Kicker motor

[CaptSpike]

I have an 18 lund sport angler. I ran a 5hp honda as my kicker last yr. I'm looking to upgrade to the 9.9 honda. I have heard a lot of good things about them. Question is would the 8 hp be just as good? I haven't heard much about them.

Also I have a 25" transom. Should I go with the 25" kicker or could I get by with a 20". Reason I ask is I'd like to be able to use the kicker on a smaller boat from time to time but not at the risk of sacrificing performance on the 18.

Spike

[MANIAC]

I ran a standard shaft Merc 9.9 on my 20' Starcraft with a 25" transom. In any wave action it would cavitate often. That same 9.9 is now installed on a 24' boat and the setup allows for it to sit lower in the water than it did on the 20 ftr. It gets alot better bite and pushes the bigger boat better.

[holy mackerel]

Capt.

An 8 horse four stroke should be fine. I have fished many hours in a 22' Starcraft with one (honda). The Yamaha 4 stroke has better trottle control, and seems to maintain even speed better than the Honda. Both are great motors, I have fished hundreds of hours with both. I have a 9.9 high trust Yamaha on a 22' Lund Baron Magnum.

As for shaft length, If it needs the long shaft, get it. You don't want to cavitate on a rough day, ask the dealer.

HM

[skipper19]

If the smaller boat is used with a long shaft and the skeg is too low you might adapt a heavy board to the transom with strong c-clamps and mount the motor higher on that.... I have a long shaft yamaha, and its on a 22ft with an integral swim platform. I want to try it on my 14 foot aluminum, so that is the idea I'm going to try. Should work ok

[CaptSpike]

I didn't take into account the wave action and cavitating. I am leaning to the 25" length anyway, as stated better bite.

Spike

[big easy]

I run a long shaft 9.9 Yamaha high thrust on my 22' Trophy,and just put an 8 hp high thrust Yamaha with power trim on my 23' Seacraft.

Both are awesome motors,and have no problem pushing these boats.

Both of these are long shafts,which I think you'll need on your boat,as others said.Both the Yammies,and Hondas are nice motors.

The 8 hp would be plenty to push your boat with.It pushes my seacraft which weighs more than five thousand pounds.

Not sure on the Honda,but the Yamaha 8 hp comes with power tilt,which is a nice feature.

[landingzone]

I run a high thrust T-8 (electric start) on my 24.5' Lund Genmar Sportcabin and it works fine. One advantage is that the T-8 came with power tilt & the 9.9 did not. Make sure you get a high thrust unit. Here are a couple pics of my set up.

[Erbyjoe]

I have a 25 inch shaft on my merc 9.9 4 stroke. And it's on my lund 1800 fisherman and have never had it cavatate or come out of the water you should be good to go with a 25 inch with your boat .

[jimski2]

I have a 9.9 high thrust, power trim and tile, remote control Honda on my 18 foot Crestliner. It is fine for trolling and it powers the boat at full throttle to 6 MPH, which can get me back fine. There is a special throttle control sold by Cabela's that can give finer speeed control but I have not needed it yet. When trolling, you still need the main motor in the water for steering control.

[Hookedup]

Jimski2 Do you use the EZ-Steer for the connection. Sean

[Erbyjoe]

I also have my main motor down when trolling. I have a steering bar that I take off and on that is located on the front of my motors.When not in use I have my kicker motor in the locked up postion so my main motoris turning freely and is not steering the kicker