to kicker or not

Fish Whisperer

Fish Whisperer

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
Ok I am putting this out for discussion. My new boat has twin 150 out boards. I can shut one down and troll with one no problems as it will idle at 600 RPM. The issue it it does not have auto pilot. Have have kept the 9.9 kicker off my old boat. It's has auto pilot. It will not adapt over to new motors. I can buy an auto pilot for the big motors , but is good for the motors to run at low RPM like that for extended periods 5-6 hours at a time. What are your thoughts.
 
I troll all day with a 140hp four stroke no problem I don't know how well a two stoke would work
 
Yes bags work but the real question is how many hours do you want to put on a motor that will cost you north of 15 grand to replace? Also if they are 2 strokes do you want to smell fumes all day if the wind changes direction and comes from a stern?
I can troll with my 150 optimax 2 stroke but choose not to for reasons above.
 
They are 4 stroke. I am concerned about hours. They have less than 190 hrs now. I would have more throttle precision with kicker.
 
4 strokes can idle with no real issue. Plugs will not foul. As for gas consumption... even with a 150 you banging on a bigger engine block therefore your trolling for 5-6 hrs will cost you at least 3 times the gas you will burn in a 9.9 i would guess. Since your not worried about having a "get home safe backup engine" it really comes down to economics. If your a charter... it comes down to how much you can put back either into your pockets or into your business rather than into your gas tank. You already own the 9.9 so mounting on the boat should be a simple task. It already has autopilot on it so there is no further requirements for electronics. Seems simple to do some math as to the cost of gas burned in the 150 vrs 9.9...
 
I put a 9.9hp and a 350hp on my new boat. I did that over dual 200hp to keep the hours off the big motor -- I think it worked out to be a bit less $$ as well. My auto-pilot runs both engines.
 
low RPMS = low temperature = carbon build up+ cloggage= PROBLEMS LONG TERM is my guess. as the hotter the engine runs the more shit it burns off the cleaner it combusts. thats just thinking off the top of my head but sounds right to me. and you will also run the hours up on your engines and decrease the resell value at some point yah wanna sell.
 
absoulutely set-up your trolling motor for trolling ...I have a honda 15 hp long shaft mounted on a gerlink heavy duty motor mount....the honda burns a litre an hour trolling...it also has enough horsepower to get my boat back to port if I run into motor trouble with my my primary 115 merc ob...another great feature is i have a charging harness connected from my honda outboard to a spare battery to run all my electronics
 
When pic or salmon fishing I have trolled my 90 Honda all day long for the last 15 years without so much as a hiccup. I change the plugs every 3 years and even then they still have no build up on them. I think if anything has built up on them it must be blown off on the trip back in. The newest 4-stroke outboards burn even cleaner and should not be a problem if you wish to go that way because they are designed to troll all day.

 
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what happens when you have engine failure out on the water and you don't have a secondary motor to get you back in ....
 
Ben, I have found on a large boat like yours a kicker is only good when the lake is fair. My buddie has a 252 Baja fisherman, he purchased an extra long 15 hp four sroke(big foot) with the trolling prop and all, it was ok on good days but a bit of wind and waves an we were always back to the inboard. Splitting your trolling time between the 2 motors is the way to go from my experience. Gord, your neighbour......p.s. bagged 17 sun.
 
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we trolled with a yammy 125 for 6 years ,now we got the new boat with the evinrude 225 and a merc 15 prokicker ,The yammy never gave us a seconds problem but that pro kicker is sweet ...I would have a kicker on any new boat from now on for sure ...the 15 will push the 23dc proline at 7 miles a hour at full speed so it will get us back in but it will take a while ,,lol Dutch
 
as I mentioned usin a honda 15 hp long shaft for a kicker on my 17 foot deep v fibreglass ...I also use my honda 15hp to run my 14.5 foot lund aluminum with a 20 inch transom...and run a Suzuki 2.5 hp 4 stroke for a kicker...it ways only 28 pounds with the gas tank attached...it also fits perfectly on my quad for remote specs and lakers in algoma...lol
 
Dutch said:
we trolled with a yammy 125 for 6 years ,now we got the new boat with the evinrude 225 and a merc 15 prokicker ,The yammy never gave us a seconds problem but that pro kicker is sweet ...I would have a kicker on any new boat from now on for sure ...the 15 will push the 23dc proline at 7 miles a hour at full speed so it will get us back in but it will take a while ,,lol Dutch
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Have you tried the 15 kicker into a 30 kph wind with 3-5 ft. waves? When the lake blows up suddenly is usually the time an engine seems to quit and if it does you might as well have a paddle in your hand because your not going anywhere anytime soon. Been there done that and it was a very humbling experience.
 
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Wave Runner said:
Have you tried the 15 kicker into a 30 kph wind with 3-5 ft. waves? When the lake blows up suddenly is usually the time an engine seems to quit and if it does you might as well have a paddle in your hand because your not going anywhere anytime soon. Been there done that and it was a very humbling experience.
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I have a 9.9HP Yamaha kicker on a 25ft boat that has a sail of a hard top. I have been in that wind/waves with it and I got 5mph into the wind/waves. The big prop has enough to push you.

In hindsight I am not sure if I would have been happier with twin 200s over the kicker. But the 350 is amazing. Not that bad on fuel either considering its a 5.3L V8 running at 4000rpm for 30mph. I get a full 2.2 mpg so says the fancy yamaha gadget. I burn ~$75 for a day out in the elbow from Turkey Point.
 
have you guys ever experienced a west or east 20 knot wind in the outer bay at the end of long point ? well I have and more then once... it has to be one the of the most treacherous locations on lake erie ...One time coming back from the light house (after filling the cooler full with salmon(10)) on a west wind storm...I broke my dash on my boat going into the worst head wind you could imagine...I come off a wave and come down right into the trough and just smashing the bow...it would just make you dread every wave...we were out there that day with another boat a 27 foot bayliner and he was havin the same problem making his way back smashin his bow...are boat speeds were just enough to stay on plane at approx.12 mph we made it in 4 hours later....There was another memorable day filling the cooler with salmon and trout out at the lighthouse... I had a dead starting battery... so my brother and I decided to come in on my 7.5 hp merc kicker...we had a nasty west head wind!!!... it took us 4.5 hours to make it back from the lighthouse into the turkey point marina..approximently 17 miles...after that experience I can honestly say having a trolling motor on your boat is a must have...today my boat is well equipped with 2 batteries that are continously being charged with my trolling motor. For kickers I have had a 7.5 hp merc, then an 8 hp honda...now I have a 15hp honda with a charging harness....they all were long shaft motors to work properly with a deep V hull boat... I think a 9.9 hp is to small...a 15 hp is a good size dual purpose secondary motor to have..
 
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