Prop Guards for kicker

[Captain Kirk]

Any pros and cons? I am considering putting one on my T8
:help:
Kirk

[tomictime]

nothing but happy w macs (ring style)..allows for extreme steering w rigger cables out, should you need it.

JD

[Draggin' Bait]

We have a plastic circular guard on our Yamaha 8. Very happy with results.

[Captain Kirk]

I have never seen a plastic one. Who makes it? One of my concerns is what happens when you hit something hard. Plastic sounds like a good way to go. :smash:

[Catching Nemo]

I have the one made by Clackacraft and it has worked great. This unit can also be mounted without drilling any holes in the anti-vent plate or skeg.

http://www.hunt101.com/img/396070.JPG

[Draggin' Bait]

I'll have to look up the brand name of the plastic one we installed. Sadly, I can tell you exactly what happens when you hit something!

I think it was from either Cabella's or Bass Pro. They come in three colors, each representing a different engine HP range. Mine is yellow and matches an 8 HP Yamaha just fine. They attach much like Catching Nemo's gizmo, except I did have to drill four small holes in the anti-cavitation plate. No big deal there.

It seems to do two things. First, of course, it prevents fishing line and most large or rigid items from getting into the prop. However, if you run through a weed patch the smaller flexible stuff can wrap itself around the extra material underwater and stay there till you shut down and manually remove it. Secondly, it prevents the prop from throwing some of the water out away from the hub, and forcibly redirects it aft. The result is that the propwash is noticeably "tighter" (I don't know how else to describe it). I believe that less of the engine energy is wasted throwing water sideways and instead goes into directed thrust. Whether that is enough to counter the extra drag created by having more material underwater is hard to say without a gps speed trial both with and without the prop guard installed.

Our Yamaha serves double duty -- kicker on the Arima and main propulsion on a 10 1/2 inflateable, which I use in the lakes and rivers. A couple of years ago coming down a shallow spot of the Klamath I forgot to tilt the engine and left it down. Sure enough I hit a large rock with the propguard. The propguard absorbed most of the impact, and broke on one side (it comes in two halves). The side that hit the rock was pushed into the prop. However, because it was far softer than the metal, the prop gouged into the plastic and was barely bent. It was still in good enough shape to run up to about 4,000 rpm though not full speed. The prop was saved enough that we were able to finish the afternoon's fishing. I believe that a metal circular guard would have had less "give" to it and the impact would have either destroyed the prop or damaged the lower unit by not absorbing the impact. I'm also quite sure that if the guard had not been installed the prop would have been destroyed entirely. Aside from cussing myself for forgetting to tilt the engine, I've been very pleased with the results.

[Draggin' Bait]

Found it. Go to propguardmarine.com for a photo and their full sales spiel.

[RussT]

I have the Mac's on my kicker. It's great. Before I installed it had 3 people think they had the mother of all Sturgeon hooked :hoboy: I wouldn't run a kicker without one now.
RussT