# 16' with a kicker?



## rl- (Apr 12, 2013)

I have a 1990 Sea Nymph 16.5' with a 40hp johnson and a console, I have a 9.9 johnson kicker and a jack plate from another project and I'm just curious if anyone has run a kicker on a boat this small? There is room on the transom to do it, the tag rates the boat for 60hp, im just wondering if its to much weight on the transom. I do a lot of trolling and the 40hp isnt great at it.

Thanks!


----------



## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

is your boat a tiller or side counsel? i put a 4hp on my seanymph and being a tiller i had a little too much weight in the transom area with gas battery and me. it was ok untill there was a good chop. only had like 6 inches of freeboard left on the transom. if i was sitting amidship then it would have been fine.


----------



## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

I,ve had that boat ,two motors is just to much weigh, I changed to a 25hp yamaha ,it,ll troll as slow as you want. you might get away with a 4hp , think about it, thats a extra 100# your hanging back there , your weigh ,batt ,etc all in the ass end. I suggest you buy your wife a 18/19ft lund pro v . she,d love you for ever.


----------



## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

If weight is a issue move your battery (s) to the front. If you are trolling walleyes and troll slow a 80terrova will push your boat upwards of 4 mph. Trolling with it going under 2mph would be a breeze.


----------



## rl- (Apr 12, 2013)

Thats for the replies, I think I'll leave it be for now, this boat will sell soon anyhow. 

The 80 terrova would be nice, but it costs as much as I have in the entire rig.


----------



## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

A kicker will cost more than the rig.


----------



## whjr15 (Jun 16, 2005)

Legend killer said:


> A kicker will cost more than the rig.


Not when he's already got the kicker!


----------



## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I've got around the same boat,just it's a 2000 165 FM with a 50 hp nissan. A 6hp 4-stroke nissan is my kicker.. 95% of my fishing is trolling. Yours should hold that 9.9 johnson easily. Not sure of your jack plate,but I put in an adjustible outboard motor bracket and set it on the port side to help counterbalance the boat.An outboard motor connector is simple to put on so you can steer from the helm.A throttlemaster to control the speed was the icing on the cake for my kicker. I also slapped in a small gas tank because of vapor lock issues when I had it Tee'd into the main fuel line. No weight issues so far and that I-pilot is next on my agenda.

Is that 9.9 johnson a 2-stroke or 4-stroke?


----------



## rl- (Apr 12, 2013)

saugmon said:


> I've got around the same boat,just it's a 2000 165 FM with a 50 hp nissan. A 6hp 4-stroke nissan is my kicker.. 95% of my fishing is trolling. Yours should hold that 9.9 johnson easily. Not sure of your jack plate,but I put in an adjustible outboard motor bracket and set it on the port side to help counterbalance the boat.An outboard motor connector is simple to put on so you can steer from the helm.A throttlemaster to control the speed was the icing on the cake for my kicker. I also slapped in a small gas tank because of vapor lock issues when I had it Tee'd into the main fuel line. No weight issues so far and that I-pilot is next on my agenda.
> 
> Is that 9.9 johnson a 2-stroke or 4-stroke?


That's good to hear. The Johnson is a 2 stroke with electric start, it was used as a kicker at some point in its life already (it's an early 80's model). Maybe the best solution would be to trade the 9.9 for something smaller just so it fits better. The 9.9 needs to be pretty far to the port side to clear the main engine at full turn.


----------



## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Here's a pic of mine. Widest part of the transom is 78" and a kicker setup will easily work. Even room for a swim platform on starboard side. The space between both brackets is 10.5". The opposite side of the adjustible bracket is 10.5" from the port side of boat. If I had a fixed bracket,then I'd have trouble turning. Being adjustible,the kicker is out of the water when not trolling so it would be impossible for motors to collide. The outboard motor connector ball joint is located to the left of the johnson on the steering unit.Simple ball joint clamped onto the main steering bar. Then another ball is mounted onto the kicker. Drop kicker down,takes seconds to hook on the spring loaded bracket,and then I can use the steering wheel to do all the turning.


----------



## moondog5814 (Apr 8, 2007)

I just bought an old 1988 Crestliner back in November with a 90 Johnson and an 8hp Johnson kicker. Not sure how it is going to work out with the boat. Seems like a heck of a lot of weight in back of the boat. The kicker doesn't have a mounting plate. It is just held on by the two mounting bolts. I also have and EZ steer connector that is mounted on the outside of the motors. There are clamps that go around the mid-section of the motors that have posts on them and the connector bar attaches to the posts. It doesn't seem to be the ideal set-up since the kicker is manual tilt and the main motor has power tilt. I am new to the boating scene(first boat) and I am guessing that when you are using one of your motors in the water, the other should be tilted out of the water. Right? It just seems like the connector will bend or break one of the posts when i am playing around with it in my driveway. Or, I envision this steering link popping out of one of the connecting posts and hitting the prop. My kicker has been mounted on the starboard side, maybe I should have it on the port side. Not sure what the one guy mentioned about having some kind of other remote speed control on his kicker. That would be nice.


----------



## rl- (Apr 12, 2013)

Threw the 9.9 on tonight with a jack plate and it looks good, Water trial this weekend, if it sits to low we will trade the 9.9 off for something smaller/lighter and move the batteries.


----------



## cmiller (Jun 3, 2008)

bountyhunter said:


> I suggest you buy your wife a 18/19ft lund pro v . she,d love you for ever.


Good reverse psychology when talking to her about buying another boat. But honey.... this way you'll have your own boat..... I just want to make sure it works properly for you as I use it. lol


----------



## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

moondog5814 said:


> I just bought an old 1988 Crestliner back in November with a 90 Johnson and an 8hp Johnson kicker. Not sure how it is going to work out with the boat. Seems like a heck of a lot of weight in back of the boat. The kicker doesn't have a mounting plate. It is just held on by the two mounting bolts. I also have and EZ steer connector that is mounted on the outside of the motors. There are clamps that go around the mid-section of the motors that have posts on them and the connector bar attaches to the posts. It doesn't seem to be the ideal set-up since the kicker is manual tilt and the main motor has power tilt. I am new to the boating scene(first boat) and I am guessing that when you are using one of your motors in the water, the other should be tilted out of the water. Right? It just seems like the connector will bend or break one of the posts when i am playing around with it in my driveway. Or, I envision this steering link popping out of one of the connecting posts and hitting the prop. My kicker has been mounted on the starboard side, maybe I should have it on the port side. Not sure what the one guy mentioned about having some kind of other remote speed control on his kicker. That would be nice.


The motor connector that attaches to the mid section of the lower units would be a pain and both motors will have to be in the down postion..The connecting rod in the front of my setup is easier to get to,but will also bend when trimming the main motor. Plop the kicker down,attach the connector and away we go. When trolling time is done,disconnect,pop the kicker up and make whitewater home. I'll try to post a pic of that front connecting rod with it all connected.

It shouldn't matter a whole lot of which side you mount the kicker on. I used mine as a counterbalance because I troll solo majority of the time.I had my swim platform mounted on the port side at first,then switched it over to starboard when I added the kicker bracket.After reading a lot of feedback with people getting iratic readings with the HD DI sonar by being near the propwash,I'm glad I mounted that kicker plate opposite side from the transducer.


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

One of the best reasons for a trolling kicker is that it will usually start and get you back in if the main motor acts up or stops working all together. One thing to keep in mind is to try to use the same gas supply for both motors. Mixing 2 and 4strokes is another problem all together, as is the mechanically connecting of one fuel supply to two motors=but not too bad at all.


----------

