Kicker Motor – Tiller handle or remote?

I’m looking for opinions. Current boat is a Alumacraft 205 Competitor Sport with a 250 Yami and a 112 Ulterra in front. Im looking to add a 9.9hp Suzuki kicker for trolling and a backup motor for some late summer/fall trolling.

I don’t really want to add another set of controls in the cockpit or have to sit in the cockpit maintaining the steering wheel.

If I buy a tiller handle setup and lock the motor straight forward can I use my front trolling motor to steer or is the best setup having the kicker linked to the main motor?
Any feedback is welcome – Thanks

I would do both the link to big motor is just a bar. You can steer with bow mount when it’s not rolling out for the most part. Mine as well get the bar that links it to the big motor however in case you want to sit in the cockpit and steer.

Both work. Mine has the tie bar link and I use it occasionally. Usually lock it straight and steer with my Terrova.

Jason wrote:

If I buy a tiller handle setup and lock the motor straight forward can I use my front trolling motor to steer or is the best setup having the kicker linked to the main motor?
Any feedback is welcome – Thanks

you can but i haven’t gotten it to work real well. I have an Alumacraft 175 sport with a 140 main motor and a 9.9 kicker. Suzuki for both. the issue for me is that the screw down mechanism to hold the thrust on the tiller in place is rather weak. As a result its difficult for me to maintain a constant speed. Ive given up on trying to use it and instead just hold the tiller by hand which makes for uneven speeds and its hard to fish that way. I would love it if someone chimed in and offered a solution. Ive read about some controls you can add to your unit that essentially lets you control everything with a remote but, like you mentioned, seemed like a lot to have hooked up and they get mixed reviews.

when i have gotten it to work using the kicker to propel in conjunction with the bow mounted trolling motor to steer its the bees knees.

interested in hearing what others have to say

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jason wrote:</div>
If I buy a tiller handle setup and lock the motor straight forward can I use my front trolling motor to steer or is the best setup having the kicker linked to the main motor?
Any feedback is welcome – Thanks

you can but i haven’t gotten it to work real well. I have an Alumacraft 175 sport with a 140 main motor and a 9.9 kicker. Suzuki for both. the issue for me is that the screw down mechanism to hold the thrust on the tiller in place is rather weak. As a result its difficult for me to maintain a constant speed. Ive given up on trying to use it and instead just hold the tiller by hand which makes for uneven speeds and its hard to fish that way. I would love it if someone chimed in and offered a solution. Ive read about some controls you can add to your unit that essentially lets you control everything with a remote but, like you mentioned, seemed like a lot to have hooked up and they get mixed reviews.

when i have gotten it to work using the kicker to propel in conjunction with the bow mounted trolling motor to steer its the bees knees.

interested in hearing what others have to say

A Trollmaster is worth it’s weight in gold.

Just don’t get the new wireless one, my buddy has one and it sucks.

Trollmaster several versions or the other several brands that control speed on your kicker.

I have a tiller handle on my 9.9 Merc. I also bought a 6′ extension handle from Cabela’s. More often than not I lock the motor in place, put my trolling motor on 4 power and just use that to steer. Then if I get a fish on or am watching the graph, I can just put it on auto pilot and really don’t have to pay attention at all.

When I’m fishing specific structure and need to keep tight proximity, I’ll just unlock the motor and steer with the handle. The nice thing about my motor, and maybe it’s that way with others, is that I can tighten or loosen the throttle so it’s not varying speeds on me.

I lock my kicker straight forward and never move it. Sometimes I use the big motor like a rudder and sometimes I use the trolling motor to steer for faster turns. I also use the electric to fine tune my speed. Basically I use the electric for speeds .7-1.1, I have my kicker set to around 1.4 and fine tune it with the electric up or down a bit. It has been years since I have actually turned my kicker.

onestout wrote:

I lock my kicker straight forward and never move it. Sometimes I use the big motor like a rudder and sometimes I use the trolling motor to steer for faster turns. I also use the electric to fine tune my speed. Basically I use the electric for speeds .7-1.1, I have my kicker set to around 1.4 and fine tune it with the electric up or down a bit. It has been years since I have actually turned my kicker.

X2

Crappie I would have your dealer look at your kicker. If I recall your boat isn’t that old and you should have warranty left. You should be able to tighten that throttle where you want it.

