CONTINUOUSWAVE

I have a 1969 NAUSET 17. I am thinking of putting a kicker on for some fresh water fishing. Restrictions are must be less then 10-HP.

I was thinking of a Honda 9.9 four-stroke-cycle long-shaft engine, but I am not sure about the added weight and overall balance of the boat. The auxiliary engine would be mounted on the transom starboard side. The main engine is Mercury 90-HP two-stroke-cycle engine. What have others put on as auxiliary engines on these classic 17-foot boats? Thanks.

Ray Dumas put a 5-HP auxiliary on his 170 MONTAUK and reported good results. Ray wrote a nicely illustrated article about it. His solution for the steering linkage and a remote electronic throttle control mechanism are quite interesting. I recommend taking a look at his methods.

Since a 1969 NAUSET 17 is going to be a smaller and lighter boat than a 170 MONTAUK, I would suspect that a 5-HP auxiliary for fishing ought to be plenty. I would be concerned about the effect of the 100-lbs off-center weight of a Honda 90-HP four-stroke-cycle engine.

A MUST-READ on this topic is from the original owner's manual, which discusses mounting of auxiliary engines.

Another consideration is the engine fuel. Are you using pre-mixed oil-gasoline with the Mercury 90-HP?