Has Anyone Mounted a Kicker Motor on a Bay Boat?

[steverino]

I have a 19' Bluewave Classic and a 9.9 HP Evinrude tiller motor. I'm thinking about trying to mount the motor on the transom of the boat. My concerns are the 4" overhang at the top of the transom and how high or low to mount the motor. I don't want to mount it too high and too close to the overhang or I may not be able to raise and tilt the motor when not in use. I also want it low enough to operate close to the depth of the big motor. The big motor is a short shaft and the kicker is a long shaft. The distance from the transom mount (which is 8" below the top of the transom) to the bottom of the skeg on the big motor is about 34". The distance from the kicker hanger mount to the bottom of the skeg is 29". I think if I mount the kicker on a bracket below the 4" overhang the motor would need to be able to be dropped about 5" to run at the same depth of the big motor. I also think that I may need about 10" offset off the back of the transom to allow the kicker motor to be raised, lowered and tilted. My concern is buying a kicker motor mounting bracket that will conflict with the 4" overhang and not allow the motor to be raised, lowered and tilted as required. I have looked at the Panther and Garelick mounting brackets but a manual jackplate seems to be the best solution (allows for up to 10" offset and 5" drop). Any and all input/suggestions will be appreciated. TIA.

[c10steve]

You’re gonna have to buy a bracket with a lot of setback. Take some pictures of what your problem is


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[steverino]

Who makes the bracket in your picture? Thanks.

[c10steve]

Bobs machine shop.


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[Sgrem]

I used to keep a 9.8 Tohatsu four stroke short shaft on my 26ft Southshore. My setback/drop bracket was perfect. Raised it would carry motor out of the water as normal. Dropped it would bring it back and out over the back of my big trim tabs. I just put in go straight, set the throttle, and steered the big motor like a rudder from the helm.

It was all too much of a PITA so I took it off and sold it. Wasnt worth it to me anymore. Today's outboards are so reliable. I used it troll offshore but even then it was a PITA.

My kicker bracket shown is for sale if interested. It is still on my boat if need to get some measurements.

[texasair]

As long as you have a few inches or more of offset, you do not need the kicker to be as low in the water as the main. To work good going forward, It does not need to be lower than the bottom of the boat as long as it has some backset so that it can draw water to produce thrust.
Reversing is reduced in this configuration.




I have set up and operated 5 boats with kickers and currently own and operate 2, one with a fixed setback bracket and 1 with a Garelick style movable bracket.
I have been in 2 situations where having a kicker saved the day after a main motor failure. One time the kicker brought me in from offshore, (took a long time) and on another boat the kicker got me out of the way of a large group of oncoming barges in the Mississippi River.

I am not a fan of the pivoting Garelick style brackets. But if you are not able to come up with a fixed bracket that will work, a pivoting bracket is an option I am using a pivoting Garelick style bracket on my offshore boat because I am using a short shaft kicker (15”shaft). If I had a long shaft (20”) or extra long (25”) kicker, I would have fabricated a fixed bracket with a bit of rear setback.

[EastTexasRancher]

A guy at my marina has one on a Blue Wave 2200. I asked him why, and he said “bought it that way from a guy in Dallas”. I think the boat was kept on a lake with a horsepower limit maybe?

[coachlaw]

I learned at a young age how important a kicker is. I once came in from 25 miles out on a 4.5 horse Evinrude kicker on my dad's 28 footer. Came in handy a time or two in the marshes as well. I have a kicker on my 17 foot Carolina Skiff. My problem was the rolled top of the transom. I had to use spacers to get it back off the transom enough. I have a bracket almost the same as SGREM's. It's made by Garelick. On my present boat, the kicker has saved me over a half dozen times since I moved down here. When you run a Mercury, it's good to have a kicker.

[ChampT22]

Back in the 1980s, I had an 18' deep v covered bow with a 9.9 kicker. I tried to use it to troll offshore. Wast of time, it would barely move the boat. I removed it. I also had a 9.9 on a 26' sailboat on the lake and it just find. 4.5 on a 28 footer LOL.

[cbluewater]

We had the same issue with auxiliary motor not raising up ( trailering lock position ) without contacting rubrail at gunnel. We cut plastic spacer block and installed between bracket and hull. Spaced it out about 2 inches. Used ( 6 ) longer mounting bolts with 3m 5200 adhesive sealant. Worked great!