Kicker Motor

[galspal]

Hey guys,

I bought a new boat last summer a 21' thunderjet with a 150 yamaha outboard on it. Now its put away for the winter but in anticipation for my months holiday on Van Island next summer I am putting together a wish list.

The main thing I am wanting to get is a kicker motor. I was wondering what would be the best option for my boat? and where to look in the calgary area?

Any info would be great!

Thanks guys

[cube]

Originally Posted by galspal

Hey guys,

I bought a new boat last summer a 21' thunderjet with a 150 yamaha outboard on it. Now its put away for the winter but in anticipation for my months holiday on Van Island next summer I am putting together a wish list.

The main thing I am wanting to get is a kicker motor. I was wondering what would be the best option for my boat? and where to look in the calgary area?

Any info would be great!

Thanks guys

Anything between a 6 hp and 9.9 hp will be fine.

I would go with a 9.9 prokicker. I have the Merc which is made by tohatsu and is very good with no complaints. I have it rigged so I can control all functions from the steering wheel including tilt which is nice but does make steering slower compared to a tiller handle.

If your getting a non prokicker I would certainly get one with an alternator to keep the batteries charged for all the toys. Here the Honda might be a bit better as it has a 12 amp alternator instead of the 6 amp on the merc. Not sure about the out put on the Yammy's

Mount your kicker to balance the weight out from side to side on your boat. ie if you have a lot of battery weight on the starboard it might be a good idea to mount the kicker on the port side.

I'm sure you will love it

[SamSteele]

I have a new 9.9 ProKicker on my boat and I would probably get a Suzuki if I had to do it over again. The ProKicker is carbed, which makes a tough initial start each day even in the middle of summer. The Suzuki is EFI. Flip the key and off it goes.

The quick tilt on the ProKicker is nice though.

SS

[TROLLER]

Great boat 21 Thunderjet is heavy and I do not think a 9.9 is going to be all that good on the ocean, maybe running high throttle constantly.

That size and weight a boat on the big water you should maybe consider 15 min or even a good 20 hp. Yamaha or Honda is a great motor but the best price by far is the Merc and no one can come close to the Bass guys price. Just make sure you get one with the power tiltsand trim.

[Bitumen Bullet]

Used a Mercury 9.9 Bigfoot (Prokicker) for a season on a much heavier boat and can recommend it.

No problem starting, so much so I didn't use the electric start. It was sensitive to low octane alcohol fuel, premium no ethanol meant no problem.

But it is so torquey that a 10hp mount will be too weak, 15hp mount would be my recommended minimum.

[cube]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

Great boat 21 Thunderjet is heavy and I do not think a 9.9 is going to be all that good on the ocean, maybe running high throttle constantly.
.

Then why do most of the 24 foot, and larger, kingfishers I see on the ocean have 9.9's.

I thought this was weird the first time I saw this but when I looked it up the consensus was that after the first 10 hp all the rest of the energy would be used up trying to crawl the standing wave in front of the boat. Hence unless you had enough power to plane you would not be going any faster just wasting gas. They also said that if you could not control the boat with smaller kicker you'd need to use the big engine anyway and having a 15 or 20 would not be enough in that situation.

[EZM]

A 9.9 will push a pretty big and heavy boat around with no issues.

The reason, in many cases, you see a 15hp/20hp kicker on some boats is simply because the amount of amps the bigger motor kicks back into the batteries so you can run and maintain your VHF radio, downriggers, electronics, lights, etc...

Some 9.9's simply don't kick back enough juice - so going to the next size up, in some cases, doubles the amount of amps pushed back into your batteries.

All Honda's kickers from 8hp up to 20hp kick out 12 amps. The 9.9 Mercs only kick out 6 amps and you need to go up to a 15hp before it kicks out 12 amps.

And .... In terms of thrust ....

If the chop is really heavy and you can't control your boat with a 9.9 and 20hp isn't going to be much better anyways.

A 9.9 will be more than enough for that boat.

[Walleyedude]

The newer Merc ProKickers are really good, I ran one this year and was very impressed with it. You wouldn't go wrong with one, but since you have a Yamaha main motor already, to my mind, the answer is pretty clear.

Yamaha T8 if you can find one, they were, and likely still are, the gold standard of kicker motors. If not, the new T9.9 is likely just as good. VERY reliable, and plenty of power, you don't need anything bigger than that in my opinion.

[Duramaximos]

I'm running a 9.9 Merc ProKicker on my TJ 20' Luxor.
It's been a great motor in all regards. Starts right away, pushes the boat around with ease, and keeps my downrigger batteries topped up. Used it for 10 days fishing the WC this summer.

Excellent value too if you buy during Bass Pro's spring sale. Picked mine up for $900 less than the next lowest quote I could find.

I would rather support a smaller local company, but they didn't even want to budge on their price, and were very arrogant about the whole thing.

[SamSteele]

Looks like I'm in the minority with my ProKicker. Wonder if there is an adjustment I need to make to get it fire up quicker cold? First time starting each day it will take 30 seconds of cranking to get it to actually run on choke. I can't see that being good for the starter over the long term.

Once it has been run once, it starts up just fine and runs great. If I could get it to fire up quick the first time I would be more than happy with it.

