Kicker with a good charging capacity

[bkerr]

Looking for a used kicker for my 18.5' Sylvan with good charging capacity in order to charge my batteries for the electric Xi5 running headings. Currently running a 9.8 Blue stripe Merc approximately 1985 vintage, so I don't think I could retrofit it to run a charging circuit.
Any recommendations as to brand, charging ability, and what model years. I don't need to go over 15 hp. I have been looking and have not been able to find many specs to identify differences. I am running a 36V Motorguide so will have to run the 3 bank charger through an inverter first.
Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[HTHM]

I have a 1996 9.9 mariner with a rectifier that takes care of my needs quite well. Perhaps you could find a kit to fit your motor?

 

[Minnownite]

As htmh stated. Almost any Marine store should be able to get you a magnito and a rectifier so you can charge. They'll want a model and serial number too. That'll be your cheapest option next to upgrading. I've seen 9.9's for $1000-2000 with Chargers. Good luck.

 

[rockin-steelhead]

If your older kicker is not a 4 stroke maybe an upgrade to a 4 stroke with a charging system. A little more money upfront but will see the savings in fuel savings.

 

[noclass]

On a full charge, I can easily troll for 6-8 hours with my 24v Terrova. I agree that charging is nice while trolling and my 15hp Merc Pro-Kicker puts out somewhere around 15amps but I don’t charge my front bank with it. Only the rear bank which does the main starting and the electronics. Wiring in an inverter etc etc seems like a lot of added expense and hassle.

Charge batteries.
Troll for the day.
Recharge.
Repeat.

I agree to the other advantages for upgrading however. Quieter. More efficient. Not gagging on two stroke fumes.

 

[Leaky]

One reason I picked the Honda 9.9 was that the charging capacity was greater than most of the competition. Also when looking at the numbers, remember they always state the maximum output. So when your are trolling at 10% throttle on the kicker, you are not getting the maximum rated output of the charging circuit. So size does matter.

 

[duckman]

Don’t waist your time a kicker will never charge trolling miter batteries enough while out trolling to make a difference put a second bank of batteries but a 36 volt should last more than 8 hours

 

[bkerr]

Thanks for the replies, ill check out the magneto and rectifier route, any suggestions as to which dealer might be more knowledgealbe?

 

[proV2025]

Buy yourself a 3 bank Minn Kota Alternator. It will distribute and charge your three trolling motor batteries whenever the big engine is running once your starting battery is topped up.

 

[RyTek Marine]

The only kicker worth talking about when it comes to being able to charge anything you want is the Evinrude Etec 15HO. Its a complete animal as far as charging goes and I wish I would have rigged the boat with it when I bought it and not a year later like I did! There is not another kicker that will put out anything close to the little etec! It puts out 56amps total with 15amps dedicated to running the engine (41amps total output to accessories) 7amps at 700rpm idle, 14amps at 1500rpm and ramps up to the 41amps at 5500rpm!!!
Here is my setup and I am beyond amazed at how it is working for me!

-24V Motorguide Xi5 running 4-31series 130ah Crown batteries (24v in series/parallel) basically I have double the reserve as the standard setup (my only reason for doing this is I wanted to add 150lbs to the bow to offset the weight of the kicker on the stern)
-Minnkota DC charger (I run it on a switch instead of how the book says...this allows me to turn it on when I want and send power to the bow mount batteries when I want!)
I only run one single starting battery (its a 31series Deep cycle Crown....same batteries as my bow mounts)

I also installed a battery meter up front that I can monitor the battery %

The 15HO puts out amps and sends it to the starting battery via the battery cables. Once the MK DC charger senses that the starting battery is fully charged it then transfers the "extra" charge up to the bow mount batteries.

I installed a "cheater tach" on the dash which was I believe under $40 from amazon.ca. For normal trolling with my almost 19' Lund Crossover at 2mph the 15HO is reving at 1600rpm so its putting out 15+ amps at 2mph trolling speed!

I typically do all my steering with the bow mount and run routes thru my Lowrance HDS and will typically run 5-10mile routes and run all day without touching the steering wheel letting the Motorguide steer and the 15ho do the pushing! I set the bow mount at a 40% prop percentage which works well for my boat.

I have also been fishing Quinte a bit this fall and started running 22" Amish Outfitter trolling bags...not because I couldn't go slow enough with the kicker (it will take the boat down to .6mph all on its own) BUT what I am able to do is run the boat at a slow enough speed for those big fall Walleye (1mph-1.5mph) but still be able to run with the RPM of the kicker up high enough to put out quite a few amps!

Just to give you an idea of what the system is able to do. We went to Quinte on Boxing day and trolled from 7:30 to 4:30 so a full 8hrs. I ran on average the whole day between 1200-1600rpm. I started the day with the bow mounts fully charged. At the end of the day when we got back to the ramp I flipped the battery meter switch and the meter was down to 90%! So basically I fished the whole day with the motorguide doing all the autopilot steering constantly doing zig zags and S-turns and it used aprox 10% of the battery storage!!!

I also went up north this summer to a lodge we go to every year. Its a 20mile lake that we typically follow the shore line casting out one side and set to rods out the other on boards trolling for pike and eye's. Last year without the kicker and using my big motor for pushing and the Xi5 for steering I could only get 6-7 hours before the red light (20% left) came on, I would then need to charge overnight for the next day. This year with the new setup I went the whole week without pluging into the lodge's power and by the end of the 6th day I was sitting at 50%. (The new setup does have double the AH capacity so in reality I would have made it 3 full days before getting down to 50% with the two battery setup I ran the year before....there for I would have only needed to charge the batteries once with the lodge's power!).

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask! These little Etec's are just amazing and flawless and quiet! I should also say I can quite a few days this fall in 5 degree C or colder and not once did the motor cough or sputter and it instantly fires every single time!

Also if anyone is looking for one for a killer deal I know a dealer with a brand new 2012 that has current 10yr warrantee on it!!!

 

[bkerr]

[QUOTE=" I know a dealer with a brand new 2012 that has current 10yr warrantee on it!!![/QUOTE]

I am interested, can you pm me or text me 5195216703 Thanks BKerr