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Author Topic:   Kicker engine

contender posted 05-31-2012 07:14 PM ET (US)
After reading many threads here present and from the past, I have noticed that mostly people up north and out west(a lot of you) have kickers on your boats. My question is how many of you have actually had to use it to get home because your main engine failed (would not start)..
Tom W Clark posted 05-31-2012 07:31 PM ET (US)
I've owned quite a few kickers on quite a few Whalers (and other boats) over the last 26 years and have never used one to get home because my main motor would not start.
That's fine by me because my kickers are used for salmon trolling as they are by virtually everybody around here. I suppose emergency use is a nice secondary benefit.
JMARTIN posted 05-31-2012 07:47 PM ET (US)
Once, the main kept over heating. We putted in, the current gods were backing us. It was kind of fun except I was worried about the main motor repair being expensive and it wasn't.
I am surprised that some people only fire up the kicker motor when they are going to troll. If they do not fish for a year, the motor is not started for a year.
John
gnr posted 05-31-2012 11:00 PM ET (US)
I easily have more hours on the kicker than on the 88spl.
JohnKaloper posted 05-31-2012 11:57 PM ET (US)
My kicker is now 20 years old with 2,000 hrs. It has been on three boats of mine and brought me home just once. I blew the powerhead on a Johnson 140hp Looper. It was a long trip home that took about 5 hrs but I was glad to have a good capable back up.
martyn1075 posted 06-01-2012 12:15 AM ET (US)
I was forced to use the kicker once on my old rig. Engine wire was lose on the inside and computer forced it to quit in safe mode. The Whaler I have now I never had to use the kicker for the dreaded possibility of main engine failure.
We fish across the straight usually and its not a place you want to be when something happens. Mechanics are not a dime a dozen over in remote areas.
I quite enjoy using my main engines for A-B only and then just get the little guy to do the rest. Keeps the hours way down on the big ones as well.
I was very pleased when I bought the boat the owner had invested in the four stroke 9.9. There is no way that you can efficiently catch salmon (chinook especially) with two stroke main power. Just trolls too fast and water conditions vary so much with every tide and wind on top of that. Constant in and out of gear no thank you. The kicker just adjusts to it and changing gears on the four stroke seems to be much more stable.
jcrwshw posted 06-01-2012 01:03 AM ET (US)
I had the stator coil short out on my Evinrude 150... very glad to have a kicker. Mostly though the kicker is used for fishing.
jimp posted 06-01-2012 11:42 AM ET (US)
Had to use the kicker to get home once in 23 years when my main engine died in 2002. I use the kicker for salmon trolling. Averaging 15 hrs a year on the main engine (225) and 30-40 hours on the 9.9 kicker.
Teak Oil posted 06-01-2012 05:47 PM ET (US)
When a bad battery would not allow my 225 to turn over fast enough to start I used my 8hp kicker to go fishing, the walleye were hitting only a mile off shore anyways.
I also use my four stroke kicker in all no wake zones of any significant length, its sooooo much smoother and quieter than the big looper. It saves me a ton on fuel also.
andygere posted 06-01-2012 06:48 PM ET (US)
When my old Mercury 200 toasted a cylinder several years ago, we came home the 10+ miles on the kicker. It gets used mostly for salmon trolling, but I like the idea that I can start it with the recoil starter if both my batteries were dead.
renoduckman posted 06-01-2012 07:10 PM ET (US)
As Tom said i have never had to use a kicker to go home with. I have had two Whalers, the old 13 and the Montuck. And i use the kickers for two reasons, trolling for trout and to keep the hours off the big motor. I do not have them to get home when the big motor wont run.
Oddly enough, the only time i have had a motor fail on me was on the 13 before i had the kicker! It whould have been a simple troll in on a calm lake.
jharrell posted 06-01-2012 07:55 PM ET (US)
I have a 6hp Johnson kicker on my Montauk with my Merc 90 inline 6 which pushes it 5-6 mph easily.
I have have used it once to get back up the Chassahowitzka river about 3 miles after my main motor sucked up mud and started to overheat. This is the main reason I have a kicker because I time share a cabin on the river that is only accessible by boat.
I have also used the kicker to get out from the dock to open water when my main engine was acting up and stalling at idle. I am still trying to work out this issue, but from what I under stand this is a somewhat common issue with the tower of powers. Once in open water I was able to throttle up the main engine and it performed fine the rest of the day.
I have used the kicker for slow trolling around the river since it's quieter and much more fuel efficient than my old carbed 2-stroke 90.
I plan on re-powering with a new motor soon but it would be difficult to give up the peace of mind the kicker gives even with a reliable quiet fuel efficient modern main engine. I will probably also get a new matching kicker with a charging circuit so it runs on the same fuel and has the ability to charge the batteries from a pull start adding that much more redundancy.
Destin Dauntless posted 06-03-2012 11:29 PM ET (US)
well I'm reading this because my key broke off in my ignition this weekend when I was two miles offshore. Boy I wish I had a kicker.
littleblue posted 06-04-2012 01:38 AM ET (US)
As already mentioned, a kicker motor is great for trolling and
for "just in-case" scenarios.
My Outrage has a Mercury 200 Offshore EFI. My primary fishing is for Salmon which is done while trolling. In the two summers I've had the boat/kicker, fishing only one day a week, I've accumulated 380 hours on my kicker motor. That's some serious hours and serious fuel savings (not quite the same if you have 4-stroke main). I have probably already paid my kicker off in fuel savings...But even if you did have a fuel efficient main engine, why tack on all those hours?
My kicker is also hooked up to the batteries so they are always being charged while trolling. In the event of a drained batter, I could probably "jump" it by running the kicker for a while.
And of course, if the main were to fail, I would hopefully be able to putt in with the kicker.

