Trolling Motor vs Running on Main Engines?

[Samnjoe]

1200hrs on the mains + 4000hrs on the kicker..........thats 5200hrs in 3-4 years which means you put between 1300 and 1700+ hrs a year.
Thats full time guiding in a long season and in no way comparable to the average user that spends a couple hundred hrs a year out there.

Not in 3-4 years. The boat and motors are 2006 so 13 years of trouble free running (well maintained).
That's 100 hours a year on the mains and 300 hours a year on the kicker.
If I didn't have a kicker I would have re-powered about 8 years ago and running costs to date would have been at least an additional $50k.
I fish about 50 days a year including extended trips up the north coast.

 

[Pineapple Express]

I'm late to the party, but wanted to add to the group that says "use the mains for trolling". One of the biggest benefits of using the mains is that they're a lot quieter than a kicker (although I haven't personally been on a boat with an EFI 25hp kicker). That for me is a huge factor....I like the quiet while I'm trolling.

Modern outboards will wear out due to corrosion before they will wear out due to hours. Boaters all focus on hours because it's the only parameter that's easily available to compare use. As others have said, engine wear can be more closely matched to the amount of fuel that's been consumed.

 

[profisher]

I have to disagree with hours verses corrosion. I'm running a 1997 Yamaha 200 - 2 stroke that is doing just fine when it comes to corrosion. It sits leg down in the water for the summer and on the trailer during the winter...never spent a day other than shop repair time indoors. Everything is original...powerhead has been rebuilt twice but leg/gearcase, power tilt have not. That is 23 years and counting with no end in sight. I've inspected the inner passages when apart and zero corrosion as Yamaha coats the water passages with a green Teflon type substance that prevents anything from sticking to it like salt. My hour meter is just coming up on 3900 hrs and I've had the boat 28 years...since new. My kicker is a 2006 9.9 big block Yamaha with tons of hours....I just switched out the powerhead last winter just because I had a 10 hour one as a spare and figured I better use it now while I can. So that powerhead I removed had 12 years on it when I retired it from my boat. Lets say 100 charters a year at an average of 6 hours trolling each.... which would be lower than actual 600 X 12 = 7200 hrs. I paid around $12,000 for the main in 1997 and $3500 for the 9.9 in 2007. The main rebuilds were about $4000 each time. So $23,500 for 23 years service...plus small odds and end repairs along the way that can't be helped...nick a kicker prop and repair, water pumps, thermostats and the like. If I didn't have the kicker my 2 stroke would have been done by now and I would have to join the 4 stroke club at $25,000 and likely have to mod my boat/pod to handle the extra weight properly. My boats have always had kickers and will always have one. Did I ever share the story of the 2 guys who almost killed themselves when while netting a fish the end of the net handle hit and pushed the trolling main throttle to wide open? Scary **** on a flat calm hot sunny day...one minute all was fine the next WTF?

 

[Gong Show]

Motors like to run.
You have probably been very diligent on maintenance schedules and have been rewarded accordingly.
That's not the life most outboards live.

 

[sly_karma]

I'm late to the party, but wanted to add to the group that says "use the mains for trolling". One of the biggest benefits of using the mains is that they're a lot quieter than a kicker (although I haven't personally been on a boat with an EFI 25hp kicker). That for me is a huge factor....I like the quiet while I'm trolling.

Good point. Fished with a buddy from Skidegate a couple of times; his main is a 300 Verado. In troll mode the loudest thing you could hear was the splash of the telltale stream.

 

[scott craven]

If I didn't have the kicker my 2 stroke would have been done by now and I would have to join the 4 stroke club

Agree with you when running a 2- stroke main, a kicker is a necessity.
However the newer 4 strokes are designed to troll down to low rpm's.
they will run all day trolling and then jump boat up on plane in seconds.

 

[profisher]

I'll likely never be able to confirm that!!!! lol

 

[Rockfish]

It has never made sense to me to not have/run a kicker and rack up huge hours on the main outboard. The replacement cost of those hours is way higher on the Saltwater Series 225 Opti or even a modern four stroke. Not to mention that if you do not have twin mains, the kicker is your backup get you home motor. I run the kicker as much as possible, even for when we run around in the basin pulling crab traps on the way back in. Of course it is full remote and I can switch over from the main to the kicker in under five seconds without leaving the helm station. The main gets babied, serviced, gets the best two stroke oil (purchased in bulk), allowed to warm up a little before booting it and never run at extreme RPM as there is no need to be the fastest boat. Because of this the main is still going strong despite being 20 years old and used every summer.

