Kicker motor?

[SlowPoke]

If you're considering a kicker, don't waste your time with a small HP. Noisy single cyl drink mixers with above water exhaust and not enough power to handle even a light wind. No too mention, as an auxillery (emergency) motor...almost better paddling.

Do it right with an 8 or 9.9 high thrust minimum 4-stroke for walleye/salmon/trout. Musky guys would benefit from 15-20hp for speeds 4mph and up.

[irishfield]

ummm if a 9.9 can push my Baron at 5.8MPH... but then again I don't care to listen to it so just troll Muskie with the Verado in silence.

[SlowPoke]

ummm if a 9.9 can push my Baron at 5.8MPH... but then again I don't care to listen to it so just troll Muskie with the Verado in silence.

I never said it wouldn't do musky trolling speed but you're not doing yourself any favours running a kicker balls out to hit 5mph when the main motor can do it just above idle. My high thrust 9.9 will do over 5 but I don't think it will hit 6 and at that rate probably using my fuel than my main motor!

[musky666]

I am hoping the 20 Suzuki is as quiet as the big motor.

[SlowPoke]

I am hoping the 20 Suzuki is as quiet as the big motor.

It won't be but it won't drive you nuts. A friend of mine has a Zuki 200 and 20 combo and the only concern is whether it will go slow enough. He has an 18' tho

[KraTToR]

The biggest kicker i've seen is a 15hp and this was on a 21' multi-species boat. Something about running the power steering on a big Verado..

 

I use a 9.9 Pro Kicker on my 17.5' Larson and it trolls 3mph at less than 1/2 throttle, close to 5mph at full. In the odd case that I may need to troll faster or if the wind is really up, I just use the main.

[Old Ironmaker]

I know a 9.9 Merc 2 stroke and a 15 Merc 2 stroke are the exact same engine and wt. with a larger carb on the 15. I know the 20 is heavier because I have to mount both on the boys boats in the spring.

[musky666]

Spent the day on the water today with the new kicker- 20 hp four stroke Suzuki with fuel injection and lean burn. Worked flawlessly, but yes, surprisingly noisier and more vibration than the 225 main motor. Started the day with a full tank of fuel and only needed $19 to fill her up after an 8 hour day with probably 6 hours of trolling/ idling on the kicker, and 40 minutes or less in main motor- very impressed with low fuel consumption as well as the hours I saved on the main motor. Seems to max out about 6.5 mph, and will troll below 1 mph, although ran around the 3.5 mark most of the time, for Musky.

Edited August 15, 2015 by musky666

[leaf4]

Some nice savings there for sure. Glad it worked out for you!

[duke01]

Our old boat was a 17 ft Sylvan with a 115 Johnson on it and we never needed the kicker. When we went to the 20 ft Crestliner with the 300 Merc we put a 9.9 Merc Pro Kicker on it. The thing is louder than our 300 and much fussy to start. However, you can adjust speed and save on fuel nicely. If you are doing long off shore trips on the Great Lakes i believe it is an important safety tool in case of main engine problems.

[BillM]

My T8 High thrust Yami is definitely louder then the 115 main. But she sips fuel, I can deal with the extra noise.

[davey buoy]

That's why I bought a electric for a couple reasons. Moving around,and let me get to shore in case a problem with the main.Maybe not 8 miles or more out in rough conditions.

Edited August 15, 2015 by davey buoy