adding a kicker

[pyro]

hi all 3 weeks and I pick up my new boat legend 16 xcalibur with a 60 mercury.so I have been told I need a 5 or 6 horse power to troll around lake ont. the new 4 stroke r made for trolling around all day so I have been told. anybody have two motors on there boat or do I really need it help thanks

[DRIFTER_016]

You will be fine with the 60.

I ran a 90hp 3 stroke on my 18' Legend for 21 years before upgrading to a 115hp 4 stroke MERC.

It trolls beautifully and with the Smartcraft system I am able to dial in trolling speed in 50RPM increments.

I do have a 4hp kicker but it is for security if I have an issue with the main motor as I travel long distances from town with no cell service.

 

I trolled Lake Ontario for many years on my 90 with no kicker and caught many fish.

[Big Cliff]

I have a 60 Merc on my 16' princecraft about the best I can do is 2mph for trolling which might be ok for lake O but sometimes it is a little faster than I want to go for walleye.

[John Bacon]

hi all 3 weeks and I pick up my new boat legend 16 xcalibur with a 60 mercury.so I have been told I need a 5 or 6 horse power to troll around lake ont. the new 4 stroke r made for trolling around all day so I have been told. anybody have two motors on there boat or do I really need it help thanks

 

I wouldn't consider the kicker as a necessity; but there are benefits to having one. The kicker will give you better control of your trolling speed, provide a backup if your main motor has problems, save some gas, and reduce the wear and tear on your main motor.

 

You can fish Lake Ontario without the kicker; but it would be better to have one.

[John Bacon]

You will be fine with the 60.

I ran a 90hp 3 stroke on my 18' Legend for 21 years before upgrading to a 115hp 4 stroke MERC.

It trolls beautifully and with the Smartcraft system I am able to dial in trolling speed in 50RPM increments.

I do have a 4hp kicker but it is for security if I have an issue with the main motor as I travel long distances from town with no cell service.

 

I trolled Lake Ontario for many years on my 90 with no kicker and caught many fish.

 

How are the three stroke motors on gas?

[DRIFTER_016]

 

How are the three stroke motors on gas?

 

HEHEHE, OOPs.

Meant 2 stroke.

 

I have a 60 Merc on my 16' princecraft about the best I can do is 2mph for trolling which might be ok for lake O but sometimes it is a little faster than I want to go for walleye.

 

True, but there are ways around this.

I can get down to 1.9 MPH with my 115 and if I need to go slower I usually just use my bow mount TM.

Edited April 12, 2014 by DRIFTER_016

[67ZL1]

If you have the room, I would suggest getting a 2cyl 4 stroke - 8 hp? I have a 4 hp single cyl 4 stroke and it does shake. It works ok, but a twin would be the ticket. Last I checked BPS had the best deals on outboards. I would also suggest getting a high thrust prop as well. Way better for fine tuning trolling speeds and boat control.

[scugpg]

If you have the room, I would suggest getting a 2cyl 4 stroke - 8 hp? I have a 4 hp single cyl 4 stroke and it does shake. It works ok, but a twin would be the ticket.

X2. I went through the same thing. Upgraded a 6hp single to a 9.9 twin when I had a kicker. However the lightest twin is around 20lbs heavier. If I had to choose a single cyl kicker it would likely be a late model merc or tohatsu as they have the through prop exhaust. not sure if other brands have that now. should at least make things quieter.

[EME411]

You could install a troll plate. I had one on a prince craft Pro 166 with a 90 4 stroke merc.

[Mike the Pike]

Had a bad experience with the trolling plates as it cracked the foot where it was bolted. as for getting a kicker I say yes much better.I run a 60 hp on a 16 foor boat with the RPM controller I can get down to 1.7 min.

 

Someone here had mentioned go with an 8hp I would say you don't need that on 16 foot boat .All I have is a 2hp Honda with a long shaft connected to a steering bar.The way I look at it the 2 hp saves me a lot on fuel it also put less hours on my main motor and I have the peace of mind of a back up motor should something happen .

[67ZL1]

Had a bad experience with the trolling plates as it cracked the foot where it was bolted. as for getting a kicker I say yes much better.I run a 60 hp on a 16 foor boat with the RPM controller I can get down to 1.7 min.

 

Someone here had mentioned go with an 8hp I would say you don't need that on 16 foot boat .All I have is a 2hp Honda with a long shaft connected to a steering bar.The way I look at it the 2 hp saves me a lot on fuel it also put less hours on my main motor and I have the peace of mind of a back up motor should something happen .

Sorry, what I was trying to suggest is to buy a twin cylinder engine. I think the smallest made now are 8hp.

[wormdunker]

If you decide to only use the main motor, consider a drift sock to slow down your trolling speed. Back in the day we only used a 5 gallon pail tied to the back of the boat to slow it down. It works!

[dracokaos]

I have a 17.5ft Tracker with a 115 HP Opti and ran it the last 2 years on the main motor. I found running it at idle speed was just a little over 2mph. If running with the wind I was a little fast i would just drop the bow trolling motor for some drag but that was on rare occaisions.

[BillM]

If you are spending a lot of time on the big lake trolling for salmon, a kicker is a no brainer.. Just for the fact that if the main dies, you've got another way back... Plus think about all those hours you'll save on the main, simple decision if you ask me.

Edited April 15, 2014 by BillM

[akaShag]

I do not know enough about that particular hull and motor, but almost certainly you will not be able to go slow enough in all situations (think wind straight off the stern) to troll properly.

 

I had several HONDA four-stroke kickers and loved them, when I was doing the Lake Ontario thing a lot.

 

Trolling plates on your main motor "ALLEGEDLY" work, but I bent two of them and found they were finicky to deploy/redeploy even before I bent them all to hell.

 

And as others have mentioned, a kicker is also insurance for your big mill kicking the bucket.

 

Doug

[moxie]

You could install a troll plate. I had one on a prince craft Pro 166 with a 90 4 stroke merc.

Use one now with a 2 stroke 50 and haven't had an issue yet. A tip from a friend if you choose this option is to cut out a notch between fully open and fully closed which will allow you to slow it down to a crawl and still offer you decent steering control in the wind.

 

Edit: The price tag and added weight of the kicker made it an easy decision for me.

Edited April 15, 2014 by moxie