[Sea n Red]

Last year I blew the upper unit on my IO late at night. Thanks to a fellow fisherman I got towed to port. Because of that I decided I need a kicker back up. My 4.3 Chevy was great for trolling and had no issues at all.

My question is if I decide to actually use the kicker how do I keep the battery charged. I’m running fish hawk, graph, lights, radio, lots of electronics anyway. I’m thinking on a 5 or 6 hour troll when I go to start the IO I’m going to hear that clicking sound we all dread.

 

[cwk33041]

Take a look at a 9.9 mercury pro kicker or a yamaha. They both have an alternator on them. They push 6amps.

For merc, the 9.9 has 6 amp output and a 15 has double that at 12amp.

For what it is worth, I mostly troll lake erie, I have two batteries on board, but I've run my riggers, fishhawk, auto pilot, fish finder, VHF radio, and regular radio for 8 hours at time with out issues while running the kicker.

My rule of thumb just in case, is to never shut down both motors at the same time. I always start my main before I shutdown my kicker and start my kicker before I shutdown my main. Just playing it safe.

 

[Sea n Red]

All good info. Thanks

 

[Cork Dust]

The newer high-thrust kicker motors have good alternators that push their rated amperage values at operating speeds below max. rpm values. I would encourage you to install a second "house" battery that is a deep cycle unit to run your electronics off of and install a VSR (Voltage Sensitive Relay) or, at minimum a Perko battery selector switch, which Isolates the two batteries from current draw-down. I removed my Perko unit from my Outrage when I shifted to Group27 AGMs and installed a VSR which actually opens the "gate" when the selected battery reaches near full charge, enabling the alternator to recharge the reserve battery that is sitting static while you are trolling.

The biggest value of a deep cycle battery is that is is designed with thicker plates to withstand many more cycles of draw-down prior death than a cranking battery-great choice for trolling motors and electronics.

Just keep in mind that a kicker will move the boat at hull displacement speeds, not planing speeds. The trip in will be lengthy... Seven miles on a 9.9hp kicker for a 21' hull will take a loooong time to get you back to the dock and you will not be able to finess the hull into a slip when you get there...so make sure you will have some help availabel with boat hooks in hand.

 

[birdhntr]

The very dependable 9.9 Honda 4 stroke kicker Pull start only needs a fuel line and your good to go.

 

[Sea n Red]

Glad I posted this. All good info to think about. Thanks again to everyone. Got to get moving. Just got my kicker mount done. Went with the panther mount from marine tech that keeps the motor in the vertical position. I may get out there yet.

 

[cwk33041]

What are you doing for steering?

 

[Sea n Red]

Ez steer. It has a mount for the mercruiser.

 

[downriverbob]

Currently have a 9.9 mercury pro kicker good motor a little cold blooded(hard starting) for me, once it starts it runs like a top. I have also have several accessories running off my starting battery never had an issue with starting. Had a Yamaha T-8 on my previous boat, in my mind was a better motor, started first time every time, also ran several accessories running off my starting battery never had an issue with starting.

Bob

 

[ETW]

Another vote for the Merc 9.9 Pro Kicker. I have a 2002 9.9 4S Bigfoot and we just trolled Lake Huron on Sat. in my 19' Starcraft. 3 guys plus gear/fuel. Trolled off the kicker for approximately 9 hours at about 2.5mph and burned slightly less than 3 gallons of fuel. I have witnesses, haha. And we ran a big Garmin, Fish Hawk, VHF, homemade iTroll, electric riggers, bilge pump etc. while it still charged the house battery. Pretty amazing IMO.

 

[penaltybox]

Currently have a 9.9 mercury pro kicker good motor a little cold blooded(hard starting) for me, once it starts it runs like a top. I have also have several accessories running off my starting battery never had an issue with starting. Had a Yamaha T-8 on my previous boat, in my mind was a better motor, started first time every time, also ran several accessories running off my starting battery never had an issue with starting.

Bob

I had the same exact problem, then it morphed into rough running at idle. I slightly bumped up the idle and both issues were resolved. very slight bump.

 

[downriverbob]

I had the same exact problem, then it morphed into rough running at idle. I slightly bumped up the idle and both issues were resolved. very slight bump.

One thing I did also was to pull the fuel line and run all of the gas out, seems to help the starting process

 

[cwk33041]

Ez steer. It has a mount for the mercruiser.

I'd also look into getting an itroll or equivalent to control the throttle on the kicker in small increments. It's really a great feature to have.

 

[R-boat]

Glad I posted this. All good info to think about. Thanks again to everyone. Got to get moving. Just got my kicker mount done. Went with the panther mount from marine tech that keeps the motor in the vertical position. I may get out there yet.

I added a kicker last year to my 192 smokercraft. Always a little nervous 8 - 10 miles out on Lake Michigan with no backup power. Was concerned about running all electronics off main battery. Switched from series 27 to a 31. Hasn't been an issue. Had horrible time starting the kicker til I checked carb. Adjustment screw was bottomed out h then capped. Opened it 2.5 turns & fine now. It's a merc 9.9, not pro kicker. Kinda poor quality control. My big merc has more time than I care to think about on it.

 

[kroppe]

9.9hp is enough. I am a Honda fan but any motor will do.

I run a Group 31 deep cycle for all electronics: GPS, VHF and Fish Hawk. A second battery is for starting both motors and cockpit electrics: gages, bilge, horn and navigation lights. This separates the loads from an energy balance point of view and also isolates electronics from the noisy engine harness.

I charge both batteries at the beginning of the season, and recharge the Group 31 once or twice during the season. The starting battery stays charged because it is connected to the two engine alternators.

 

[Swampbuckster]

I find my main battery powers all of my accessories while main not running just fine. But for what it’s worth, how about a backup battery or switch all your accessories to an auxiliary battery just in case. Can never have too many insurances on big water

 

[fishdip]

15 Horse mercy,fuel injected and starts off the same battery as big motor and same gas tank.