I would get a simple linkage arm with a throttle controller.

I drove 35 miles out on Lake Superior last Saturday and my i-Pilot remote wouldn’t work. I don’t keep the foot pedal in the boat and my Bluetooth was lost on my phone. Didn’t know how to pair so I was left controlling the boat with my kicker and a linkage arm that I made myself. If I hadn’t had that linkage I would’ve been dead in the water.

I have a throttle controller. As b-man said, they are worth their weight in gold. Mine is a Controllking. Works great.

Normally I attach the linkage arm and steer with my bow mount. Sometimes having a little control over the kicker helps the boat track a little better.

I’m liking what you guys are saying. Looks like I should get a simple removable connection bar as an option along with a 20″ tiller setup.
That makes me happy since I can pull it off easily and use it on my small duck boat as well!
Thanks much…

If y’all wanting to steer with trolling motor. Get this.

I troll all the time, kicker or main, and never turn on my trolling motor. Get a leelock.

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Been wanting one for years. $100 for it just seems wrong though. Drew up my own that would cost 1/3 of that.

With the troll master I can control the speed much more accurately than I could by constantly bumping the remote control on my kicker. I fish lake superior and .1 mph makes a difference in my mind, not sure if it does to the fish.

pairing a Pow’r Tran wireless steering on the kicker with an iTroll for precise thrust settings is the bee’s knees.

biggill wrote:

Been wanting one for years. $100 for it just seems wrong though. Drew up my own that would cost 1/3 of that.

Seems simple enough to make via shearing and forming. Problem is with the newer MDI and MSI MinnKota transducers that Leelock design wont work.

I think it really comes down to your style of fishing. For me I use the kicker for open water trolling and also contour trolling. I have the tiller handle and believe it offers the best of both worlds with the motor mounted on the port side. For open water trolling I pull the handle to the starboard side roughly 15-20 degrees and lock the motor in position. If I lock the motor at 0 degrees, the boat will want to track to the right due to the kicker thrust pushing the back port corner. Then I lock in my speed and steer the boat from the console using the big motor. I will deploy the trolling motor for when we are hookedup and distracted. The I-Pilot assures we are still tracking straight. I have yet to add a speed control like I-troll but I do see the addition in the future. Now, I use the tiller handle when following contours weather it’s a weedline, riprap shore line or depth breaks. I can’t imaging following contours effectively sitting at the helm of a wheel boat while fishing.

This is just what works for me and my style of fishing. If I were strictly open water fishing, controls at the helm would be the way to go.

Michael C. Winther wrote:

pairing a Pow’r Tran wireless steering on the kicker with an iTroll for precise thrust settings is the bee’s knees.

If you think that’s nice you should fish in a boat with a Garmin TR1-Gold

I have another question –
Should I only get a kicker unit with power trim or does a manual tilt setup work ok?

Im thinking that a power trim setup is better in keeping the motor locked in position while at stow.

I have a manual lift and there’s zero issue keeping it in the locked position. I will say though that I really wish I had a power tilt. Putting it down and pulling it up in 4’ waves isn’t fun.

Go with power trim. You won’t regret it.

Jason wrote:

I have another question –
Should I only get a kicker unit with power trim or does a manual tilt setup work ok?

Im thinking that a power trim setup is better in keeping the motor locked in position while at stow.

Adds 50 lbs and higher price. If neither are a show stopper… then choice is yours.

A Trollmaster is worth it’s weight in gold.

Just don’t get the new wireless one, my buddy has one and it sucks.
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My first wireless trollmaster made really big jumps in speed. I ended up sending it back in because it would also go to sleep and not wake up. Replacement works like it should.

I use the panther removable tie bar and the kicker with the trollmaster, drop the bowmount for four wheel drive trolling when necessary.

My kicker is a tiller open water lock it down use my Ullterra with Link and use it to steer and speed control nothing more needed for me.

Came back from Algoma, put a Panther bar between the kicker and the Mec tiller, steered with the main, worked great,trolled 6.5 hours, 2gal gas.

catmando wrote:

Came back from Algoma, put a Panther bar between the kicker and the Mec tiller, steered with the main, worked great,trolled 6.5 hours, 2gal gas.

If anyone needs one longer than the one panther sells, let me know. I can make one out of stainless steel tubing. I had to make one for my boat because the panther one was too short.