Best Type of Kicker Motor

[Whole in the Water]

I have a question for all you guys. In your experience what makes for the best trolling motor and more importantly back up motor:

a) 9.9 hp, 4-stroke high thrust, or
b) 15 hp, 4 stroke

I have a 20 ft welded aluminum, with a 130 hp Honda, the boat wieghs approximately 5000 lbs loaded. I have a 8 hp Honda kicker that works OK as a trolling motor but doesn't have enough power to act as a back up motor (i.e. it is too slow).

What do you guys recommend[?]

 

[nedarb2]

if your going for speed then the 15, but torque obviously the 9.9 high thrust..i know i gu that went form a 9.9 to a 15 though, and his boat only went .3mph faster or something, becasue unless your up on a plane you will only go as fast as your hull/water allows you too.

 

[Slabby20]

Get the Yamaha 8 HP 4 stroke, high thrust, electric start with power tilt. Great kicker!!

 

[The Penguin]

go honda instead
reason:

IF your batts fail then the electric start honda is a quick pull start right there.

If you go Yammy electric start you have to take the cover off then remove 4 bolts and then wind a starter cord around the fly wheel like the old seagull motor and then you can pull it and hopefully it will go.

I discovered this about 6 or 7 yrs ago, now yammaha may have changed things by now - at least look for a pull cord permantly attached to the motor

 

[salmon9]

You might get a few MPH out of a 15 hp but in my opinion not enough difference between a 9.9 and 15. Kickers are great backup should the big engine die but if it's for speed you need to get the boat on a plane which will take considerably more horsepower. I like eletric start kickers and agree with having a contingency plan on manual pull start. Small four strokes are pretty easy to pull start.

 

[TheRock]

I remember reading the comparison charts, Honda kickers have stronger charging units than Yamaha, if you run two batts. lots of electronics, 4 electric scotty's ect ect.. it may be worth considering..? You can'nt go wrong with either, Honda or Yamaha... What ever you do, Stay away from Merc!! just my personal opinion, I am not a Merc. fan. nor ever will be, from experiences with there products and service. I am Brand loyal to Yamaha and Honda.. Just my opinion preference.

 

[TheRock]

Honda 9.9 Alternator Electric 12 Amps (148 Watts) Manual 6 Amps (76 Watts) http://www.honda-marine.com/modeldetail.aspx?modelGroup=bf9.9

Yamaha 9.9 Alternator 10A
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outboard/products/subcatspecs/4/specs.aspx

For the record..
Merc. 9.9 Alternator Amp: 6 (electric)
Alternator Watt: 76 (electric)
http://www.mercurymarine.com/9.9_bigfoot
They claim they are #1 on the water?! LOL.. more like a #1 nightmare!! lol.. Just my opinion.. I realy realy hate every thing there is about Merc motors and there service! That's just my opinion!..

 

[fishin_magician]

quote:Originally posted by TheRock

I remember reading the comparison charts, Honda kickers have stronger charging units than Yamaha, if you run two batts. lots of electronics, 4 electric scotty's ect ect.. it may be worth considering..? You can'nt go wrong with either, Honda or Yamaha... What ever you do, Stay away from Merc!! just my personal opinion, I am not a Merc. fan. nor ever will be, from experiences with there products and service. I am Brand loyal to Yamaha and Honda.. Just my opinion preference.

For kickers...your Yamaha and Honda are great and will likely outperform a Merc....and Yamaha and Honda have gone through great pains to make a niche for themselves in this engine...

However for main power..Mercs are first with the big power. Yamahas 2nds, everyone else is a distant third. There's a reason more Mercs are sold than others...and it's not because they're crap. On the Eastern Seaboard..there's more Mercs than anything else combined...

Yamahas seem to have their act together in a BIG way though...no word on longevity over a few years...it's all so new...you need a commercial application to really test the wherewithal of these motors.



Mercs have the best service....
Yamahas are 2nd because when the belts go..your motor is FINISHED.

 

[Mongoose]

quote:I have a 20 ft welded aluminum, with a 130 hp Honda, the boat wieghs approximately 5000 lbs loaded. I have a 8 hp Honda kicker that works OK as a trolling motor but doesn't have enough power to act as a back up motor (i.e. it is too slow).

i could buy your 8hp motor if its a resonable price

 

[wolf]

Yammy all the way for trolling motors used them all especially at the lodge biggest ***** with the hondas is the trottle handles (plastic) we would break them constantly 5 boats 14 hours a day gets alot of use we finally switched to yammys 3 years ago and we dont have any problem with them ive had the same kicker now for 3 years still works great.

On my personal boat I run 9.9 high thrust and if your battery goes dead you have more issues than a pull starting your kicker!!!!look around the marinas mostly yammys wonder why??????????????dependability!!!!!!!!


Good luck Wolf

 

[TheRock]

Hi wolf, just curious what part of the Honda throttle arms you guys had problem with? What year/model Honda kickers were they? We have a 2001 Honda 9.9 high thrust, and the tiller arm is all solid metal with solid stainless bolts, I can't recall any plastic parts. The throttle control has a solid rubber grip and very well built, we never had a problem with it, our previous earlier Honda kicker as well we never had a problem with any part of the tiller arms. Very solid reliable motors. Honda or Yamaha kickers you can't go wrong with either both very reliable... Features that Honda has over Yamaha; Larger charging amp., comes with a 4 bladed prop., manual pull start if you ever needed it, its there ready to go very convenient.

