How Big is your trolling motor?

[CGRFish]

Sitting here dreaming about a new trolling motor, and looking for some input. I have a 16' bluewater, and have had a 6 hp evinrude for trolling. Dreaming of a new motor, but unsure what size to get - I hear so much good about the Yamaha T8, but I'm concerned it may be too big to troll down well on my boat. On the flip side, I want enough power that if I have to use it to come in on a sloppy day, it will handle the boat well..

So here's my question - how big is your boat, and what do you use to troll with? Any suggestions for my situation?

Thanks!

[joemomma]

21'tj yami t8, it will troll down for you, thats what they do!

[C-Run]

My boat is a 17.6 ft NR and it has a T8 and it works well, trolls down nice and has plenty of power as well.

[Roperguy]

Arima SR19 w/ Hondas 90HP main and 15HP kicker
Maury

[FallRiverGuy]

16 ft Smokercraft Stilleto with 6 hp Yamaha.

[salmontroller]

16 ft Smokercraft Stilleto with 6 hp Yamaha.

18' Smokercraft...regular Yamaha 8 works great!

[jzell]

20' NR Sportster with Yami T8 Hi-Thrust

[stupenny5]

20 ft willies t-8 nice but like my 9.9 better.

Dont go smaller than an 8.

[skaha]

17.5 thunderjet 9.9 Suzi electric start
--went for motor with electric start to charge batteries when troll
--If battery is dead can pull start kicker and charge batteries.

--smaller 4 stroke motors can put charge kit in.

--I had a 5 hp honda.good motor but 9.9 moves the boat if I have to.

--Have a steer link main motor but still have to use tiller control if real windy or switch to main motor.

--remember you can play with prop etc. to fine tune a single purpose motor. I found 4 stroke on my smaller boat wouldn't troll down to 1.5 mph so had to use sock as didn't want to change prob for high end speed required to run the small boat but as a kicker, hopefully you wont need the high end much. Would still have enough power if you needed it.

[RascallyRabbit]

I have a T8 on my 17'10 NR Scout, and love it!!!

Steve/RR

[Bobberman]

9.9 Merc Pro kicker. I never thought I would like the power trim and electric start as much as I do.

[twisted lines]

20' T8 High thrust bought it in 02 and its got some hours on it. Very nice unit!

[Jedcraft]

23' NR Commander with T8. Perfect.

[Just Fish]

2002 yamaha f8 works very well on my 17 foot smokercraft.There are tons of hours trolling on this motor. starts right up.

[Splash]

15' Smoker, 101-riptide. Overkill? When the wind comes up and everyone else is untangling lines, I am still fishing.

[moknots]

1962 Glaspar 18' trolls pretty good with an old 1991 Yamaha 8hp 2 stroke. Bought it used for $500. Trolled 3 years before I bothered to change the very old spark plugs it came with! Not that I needed to, just seemed like a good idea. On the other hand, that kicker's pretty new compared to the 1978 70hp Evinrude main. Guess I'm partial to running stuff until it's dead. Trouble is, those 2 strokes are pretty hard to kill, and they barely need any maintenance or attention (new spark plugs every 8 or 10 years :)) Gosh, guess I am missing out on some pride of ownership!

[jaxflyfish]

22 foot customweld. Yamaha T8.......

[wanafish]

21' Seahawk, Yami T8

[Rick on Rogue]

I have a 17 foot Fisher that came with a bow mount electric , but it is hard to sit out in the cold and rain and use the foot control, so I use the 40 hp Merc 4 stroke with a "Happy Hooker" trolling plate. Works great and I can stay under the canvas where the heater is till the fish gets on.
Back in '79 some one gave me a Minkota 35, one of the magnets had come loose inside the housing. I epoxied it back in place bought a new seal and put it back together and used it for a while. I loaned it to a friend in 84 and recently he returned it (after I went and got it). The plastic prop was broken and I replaced it with aluminum (all I could find) and will be using it some this summer to troll really slow for lunkers.
With the 40 hp I can slow down to .5 mph, but ususlly troll at 1.0 to 1.5. Then I pull the plate and run to the next spot and drop the plate and back in business.

[Willis]

I have a merc 8hp man start kicker wish I had electric start and power trim. My boat is a 18ft bayrunner wish my kicker was a 9.9 just a little more power for the sloppy days if the main went out.

[fishkisser]

20 ft Rogue Marine Scrambler
350 inboard jet (317 hp )
Yamaha T-8 kicker
No problem whatsoever trolling down to a standstill... (Except when real windy )
Top speed on the T-8 is 6.7 mph
Top speed (so far) on the main is 64 mph ...

Buy a T-8 and you'll never regret it ...:twocents:
Barney:wave:

[fish-on-bend]

18' FishRite, T8 kicker. I troll about 300 hours a year with it. I see a trend here.:D

[ElkTalker]

15 hp on my 21' Starcraft Chieftain, and 4hp on my 15 ft Crestliner. I have not yet put a kicker on my 24 ft campion but if I keep it much longer 15 hp would do just fine, I'm sure.

[CGRFish]

Thanks for all the input! Sounds like the T-8 is by far the favorite. Unfortunately I did my taxes over the weekend, and uncle sam might get my new boat motor for this year....:passout::passout::passout:.

[ICHTHYDEMON]

The T8 on my 20' Seahawk is perfect. It'll troll down less than 1mph.

My brother has a Yamaha 6hp kicker (4 stroke) on his 19' Scout. The T8 works mucho better for trolling. The T8 has way more control and needs much less input to maintain course and speed.

The 6 has such a small prop it needs alot of rpms to do anything. The T8 moves my boat at an idle.

[Bandy76]

You forgotto say where you fish.
On my 16' Auqa Glas I used a 2hp johnson for trout in the lakes & never had any trouble. when I broke the lower unit I went to a 6hp johnson, still would troll slow enough & move me around on the columbia.
My 19' NR I use a Yahama T8 works great for trout & on the columbia also.

[Doc_Rhen]

140 HP Mercury on a 16' Fiberform Tri-Hull:eek:. Occasionally I hook up the 18 HP Evinrude When I need a little more low speed control:D. When I get a new boat it will probably have a Yamaha T8:dance:.

[Kootenay]

8hp 4 stroke Merc :throb:

[bassin]

22' seahawk and T8

[Ken Drifter]

18ft Seahawk. Kicker -Honda 8hp. 4 stroke Force motor. Very very quite. Eats gas like a bird. Electric start. Hour meter.

[Nessie]

20' Hewes Searunner Honda 8 hp high thrust , love it make sure to get the power trim and electric start you will not regret it.