im looking for a new kicker

[dewey123]

I have been looking online at a few online evinrude 15hp mercury9.9 and tohatsu 9.8 im kinda looking to go new but im not so sure. I saw this last post about yamaha and havent even checked their page out. I see the mercurys were like 1700 dollars. I have a 17 foot aluminum boat and im kinda wondering if i should go down to a 6hp or go up to a 15 hp. I dont want to over do it where im going to need a trolling bag in all the time but if my big engine breaks down i dont want to be driving in at 2.2 mph. I also have been looking at the big foot model from mercury but the way it was described it was for a bigger heavier boat than mine dont know if it would be stupid to go that way or the pro kicker by merc or the regular merc. I never really heard much about tohatsu outboards but they look good and are pretty light. How about honda i heard a 9.9 honda will out perform most of the other 9.9's out there.

[YodaMage]

You can always throttle down, so I'm thinking the trolling bag concept is not an issue. That said, a 17 aluminum would never need a 15. It won't get you on plane, so it will max out same speed as any other option that will get you to that point. While a 6 would do it on a flat day, I'd like a little more power to keep me straight in the wind and if there is chop. I think something like a Yammy F8 or Merc 8 would be the right choice for this boat.

[YodaMage]

Also, you didn't mention what the main motor was on the boat...but i'd keep them the same if possible. Makes service and maintenance easier...one stop shopping so to speak.

[goin deep]

Keep in mind when choosing a kicker motor that you will probably want a charging system on it to keep your electronics from killing your battery. Also, the 6HP and smaller is only a single cylinder motor and although I've never used one I would think the 2 cylinder (8HP and up) would run smoother and quieter.

Brian

[Blue Heron]

I just went thru the same research for a kicker for my small boat and settled on a tohatsu. On the smaller 4 strokes the Mercurys are made by tohatsu so the tohatsu is the same motor but without the premium price. I bought it online at onlineoutboards.com. If you can handle the weight I would suggest 8hp or greater since they are twin cyl engines and will be a little smoother - that said I was kind of restircted and went 5hp and it works great - I did have the charging kit installed

[Trap Jaw]

I powered a 16' fiberglass for 10 years with an old one lunger 4hp Merc. I had the same thoughts as above, don't want to underpower it. I started out with a 9.9 Merc that topped out at 7mph. When it started giving me problems I borrowed my buddies 4 horse, just to try. At WOT it topped out around 5.5mph. The other thing that was nice switching to that motor, less weight. After my boat my dad had to outfit his boat, knowing what I know now, we put an F8 Yamaha on a 22' Chris Craft. Haven't had a problem with speed.

BTW, don't make your pick on brand based on the other post. Any company out there now has lousy CS, and will stick you if they can. I love my Yamaha and would buy another. Warranties now are like rebates, you might get it you might not. Ha, look at Craftsman, lifetime warranty, but they try to give you used tools if you return something.

[MCF]

On a 17 aluminum you could get by with a 4hp, the perfect target range is 6-8 hp.

Had a 2 stroke 4.5 Merc on the 17 I just got rid of, worked fine.

[Jack]

No matter what you buy I would lean toward the High thrust , Pro Kicker , Big Foot models . The engines run at a higher RPM when you are trolling so you will have better oil pressure and the alternator will be putting out a bit more juice. If you can I would also get electric start ,remote controls and tilt . I fish Lake O solo a lot and it is nice not to hang off the back of the boat in bad weather to work the motor . You can do everything right from the helm .

My boat is the best part of 3K lbs and the Yamaha 8T has all the power I need .

Good Luck !

JT

[dewey123]

thanks for the input. I didnt want to over do it or under power either. I was thinking about sticking with the same motor but my main motor is a 50 hp force 2 stroke. I use a trolling bag to slow it down but i have a big trolling bag and it pulls big time to the side its on, im thinking about getting 2 smaller ones and haveing them on both sides to even it out but I want the kicker for trolling and emergency to get back to the dock. My 2 stroke smokes and will make you sick breathing that in all day if your not trolling into the wind. plus its loud. Saw a guy with a 20 hp yamaha on a small 14 foot boat come in at olcott and could hardly hear it running and it wasnt smoking at all where mine is not so stealthy. I see that option with the remote controlls its that so you can mount a throttle and start switch at the helm instead of using the handle on the motor to controll everything.

