Kicker Relocation

C

cemiii

New member
I broke down and bought a 4 stroke kicker mainly for trolling and fuel economy.

My existing kicker has always been on the starboard side of the main motor. It seems I have seen a number of members who have successfully located their kicker on the port side. There would be a couple advantages to this for me. 1) it would balance my weight distribution better in relation to the pilot. 2) My battery switch is on the port side making for easier and more flexible installation.

The one major drawback for me is the tiller arm being on the right side of the kicker (facing). Though the motor has electric start and is tied to the main for steering, it would seem that it would largely require me to have the arm fully folded up most of the time to clear the transom.(making it more difficult to adjust the throttle speed.)

I'm having difficulty thinking this disadvantage through prior to deciding the best mounting method/location. I'd love to have input from members with lefty mounts.

Also, I'm assuming there would not be an issue with the two alternators provided the engines were never run at the same time?

Thank you, Chris
 
cemiii":1dxbfs0j said:
<some discussion clipped>


Also, I'm assuming there would not be an issue with the two alternators provided the engines were never run at the same time?

chris
Click to expand...

Chris-

After some discussion a week or two ago with Jeff Lastofka, the typical outboard alternators lack intelligent voltage controls, so their electronic brains (that don't exist) can't get into an engineering conflict with each other!

This is to say that both alternators simply charge at a given rate and voltage, and rely on the battery's building voltage and resistance to limit the charging.

As such, they won't harm each other, even when charging at the same time, etc. No Problemo!

Discussion HERE.

Good Luck and enjoy your new kicker!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I moved the kicker on the 16 footer from starboard to port and I can still sit back there and steer with the tiller in the down position.
 
I did the relocation. Check out the photos in my album. There are some work arounds for steering. I have a coupling rod I bought from Cabala's but it doesn't solve the throttle control issue. :cry
 
ccflyer. the top right hand picture looks as if the motor would be deep/wet enough to run in the up position at displacement speeds. Can you trailer it in the tilted position on the bracket or would that be too much stress? Your concerns are also mine.

Thank you. chris

I don't know how it works ok on dotnmarty's 16, especially hanging directly on the transom. Maybe it's real close to the 40, I can't tell well from the picture.
 
Chris - Did you try and hang it on the transom and work the controls to see what will work and what will not work? (Before drilling) :shock:

With the control arm it may be best on the starboard side. See what works ......Mine lacks the manual arm so it’s all controlled from the helm.

Good luck

Chris Bulovsky
 
When I purchased my 22 cruiser I really wanted to steer the kicker with the control arm. But there was no way there was enough room. I settled for mounting my 8 hp 4 stroke with the controls in the helm and the engine attached with a steering arm to the main. Works great but I still wish I was operating the kicker from outside. Oh well. It's always a compromise.

regards

Ryder
 
I did not try the new one on, but when I removed the old 8hp from starboard, I hung it on port. Beside the control arm problem I have a bit of a problem with the mechanical steering arm from the big motor poking the arm that ties the motors together which has got me thinking about a set back(jack) plate. And the new 4 stroke is even a bit bigger yet.

It's got me thinking about taking the "big plunge" to Seastar and Raymarine AP! They also make a trolling motor remote throttle device but if I don't get control of my budget sometime soon, the national recession is never going to get here. So I'm looking for cost effective alternatives first. And it might just end up starboard is the best simple fix for now. Then if I can find a fishing buddy 150# heavier than I am and confine him to the port side.......

chris
 
I have the Honda 8 classic mounted starboard. With an extension pole I could steer the kicker but had limited range because the kicker arm would hit the main. I ponied up for the TR-1 Gold autopilot for the kicker. It also does throttle control. Best 2k I've spent.
 
Chris
I had a bear of a time with my set up. Have a 90hp Merc 4 stroke with a 8hp yamaha. The kicker was on a jack plate port side I could steer it from the cockpit but was difficult to make starboard turns with the tiller handle down. But I did want to steer from the helm. A EZ steer set up would not work as the bar was to long with both motors down and not long enough with the kicker up. Went with a Sterns tie bar in front of the motors. Then I had to fab a bracket for the Merc so the connector would work with my hydrolic steering. Had to lower the tiller arm to raise the kicker and raise the arm to get full range of steering when using the kicker. 2 months ago traded the 8hp in on a 9.9 Yamaha 4stroke high thrust with out a tiller arm. I kept the sterns set up an now have full control of the kicker from the helm


Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
 
Chris-It does work fine on the port side of the transom, although not quite as fine as it did on the starboard side. I really enjoy sitting out there and powering the boat with the kicker. When it was on the starboard, I would raise the main motor and lean back against the main's cover and off we'd go. Now it's a little less comfortable as I sit on the port gunnel. The improvement in lateral balance more than makes up for the loss of comfort, in my opinion. I haven't thought about using the connecting rod but I'll give it a try next time I'm out.