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Author	Topic: Kicker engine
contender	posted 05-31-2012 07:14 PM ET (US) After reading many threads here present and from the past, I have noticed that mostly people up north and out west(a lot of you) have kickers on your boats. My question is how many of you have actually had to use it to get home because your main engine failed (would not start)..
Tom W Clark	posted 05-31-2012 07:31 PM ET (US) I've owned quite a few kickers on quite a few Whalers (and other boats) over the last 26 years and have never used one to get home because my main motor would not start. That's fine by me because my kickers are used for salmon trolling as they are by virtually everybody around here. I suppose emergency use is a nice secondary benefit.
JMARTIN	posted 05-31-2012 07:47 PM ET (US) Once, the main kept over heating. We putted in, the current gods were backing us. It was kind of fun except I was worried about the main motor repair being expensive and it wasn't. I am surprised that some people only fire up the kicker motor when they are going to troll. If they do not fish for a year, the motor is not started for a year. John
gnr	posted 05-31-2012 11:00 PM ET (US) I easily have more hours on the kicker than on the 88spl.
JohnKaloper	posted 05-31-2012 11:57 PM ET (US) My kicker is now 20 years old with 2,000 hrs. It has been on three boats of mine and brought me home just once. I blew the powerhead on a Johnson 140hp Looper. It was a long trip home that took about 5 hrs but I was glad to have a good capable back up.
martyn1075	posted 06-01-2012 12:15 AM ET (US) I was forced to use the kicker once on my old rig. Engine wire was lose on the inside and computer forced it to quit in safe mode. The Whaler I have now I never had to use the kicker for the dreaded possibility of main engine failure. We fish across the straight usually and its not a place you want to be when something happens. Mechanics are not a dime a dozen over in remote areas. I quite enjoy using my main engines for A-B only and then just get the little guy to do the rest. Keeps the hours way down on the big ones as well. I was very pleased when I bought the boat the owner had invested in the four stroke 9.9. There is no way that you can efficiently catch salmon (chinook especially) with two stroke main power. Just trolls too fast and water conditions vary so much with every tide and wind on top of that. Constant in and out of gear no thank you. The kicker just adjusts to it and changing gears on the four stroke seems to be much more stable.
jcrwshw	posted 06-01-2012 01:03 AM ET (US) I had the stator coil short out on my Evinrude 150... very glad to have a kicker. Mostly though the kicker is used for fishing.
jimp	posted 06-01-2012 11:42 AM ET (US) Had to use the kicker to get home once in 23 years when my main engine died in 2002. I use the kicker for salmon trolling. Averaging 15 hrs a year on the main engine (225) and 30-40 hours on the 9.9 kicker.
Teak Oil	posted 06-01-2012 05:47 PM ET (US) When a bad battery would not allow my 225 to turn over fast enough to start I used my 8hp kicker to go fishing, the walleye were hitting only a mile off shore anyways. I also use my four stroke kicker in all no wake zones of any significant length, its sooooo much smoother and quieter than the big looper. It saves me a ton on fuel also.
andygere	posted 06-01-2012 06:48 PM ET (US) When my old Mercury 200 toasted a cylinder several years ago, we came home the 10+ miles on the kicker. It gets used mostly for salmon trolling, but I like the idea that I can start it with the recoil starter if both my batteries were dead.
renoduckman	posted 06-01-2012 07:10 PM ET (US) As Tom said i have never had to use a kicker to go home with. I have had two Whalers, the old 13 and the Montuck. And i use the kickers for two reasons, trolling for trout and to keep the hours off the big motor. I do not have them to get home when the big motor wont run. Oddly enough, the only time i have had a motor fail on me was on the 13 before i had the kicker! It whould have been a simple troll in on a calm lake.
jharrell	posted 06-01-2012 07:55 PM ET (US) I have a 6hp Johnson kicker on my Montauk with my Merc 90 inline 6 which pushes it 5-6 mph easily. I have have used it once to get back up the Chassahowitzka river about 3 miles after my main motor sucked up mud and started to overheat. This is the main reason I have a kicker because I time share a cabin on the river that is only accessible by boat. I have also used the kicker to get out from the dock to open water when my main engine was acting up and stalling at idle. I am still trying to work out this issue, but from what I under stand this is a somewhat common issue with the tower of powers. Once in open water I was able to throttle up the main engine and it performed fine the rest of the day. I have used the kicker for slow trolling around the river since it's quieter and much more fuel efficient than my old carbed 2-stroke 90. I plan on re-powering with a new motor soon but it would be difficult to give up the peace of mind the kicker gives even with a reliable quiet fuel efficient modern main engine. I will probably also get a new matching kicker with a charging circuit so it runs on the same fuel and has the ability to charge the batteries from a pull start adding that much more redundancy.
Destin Dauntless	posted 06-03-2012 11:29 PM ET (US) well I'm reading this because my key broke off in my ignition this weekend when I was two miles offshore. Boy I wish I had a kicker.
littleblue	posted 06-04-2012 01:38 AM ET (US) As already mentioned, a kicker motor is great for trolling and for "just in-case" scenarios. My Outrage has a Mercury 200 Offshore EFI. My primary fishing is for Salmon which is done while trolling. In the two summers I've had the boat/kicker, fishing only one day a week, I've accumulated 380 hours on my kicker motor. That's some serious hours and serious fuel savings (not quite the same if you have 4-stroke main). I have probably already paid my kicker off in fuel savings...But even if you did have a fuel efficient main engine, why tack on all those hours? My kicker is also hooked up to the batteries so they are always being charged while trolling. In the event of a drained batter, I could probably "jump" it by running the kicker for a while. And of course, if the main were to fail, I would hopefully be able to putt in with the kicker.