What kicker motor has the best charging system?

[Todd in NY]

I'm just doing some research on a 10hp kicker motor for my boat. I only have one size 29 Interstate DC battery, and I run a Humminbird 959, a Sub Troll, a Humminbird 859, a VHF radio, and lights if I fish at night. I think I would need a high output charging system on a kicker motor to keep up with the current draw from my electronics. I'm not dead set on buying a kicker motor just yet because I have Amish buggy bags, a Happy Troller trolling plate, and buckets. I know it is cheaper to run a kicker than my main motor (a 5.0L OMC Cobra), but how many fishing trips would it take for the kicker to pay for itself? New kicker motors cost half as much as I paid for my boat (or more), and my retired budget gives me few options. So right now I am just researching my options for "older" motors. It could even be a 2-stroke with a charging system, it doesn't have to be a 4-stroke. I only troll Lake Ontario about 3-4 times per month in this boat, so it's not getting full time use like some of your boats might see.

 

For the sake of research, what kicker motor in the 8-10hp range would you recommend for a 21ft Bayliner Trophy 2160, fully enclosed cabin, weighing close to 5000 pounds loaded? Thanks!

Edited July 26, 2016 by Todd in NY

[Iceman]

TIN:

When I was looking at this question in 2010/11, it was the Honda, with the biggest charging system, I put a high thrust 8 hp kicker on my 22' Hewescraft, & it has been great with no issues, almost 1,000 hours on it now. Try to get a high thrust motor, mine has power tilt & trim electric start which included the highest output charging . I run 4 riggers, sonar, fishawk, chart plotter & a stereo, ship to shore radio, etc. My system voltage under normal conditions is 14.2 volts. Obviously it drops when you start running the riggers, but it quickly comes back to the 14.2 VDC after I am done with the riggers. I also have a two battery, battery management system controlling the charge level of both batteries.

Good luck with your search!

John

[Sweet Caroline]

Honda 4 stroke. I have a 15 hp and can run all day with 4 electric downriggers, fishhawk, GPS, Fishfinder, etc with no problem. In fact there has been a few times that when the batteries have been dead in the morning and I would manually start the kicker. I would use it to get out of the channel and by the time I reached the end of the pier it had charged the battery enough to start the main engine.

[Xxx]

Hey Todd if A-Lure-A can leave the dock with a battery that won't turn the main and the kicker charges the battery enough to twist the main over I'd jump on that wagon!!, this was a big discussion a few years ago. The most amp output out there was 6 amps at wide open throttle, being in the starter & alt buisness I looked into boosting up kickers as you can boost up the amperage of a stock USA alt as far as 145 amps, usually for kids with big sound systems in there cars or emergency vehicles. I couldn't come up with a user friendly system period. I don't know the output of the newer kickers, the remedy we came up with is to use a start/trolling battery and if it becomes to low start the main and let it idle for a 1/2hr. and that should charge you back up, if your running a I/O you should have at the minimum a 55 amp alt. Even at 900-1000 rpm it's putting out more than the kickers Capacity. With the main pulley bigger than the alt pulley the alt is spinning way more revolutions than the main and that's why it will be putting out at least 1/3 of its potential. Most depth finders show battery voltage, so at 9-10 volts start the main, problem solved. I have a older 15hp no charging kicker with a two battery system and a Perko battery selector and I have two start/troll batteries, they discharge way slower than a starting battery yet can handle a lot more amps being put back in at a quicker rate and still maintain the slow discharge. Where a trolling battery is designed to be charged back up slowly, also a deep cycle battery put in a charging system with a alt, the alt can't push the voltage into the D-C battery as designed so it hard on the alt usually blowing the diodes in the alt, eventually causing the alt to fail. Good luck with your decision, look into the big foot charging system.

[Jeremy Goodison]

I added mercury pro kicker to my 24' Trophy last season. My 5.0 OMC would run me $50-$100 a trip depending. Once I put the kicker Go through roughly $10-$20 . Two a trips a week from end of March to October and it plays for itself quick. Also saved me once when I blew my engine and once when my outdrive went. I put a panther steer on it and it's the best thing ever. Last fall when they worked on my engine I took multiple trips out literally use the kicker to go out, fish, and get back it. Looked silly but kept me fishing.

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[Jeremy Goodison]

I run 10 hr shift on 2-3 gallons , three riggers, and piles of electronics and batteries never dip. With the 5.0 omc after 5 hrs I would literally hear the motor bog down when you hit the rigger button

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[Todd in NY]

Thanks for all the feedback!