[YodaMage]

Sounds like you do need two outboards not one.

Force should be used as an anchor

[dewey123]

Id be a liar if I said it never let me down.

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[Jack]

If you like the boat and plan on keeping it you might think about trading the force in on a 50hp or 60hp four stroke engine and forget the kicker . I hear they troll Great .

[Pike Hunter]

Go with Honda 4 stroke outboard for your kicker. Be sure it has electric charger to satisfy your boat with all of the electronics running such as fish finder, gps, radio and downriggers. I got mine with electric tiller and electric starter. I bought mine through Arneys Marina out of Sodus. Not cheap unless you want to pay for something that will give you a peace of mind for a very long time.

[hawkeye625]

I went through the same research last year and ended up with a tohatsu 9.8 with electric start and tiller and added a control king. My boat is a 19.5 ft sea nymph and it'll troll for 12-14 hours on 3 gallons of fuel, no smoke and super quiet. It'll troll down to 1.0 mph and top out around 7 mph. Bought it from onlineoutboards for just under $2,000 shipped.

Love the motor, but if you are concerned about service work, I would buy from a local dealer rather than online. I had an issue with the timing gear on mine and none of the dealers would give me the time of day since I didn't buy from them. The said they would work on it but it would be several weeks before they could get to it. I can understand their point of view, but they wanted $500-$800 more for the same engine.

Tohatsu ended up sending me the part and fixed it myself in about 10 minutes.

The control king gives you throttle at the wheel and you just have to start the motor and put it in gear from the back. The tiller gives me the option to use the motor on my smaller boat as main motor. Controls would be nice, but I really didn't have room to mount them and the control king gives me more precise control of speed.

Good luck with the search and stay with a 4 stroke.

[dewey123]

Thanks hawkeye. I have been leaning toward a tohatsu 8hp from that place but I wanted to make sure from langs outboards where I go for parts and repairs that he could fix that for a reasonable price or if they were a pain in the butt to work on and he won't touch the motor kind of deal. Ill look into that controll king too. What kind of motor mount did you use? I am looking to permanently mount it or leave it on untill maybe winter take it off and on between use

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[hawkeye625]

Should have been more specific, the dealers didn't want to do "warranty work" since I didn't buy from them. The motor came with a 3 year warranty and I didn't want to void the warranty by going to my normal mechanic (he is not an authorized tohatsu mechanic) in case anything else was wrong. Most outboard mechanics should be able to work on them just not under warranty.

There was enough room on my transom to mount the tohatsu beside my main motor so no mount was needed. There are other brands of throttle controls out there, found the control king in the bargain cave at cabelas for $120 and it was new in the box, just couldn't pass it up. The West Virginia store has a few in the bargain cave as of Saturday but not sure what motors they fit and they were a little more expensive $140-160 range.

Also used the ball joint style steering connector that works well for me. Had the ez steer on the back of the motors but the bar would rub my main motor while running with the kicker up. The one I use now connects to the front of the motors and uses a piece of allthread between them. Simpler, and can be disconnected on the water if needed without having to hang out over the motor. Also less expensive.

Would consider taking it off when not in use if you don't have secure storage. Mine sits in my driveway in the country and someone tried to rip it off this fall. Luckily my dog is a light sleeper and woke me up before they made off with it. It is easy to take on and off so I'd recommend bringing it inside while not in use. Just my .02 cents.

If needed, make sure the motors have the charging system before you buy one. The tohatsu 8hp electric start model does have it but the pull start models do not.

I'll be up for the Spring derby all next week if you'd like to check it out. Be somewhere between the bar and olcott.

Hope this helps.

Good luck,

Jeff

[dewey123]

I used to love going to that cabelas. Used to go about 1 time a month untill I moved back from the pittsburgh area. Ill be fishing the spring loc this weekend sat morning and sun night out of olcott then wed through sun out in fair haven maybe ill see you out there

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[lineman49]

I know a guy that has a 60 hp. honda 4 stroke on a 16' crestliner & it will troll right down & with no smoke & really quiet can't hear it running.

[Knotlost]

You definitly should get one designed for being a kicker, you will avoid alot of problems right there. I have the Yama 9.9 and it worked great on a 21 foot starcraft, and now works great on the 26 footer, and it will go about 4mph on either, thats exactly what its designed for not speed but consistant trolling, with moderate rmps, and charging (6 amps). Like it alot.