Biggest outboard for trolling?

[Tom Anderson]

I'm looking for a new boat and wonder what folks recommend as the biggest 4 stroke I can troll with, several hours at a time. If I can use the main motor I can maybe avoid the cost and weight of a kicker. What have folks found; at what size motor should I be adding a kicker and why?

Thanks!!

[PJM]

Tom

What brand of boat?

[muskyhunter47]

i troll at 2.8 mph all day long with a F150 Yamaha no problems

[Tom Anderson]

Thinking of a 16-17 foot Alumacraft or PolarKraft.

[Thunderbucket]

I can troll all day with my 90 etec with a plate down to 0.7 mph all day

[feklar]

my mer 115 will do 1.0 with the plate down.

[billinin21]

I have a 50 hp e tec on an Alaskan (motor idle set back to 650) I troll around 1mph...trolls fine for an hour or more (maybe more).

My brother has an 80hp Yamaha 4 strk on a 17' Fishhawk. He trolls down to about 1.2 mph. Can troll for extended time, too.

[Gilligan]

Originally Posted by Tom Anderson

I'm looking for a new boat and wonder what folks recommend as the biggest 4 stroke I can troll with, several hours at a time. If I can use the main motor I can maybe avoid the cost and weight of a kicker. What have folks found; at what size motor should I be adding a kicker and why?

Thanks!!

Tom... my 9.9 Merc pro kicker is around 100#, not alot of added weight. Right now my 2007 250hp Verado has 400 hours. My 2007 kicker has over 2200 hours! If my Verado had 2600 hours on it it sure wouldnt be worth much AND I would have burned enough extra fuel to have bought that kicker...maybe twice over.

[ffishman]

Just curious, a big motor probably cost around 10k, a kicker, like a merc 4 stroke 9.9 goes for 1699. 8k difference. Why would you want to put all those hours on the big engine. Lot cheaper to replace a kicker.

[musky1011]

Alumacraft 165 classic 75Hp Optimax 2mph Optimax is a very quiet engine when trolling..no oil smell and a very quick holeshot.. 39.9 mph loaded with gear on quiet water Merc optimax is a DFI 2 stroke