A-Lure-A, what model Honda motor do you have?

Pap, I don't know what my alternator puts out, but are you saying that it's not a good match for my size 29 interstate deep cycle battery? I chose this battery because it has over 800 MCA and over 200 reserve capacity. After 3 trips out with this battery I haven't noticed any charging issues or performance issues with my electronics. It's not hard to confuse me when it comes to electrical stuff.

Jeremy, what model is your Mercury kicker?

The only long shaft motor I own now is a 1980 Evinrude 7.5 with a 20" long shaft. It's halfway taken apart because I was going to convert it to a short shaft for my 16ft utility boat. And honestly I'd rather have a 10 or 15hp motor for a kicker on that Bayliner. The older 2 strokes are lighter, and my kicker mount is rated for up to 100 pounds (it's factory mounted on the swim platform).

Thanks again for all the feedback!

[ReelPower]

Here's my 89 2160 kicker solution. Don't bother running a two stroke and separate tank. I did. It was a loud pain in th $&@.

[Jeremy Goodison]

I have mercury Pro Kicker 9.9. mine is also on the swim platform but I reinforced the mount. I really like it. 25" shaft. In 4 footers it won't leave the water. My boat it pushes is 1988 2460 pilot house Trophy. I'll put a pic of it on. Bought it at Bryce Marine. Last summer

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[Jeremy Goodison]

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[Andre wallyandre]

Tthe Merc 15hp pull-llout 15amp

It is recommended for those that troll and have the Verado electric power steering

Most if not all the kickers in the 8 and 9.9 developp 6 amps at full trottle and about 1amp when trolling

[Xxx]

Thanks for all the feedback!

A-Lure-A, what model Honda motor do you have?

Pap, I don't know what my alternator puts out, but are you saying that it's not a good match for my size 29 interstate deep cycle battery? I chose this battery because it has over 800 MCA and over 200 reserve capacity. After 3 trips out with this battery I haven't noticed any charging issues or performance issues with my electronics. It's not hard to confuse me when it comes to electrical stuff.

Jeremy, what model is your Mercury kicker?

The only long shaft motor I own now is a 1980 Evinrude 7.5 with a 20" long shaft. It's halfway taken apart because I was going to convert it to a short shaft for my 16ft utility boat. And honestly I'd rather have a 10 or 15hp motor for a kicker on that Bayliner. The older 2 strokes are lighter, and my kicker mount is rated for up to 100 pounds (it's factory mounted on the swim platform).

Thanks again for all the feedback!

It sounds like you have the right battery or it wouldn't say how many cranking amps on it. Usually a strictly trolling motor battery has its discharge rate at so many amps per hour. That transom mount motor bracket is the same company I got my swim platform motor bracket, it's a weird name and I can't remember the name right now. They give all the specs. so I made the template out of cardboard after I held it together I knew it would do. I traced the templates of cardboard over onto aircraft hardness aluminum and made my own. My father in law gets his tri axcels aluminum bed floors repaired at this place that had all the pieces I needed to make my own, so that's what I did and it works great!! Edited July 26, 2016 by pap

[Chas0218]

For what it's worth it, you could buy another battery and 2 bank charger instead of buying a kicker if you can't justify the money.

How much are you planning on trolling, only you can answer whether it will be worth the money. I would run no kicker for one season and see how much has you end up spending and use that number to figure out if it's worth the money.

Depending on the lake conditions my 8hp Johnson pushes my 23' boat about 3-3.5 gallons for 8 hours of trolling this is a light 1'-2' chop. In a 4' chop going into and with the waves I can use 6 gallons in 8 hours. That still beats 9 gallons in 8 hours with my big motor.

Don't convert that long shaft and run it see how it works and pushes the boat. Add the 2nd battery with 2 bank charger and hook up all the electronics to the non starting battery. This will isolate the big motor from any interference that could happen and won't drain your starting battery.

Sent from my thinking chair...

Edited July 26, 2016 by Chas0218

[Todd in NY]

Here's my 89 2160 kicker solution. Don't bother running a two stroke and separate tank. I did. It was a loud pain in th $&@.

 

Is that a 20" or 25" shaft kicker?

[Todd in NY]

For what it's worth it, you could buy another battery and 2 bank charger instead of buying a kicker if you can't justify the money.

How much are you planning on trolling, only you can answer whether it will be worth the money. I would run no kicker for one season and see how much has you end up spending and use that number to figure out if it's worth the money.

