Upgrading kicker

[Nautitroller]

Looking to upgrade my kicker motor,  currently I have an 8hp high thrust honda without electric start or tilt. It's been pretty bullet proof but I'm tired of reaching over and also pulling the starter cord and tilting it up or down. 

So far the mercury pro troll 9.9 has the lead. 

It has a more powerful charging system,  EFI, and touts more torque.. I currently run a tailfin remote controlled steering unit which would transfer. 

Here's my big question. Do any of these EFI 4 4 strokes have digital control of the throttle? I know I can do like an ( i troll ) but that's basically just controlling a servo motor.. I have a call into mercury to see if their " troll control" is compatible with the pro kicker.. with efi seems like it should be more then just pushing a throttle cable... 

[Andre wallyandre]

2 of m friends has bought Suui 9.9 and net season will be their 3rd and until now the didn't have an problem and I fish with both and that motor is so quiet compare to m pro-kicker. I f I ever need to bu another kicker it's going to be a Suzuki.

[Cody191]

Suzuki 9.9 here also. Bulletproof.

[Fishmaster196]

x3 on the Suzuki best kicker i've ever owned. I have run it for 7 seasons without a single issue.

[rolmops]

I also bought a Suzuki and I am very happy with it. This was after a Tohatsu 9.8. The quality of Suzuki and Tohatsu is much the same. Tohatsu is a lot cheaper, but you shoud be aware that if you buy the tiller version it will not have the ability to run a steering shaft. (it does not have the pipe that it would go through.) The Suzuki I bought is an extra long shaft with tilt and trim. It runs clean and very quiet.

I fiddled around with Tailfin and similar wireless speed/steering setups but I was  less than happy with it, mainly because it has very little finesse. At one point I tried to combine a trollmaster with a tailfin. which did not solve the steering roughness one bit. So after a few thousand dollars of trying to go the cheap way to get wireless speed and steering control I did the smart thing. A Garmin auto pilot. It cost me about 3K but I love it. Now the kicker/auto pilot has freed me from the wheel! No more one person having to be on the wheel . Speed and direction hanging from my neck and just pointing it at a direction and pushing a button and it all happens in a graceful way. I have both the troll master master and the tailfin in my  shed and they will be up for sale soon..

Edited Friday at 07:06 PM by rolmops

[GAMBLER]

I'm in the market too but I'm getting another Honda or a Yamaha.  

[Nautitroller]

Thx for the input guys,  Suzuki is certainly in the lead.  Quiet and reliable,  good charging sys,  12 amps at 145w.. dumb question does it need a primer ball on the fuel line or no because it's got EFI?

[rolmops]

2 hours ago, Nautitroller said:

Thx for the input guys,  Suzuki is certainly in the lead.  Quiet and reliable,  good charging sys,  12 amps at 145w.. dumb question does it need a primer ball on the fuel line or no because it's got EFI?

Yes you do.

There is another thing that you will have to get used to. After making sure that the primer ball is hard, you have to just start the engine without trying to choke or raising the little gas handle,because that will flood the engine. Only after the engine has started can you raise the RPMs to warm up the engine. It is just something you get used to.