Boat question
 

So I may sound like a total dumdum here but we just bought a 16 foot vanguard with 80hp and it can with a 50 lbs minn Kota and a 4hp troller among other things. I am anything but a boat genius. We plan on putting this thing in average alberta lakes using the launch etc. maybe we will someday graduate to a over like the NSR or Athabaska.

My question is, do I need both little motors? Or am I just complicating things for myself. If I only keep one of the smaller guys, which do you recommend?

The minn kota
 

Is the Elect motor a Bow Mount .

If yes ,then it has a totally different application then the small gas motor .
The kicker on a big boat used for forward trolling of hard baits ,

The answer is for full function fishing , you can use them all

Glad I asked. Yes. Minnkota is bow mounted. What are the differences exactly? Also I presume kicker is the rear mounted troller?

Keep them both and time will tell what to keep.
I would keep the 4 hp gas engine just for the reason one day you will be on the other side of the lake and the main engine will not start because the batteries are dead or what ever.

I would just leave both of them on. No reason not to and its always nice to have options other than paddling, when sh!t hits the fan.


I would not put a fiberglass boat with an 80hp prop motor in the Atha.B or North Sask. rivers. That's just asking for trouble. Both rivers have sand/gravel bars and change depths quickly. You could easily end up wrecking your prop or damaging the lower leg.

Stick to lakes with that boat. :)

I have both on my boat. I must say that I use the gas kicker much more than the electric so if I had to choose one it would be the gas. The gas can allways get you home and depending on your kicker might be able to charge your battery as well.

im for the gas kicker too

I would suggest keeping them both on and get familiar with how to use both.

They are each meant for different purposes. Make a decision after you have used them both for the season. You may want to keep both.

X2

I take the bow off unless I am going out for walleye

If you are wanting to fish trout then you will need the kicker for sure.

BTW carefull about going on any river without a jet good way to send a prop and leg to the promised land.

Is there anything that makes the evinrude (appears to be 4 hp) two blade prop troller motor (guy who sold it refers to it as a troller) that came with the boat and the 5 hp 3 blade outboard I used I have on the old tin can boat better or worse as a kicker?

Very sound advice...I would keep both as well. Better to have and not need than need and not have (as you will see below)

BUT...if you are absolutely convinced you need to decide between the two...keep the rear mounted troller (kicker).

I speak from experience on this: twice now I have been caught on big water in a precarious position due to mechanical failure of the main 90 HP motor. In both situations, I would've killed to have a kicker as a back-up to get me off those lakes. Thankfully, both scenarios ended well...but both were life threatening.

And now, because of this, I have a 15 HP kicker....and still no bow mount electric.

Bump. Plz and thx.

Other than one HP in size not much difference at all. 5 HP be marginally better though with the 1 HP extra if boat is weighted down or it is windy. Would also think the 3 blade prop be a bit of an advantage as well.

As stated before, the bow mount and rear mount "trolling" motors are different beasts. Bow mount is excellent for working shorelines in the shallows casting. Use mine exclusively at Wabamun when casting in the shallows for pike for example. Rear "trolling" motor be used for trolling as using the big motor, especially older higher horsepower 2 strokes, it was sometimes hard to get going slow enough unless using a drift sock to slow you down and the motors tended to "load" up (fuel issues) which made prolonged trolling with them a pain.

As mentioned before, going on a river out here with your style boat is not recommended.

All of the above is posted in my humble opinion.

What kind of 4 hourse is it?

Rude makes a couple of kinds one being the 360 ( Don’t remember if that was the actual model name. It had 360 degree steering)
The 360 if VERY MANUVERABLE and a great engine. Only disadvantage is there is no neutral so if you want to stop you have to cut the engine, it is however, very easy to start. It came with a 2 blade weedless prop and vectored the exhaust down to push the weeds away. We had one for years until it was stolen. When we replaced it we got the 4 HP with neutral and reverse because no one had the 360 at the time. After having both I would go again with the 360 as long as you can sit close to the engine. If your planning on hooking the small kicker to the larger engine via linkage for steering I would not go with the 360.

Good Luck