Depending on the lake conditions my 8hp Johnson pushes my 23' boat about 3-3.5 gallons for 8 hours of trolling this is a light 1'-2' chop. In a 4' chop going into and with the waves I can use 6 gallons in 8 hours. That still beats 9 gallons in 8 hours with my big motor.

Don't convert that long shaft and run it see how it works and pushes the boat. Add the 2nd battery with 2 bank charger and hook up all the electronics to the non starting battery. This will isolate the big motor from any interference that could happen and won't drain your starting battery.

Sent from my thinking chair...

 

I thought about running my 7.5 this year but I don't know if I will need a 20" or 25" shaft (I haven't measured it yet). I'm keeping records of the amount of gas I burn each trip out so I have some sort of measuring stick to compare to.

 

My wife loves this Bayliner, and Lake O is too harsh on her bladder with chop as little as 1 foot high, so she prefers to take this boat to places like Cranberry lake for an overnight camping/fishing trip. We don't own a camper, so this boat serves that purpose very well, which is why it's not a full time Lake O boat.

 

I have options and some good ideas from the feedback left here, and I appreciate it a bunch!

[Todd in NY]

I have mercury Pro Kicker 9.9. mine is also on the swim platform but I reinforced the mount. I really like it. 25" shaft. In 4 footers it won't leave the water. My boat it pushes is 1988 2460 pilot house Trophy. I'll put a pic of it on. Bought it at Bryce Marine. Last summer

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Thanks for the pics! Nice set-up.

[ReelPower]

Is that a 20" or 25" shaft kicker?

It's that funky Bigfoot shaft measures 22" listed at 20" I'd prefer 25" and power tilt but can't justify the tab.

[ReelPower]

I have mercury Pro Kicker 9.9. mine is also on the swim platform but I reinforced the mount. I really like it. 25" shaft. In 4 footers it won't leave the water. My boat it pushes is 1988 2460 pilot house Trophy. I'll put a pic of it on. Bought it at Bryce Marine. Last summer

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Nice work on the beefed up platform that mount is where mine blew out in rough water last year. Went to the fixed mount and cleared the transom for fish and to give the EZ steer more room.

[boho607]

Get the Mercury Pro Kicker. I bought one and have never looked back. It's a great investment. Soooo many benefits of adding a kicker!

[Todd in NY]

Tthe Merc 15hp pull-llout 15amp

It is recommended for those that troll and have the Verado electric power steering

Most if not all the kickers in the 8 and 9.9 developp 6 amps at full trottle and about 1amp when trolling

1 amp doesn't seem like enough juice with all the electronics we run.

[Todd in NY]

It's that funky Bigfoot shaft measures 22" listed at 20" I'd prefer 25" and power tilt but can't justify the tab.

Thanks RP! I agree with the tab at this point. But the info posted in this thread will still be valid by the time I make my decision.

[Todd in NY]

Here's another consideration...

For those of you running a kicker with an I/O stern drive, how are you steering your kicker? My I/O has power assisted rack and pinion, and my kicker would be attached to the out drive via a bar or rod. Would that make it more difficult to steer the kicker with the main motor and power steering system not running?

[Andre wallyandre]

1 amp doesn't seem like enough juice with all the electronics we run.

But that's the reality!

On my previous boat running a Yamaha T8 I had to have 2/27 size batteries to keep everything functionning: 3 Lowrance units, vhf, 2 downriggers.

For those that are running Verado with the electric power steering it is strongly recommended to run a pro-kicker 15hp. Maybe it's possible to use the 15hp rectifier on a 9.9?

[Todd in NY]

Here's my 89 2160 kicker solution. Don't bother running a two stroke and separate tank. I did. It was a loud pain in th $&@.

Other than the fuel hose, what else do you have running through the transom to the kicker? I like that kicker bracket, and you've really simplified your transom area, it looks real good!

[Todd in NY]

But that's the reality!

On my previous boat running a Yamaha T8 I had to have 2/27 size batteries to keep everything functionning: 3 Lowrance units, vhf, 2 downriggers.

For those that are running Verado with the electric power steering it is strongly recommended to run a pro-kicker 15hp. Maybe it's possible to use the 15hp rectifier on a 9.9?

Yep, and that's another reason I prefer a 15hp kicker. Plus it handles windy conditions a lot better than an 8 or 10. I had a 15hp Evinrude on my last boat and it was always enough power, regardless of conditions.