How small of a kicker can I get away with?

Hello all,

I’ve got an Alumacraft Trophy 175, and I’m thinking of putting a kicker on it because I do a LOT of trolling and want to save the hours on the big motor. I’ll be using it for walleye fishing exclusively.

I don’t really need to get much over 3 mph.

Carmike

I have a 9.9 on my 20′ fiberglass tiller.

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I had a Yamaha T8 on a Lund 2025. It did fine. My last three an 18.5′ and 2-21′ have had 9.9’s

I have a 5hp Honda on my 17.5 tournament pro. it actually works quite well even on the river. I think an 8hp would be perfect. DK.

IF you want a great setup just grab one of the new Suzuki EFI kickers. Best on the market.

would definitely look for one with power tilt. T8 on my 16.5 lund love it couldn’t imagine bending over to lift it up and down all day

4hp would be perfect-BTW i have one for sale that would be perfect for you, great condition, sweet runner and you get the IDO discount!

I loved my T8 on my 17 foot tin boat.
DT

You don’t need much over 3, but do you want to be going WOT on the kicker to achieve it?

I have 5hp on my 19′, pretty high rpms to achieve trolling speeds. Bigger the kicker the lower rpms, better fuel economy and wear tear on motor.

I had a Honda 5 on my alumacraft 175 and it was more than enough for trolling. I’d be tempted to go with a three for a little weight savings. However the higher hp might be marginally better getting back on a snotty day if the main quits.

I would say just get a 9.9 it will be plenty and the if you ever fish the hp limited lakes you are still good

I got my 9.9 zuke from someone selling it because it caused loafing on their 17.5 alumacraft (and they didn’t use it). I hung it on a 18.5 Crestliner with max Hp and it still does some but not horrible. I personally never use that much HP because it sounds like it will over rev at 75% throttle and the control is awful. It can not get the boat moving fast enough for the little prop or something. I would go lighter if I did it again, but for sure Electric TT and start.

What is loafing? I’ve never heard that term

crappie55369 wrote:

What is loafing? I’ve never heard that term

Google seems to be indicating that is the wrong term, but I have always understood it as a “bounce” that you can’t trim away or at least easily get remove when on plane.

I have 8 hp tohatso on 185 tour. pro sport alumacraft. Lots of kickers over the years don’t do less than 8. You want a twin cylinder as the singles rattle and shake which is very annoying on a long day of trolling,

Lake or river? If a lake a 8 or 9.9 is great and on the river i would suggest a 15.

carmike you going to be at Phil’s for the opener

The single cylinder small outboards will rattle your boat. I had a 6 hp Merc and it worked good besides the shaking. I now have a 9.9 pro kicker and very pleased. I’d say do it right the first time then no regrets.

I have had a Honda 5HP for my 16ft Pro V, bought new. It worked quite well but being a single cylinder would often stop after running a while. I would recommend getting a 2 cylinder, would idle a lot better.

michael keehr wrote:

carmike you going to be at Phil’s for the opener

Mike! Nice to see you again.

Nope, my dad has the boat up at Leech, so I’m sticking around home and fishing for some largies. Maybe I’ll head down to the river for some ‘eyes, we’ll see.

How about you guys?