kicker or no kicker? HELP!

[water_wolf]

I have a dilemna to put to all of you. I am considering a kicker motor on my Lund Fisherman 1700. I was wondering if
a 6HP would be enuff motor for my boat or should I get a 9.9. My
reason for asking is I can get a good deal on a 2000 Johnson 6HP
4 stroke with all controls. Just wondering if I would be OK with
the 6 or if I should go with a 9.9 2 stroke. Your opinions mean alot to me so please reply with what your thoughts are....Thanks.

Rich

[water_wolf]

Sorry I also wanted to know if just a trolling plate would be a
goo alternative to a kicker.....My motor is a 90HP Johnson.

Thanks again
Rich

[Den]

The smaller of the 2 would be ok for that sized boat, the extra motor would definately be better than the trolling plate. the plate will usually work ok, but the kicker motor is nice to have for better control while trolling, as well as a motor to get you back if the big one has a problem. good luck and good fishin.
Den

[Swat1]

Rich: I run a 6 hp merc on the back of my Fisher FX18DV which is a glass boat and my guess is quite a bit heavier than your 17. It does a great job for me and allows speeds up to 5.5 mph on the GPS and as low as .5 mph on the Gps and paddle wheel.

Considering that my Optimax will troll down to 2 mph I don't need the kicker for anything over that. Keep in mind that the kicker is for slow speed opperation while trolling why get a motor that is bigger than what you need. At least that was my reasoning in going with my 6. So far I have been very pleased with my choice.

Dan
Swat 1

[Smitty]

I agree that the 6HP kicker will be fine on your rig. I had a 9.9 on a 1700 ProSport and it would run 6-7mph, so the 6 should be just fine. I had a trolling plate on the 90HP on my ProSport before buying the kicker and I will NEVER go back. The kicker trolls down slower and is so quiet and smoke-free you don't even know it's running.
I now have an 1800 Fisherman w/ a 135 Opti and still opted for the 9.9 4-stroke.
Just my $.02..

[T-Mac]

Small one would be fine for trolling...but , the larger one would be nicer if you needed to use your kicker to get you home from a long ways out of port.
Guess it depends on how big and how populated the water is where you fish.

[gary]

Should be fine as long as it is a long shaft wich I presume it is,plus you might save a few bucks!
good fishing,,www.garytheguide.com

[Phil T.]

Gary and T-Mac have the right idea. I've run a 9.8hp Merc as a kicker since '84. Before that, it was my only engine on a 14' cartopper. I have added an extension to make it a 20" leg. Until 1997, my main engine was a real lemon. That old kicker got me back to the trailer when the main wouldn't run at least five times.
I'd get the electric start option. If you drift fish at all, the kicker will be started and stopped al lot. The built-in alternator is also handy. You can always hand start the kicker and use it to recharge a dead battery. Then you can start the main engine.

[water_wolf]

THANKS alot guys your input is very important to me alot of experience on this board. So far I'm leaning toward the 4 stroke 6HP. Another advantage of the 4 stroke is I can have the fuel line run into my big tank. No 6 gal can kicking around the back of the boat.

Rich

[Starfish]

Ditto on the 6hp being plenty-- I run an 8hp 4-stroke on a 19.5' aluminum boat and it's always been enough. A thought, if you don't choose to use a remote tank for the kicker you might at least consider throwing a jerry can back there for a spare. One of the advantages of the separate kicker is having full redundancy, including separate fuel supply.