Jetcraft kicker motor install

I have a 19 foot aluminum fishing boat with a Yamaha 115. This week I lost power on the main engine and had some trouble getting to shore, walking the boat, and finding a place to get the trailer in the water. Then we needed a tow strap and another vehicle to get it out.

It seems like a good time to bite the bullet and acquire a kicker motor. I am thinking of a 10 hp 4 stroke mounted directly on the transom. A long shaft should fit without a mounting plate. A rope start motor will be functional even with dead batteries. I like the idea of tlller steering for fishing because everything is aft for trolling. Anyone else run a kicker this way? I see a lot of auto matic steering and electric start motors on mounting plates.

I have a tilt up mounting bkt. I like it because the kicker is up out of the water when not needed. Sure you can just tilt it up but then you are adjusting it back down for trailering.

I bought a cheapie bkt & added extra links to stiffen it up.

I troll with a kicker motor. It's a Mercury 6 horse 4 stroke long shaft directly mounted to my transom. I did not need a plate and it works great. Mine is a pull start, manual trim and it's fine and it get's 5 times the use of my main. Make sure whatever you get has a charge circuit. I originally was going to use it only as a tiller but found that when trolling for hours on end the wheel was easier to use so I have a bar that links the two motors and I can steer via the main.



The bar that attaches the kicker to the main is this: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/marinetech-products--zinc-steering-kit--7810997

It's cheap and works great. I had to do some fancy stuff installing since mine is on the wrong side due to the swim platform. Eventually for steering I will step up to what the big boys use which is an electric trolling motor with GPS/autopilot like a Minn Kota Terrova or Ulterra. They will lock the kicker in place and set the throttle low and use it solely for forward propulsion and the trolling motor will autopilot you, course control and whatnot. That's next years big purchase.

Thanks Jethro for the info.

I have 19 foot aluminum boat and the question is which hp is best for trolling. For typical trout fishing I like around 2-2.5 mph.
But for kokanee salmon the best speed is 1-1.5 mph.
My neighbor has a 4 stroke Yamaha for sale but it is a 9.9 hp. Is that more than I need?
A lot of guys seem to like 8 hp.
Jethro likes a 6.

I bought an 8 hp Honda long shaft yesterday. It is a 2000 model. It needs a little TLC, so I gave the guy $850. He was asking 1,100.

ppine said:

I bought an 8 hp Honda long shaft yesterday. It is a 2000 model. It needs a little TLC, so I gave the guy $850. He was asking 1,100.

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I'm glad you ended up with an 8. If I had got to respond before, I would have suggested you go with at least an 8 or above. I got the 6 because it was a great price, but the major disadvantage is it is a single cylinder motor. The 8 should be a twin and it's a massive improvement on vibration. My 6 is a chunky little thing, twins are much smoother.

The HP doesn't really matter, as long as you have the right shaft length you should be able to trim it way up to reduce the amount of forward thrust (some of that thrust will go up instead). My 6hp can be set up to run about 1.2 mph at idle.

Took the HOnda 8 out yesterday for a trial run. It is not a one pull motor yet, but it runs fine and idles at very low speed. I ran the tiller with a handle extension which makes it comfortable to run for long periods of time. It hardly uses any fuel. I am thinking about using it to cruise Lake Roosevelt in WA which is 184 miles long. Haven't decided which boat to take. The 19 foot fishing boat, Threee canoes lashed together or a cataraft with an engine mount on the frame.