Alumacraft 165 Competitor Tiller Kicker ?

I have a 2020 Alumacraft 165 competitor tiller. I have been going back and forth between a gas kicker motor and an electric transom mount motor. I want to have a kicker for long days of pulling cranks to keep the hours off of my main motor. Just from the looks of it, I don’t have a ton of room to work with. These boats also have higher sections of transom on both sides of the main engine so I would need an extra long shaft motor I was thinking I could squeeze a 5hp gas kicker on it but looking to see if anybody else has actually done it. I don’t want to limit my steering too much.

I had a 165 lund with 81.5″ beam with a T8 for kicker plenty of room. Did a lot of trolling and wanted keep hrs off my 50 even though it had the VTS, hard to beat a kicker on the rivers.

Gilgetter wrote:

I have been going back and forth between a gas kicker motor and an electric transom mount motor.

I would advise against the transom mounted electric motor. I assume you’re considering a Minn kota Vantage. My folks have one on their Warrior and I haven’t seen them use that thing in years. Mostly because its fairly useless in rough water and that’s when they are fishing, but also because it simply lacks adequate power.

This may or may not help, but this picture of a 1700 Lund Explorer I used to have shows 2 kickers, a 15″ short shaft on the left, and a 25″ XL on the right. Keep in mind, when using the kicker, your boat will not be up on plane, so the water level at the transom will be different. A 20″ long shaft will be fine.

HRG

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gim wrote:

I would advise against the transom mounted electric motor. I assume you’re considering a Minn kota Vantage. My folks have one on their Warrior and I haven’t seen them use that thing in years. Mostly because its fairly useless in rough water and that’s when they are fishing, but also because it simply lacks adequate power.

Assuming that Warrior is an 18+ foot glass boat (disregard if that’s a bad assumption), there’s a fairly significant difference between that and an aluminum Lund 165, yeah? I’m not saying he should get the Vantage but it’s silly to discount it because you don’t find it useful on a totally different boat.

Personally I would just use the combo of your bow-mount and main motor. I don’t like a crowded transom. You never said you what your main outboard was — if it’s a newer yammie 70 just work the variable trolling RPM deal and have fun. My 2 cents.

dirtywater wrote:

Assuming that Warrior is an 18+ foot glass boat (disregard if that’s a bad assumption), there’s a fairly significant difference between that and an aluminum Lund 165, yeah? I’m not saying he should get the Vantage but it’s silly to discount it because you don’t find it useful on a totally different boat.

Oh absolutely. Its a 21 foot fiberglass boat. So ya its a lot heavier. I’m just saying that the lack of use makes me wonder why they even have it.

Gilgetter wrote:

ust from the looks of it, I don’t have a ton of room to work with. These boats also have higher sections of transom on both sides of the main engine

There isn’t much transom to attach to above the decking on the sides. I’d be interested in seeing what it looks like if you do it.

dirtywater wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I would advise against the transom mounted electric motor. I assume you’re considering a Minn kota Vantage. My folks have one on their Warrior and I haven’t seen them use that thing in years. Mostly because its fairly useless in rough water and that’s when they are fishing, but also because it simply lacks adequate power.

Assuming that Warrior is an 18+ foot glass boat (disregard if that’s a bad assumption), there’s a fairly significant difference between that and an aluminum Lund 165, yeah? I’m not saying he should get the Vantage but it’s silly to discount it because you don’t find it useful on a totally different boat.

Personally I would just use the combo of your bow-mount and main motor. I don’t like a crowded transom. You never said you what your main outboard was — if it’s a newer yammie 70 just work the variable trolling RPM deal and have fun. My 2 cents.

Main motor is a 70hp Suzuki my objective was to keep the hours low more so than worrying it wouldn’t troll slow enough.

Reef W wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gilgetter wrote:</div>
ust from the looks of it, I don’t have a ton of room to work with. These boats also have higher sections of transom on both sides of the main engine

There isn’t much transom to attach to above the decking on the sides. I’d be interested in seeing what it looks like if you do it.

Agreed. That was another concern of mine. That’s what I was hoping someone would chime in that they tried it and it worked great or they tried it and it was a disaster. No offense but I don’t want to be the guinea pig on this one…

dirtywater wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I would advise against the transom mounted electric motor. I assume you’re considering a Minn kota Vantage. My folks have one on their Warrior and I haven’t seen them use that thing in years. Mostly because its fairly useless in rough water and that’s when they are fishing, but also because it simply lacks adequate power.

Assuming that Warrior is an 18+ foot glass boat (disregard if that’s a bad assumption), there’s a fairly significant difference between that and an aluminum Lund 165, yeah? I’m not saying he should get the Vantage but it’s silly to discount it because you don’t find it useful on a totally different boat.

Personally I would just use the combo of your bow-mount and main motor. I don’t like a crowded transom. You never said you what your main outboard was — if it’s a newer yammie 70 just work the variable trolling RPM deal and have fun. My 2 cents.

My initial consideration was a Vantage. It’s a long story on it. Asking around it’s a hung jury on them. They sound like the cat’s meow when they work. Enough people also seem to have issues with them too. I actually have one that I picked up used. It’s an older one that is 74lb thrust. I was told it worked well but haven’t been able to get it to work yet. If I have to buy a new one…not a huge price difference between it and a gas kicker.
For me that vantage was the only option when it came to electric…the other transom mount electric motors in my opinion are a pain when not in use. Too much shaft length. It either gotta be way up in the air or sticking into the boat. Not willing to deal with it.