High thrust vs regular 9.9hp kicker
- Thread starter Kbreks
- Start date
Reel Therapy
Well-Known Member
I have a 9.8 high thrust Tohatsu on my 20' and love it. You will not get as much speed as you would with a 3 blade prop but for trolling you can run a little higher RPM with the HT prop which I find the motor runs better. Just my 2 cents
I use a Merc Pro Kicker on my 18.5 footer and wouldn't be without it. Electric start, throttle, alternator, power trim & tilt, easy to add steering rod to join them. Spoil yourself. Don't think they are high thrust, come with a funky 4 blade prop.
Puggz
Well-Known Member
A high thrust is designed to be used as a kicker whereas the reg. motor is for all speeds in a small boat. IE.a tinny. I recommend the 15hp merc pro-kicker because it has fuel injection and starts much easier than the carburated versions, and its not a lot more $ over the 9.9. The pro kickers also have centreing straps that hold the engine in the centre when tilted all the way up.
you can also get the fuel injection in the 9.9 Not all shops sell them or even know about them. I know a guy that bought his up in the Kawartha's then I went to the Power Garage one day when I was around there and they said what you just did, 15 hp. So some shops just don't know... or they want you to spend more than you need to.
The simple answer is yes. It is worth the cost difference.
Much better speed and boat control, but something no one mentioned yet, is the battery charger. A high thrust motor will likely have a higher amp charger as it's designed for trolling, and since you are running at higher RPM it will also have the capacity to output more charging amps.
An oversized inverter/charger and higher operating RPM's is a great combination to keep your batteries charged on the water.
Much better speed and boat control, but something no one mentioned yet, is the battery charger. A high thrust motor will likely have a higher amp charger as it's designed for trolling, and since you are running at higher RPM it will also have the capacity to output more charging amps.
An oversized inverter/charger and higher operating RPM's is a great combination to keep your batteries charged on the water.
1st of all I am a big fan of Yamaha outboards, my new boat will be powered by one, but the only thing I would point out is the Yamaha kicker is not EFI.
"High Thrust" means different things to different manufacturers it seems. To some, the HT is just a 'high thrust' prop which is a 4 blade low pitch prop meant to propel heavy boats at low speed, it does not necessarily include alternators or anything else. A normal 3 blade on a heavy boat just spins out and over-rev's in a lot of cases and the HT prop makes a huge difference. As I recall, Merc makes a standard 9.9, a Command Thrust model (which I think is just lower gear ratio and 4 blade HT prop, and the pro-kicker which includes all the power trim, alternator, and the CT options.
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Kbreks
Well-Known Member
Good to know. So many different options with different manufacturers. Easy to get confused. Seems that most 9.9 have an alternator. Ive only used a short shaft 2 stroke 9.5 kicker and it didnt work well because it was too short so i am having a hard time figuring out what is my best option in my price range. I have called a few places but it ends up just being a sales man trying to blow smoke up my ass and not actually answering questions i have.
Just looking at the Merc Lineup, the standard 9.9 has no alternator, the CT has a 6amp and the Pro-kicker has 12 amp. Also, the 9.9 PK is also now EFI instead of carburetor. I have a 2016 9.9 carbureted Pro-Kicker and it was a total pain to start for the first couple of years but it works fine now. Lots of others have had the same experience but I have no clue why. Also, just to offer fair warning, if you choose to go remote controls you're looking at another $2k or so for all the cables, wiring harnesses, control box etc etc etc. It is expensive but a super nice setup.
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quackers
Well-Known Member
If 3000lb is the hull weight it may be up to 2000lb more once you add motors, fuel, batteries and people, plus water in the livewells. As far as factoring what you'll need to move the boat well trolling. I have an Evinrude/Tohatsu 9.8hp on an Alumacraft 205, and it does fine for my needs. I just run it straight and use the Ulterra to steer. To add electric start, tilt and controls and a steering link would have added about $6K more to the basic hand steer/throttle Kicker.
Kbreks
Well-Known Member
I weighed it at the scales for a more accurate weight. Boat, trailer, motor, batteries etc is 3500lbs. But ive come to the conclusion thay im not willing to spend $5000+ on a kicker and heavier kicker bracket so i will not be purchasing one this year unfortunately.