Saltwater Minn Kota kicker setup

[Mark84]

Hey everyone,
I picked up my first boat, an '03 Whaler 150 Sport w/ '16 60hp Evinrude E-tec.
No real plans to go too far offshore...primarily just your typical salmon trolling and crabbing days off the hot spots along the Vancouver Island coast.

I was surprised to see that most people don't run with a kicker on these boats, but it's early days for me and I'm not as confident...looking at gearing up for some noise-free trolling AND to have somewhat of a backup to slowly get back to shore in the event of an engine failure. I was thinking that a saltwater electric setup would be the solution here. The hull and outboard come in at 1150lbs, and people/gear would top out at 500lbs max.

Any suggestions on the right setup for my purpose here? There are many options on the Minn Kota website and it would be easy to spend a fortune, so I don't want to overbuy, or underbuy for that matter, on the capability. Also, any preferences out there on mounting location (bow/transom/engine)?

Thanks in advance. Appreciate the input!

 

[zurk]

electric kickers are worthless as get home engines.
get a 6HP tohatsu sailpro instead. you can upgrade it later with a remote throttle/shift/steering setup and its way cheaper than an ulterra with lifepo4 batteries. also fairly quiet at close to idle.

 

[ShipDisturber]

Agree with Zurk. I have a 16' Whaler (knock-off) with 60hp Yamaha and am in the process of installing a fairly light but powerful kicker, a 2-stroke 9.9hp which weighs 60lbs. It's an emergency back up only, I plan to keep trolling on my 4-stroke main as it's quiet and more economical than the 2-stroke. I looked at the saltwater electrics but I think they would be useless in a stiff breeze/strong currents and I figured battery life would be an issue on multi-day fishing/camping trips for me. You should be able to get by with a 4hp-6hp kicker at 50-60lbs.

 

[Pineapple Express]

Here are my thoughts on this question for your boat:

1. modern engines are pretty reliable, so the need for a "get home" engine is reduced compared to times past, although all engines are still susceptible to fuel issues or propeller problems
2. I think finding a suitable place onboard for the batteries would be difficult
3. On a 15ft boat you've gotta be organized and keep stuff stored carefully. I think less stuff aboard is better (but not at the expense of safety...still gotta have PFDs, emergency signaling devices, and other emergency equipment)
3. The member @Andrew P installed a Riptide 160 on his main engine. This might be something you could look in to: https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...tor-mounted-electric-kickers-tried-one.71656/

 

[Mark84]

Yes, I think you're right on with space constraints with regards to batteries. Andrew's setup is very intriguing...love the pros, but the cons (multiple batteries, space, cost, full day use limitations) are leaning me towards Zurk and ShipDisturber's recommendation on a simple small gas kicker setup.

I'd definitely want to use it as my main trolling power so I can keep the hours low on the 60hp. Easy enough to still use my steering console if I use the 60 as a rudder, eh?

Thanks for the help guys. Looks like it's bracket and outboard shopping time haha!

 

[ShipDisturber]

For steering the cheapest solution would be to get an ez-steer type system installed. You basically tie off the main engine to the kicker when you want to troll so both motors turn together while steering from the console. Not sure where you are located, but I believe Trotac in Victoria can build you one for for a reasonable price over the name brand products.

 

[Mark84]

For steering the cheapest solution would be to get an ez-steer type system installed. You basically tie off the main engine to the kicker when you want to troll so both motors turn together while steering from the console. Not sure where you are located, but I believe Trotac in Victoria can build you one for for a reasonable price over the name brand products.

Perfect. Will head over to Trotac and have them sort me out

 

[Mark84]

electric kickers are worthless as get home engines.
get a 6HP tohatsu sailpro instead. you can upgrade it later with a remote throttle/shift/steering setup and its way cheaper than an ulterra with lifepo4 batteries. also fairly quiet at close to idle.

Had a good look at the Tohatsu 6's today...It's my understanding that the difference between the standard and sailpro models is that the sailpro has an alternator. I won't be running this at high rpms...just trolling speeds, so will I even get any meaningful charge out of this? Or better question...Is there another advantage of having the Sailpro 6 over the standard 6?

 

[tubber]

5 amp charger might keep up, but noisy 1 cylinder. I thought you wanted quiet? Troll on the main after you move the downriggers right to the back corners to avoid cutoffs or just be very aware. Add a used 3.5 -5 hp 4s for the backup motor. I had this on my whaler 17 for a while.

 

[zurk]

get the sailpro.its much better than the standard 6. designed for pushing heavier loads. prop is designed for trolling. it does produce a reasonable charge but its only good for topping off your mains if you dont run a heavy setup. i burn 140W doing nothing on my boat (2 x chartplotters, tablets, multiple radios, halo 20+ radar, forwardscan, cooler etc etc) just to keep everything running so for my setup it doesnt do much. i have to supplement it with 2 x 50W solar panels to get it break even. if you burn only 8-10W like most boats then it will top up your batteries. 3.5HP is what i used to have (merc) and it was horrible. they are so much more noisy and dont give you enough power.

 

[CBsqrd]

My 2-cents - stick with just the main. A well maintained 2016 vintage motor should give you no issues that would require a backup and I expect that you won’t be going so far from land in a 15’ boat that a tow (in the worse case) wouldn’t be manageable. If reliability is a concern, then get a Sea Tow membership for piece of mind.

Trolling off a small kicker is going to be much louder, not to mention less smooth, than the etec, which are also very economical to run at trolling speeds. And hooking up the tie bar, adjusting the throttle on the kicker while steering from the helm will be a PITA. Also, for true redundancy, you’re going to want to have a separate fuel tank for the kicker since a good portion, of not most, problems on the water are fuel related, and space is limited on a small boat.

Finally, if the goal is to keep the hours off the main for resale reasons, factor in the decline in value that your boat will have from having a kicker bolted on to the transom. Most buyers for that model won’t be looking for a fishing machine, so won’t see the upside in having a kicker. How many hours do you think you’ll putting in in a year? 100 hr is considered “average” and assuming your not retired, that will be quite a bit of boating in just the summer for most people (yes, lots of people on here put many more hours on...), or mean that you are going out year round, which may not be practical in a smaller open boat. A new or in good shape used 60 hp outboard can be had for a reasonable amount of money relative to a new kicker so I don’t think the economics work.

Assuming you haven’t done so already, I’d get the boat setup and spend some time fishing with just the main before making a decision on the kicker. Then you can figure out how much time you think you’ll be keeping off the main if you go with a kicker and what other considerations need to be factored in (mounting, fuel storage, controls, etc.).

 

[Mark84]

Wow, lots to consider here. Thanks guys. I spent all day out on the water trolling with the 60hp etec yesterday...sips fuel and was relatively quiet. I met someone out there with a 4hp Tohatsu kicker...was kind enough to start it up and let me hear with the throttle roughly at trolling speed... Definitely louder and higher pitch. This has me hesitant. Going out a few more times with my current setup so I can make a more informed decision for my needs.

Reconsidering an electric set up similar to Andrew's, or a bow mount set up...spent a fair amount of time out there jigging which was a blast but had me thinking how nice that 'spot-lock' feature would be. Couple that with a tow membership as a "just in case" to keep the wife happy and let me take the kids out lol.

 

[Pineapple Express]

I'm in agreement with what @CBsqrd wrote above. On a 15ft boat I think you want to keep things simple.