Kicker advice

I have an older 16' Deep V Lowe with a 30 horse Yamaha 2 stroke.
I dont think it will idle down enough to troll (willamette/cr).
It's a pretty light boat (dont want to much weight on the transom).
Probably being be a starter boat for a year or two I dont want to break the bank.


Few questions.....
Electric an option?
Can I conveniently slow it down enough with a troll plate or anchor socks?
How well do older 2 stroke kickers (5 to 8 horse) work?
Older Honda 4 stroke kickers?

Thanks.

Have you tried to idle with the motor you have now?

Yes. It loads up pretty quik at low low idle.

our 16' alumacraft 'Crab Bandit' with 30hp merc is certainly a light boat for the size. We troll entirely on a 45# minn kota with variable maximizer; 50% gets us ~1.5mph in fairly smooth/calm conditions with 3 adults on board; at 100% we move at about 2.5mph. we can troll basically all day (4 to 6 hours with motor at 50% will only drop my batteries to 50%) but I have lots of good batteries: up in the forward bench seat I have two Cabela's grp24 AGM batteries and in the back a smaller AGM battery. Also, our Merc has an alternator that puts juice back into the batteries whenever we run it to change locations.

I do also carry a "get us home" 2.5hp Merc 4stroke just in case but we never use it for trolling...cheers, roger

Roger is spot on with electrics and overkill with his gas kicker.......:thumb:...................Electrics and gas kicker along with the big motor on my boat as well.

FWIW gonzo, Your all set with 2 stroke fuel already, why not just get a older smaller 2 stroke for your kicker and be done. With Electrics your going to have a much bigger cost.


Good Luck & Safe Boating what ever you decide to do.

Gonzo said:

Yes. It loads up pretty quik at low low idle.

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I find this interesting, My old 15' smokercraft trolled really slow (compared to other boats around us) with my 1993? Yamaha 30 hp 2-stroke.

I wonder if you could adjust your motor somehow?

I might try to rebuild the carbs and see if that cures the idle issue.

RD,
Does that electric time your getting include some areas with uphill trolling, back trolling or mostly with current?

Gonzo said:

RD,
Does that electric time your getting include some areas with uphill trolling, back trolling or mostly with current?

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that would be a mixture of conditions with average motor setting of 50%. I am normally looking for ~1.5mph through the water, so with tide or against, about 50% gets that, brisk head wind might push us to 70%, tail wind just 30% will get us that...the huge advantage to using electrics, in addition to no exhaust and no gasoline needed, is the silence.

FYI- the 2.5hp merc 4strk will push us about 5mph but it is noisy. cheers, roger

I don't have the technical expertise to address this question well, but...

electrics sure troll nicely. I'm guessing even a small electric would do nicely on still water (lakes, eg.). Might need a 24V to deal with a ripping tide on the bays, or the Big C/Willy.

Gonzo said:

I have an older 16' Deep V Lowe with a 30 horse Yamaha 2 stroke.
I dont think it will idle down enough to troll (willamette/cr).
It's a pretty light boat (dont want to much weight on the transom).
Probably being be a starter boat for a year or two I dont want to break the bank.


Few questions.....
Electric an option?
Can I conveniently slow it down enough with a troll plate or anchor socks?
How well do older 2 stroke kickers (5 to 8 horse) work?
Older Honda 4 stroke kickers?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Personally, I would not try to troll with the main.
They usually don't like to idle for extended periods and you have to do various countermeasures to slow them down.
I have a '93 8HP Yamaha that trolls well...these are 2 stroke and will digest a 100:1 mix...they are light...57 lbs IIRC.
There was also a 6 HP that used the same powerhead (de-tuned).

Electrics work well, too...just make sure you get variable speed control and NOT A CLICKER WITH SET SPEEDS...you must have infinite power control like a gas motor.