 

[M.T.Pockets]

I have a 9.9 high thrust Yamaha kicker.Nothing better for fishing with, in my 23foot boat.It always starts( hope I didn't jinx it)

 

[marula]

my kicker is 9.9 yammy about 10 years old. Adjust the valves once in a while, change oil, clean filters, thats it. Elec start which is instant and trolls 12 hours on 2 1/2 gallons of fuel or less and zero corrosion anywhere.

This is one fantastic little motor.

 

[wolf]

The guts inside of the throttles are plastic and they always broke we had extra parts at the lodge all the time the plastic is inside the metal tube for the throttle control 3 blade to 4 blade prop on a kicker doesnt really matter on a big motor yes but your not going to get up on plane with a 23 ft boat and a 9.9 and I cant remember any time ive had to pull start my 9.9 I really dont think I have as for the charging system 2 downriggers and vhf,fishfinder they drawn only about 4 amps all together and if your battery is dieing better get a new one,

one great feature about a yammy very easy to put remote controls on it older hondas forget it YOU have to fab something!!!

Wolf

 

[rockfish99]

Get the Yamaha 8 HP 4 stroke, high thrust, electric start with power tilt. Great kicker!!


I have had this kicker for over a year now, it's great too...

any advice on mainetnance?

how much fuel does it take do you think? gallons per hour or liters

 

[TheRock]

Never had a problem with our 2001 model Honda throttle control yet, but that's good to know. Thanks Wolf!
For remote controls on a Honda there is the Remote Control Bracket/conversion Kit–BF9.9/15 you can buy... http://www.honda-marine.com/accessories.aspx# Might only work with the newer model kickers Year 2000<

I'v seen a few boats now with new 9.9 Suzuki kickers!?, are they any good? Better Priced?
http://www.suzukimarine.com/sr06/df1599/features_and_specs.php
I don't see a charging system in the specs.?

 

[Slabby20]

I previously had 4 stroke 9.9 Yamaha High thrust on my last boat and now I have the Yamaha 8 HP high thrust on my present boat. I've always run 3 or 4 downriggers, VHF, Sounder/Plotter, lights, stereo, pumps ect and never had a problem with a battery not being charged up. Maybe the Honda has a little better charging specs but the Yamaha does just fine. I wouldn't base the decision to buy on the small charging specs difference. I think what it comes down to is personal preference. They both are great motors but my preference is the Yammy. It just starts every time, runs super quite, and has been very, very dependable. A friend of mine has a 4 stroke Merc kicker. He has had problems with running his batteries down while fishing. He hasn't been happy with the little merc at all. He loves his 225 HP and bought the kicker merc so they would match. He now wishes he had bought the Yamaha.

 

[casper5280]

I have had both Honda and Yamaha 9.9's.I had a 1999 Yamaha that I bought new,never had a problem with it.It was high thrust ,electric start.I probably had 3000-4000 hours on it.I took a year off because I blew my big motor,so sold my kicker.When it was time to repower I got a great deal on a 130 hp Yamaha and a new 2005 Honda 9.9.The Honda is not electric start but does have the charging system and is high thrust.This Honda is a piece of crap.In one year it has been in the shop 9 times.
1) The throttle tension broke was replaced
2) The throttle tension broke was replaced
3) Recall for the accelerator pump
4) The connection for the charging wire corroded off,that was fixed
5) Spring for that broke,fixed
6) Spring for that broke,fixed
7) Spring for that broke,fixed
8) Spring for that broke,replace with much bigger spring
9) forgot,just replaced impeller,which I might add is not under warranty.I was told that if the motor blew it would all be covered under warranty except the impeller???
All of this was under warranty.All of at a side when the motor is not in the shop it does run well.One thing that is nice about the Honda is that the charging wire unplugs at the motor,the Yamaha is at the battery.If your kicker is on a bracket on long trips it bounces around a lot.I take mine off and lay it in my truck or camper so this is a nice feature.The shifter is on the motor as the Yamaha is on the tiller handle witch I like better.If I was to buy a new kicker it would be a Yamaha.Just my 2 cents

 

[frango]

I have been using a 9.9 yamaha since 2000.I bought it knowing it was a fresh water rental.Its a 1995.It has hundreds and hundreds of saltwater trolling hours on it.Oil change , new plugs and impeller is all it ever had.I had a rectifer installed when I bought it to charge batteries while I run sounder, gps and radio.Its been so good I bought a new 115 yamaha 4 sroke as main power because it ran so well.

 

[KoneZone]

Casper 5280 I can relate. I had a 1999 9.9 Honda Dog and she worked OK to start off then she became allergic to water. If I had it to do all over again I would go with the HT 8 Yamaha that most of the Pacific NW Guides use. They are a joy to use. If one is so fortunate to have a TR1-Gold Auto Pilot hooked to it all the better. Ahhhh the freedom from the tiller handle.