OK Let's talk Kickers

04-28-2001, 01:39 AM

I will be purchasing a new kicker very soon.... what have you people found to be a good motor, as well as what kinds of kickers have turned out to be a bad investment? ... I was thinking about going with the 9.9 Mercury, 4-stroke, or possibly a 8hp Yamaha?

drift boat · 04-28-2001, 06:37 AM

9.9 Merc, Big Foot.This motor has never giving me any trouble [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thumper · 04-28-2001, 06:48 AM

I only know anything about Mercury motors. Never owned any other type. If you have a smaller boat the 2-stroke is hard to beat. Mine is a 15, though a smaller one would certainly work. On a friend's larger boat (22 ft. inboard) he has a four-stroke Merc 15, and its extra weight is noticeable but not prohibitive. My problem with the Merc four-strokes is that they are ridiculously heavy, the shift is not on the handle and they have little top-end torque. I'll take the 2-stroke anytime.

Ed · 04-28-2001, 06:50 AM

What's it going on and what type of fishing are you doing?

orsturgeon · 04-28-2001, 03:32 PM

Also do you want electric start, hydraulics?

All this will add to the cost as I just found out. I went to South Marine in Albany to purchase a Yamaha 9.9 4 stroke today (they had the best price), well it seems that since my 18' starcraft has a 31" transom the only model that would work was the extra long shaft. Now the rub - the only 9.9 with the extra long shaft is the high thrust and it only comes with electric start. Also it has reduced gearing and a bigger prop. So that means over $400 more PLUS 3 hours shop time (over $200), all for bells and whistles that I DON'T NEED OR WANT. Now they have an 8 horse with the extra long shaft but that has electric start AND hydraulic tilt. More bells and whistles that I personally do not need or want.

Anyway I am just whining because I came home without a kicker motor because I did not want to spend the extra $600.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU TAKE YOUR BOAT TO THE STORE WHERE YOU ARE PURCHASING YOUR MOTOR.

Joel

dawhunt · 04-28-2001, 04:13 PM

I've gone from a two stroke 8 to a 9.9 horse
four stroke.After I bought it ,I found out they don,t troll slow,I had to buy a trolling flap to slow it down.So to get a something you have to give something up.I believe all four strokes are the same.I'm not sorry I bought it but the salseman would have at least warned me about the speed thing.
Bob

boater · 04-28-2001, 04:46 PM

or, what did they want for the 9.9 electric extra long ??, i believe that the 4 strokes with the 4 blade props only offer one prop but the ones with 3 blades can be reproped to troll slower, or you can have your own prop repitched.

[ 04-28-2001: Message edited by: boater ]

HOGTIDE · 04-28-2001, 06:26 PM

orsturgeon,

Mercury makes a 9.9, 4 Stroke in an XL shaft, with the Bigfoot lower unit. No electric start, hydraulics, etc. Costs just under $2k...........and it's the right color!

...it is heavy...but Smooooooth at idle speeds.

orsturgeon · 04-28-2001, 09:01 PM

boater,

they were going to let me have it for $2,345. List price. The long shaft that I was going to buy at first - before I realized that it would not work - was $1,945. The funny thing is that on their other motors the extra long shaft is only $25 more. Thats why they lost my business, because yamaha added all of the extras to the 8 and the 9.9 and the next motor up with the extra long shaft is the 100 horse.

HOGTIDE,

You are right, the merc costs less and I was originally going to buy the bigfoot 9.9 but I want F N R on the tiller. I will have to think long and hard on whether I would be happy with out that feature. Does this one have a long tiller handle? Where can I get the bigfoot for under 2 grand? I am still interested.

[img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] Thanks for your replies [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

HOGTIDE · 04-29-2001, 07:26 AM

Stevens Marine has 'em for that price. I had the Forward/Reverse Throttle in my old 8hp and I loved it. You're right...my new 4 stroke has a seperate shift. But, it really isn't that much of an issue while trolling. It might be noticable if you dock with the little motor...but the new shifter is very accessible. Not a lever on the side like the older motors.

GoFish · 04-29-2001, 09:51 AM

Gotta make a comment on the single most important reason that I traded my 8hp 2-stroke for a new 9.9hp 4-stroke.....NO SMOKE! (And, no oil slick either) Got the three blade prop and so far, on a 16ft Alumaweld super-vee, it seems to troll slow enough. That was a concern for me because a 10hp Honda I once had wouldn't troll down enough. Starts real easy too.

orsturgeon · 04-29-2001, 12:34 PM

gofish

What make?

Killertraylor · 04-29-2001, 04:49 PM

Orsturgeon - I had the same problem when I ordered my kicker for my deep V North River. I wanted the yamaha 4 stroke 15 hp elec. start. NR installed it and wallah - not long enough. I had to go with a Honda 15hp elec. start instead since Honda made the extra long shaft. It works great and I paid $2400 for it through NR.

KrystalFlash · 04-30-2001, 01:08 AM

I can't remember who told me this, but I heard that the MERC 9.9 isn't actually a MERC motor, only the lower unit is MERC. The engine is made by another party. A partnership that Merc has with another party. It is a good motor though. If I remember, I'll let ya know..
If I were looking to buy one...I'd look to a MERC 8 Two-stroke, We've had two of these for years and they are bullet-proof. No problems with trolling speed either as you have with some of the 4-strokes. As far as 4-strokes go..The Honda 9.9 is a GOOD MOTOR. The Merc 9.9 is a good motor too.

[ 04-30-2001: Message edited by: KrystalFlash ]

Smily · 04-30-2001, 09:25 AM

On the Smaller hp's motor's of Mercury,I was just informed by Beaver Marine in Gresham that they are being farmed out to Tohatsu. Which is also Nissan. I have owned my 15 hp Tohatsu for 9 years and so far no problem. It has been a very good motor for me. It sounds that no one wants to make there own motors anymore. Good luck finding what you want. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Smily [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

HOGTIDE · 04-30-2001, 09:20 PM

My God...my Mercury is a Tohatsu????

...guess I'll go for that extended warranty, after all.

JP · 05-01-2001, 07:49 PM

My brother bought his 4 stroke Honda 9.9, long shaft, in Canada. He new what exactly what he wanted, found a dealer on line in Vancouver B.C. and had it shipped down here. He saved about $400, even with shipping and duties.

Just another idea...

backlash · 05-02-2001, 09:57 PM

I don't know about the smaller 2 strokes, but the 4 stoke Merc power heads are built by Yamaha, Mecury builds the lower units. I've run the 9.9 4 stroke long shaft since 96, no problems. I did adjust the idle down to slow down the trolling speeds. As far as extensions go, I just had to add 1 for my new Formula Vee as it is mounted directly to the transom.($400 installed) If needed, I could have added 1 more. "If it ain't black send it back." [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]