He ended up with major problems.....water in his main (on-board) gas tank caused by the fact that stern was sitting too low from the weight of the 2 motors. He ended up selling the kicker and later on the boat too.

[muskymike]

Tiller?

[sonny]

Right now i am running a 4hp yamaha 4 stroke kicker which is more then enough to push me around,,,but consider this when buying a jackplate if you need one(not sure of the configuration of your transom),,,is hooking up steering control from your main motor,

Edited May 13, 2008 by sonny

[Fishn Technishn]

Thanks so far for all of the replies/help. I want a motor big enough that it will get me back to the dock if I have a problem with the main motor( wife not a good swimmer!!!)and weight won't be a problem, I have been in the exact same set up as mine with a 15 Honda ....that's what started this whole thing! Wife liked how smooth/ quiet it trolled.

 

Anybody got any leads on a Merc/Yammy/Honda 9.9 or 15 to fit the bill? I will go NEW if I can't find the right deal but thought I would look around first.

Any thoughts on going across the border to Michigan etc??

 

THANKS again FT

[HTHM]

Check out kijiji, there is quite often good motors on there.

[POLLIWOGG]

Will a 15 kicker plane the boat? If not, why so big?

 

I have a 6hp yami on a 23' and it will bring it up to its hull speed, I couldn't go much faster with a 40hp.

 

The only problem with the 6 is I have to rev it up fairly good for salmon and a bigger motor might give me a little more control on a windy day.

 

The good thing about it is it will move the boat slow enough to jig on a still day and uses about half the fuel of the 7.5 merc that some long fingered ^%$#% took off the boat.

[Fishn Technishn]

Polliwog,

most 9.9's & 15's share the same tech specs/blocks etc. Normally the only difference is a Carb/restrictor plate/cam. Don't want to exclude a good deal just because I said I wanted a "9.9". If you have a 15 instead of a 9.9 you just need to use that much less to get'r done.

Most 9.9's today are a pretty hot commodity, 15 might be easier to locate, that's all? Don't want to limit my options.

 

FT

[POLLIWOGG]

Yeah thats right too, I forgot that would be the same motor..

[LundGuy]

The high trust kickers (Bigfoot, Yamaha T8) are nice, but like you said, you will be spending top dollar on them. That is because they come with fancy features like electric start, electric tilt/trim and some even come with the remote throttle. An alternative is just to buy a used 2 stroke 8HP or 9.9HP for trolling. Four strokes are bit a heavier so make sure your transom can bear the weight. Its nice to be able to use one fuel source for both motors but its not a huge deal to have an extra fuel tank onboard for the kicker if your boat is bigger.

 

 

I just bought a 9.9 4 stroke Yamaha, last years model weighed approx. 112 lbs and this years model weighs 94 lbs. I just sold a 9.9 Merc 4 stoke , last years model and it weighed 84 lbs. The 4 strokes have been getting lighter each year.

[charlied]

I don't know how good Nissan motors are but they are almost a $1000 cheaper for a 9.9 over Mercery 9.9