MartyP
 
Now im worried again. New 9.9 longshaft high thrust yamaha tiller on the floor. Cant imagine how this will fit. Ill start measuring in the morning. Should the anti cav. plate be at the same depth as the main? I see a photo that looks like its considerably deeper than the main. Im having second thoughts about having a tiller now that its too late. I like the looks of the mimi jacker that would straddle transducer & speed wires but may have to move way back with an adjustable to try for room for tiller. IM getting a headache! Vern,C dog.19 angler.
 
nordic, I've done a lot of research on engine depth and I'm thoroughly convinced that the depth of a small kicker at displacement speeds is only important in that you must keep your water intakes "wet" for proper engine cooling.

There is not significant drag on the kicker skag from being too deep at slow speeds. Likewise, at displacement speeds, the water comes up extremely fast behind the transom and having the cav. plate at or below the bottom of the boat is also not that important so long as you're not cavitating the prop. (as might be posible if you were porpoising in extremely rough seas). For a short time, I had a 15 hp short shaft on the transom. It was about 17" to plate and plate was at least 2" above the boat bottom, more if tilted a bit. Ran fine with no problems even tilted one or two holes.

Based on research and my experience, I want to mount my new kicker as high as I can for ease of access, keeping the power head dry, and shallow running characteristics. But I'd like to have the range to drop it an inch or two for flexibility to make a minor adjustment.

So, for me, I'm not worried about depth, just port or starboard. And I'd really like to try and make port work. It's probably a 250# weight shift, moving a 125#motor/plate combo from right to left.

Others, please chime in if you think I'm wrong on this.

chris
 
My bracket is calibrated. I've always lowered the engine all the way down. I'll try running at couple of different levels this weekend and let you know.

Phil
 
Phil, I had a Met back in college in Wisconsin in the mid-late 60's. A steering joint finally went out and I couldn't find a replacement I could afford. Unless I got out and kicked the tire over I could not make right hand turns. To go right, I had to go a block past and make a series of 3 lefts. But with gas at sub 30 cent ranges it wasn't an issue back then (except with dates who were not particularly impressed when asked to get out and kick the front right over). Should have cosmolined and saved that car........ lots of memories.

At any rate, moving the kicker left seems a similar logistics feat. I have a long extension, kind of like this universal but aluminum and apparently better built (from the poor reviews). From your pictures, something articulated like this just might work for you.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

It would be great if you could run something flat like a 2x4 or a level back (perhaps with a clamp) from the bottom of your kicker cav plate to the transom at the various settings and where they end up in relation to the bottom of the boat. Hard to tell from just looking at the pictures but I'll bet she'll function almost full up. Just keep an eye on that P stream. Also let us know what bracket you have.

Another great C-Brats "Sea trial first", can't wait to see your findings.

chris
 
Nordic, take a look at the last picture in my album. Even that worked ok as a kicker depth. On starboard it works ok with the tiller. It works great with a tie bar on the front of both motors and tiller mostly up, steered from the helm. I think your mini-jacker fixed mount is probably a pretty good solution and should be solid enough to trailer it up. With your long shaft (I assume it's about 22 to the plate) you should be able to mount a mini with the top a couple inches above the existing transom and still have plenty of depth. I saw a couple mini-jackers on e-bay. just type in "mini-jacker".I don't know if those are good prices or not.

If you use your kicker with the tiller make sure it won't reach your main motor (mine would touch the Permatrim). To run as tiller, I needed to always raise my main. With the tie bar there is no problem.

You should definitely wait for the results of Phil's depth tests if you can.

chris
 
Chris, I have time to wait for Phil. So far I have yet to finish installing the c.b. & antenna, construct & install radar mount,radar dome,permatrim,new deck paint,patch many unneeded holes in forward side of motor well,locate & repair source of water leaking into v berth storage comp. Ive got time! Hope im ready for albacore. My wife asked if I was going to store the kicker in the corner of the living room with everything else. How rude is that. Vern
 
Vern, take a gander on the album how big the new 9.9 4 stroke is compared to the 15 2 stroke. I hung it on the left just for measurement sake. It's huge and there is no way it can stay on the left without being attached to the main. Needs to come back 6" and up 4.5" to be right hieght and clear everything. Then I've still got the throttle concern and I probably need to move the transducer too.

Is your kicker new (under warranty)? That's something to consider also, check with your dealer to see that your mounting would not void the warranty if it's not exactly as the manual says. I just opened the box today.

Chris
 
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