Small outboard for rear trolling motor?

[AaronM]

Going to an 18 foot tiller, has anyone ever put on a 2.5 or 4 HP 4-stroke outboard instead of an electric trolling motor? Pro's and cons of doing this?

My reasoning

Pro's

• no need to charge batteries
• don't have added weight of 2 batteries
• ALWAYS enough power

Cons

• Higher upfront cost
• louder operation

Any thoughts?

[DREZLER]

well I run an 18 foot tiller and I can say that I don't think I would ever want slash need a "kicker". Usually an 18ft boat will have a motor that will idle down low enough to effectivley troll and backtroll. Then all thats left is your very precise manuevering, which can be more effectively done with a varaible speed transom trolling motor like the vantage. I own one and the very best thing about it is how sharply you can turn compared to an outboard, where you very limited. Furthermore, with a troller you have a shallow water option. And I would not even count the added weight of 2 more batteries as a factor.

[gregg52]

RIGHT the kicker is going to balnce out the weight

and i agree i had a 17.5 it was fiberglass tiller for 20yrs it only had a 60 hp motor on it but didnt take much of a chop to troll backwards with it and i only had 1 battery for

eletric motor and actually if you get on glass flat water with

kicker at certain time of the yr you might not be albe to go slow enuff

i had like 48 lb thurst that was powerful enough until to big of chop then i would switch to the main motor and now days the main motors are way more quiter than my 89 just match the horsepower dont over do it to go 5mph faster

i use to fish tourments on mill lacs and the time i lost getting to the spot was well made up with the boat control i had

[AaronM]

RIGHT the kicker is going to balnce out the weight

and i agree i had a 17.5 it was fiberglass tiller for 20yrs it only had a 60 hp motor on it but didnt take much of a chop to troll backwards with it and i only had 1 battery for

eletric motor and actually if you get on glass flat water with

kicker at certain time of the yr you might not be albe to go

Wouldn't a small small kicker be able to idle down just as well as a trolling motor? Also I understand my big motor will be fine for trolling speeds unless it's flat calm out, but what about the times you want to sit on a reef jigging and don't really need to move? Wouldn't a small 2.5 be able to sit you down on a larger boat like an 18 footer?

[gregg52]

I really cant answer that about a small gas motor I have a t-8

yammie on a 20 fter but i havnt used it enough to really say how slow it would go i'm not familiar with a 2.5 never been around or used one

one thing that wil make a difference is what kind of boat you

have tin .vs glass....how much it weighs alot of tin boats will weather vain on you

i can just go on what i had and i prided myself in boat control

weather it was a small lake or winnie or mille lacs

i have big wheel boat now and cant say i have that it not bad but still not as precise

[DREZLER]

I would say that even a 2 or 3 horse kicker is still not going to give you the pin point speed control that the transom mount trolling motor can offer. Plus you don't have to listen to it. And again, with 2x and 4x steering you only have to turn that troller handle 15 degrees to swing 90. What you will find with the kicker is that since it is on just the one corner of the boat, there is times when it's inability to be turned very sharply during backtrolling will render it useless.

[Carpenter]

One plus to the gas kicker is safety, especially if you're on bigger water. If for some reason you can't get your main motor to run that kicker can get you home or to shore (slowly). The electric might get you there if it doesn't run out of juice, but if it's windy you might be up that creek w/o a paddle.

[CRAZYEYES]

I woudl deffinately go for a small gas kicker. My cousin just put a new 2.5 honda on his and its a 4 stroke and is super quiet and is relly good on gas. There is no question that it nice for backtrolling when there is a little chop and no need to worry about battery charging. We fish some big water and I would also agree about the safety thing, It will get you to shore if the main engine breaks down. I have a 4 horse but still have an electric on the bow.