Seems like the kicker motor becomes an ice cycle on my boat in the winter.
Anything I should be concerned about?
What do you do with your kicker in the frigid temps?
I pretty much leave it up when on the water and when I’m off I tilt it down.
What’d y’all think/do kicker in the winter
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I do the same, up when on the water and down as soon as it is loaded on the trailer.
I have a heated garage so I’m not real concerned about any residual ice in the lower unit because it will melt as soon as I get it home.
This could be an issue if you get water in the lower unit that freezes before you tilt it down. Not sure how you would keep it from freezing in the lower unless you left the kicker down most of the time. Maybe this is not even an issue?
That’s my concern, lower unit freezing up on the water. I do not have a heated garage but do turn one on when the boat is iced up bad.
It’s only a 2016 kicker, don’t really want to ruin it yet.
I’ve taken mine off once for this same concern… not really what I want to do as it is still a good back up option. Maybe cover the water intakes? Interesting to see what others say….
It’s definitely my ‘get home insurance’ motor so removing is not really an option, even though it doesn’t get used… That’s primarily why I bought it. Safety
Too risky not having it when it’s freezing and not another soul is on the river. But…I wonder how it’d run all froze up anyway.
I bet it is very hard on the motor. I dont fish all winter like you FBRM.. but was out a few times in Early Early spring (FEB MAR) and had the same problem. I did the same as you described. Difference being I use my kicker almost 100% of the time once I get to a spot.. that being said, like you I tried to keep it in the water whenever possible. Drained it best I could right away afterwards. But I would fire it up once on the trailer in the parking lot to clean any remaining water in there.
A few times my “pisser” was froze over, which had me concerned about “over heating” as weird as that sounds, or pump burning up. Ended up dangling over the freezing water with a bottom bouncer wire trying to unclog the port. Have new Yamaha motors so A guy worries about things like that.
Times like that makes me wonder.. Why am I even out here!? But you cant pick the weather for spring tournaments.
I think there’s two scenarios for dealing with a kicker in sub-freezing temperatures;
1.) You’re going to occasionally be using your kicker when you get to your fishing spot and tilting it up when using the main motor to get to the spots.
In this situation, once you’ve lowered the kicker into the water and started it up, you’ll get cooling water flowing through the motor. For the rest of the trip, I keep the motor down and in the water whenever I’m not up on plane using the main motor. For example, if I’m using a bow mount trolling motor or anchored. Generally the drives to new spots are short enough for me that I don’t think water inside the kicker will have time to freeze up, especially if the kicker is warm. Once I get to the ramp and pull out, I lower and raise both motors a couple of times to help drain out all the water. I’ll also hit the starter to spin them for a second or two. There’s debate whether spinning the motor is needed or even harmful but I’ve not had a problem in 10 years doing this. The impeller is wet.
2.) The second situation is where the kicker is not going to be used but is just along for the ride.
Because the water has been previously drained, there’s no need to worry about it freezing in the motor. The concern will be that the lower unit gets a lot of ice buildup as shown in the photo, and water also enters the hub of the kicker and builds up in there from waves and splashing if it can’t be raised high enough to avoid this. It seems like the hub could fill with water and as that water freezes and expands it could crack the hub. It seems reasonable to think this but I’ve had my Yamaha T8 kicker “along for the ride” for 10 winters now and have never had a problem with this happening. I think perhaps as the water splashes in there, it slowly builds ice on the surfaces so it does not have the expansion forces to cause a crack. As far as using it for a “get home” motor after it has the ice build up, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’d just let it soak in the water for a while before starting it. If ice has completely filled-in the hub, perhaps the exhaust could be blocked and the motor wouldn’t run until the has melted enough to let the exhaust gases exit. I wouldn’t worry about the pisser as it might be frozen but that doesn’t mean you’re not getting good cooling water flow.
I know a lot of guys have kickers on their boats that they don’t use during winter trips and I’ve never heard of a problem. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen but I’ve never heard of it.
Boone
I’m really good at forgetting my kicker is in the water before launching onto plane, but it is probably wise to soak the kicker when fishing to keep it thawed. I just see myself constantly forgetting to lift it… I’ll just need to work on that… Just like forgetting that I can’t put my rods on my driver’s side in the winter 
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There’s debate whether spinning the motor is needed or even harmful but I’ve not had a problem in 10 years doing this. The impeller is wet.
Boone this should never be debated. Turn your kill switch to off and turn your motor over with the key. You can run your battery down until it’s dead (exaggeration) without scoring the cylinders that some mechanics say happens in seconds when starting your engine.
I have heard/seen people run their engines out of water for what I would call an incredibly long period of time to “get the water out”.
Sorry FBRM for the hi-jack.
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