SS

[Okotokian]

I've got a 15 hp merc 4 stroke on the port side of my 17 1/2' Princecraft. Main engine is 115 hp Merc 2 stroke. You have a fairly big boat at 21'. I wouldn't go below 15hp. I use it for trolling obviously, but I also think of it as my back-up should my main engine go out. Might take a long time to get home with a 6 hp on a 21' boat on the ocean.

[Drewski Canuck]

If you are in a heavy current area, such as a narrows between islands on a flood tide, you want power. If there is a wind and you are into it or quartering into it, you want power.

If your main quits and you are limping in on the kicker you want power.

A 9.9 is fine except when the hull is big, in a current or it is catching wind. That is why you see the hours on a lot of salt water boats because they often have to troll with the main in what is pretty common conditions.

As such, get a 15. sometimes we are trolling at 4.5 mph to get hits and that cannot be done easily with a 9.9 if there is any resistance.

I would love to get panther steering and remote start / tilt, but now you are talking $4500 for the kicker. However, having used one this summer, and being a sucker for wanting toys, just ask SANTA REAL NICELY!!!

Drewski

[skidderman]

I have a 20 Thunderjet and run a suzuki 9.9 with electric tilt and electric start. Am happy with it.

[PerchBuster]

9.9 will do the job most of the time. But if you want the job done each and every time my suggestion is 15 hp. You just can't go wrong with the extra power when needed but can troll down slow enough like a 9.9. It's not a huge difference but enough that it's nice to have when conditions dictate. Like others have already said, limping around in rough water or even trying to just get back on the trailer you will appreciate a little more umph! when you really need it. I know I sure did on a couple outings in the past

[Duramaximos]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Looks like I'm in the minority with my ProKicker. Wonder if there is an adjustment I need to make to get it fire up quicker cold? First time starting each day it will take 30 seconds of cranking to get it to actually run on choke. I can't see that being good for the starter over the long term.

Once it has been run once, it starts up just fine and runs great. If I could get it to fire up quick the first time I would be more than happy with it.

SS

I would certainly be tinkering with it.
The most i have ever cranked mine was 10 seconds and that was probably my fault. If i listen carefully to how the motor sounds i can usually add or remove just the right amount of choke to get it fire in a few seconds.

Good luck!

[Walleyedude]

Do some research on dedicated kicker motors like the ProKicker and Yamaha T series. VERY different than the standard 9.9. The gearcases and props are designed for heavy loads and trolling and will outperform a standard 15 or 20 HP in that application every time.

[Duramaximos]

Just my observation from my limited exposure to Port Hardy this summer...

80 percent of the charter boats run twins without kickers the other 20 percent were I/O and running 9.9 and 20 hp kickers.

Of the private boats about 80 percent ran 9.9 kickers and the other 20 percent were running 20 hp.

I was very inexperienced but never felt underpowered moving the boat around in moderate chop. Fortunately i didnt have to rely on it in a bad weather situation.

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Looks like I'm in the minority with my ProKicker. Wonder if there is an adjustment I need to make to get it fire up quicker cold? First time starting each day it will take 30 seconds of cranking to get it to actually run on choke. I can't see that being good for the starter over the long term.

Once it has been run once, it starts up just fine and runs great. If I could get it to fire up quick the first time I would be more than happy with it.

SS

The older Pro Kickers were notoriously hard starters. Google the carb mod to drill out the brass cover and adjust the idle screw. They come calibrated extremely lean for emissions reasons.

My understanding is the new ones use a different carb, and they're still cold blooded, but they start and run much better.

[SamSteele]

Originally Posted by Walleyedude

The older Pro Kickers were notoriously hard starters. Google the carb mod to drill out the brass cover and adjust the idle screw.



My understanding is the new ones use a different carb, and they're still cold blooded, but they start and run much better.

Mines a 2015 so should be the newer style.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Mines a 2015 so should be the newer style.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like it's starving for fuel. They don't have strong fuel pumps.

Make sure the primer bulb on the fuel line is solid first thing. Give the primer button a few good pushes too. I'd also suggest running some Quickleen (SP?), amsoil Quickshot or other fuel additive to deal with water, fuel gumming and ethanol. I found that made a big difference, especially if I wasn't using the kicker every time out and it sat for longer times. The jets in the carb are really small and the plug up easily.

[fish99]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Looks like I'm in the minority with my ProKicker. Wonder if there is an adjustment I need to make to get it fire up quicker cold? First time starting each day it will take 30 seconds of cranking to get it to actually run on choke. I can't see that being good for the starter over the long term.

Once it has been run once, it starts up just fine and runs great. If I could get it to fire up quick the first time I would be more than happy with it.

SS

open the throttle part way push in key when turning and it should start right away, mine had a hard time starting cold until the throttle was opened , good luck

[snowman160]

9.9 kicker on my 18' Lund an it pushes it to fast..need to use a sock to slow er down..

[cube]

Originally Posted by Walleyedude

Sounds like it's starving for fuel. They don't have strong fuel pumps.

Make sure the primer bulb on the fuel line is solid first thing. Give the primer button a few good pushes too. .

X2!