Short shaft kicker on a 20" transom?

[Rancherlee]

My 55hp Johnson trolls a bit too fast (~3.5mph) for my boat and I was wondering if a short shaft kicker motor (15" shaft) would work just fine for trolling on my boat (plenty of room on either side of the 55hp to mount a Tiller handle kicker). The main reason for a 15" shaft engine is I also own a 12' boat that I Pull behind my ATV and use on hard to get at lakes which has a 15" transom and I've been using a Electric trolling motor on that boat but would like to use the gas kicker on it when I get one (so I can use in on bigger backwoods lakes). <br /><br />Also, what size kicker should I look at getting for my 16' Lund. The max I can run on the 12' is a 10hp but 9.9 engines are pretty heavy to lug around. Would a 4hp be big enough, or should I look into a 6 or 8hp?

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Short shaft kicker on a 20" transom?

Mostly get a twin for a kicker. Single-cylinders shake too much. You should be fine if you have a V-hull. It's probably about 15" where it will hang.

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: Short shaft kicker on a 20" transom?

actually mine one of few flat back 16' boats that Lund made so it 20" all the way across. Where it sits in the water a 15" should work I think since it will never brake plain with the kicker anyhow.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Short shaft kicker on a 20" transom?

I have put short shafts on long transoms and they can't go anywhere because the transom blocks the water from the prop.<br /><br />For trolling it may work ok if you are going slow enough that the water can move around the transom and get to the prop.<br /><br />A 16' boat isn't all that much to push around so a small ob should do the trick...you're griping now about going too fast.<br /><br />Agree on the twin. Had a couple of singles, including a Merc 4.5 single (which was built in Merc tradition, but a single none-the-less) and in my opinion, singles suck.<br /><br />HTH<br /><br />Mark