Qustions on kicker motors

[Zarkohl]

I agree that long seems to be the way to go. Alot of the previous posts that I reviewed suggest to go with long shafts in order to keep prop in water and the cowl out of water. Curious if anyone who uses a kicker with a short shaft could give us some insifght as to their experience.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Zarkohl

I agree that long seems to be the way to go. Alot of the previous posts that I reviewed suggest to go with long shafts in order to keep prop in water and the cowl out of water. Curious if anyone who uses a kicker with a short shaft could give us some insifght as to their experience.

I'm with Willy on this one. My kicker is a 9.9hp Honda 4 stroke short shaft.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I use an EEZ-IN bracket that has about 18" of travel, so a long shaft engine is not needed. I lower it into the water when I want to troll and raise it completely out when running on the main. The advantage is no drag in the water and since the bracket is spring loaded moving it up and down is a snap. I don't have to tilt my kicker.. I just lift it out of the water.

Now, on the other hand, if you'r going to use a fixed, non-adjustable bracket than I would think that a long shaft kicker would be better, simply because you can mount it higher on the transom and not have to worry about following waves swamping it as much.

The bottom line is that when all is said and done, you need to get your engines anti-ventilation (cavatation) plate into the water. Since we're talking about a kicker engine and not something you're going to get up on plane with it really doesn't matter if your a-v plate is at or a few inches or so below the water. You can do it by lowering the engine, adjusting the location up or down where you mount the bracket on your transom, using a long or short shaft engine, etc. How you get there is really up to you.

[Blue_Runner]

I have a long shaft 9.9. I've been in situations on the lake where shifting weight to one side of the boat nearly brought the prop out of the water. It seems to me a short shaft would be an issue on anything other than flat calm with limited weight shifting i.e. people walking around etc. Definitely long shaft on the high seas to account for the swells.

With the older Johnnyrudes both the 9.9 and 15hp are the same weight, same powerhead etc. with the main difference being in the carbs. For that reason I'd try to find a 15 but would settle for a good deal on a 9.9.

With my kicker I can putt around at 1 mph all day long, burn little fuel and it is very quiet running. Out of commission right now ..... needs a shaft seal and I haven't gotten around to it - yet.

[brisboats]

Long shaft 20" is better. As for the 9.9 and 15hp debate the 9.9 makes as much torque if not more than the 15hp in the OMC flavor. So at displacement speeds that a kicker is gonna push your boat the difference would be nil to nada between the two. Prop would be more important, sailboat or push prop would be the way to go. I have a Yamaha high thrust 8hp kicker that has pushed boats to 23' with ease in wind and current, it has the right prop.

B

[willy]

Short shaft was best on my V, if you are putting it on a bracket that raises and lowers, you just measure before you install obviously to ensure where the prop is. Never had mine come out and cavitate even in the ocean.
On a fixed bracket then you might need a long shaft as they are generally mounted higher so the engine can tilt all the way up and clear the back of the transom.
Either will work fine, just depends how and where you mount it.
As far as HP, what I have found with my sailboat friends is this, the 8 & 9 HP motors will work as the previous poster says as you are at hull speeds only, but they have found that if the current is strong or the wind is kicking up the 15 with the right prop is better. Fuel difference is very minor.
If you are using a 4stroke engine definetly go with the 15

[Blue_Runner]

The other thing I have against a 15" shaft kicker on my boat is the tiller arm hits the corner of the transom when in the down position so having the powerhead 5 inches higher helps that problem a bit. You can get to a point where the tiller arm angle is such that the tiller arm gears can jump out of alignment which is a very bad thing. At least that is the way it is with my my model. Also, while underway I don't have to lean over quite as far to tilt up, adjust speed or work the gears on my old dinosaur ('75 model)....some of us can't afford (nor justify) fancy schmancy linkages and electric start, etc. etc.

I also agree that either a 15" or 20" will work when mounted right as Willy has proven. However if you had the choice, why not go with 20"? Unless you just have a 15" laying around or found a super deal on one? JMO

[Steplift 72']

Originally Posted by Zarkohl

I agree that long seems to be the way to go. Alot of the previous posts that I reviewed suggest to go with long shafts in order to keep prop in water and the cowl out of water. Curious if anyone who uses a kicker with a short shaft could give us some insifght as to their experience.

It worked fine. Sort of hard to reach down and the tiller was not fully straightened out but I wanted to use the 25 for other purposes too. Later I had a 9.9 4 stroke that worked much better with a long shaft, but that was a single purpose kicker. Suppose it depends on if you have other uses for the kicker that require a short shaft.