kicker motor questions.....

[aanderud]

I just bought a crestliner 1850 sportfish with a 125 merc on it. The merc is too big to troll with, and the electric motor on the boat is a bit small. It has only a 50# trolling motor on it. I will be looking to upgrade this ASAP as I've tried it out and it's fairly weak, plus there's no autopilot....it gets me around on a calm day, but that's about it.

OK, so first question -- if I was to forgo getting another electric and instead get a 4-stroke kicker, would I need the 25 inch shaft? I have measured my transom where I would mount it, and it's about 24 inches. If I got "short" shaft, they're usually 15 inches. Long is 20 inches, and ultra long is 25 inches. My boat isn't overly huge compared to most that I've seen advertised with a kicker on them, so I'm surprised at the ratio of short shaft to long shaft kickers I can find used. I can't even find an ultra long shaft used. Just wondering what everyone else does. Can you run a kicker with the prop not below the hull?

Second question -- does it pay to get the "remote control" kit with the kicker so you can steer it from the console? I've heard some of others say that they just use their big motor as a rudder and leave the kicker in gear going straight unless it's really windy -- then they have to steer their kicker. I've never used a kicker before, so I have no personal experience.

Next question -- if I was to go electric, will the 80 lb 24 volt autopilot pull my boat around effectively? Anyone have a boat this size that can tell me from experience how well they do on bigger water like Mille Lacs with their electric motors? Obviously on a calm day the 80 lb will pull the boat just fine, but I'm wondering about larger water with some decent sized waves and some breeze. I'm pretty sure the 80 would work, but I'd hate to drop a grand and wish I'd bought a kicker instead. A grand buys a pretty decent used kicker. I've seen the 36 volt 101 lb motors, but I really like the autopilot feature, and for some reason they don't make the 36 volt autopilot.

Anyone here have any inside info on whethere they'll be coming out with a 36 volt autopilot with like 100 lbs of thrust? I'd really hate to buy the 24 volt 80 pounder and have a 36 volt 100 pounder come out next year.

Thanks for any info you might have! Good luck tomorrow (or tonight!)

-Brian

[TSCTSC]

My opinion is that the 50# is way too weak for your 1850. You already know that.

My advice to you on the kicker is to bring your boat to the dealer and ask them which shaft you should get. Basically, the cavitation plate should be in line with the hull where it is mounted, I think. And just to be safe, you should ask a number of dealers so that they do not sell you the wrong kicker. Another option is Cabelas as they also sell the Merc kicker there. Talk to Robin who is the manager of the marine department and you would be able to get some free advice. I think he has a lot of rigging experience.

My current set up is tiller. The cost of the remote is quite significant. I have also little experience with the tiller, but in the last few times I have used it, I find that it is true that the kicker tiller gives me better control than a steering. However, if precise positional control is not important, like trolling the great lakes, you can get a steering rod that connects from your kicker to your main and you could steer your kicker from your console. Finally, if you invest in trollmaster, which I have not have the guts to install yet, you could control the throttle of the kicker from your console. However, you would still need to go back to the kicker if you wanted to shift gears.

Another option of steering the kicker is what someone here talked about too. I think it is a great idea. Have not tried it out yet, but if you could set your kicker straight and then steer with ur trolling motor. If you have autopilot, I think conceptually, it would be a great idea.

[cold one sd]

My boat has a 25 inch transom and I have a kicker with the ultra long shaft. It wasn't necessary to go that long on the shaft length, but I would have had to wait about three weeks for a twenty inch kicker. I personally feel that I am down under the boat far enough to have better control than with a twenty inch shaft. Your dealer should be able to recommend a shaft length for your boat.

[aanderud]

Thanks for the input on the kicker, guys. I definitely know what I want in a kicker, after your comments and some recent research. I'm scoping out an 8 hp yamaha 4 stroke with electric start, electric tilt, and remote control. I can get a really nice used one installed for like 1700 bucks plus tax. The advantage here over electric motor would be no extra battery weight in the boat, and no battery maintenance. Also no battery or charger purchase.

I am still not sure what I'm going to go with. I really don't know if I want to get a kicker or a 24 volt electric autopilot or a 36 volt motorguide DS109. I'll let you know what I decide.

Anyone have experience on how the 80 lb autopilot/powerdrive pulls an 18+ foot 1750 lb boat (including motor) with people/equipment in big wind?

[TravisC]

an 80ap would pull your boat just fine. pulls my 620 ranger all day with good batt.

[Steve Foss]

I'll only weigh in on one point. Trying to steer with the main motor used as a rudder when the kicker is not in any way hooked up to a steering mechanism works just fine on a calm day or when you're going with or against the wind. When you're trying to control the boat in a crosswind, it's a disaster. Mounting a shaft from the main motor to the kicker, as already mentioned, is a cheap way to get the control without shelling out the big bucks. It's also a great deal more convenient to be able to throttle the kicker from the console instead of getting up every time the twist throttle on the kicker winds up or backs down on its own. Got a tiller? Non-issue, then. Got a console? Big issue.

[PerchJerker]

Kicker vs. electric, in my opinion it depends on how you fish and how big of water you fish.

If you troll cranks a lot you're going to want a kicker. I don't troll cranks with my electric motor but I assume it'd work OK in calm conditions and if you were going under 2 mph. But I would think that wind / waves would be trouble, and I would think that you'd be hard pressed to get a full day of trolling out of an electric if you were wanting to go 3-3.5 mph or fight the wind.

If you're a live bait fisherman and not a troller, I think it would be a toss-up. The electric motor would be cheaper, but a kicker gives you more power and more options.

I run my kickers as tiller controlled motors. Great versatility and control, I think you lose a lot of this if your kicker is on remote controls. However, I am toying around with the idea of getting an easily removable steering rod connection between my motors so I can steer from the console if deired. I would also get a TrollMaster throttle control, which would enable me to steer and control speed from the console.

I assume you know about the Merc Pro Kicker, but if not you may want to look at it while you're shopping. Good luck.

[aanderud]

Bought the autopilot 80 lb 60 inch with universal sonar. I think this gives me the best control and really should offer enough thrust.

I may buy a kicker someday, but for now I think I'll be pretty happy with this. Thanks for the inputs, guys.

Now....off to research batteries while I wait for my motor to get here.