More Kicker Questions for a 228 (or larger)

Ok, I had my 228 listed for sale but when it came down to selling her....I just couldn't do it. I reeeeally enjoy this boat and didn't realize just how much the family wanted to keep her either. No one spoke up very much till' buyers started getting serious. But the reason was to move up to a twin engine boat, Grady no less!

So I'm back to kicker research; I see a few swim platform allowing mounts so that's a non-issue now. My real question is just how much to expect from a 9.9HP-15HP kicker? 2mph, 4mph, 6mph? In reading it appears there's not much performance difference between those HP's? Yamaha goes from 9.9 to 25 but Honda has a 15 so there is an option if there really is a difference. So are you guys able to use them to push 6,000 lbs of boat for slow trolling, etc. in smooth conditions or do they just barely move? I've read reports all over the chart and suspect the ones that say they don't work aren't using high thrust units built for this application.

Thanks, that's exactly the information I needed. I'm thinking the T9.9 Yamaha with similar bracket would look nice beside big brother and do what I need.

Thanks HMBJack; I really feel fine going out up to 35-40 miles with a Sea Tow subscription and a Coast Guard station at the pass. Plus I'm electronically and physically locked and loaded should something bad happen. If anything the aux motor would be to just get me back in that range if possible. Plus there are several other fishing methods where it could be used here and save tons of fuel.

This is the bracket I hope will work: http://www.adventuremarine.net/product-catalogue/index.cfm?ProductID=35&do=detail

HMBJack said:

That bracket looks to be a good choice. No moving parts and strong like bull!

Another item to consider is theft. Kicker engines get robbed all the time so consider this as to your boat storage location.

Click to expand...

Great point on theft; when I was a kid, we had a couple of 20 hp motors stolen, the 2nd one with a solid lock in place. I'm a soon-to-be retired structures mechanic so it'll probably be "built" in place so it would have to be destroyed to be removed....not that it would stop em'. But it's located in a secure location; the risk would be when traveling occasionally.

We went out the last couple of days and this time I paid attention to "hull speed." Interesting enough I had never noticed it before. But the hull rides at 8 mph before beginning to raise up. So no matter what kicker is there, that's going to be the limit.