 

[Klob]

No need for kicker with twins. Having a backup motor is a big reason for a kicker for me. As for the hours and resale, a printout will show hours in relation to RPM.

 

[Baxter]

My situation is a bit different. Running a 90 with 9.9 kicker. Just fishing at Kitty for 2 days, about 15 hours total, almost entirely kicker use, and then throw in 2 hours of tubing at the lake with the kids and a boat full, I used about $20 in fuel. I am thinking that over the life of the kicker, the fuel savings will eventually pay for the kicker.

Not sure how your 200's troll, but I find that with the 90, I can not troll slow enough. Just bump it into gear and I am doing 4km/h. Fine sometimes, but not always, so the kicker helps with that too.

As you note, the idea of replacing a main is painful. A 90, is maybe $14k brand new, but your 200s... man, I don't want to think about that. for both $30k? $40k? $50k? My wife would murder me. I figure, given how long the 90's last, if I am trolling on a kicker, maybe I replace that once or maybe twice while I own the boat (planning on having it literally till I die) but I should be able to stretch the 90 out for ever.

 

[Baxter]

Personally I believe most outboards life expectancies are based on a combination of quality of service and time in salt water. My 2003-F225 Yam was babied with 800 hours on it when it blew up last year (block corrosion). I always ran a kicker and the first owner only trolled 100 hours. So it had low, low rpm trolling hours. It was fresh water flushed religiously. I’m pretty sure I coulda trolled with that motor the last 10 years and put an additional 3000 hours on it and the motor still woulda lasted till 2019. My point is that low hour motors still blow up with fatigue over time. Save yourself the cost of a kicker and the weight. Troll off your mains. Way better control too.

Seems odd that with proper flushing your motor only lasted 800 hours. SO many of these motors live in salt water for 1000's of hours without issue. Perhaps it was a problem related to Zincs? Or something else?

 

[walleyes]

For myself it’s always been a no brainer, why hour out a $25,000.00 engine when you can hour out a $3000.00 engine. It’s just plane and simple economics.

 

[wildmanyeah]

I have two friends I fish with, 1 has a 17 foot deep v with a new 115hp 4 stroke and no kicker

the other other has 18f foot deep v with a older 135hp 2 stroke and a 6hp kicker

the difference in fuel costs is huge going out to the same areas and fishing the same time frames.

the one without the kicker will cost over 100 bucks every time and the one with the kicker 30-50 bucks. This is for a 45 mins cruse to the grounds then 4-6 hours trolling then back.

It is far easier to troll off the main and the new 4 stokes make almost no noise but the added fuel cost is notable.

 

[profisher]

I agree, there is no way a 300 4 stroke idling is going to burn less fuel than a 9.9 trolling the same boat. Quieter..yes, easier to maneuver in tide and wind...yes but not as cheap as a kicker on fuel.

 

[Baxter]

For myself it’s always been a no brainer, why hour out a $25,000.00 engine when you can hour out a $3000.00 engine. It’s just plane and simple economics.

Agree with this 100%

 

[Gong Show]

I think the big difference is if you are running twins or a single main.
I don't think I would have a kicker if I was running twins.
I have a single diesel, so no brainier, I have a kicker.

 

[Stizzla]

Keep in mind guys, trolling on twins alternating each time will only tack on half the hours of a single main used each time. I don’t think the numbers will get too high too fast.

 

[scott craven]

There are too many variables two stroke versus four-stroke kicker versus no kicker. Not much chance of getting one opinion in this debate.

 

[sly_karma]

Another one to add to list with:

• Inboard vs outboard
• Single vs twins
• Islander reels, are they worth the money?

 

[ericl]

Evinrude ETEC G2's have direct fuel injection & a super lean burn below about 1500 RPM. Going forward, I expect other O/B mfgr's to start adding this technology. I also expect that somebody will buy Evinrude from BRP. With twin 300's running I get over 8mpg at low speed on a boat weight of around 12K pounds, so 3-4 gallons will troll for a day. Press of a button raises/lowers RPM in 50 RPM increments.

I don't care for Islander reels.