gas prices

[BAD TO THE BONE]

hello captains and fisherman, i would like to pick your brains a little bit if i may, i have a mercrusier 5.0 liter inboard outbouard and would like to install a kicker motor this year. i already have the kicker motor 9.9 merc short shaft. can you tell me what kind of bracket you have mounted and if ya like it. should i go with power up or manual? i would rather pay for this than gas 4$, 4.50$ gallon this year. my boat is flat on the stern and about 40" inches of free board with a small swim platform. i think i have room for a bracket but im concerned about the tilt and stering of the kicker.also like the option of having a second motor in case of some mishap with the main engine. one more thing is anyone installed a trollmaster on there kicker motor?and do you like it? i think it would be better if the kicker went up and down on its own power as my back is not as healthy as it use to be.and i am not getting any younger..THINK SPRING,GOOD LUCK TIGHT LINES TO ALL

[boomerang]

well you have a few options here are a few, i dont have a kicker installed but have one and have not yet decided myself how or what to do, as far as motor brackets many options as well they do make a hyrdulic one with tilt and raise function john

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0030613010974a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=ez+steer&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=ez+steer&noImage=0

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0000921017511a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=motor+bracket&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=motor+bracket&noImage=0

[boomerang]

here is another option

http://www.remotetroll.com/index.php

[BAD TO THE BONE]

Thanks Boomer Gonna Go With The Easy Steer For Sure

[TheKingfisher]

We added a Kicker Motor 2 years ago and we've been very happy with it. It deffinatley has saved money on gas, and our main motor is likley a little more fuel efficient than yours. At the moment I can't even think of the brand of lift we bought, it startes with a 'G', I'll think of it, or someone else will... But anyway we kind of positioned ours so we really don't lift the motor on the bracket much at all. If it gets real wavy we sometimes need to put it down because it comes out of the water but we pretty much don't mess with is. Our Honda Outboard has a power tilt and when we power up and are running we tilt it up so it's clear of the water.

We also use the EZ-Steer bar like mentioned in on of the links above. It's worked great. Really hasn't interfered with the steering of the boat, at slow speed, like coming into the dock I do drop the kicker back into the water as the angles can get a little extreme, and the kicker does seem to help with the 'rudder' type action.

I've got some pictures, I've not posted pics on this site before, but i'll try and figure that out here in a minute and put some up!

[Priority1]

Will the short shaft work OK for you?? I know most go with a long shaft model.

[BAD TO THE BONE]

ugg i hope the short shaft will work, gonna be interesting,some of the mounting brackets have about a nine inche drop,so placement is the key,dont want wash the motor every wave, im stuck with the short shaft its on my 14 footer,i only use this boat for spring walleye fishing about 4 weekends,so i want to get more use out of it.trolling with 2 cyllenders is all cheaper than 8,,crossing my fingers

[TheKingfisher]

Ok So this is the first attempt at posting a pic here so we'll give it a shot. Here are some pics of the back of the Kingfisher with the Kicker Motor.

[BAD TO THE BONE]

thanks for those pictures kingfisher,where did you purchase the motor mount for the kicker?does it work well?i see its a long shaft motor,very nice

[boomerang]

hey kingfisher!!! got to love that islander 22ft of floating death to greatlakes gamefish, brought to you by soccer MOM's minivan!!!

[TheKingfisher]

As far as I'm concerned the Islander is the perfec boat for fishing these great lakes. Rides down the road nice without anything real special to pull it, and is large enough to fish 4 comfortabley in just about any weather that you'd actually want to fish in. It's a great boat, we love it.

[boomerang]

pat, i know ive got a "97" and you forgot one of the best part, on dogs days when fishing is slow, just the significant other and yourself, CUTTY CABIN BABY!!! i am sure many guys on here have them, frank (priority1) has one so chime in if you have any issues or questions, we try to help eachother as much as we can!!!

[TheKingfisher]

Bad to the Bone-

The lift is a Gerlick, we bought it where we had the whole system installed which was at Lakeshore Marine in Muskegon. They did all of the work on it, hooked it up to fuel, the remote throttle etc. Yes it is a long shaft and works well, we probabley could have gotten away with the 9.9 as opposed to the 15 however. Seems like if we punch it up much over 3/4 throttle we just don't get anymore speed we just spin the prop. But it will troll it down real slow. I'm considering changeing out the prop on it to something with a high pitch as well since we really aren't looking for the 'speed' so to speak on the little motor.

It's been a great investment, and with gas prices just going up it'll pay for itself in no time. Prior to the kicker we use to run about a 1/4 tank of gas per trip (50 Gallon Tank). Now unless I do some crazy long run (which I have been known to do occasinally much to the dismay of my crews) I'm ueing between a 1/8 and a 1/4 tank per trip. So it's effectivley doubled, if not trippled my fuel effeciency!

Plus, 2 motors is a nice feeling when your outside the sight of land (also something I've been known to do, sometimes to the continued dismay of my crews)...

[BAD TO THE BONE]

thanks pat,i found the bracket on the web.im gonna have to remove my swim platform off the back of the boat to make room for both motors.hate to do that,its where the fish box goes.and its gonna be in the way of the rear corner rigger,still pondering the expence also,i like the redondency of two motors thow,but my inboard outboard runs sweet,never had problem knock on wood,but its also my toy and i take care of it,maintence is the key,have you fished lake ontario in the past?

[TheKingfisher]

Nope never fished Ontario, I've fished Michigan, Huron and Superior.

As for motor placment, yes it can be troublesome. We kind of got lucky and our Scotty Down Riggers have a pretty long boom. So when we fish I extend out the boom all the way and then since we're on swivel bases I just kick them out to make sure nothing bad gets into the prop on the kicker. I also went to a braided line on that rigger, I don't know if it would make a big differnce but I figured if the braid line were to get into the kicker it'd be better than wire line of the rigger? I don't know, didn't want to actualley test me theory...

[JWheeler]

Bad to the bone, I am going to do the same thing on my boat, put on a kicker. I don't have a swim/cooler platform off the back yet, but, I am thinking that you would be able to make a few modifications/alterations to your platform you have already and still be able to use it and have a kicker.

[Priority1]

Bad to the Bone-

Seems like if we punch it up much over 3/4 throttle we just don't get anymore speed we just spin the prop. But it will troll it down real slow. I'm considering changeing out the prop on it to something with a high pitch as well since we really aren't looking for the 'speed' so to speak on the little motor.

You may want to check your WOT (Wide Open Throttle) RPM on the kicker. Changing prop pitch without this information can smoke any engine. Even the prop that is on there now could be way out of spec. One of the nice things about a kicker, it's available if the main engine fails. In this scenario you may have to run wide open. The correct prop for your kicker and boat combination is essential for the utmost economy and performance. Get a prop that will allow the engine to meet the WOT spec under the load that is placed on it.

[BAD TO THE BONE]

JWheeler do you fish lake ontario at all? what is the motor in your thompson? i got the chevy 305 top end is 40 mph,im still pondering the kicker motor thing lot of bucks buy the time i purchase everything,got to like the thompson for rough water nice boat.

[JWheeler]

No I have not fished lake Ontario. My Thompson 210 fisherman has a 4.3L v6 by chevy with cobra heads kicking out about 265HP, top end is around 38MPH. I know my v6 is not the most efficient and can suck gas down pretty good on a normal day of trolling. It is quite a nice boat when I've been in some of the rougher stuff. One day last year in Manistee we went out on Friday night in 5-7'ers which quickly turned into 8-10's, wasn't the most fun in the world, the boat took it, and we were catching fish, but I didn't stay out til dark, wanted to get in b4 it was dark so I could see what I was driving into. But I found the kicker motor for free, my buddy gave me a kicker mount for free, I already have a gas tank for it, and with rising costs of gas it is a no brainer.

[TheKingfisher]

Frank- yes all good points you absolutley right. If we made any changes it would be with the direction of our local Honda dealership. Right now the prop on it is the stock one it came with, but the motor we have isn't the 'kicker' specific model so it has a more standard prop. From talking to the dealership last year I have should have some options that will work in higher pitch, I just need to get the boat and motor in for them to take a look at and see what options they actualley are.

[BAD TO THE BONE]

jwheeler,sounds like all you need is the ez steer from cabelas and your set, my small motor is a short shaft and i dont think its gonna work,prop is gonna come out of the water on wavey days,got to find long shaft