How small a kicker can I get away with?

[beckerdg]

I have an 22 foot 1986 cuddy cabin weighs about 3500lbs. I was wondering how small a kicker I can get away with? Not looking to troll with it just get back in from around 5 to 10 miles out in the Chesapeake in case of a breakdown. Could I get away with something as small as a 5 hp? Not worried about speed just can I make a few mph and get there eventually.

 

[JB]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Hi, JollyRogerX.<br /><br />Five hp would move your boat in still water and still air. I don't think it would overcome even a light current or a fresh breeze.<br /><br />For a 3500lb boat I would want at least 15, better 25hp.<br /><br />Murphy's laws would produce wind, waves and current opposing your planned track.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[Mumblerone]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Take a look at the 9.9 HP Yamaha, 4 stroke. Has a big prop an a lot of torque. There was a guy up on Lake Ontario that had a 25' Wellcraft with twin 150s and this motor too! He could troll in all but the roughest weather...loved it. I had the same motor on a 18 Whaler Outrage CC...great there, too. With this you'll be at hull speed or less, I guess 5 MPH. For the purpose you state, you'll be fine with this...a 5 HP will be like pis*ing in the wind. I wouldn't try to run a inlet with either.

 

[sloopy]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

you will be just fine with a 5horse power, even if the weather is rough you need something to be able to dig it out in. I would go with a five horse, a five horde set up proparly will get uyo semi planing (reeeeeeeeeeel slow planing or reeeeeeeeeellll fast displacment lol)

 

[Boatist]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

JollyRoger<br />I agree with JB. I have a 21 foot Creastliner that weighs 2800 LB dry. I have a 15 HP Kicker with a 20 inch shaft and a high thrust prop and it is barely enough. Out on the Pacific very normal to get 35 MPH winds every afternoon in summer.<br />When it gets rough you need some power. Last thing you want is a rough sea pushing the bow around and not having enough power to get back to 45 degrees before the next swell. When quartering and that big swell comes by my boat it will push bow quite a ways so I stay closer to 30 degrees or turn into swell bufore it gets to boat. Also to make a turn to change course need to complete that before next swell. My 15 is fine for trolling or for backing into the wind to slow your drift when fishing on a windy day. My motor will make about 5 miles per hour wide open but if I had to use it to get back in from Cordell Banks 26 miles out I would not run it wide open for 5 hours. I do not like to run any motor wide open for more than a couple of minutes. On my boat if I can find a lift braket that can handels a 25 hp 4 cycle with a long shaft or extra long shaft I will buy the 25 or if 30 is the same weight I would get it.<br />On my boat with my current lift bracket that lift 13 inches with a 20 inch shaft on rough day motor will sometimes come out of the water on the back of the swell and go all the way under as the swell passes. Make sure any motor you buy has a high thrush prop. My motor would not back into wind of eaven 5 miles per hour until I got a hight thrust prop.

 

[trollhole]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

A 23 foot is definetly going to need at least an 8hp or more. I would probably go with higher.

 

[jfc092]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

I can tell you my experience with my kickers. On my 19 foot bowrider weighing about 2000 lbs. My Yamaha 9.9, 4 stroke standard prop, at full throttle in calm water, moves the boat at 5.2 mph according to the GPS.<br />The same boat with my Yamaha 9.9, 4 stroke high thrust model, at full throttle in calm water, moves the boat at 6.3 mph according to the GPS. <br /><br />With your boat, 5 HP will move it, but I'd feel better with more horses.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

I've always had a kicker on my saltwater boats and agree, based on my experience, that 5HP is not enough. You won't be getting over hull speed anyway and can also have more than you need. e.g. My 15HP is too much for my boat; have to run throttled back. Seems like a 10HP would be just about right for my boat and for yours, even considering currents in the passes.

 

[beckerdg]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Thanks for the info. I have seen larger boats sporting 9.9 kickers and figured I might be able to get away with less. <br /><br />I am a fair weather boater. If the waves are forecast over 1 to 2 feet in the bay I stay in the river or stay home. I just don't like feeling like a ping pong ball in a drying machine. Even if it limits the fishing opportunities.

 

[Lark40]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Sounds like we have similar boats and use the same waters under same conditions.<br /><br />I would not want to be caught in the Chesapeake or even the lower Potomac without power in a storm.<br /><br />If I add a kicker to my cuddy, it will be at least 15hp.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

For what it's worth, I run an old '77 Chris Craft cruiser (25.6' with a single Chevy 305 inboard) in the Magothy River and the Chesapeake. I added a kicker this year for trolling and safety -- have a 10hp Chrysler Sailor and a 9.9 Evinrude Yachtwin that I interchange. These are extra longshaft sailboat motors, and I think they both have high-thrust props. I can control the boat in a chop, and think I could get in under most conditions -- not high winds, though.<br /><br />I use a lift bracket, and I'm able to tilt the OB out of the water with the bracket in a raised position -- important for running with the main engine. I would think that a 9.9/10 hp with a sufficiently long shaft would give you what you need. The difficulty with added horsepower is the added weight for an auxiliary. A 15hp would be within range.<br /><br />There is also the matter of steering hookup. You may have some control using the main steering system, but unless you can steer the auxiliary, you can't get the best control -- particularly with any wind or chop.

 

[Diesel]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Based on weight and hull style I would suggest a minimum of an 8hp. I run a Honda 8hp 4stroke as the auxillary on my 16' Silver Streak. But then when the sea here decides to run between the islands or a storm brews over the straight, I want to get back with ease if my 90 fails. I went with the 8 as I may be fighting tide runs up to 8 knots in places. If you don't have the tide runs to worry about the same horsepower should be fine with your extra size and weight.<br /><br />Happy boating.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

I have a 23' Seaswirl Stiper, estimated weight 4500 lbs +/- with full gas, 4 guys, full canvas, etc., I have no problems running with my 9.9 4-stk Yamaha high thrust. The key is the high thrust/geared prop (I believe the 9.9 & 15 are the same block), which pushes my boat @ hull speed either up or down the Columbia River very nicely, thank you. <br />The only time I felt uncomfortable using it was in the gorge facing 40 mph+ winds and a nasty chop. But that wasn't much fun with my big motor, either....

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

as a follow-up: I saw on the internet a 26' Tollycraft with a 9.9 Yamaha hi-trust on a bracket. Fella who owns it claims he gets hull speed in calm water....that's a 9000 lb cabin cruiser.

 

[Walter]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

In open water, I wouldn't want anything less than 20 hp on a boat that size. Getting home is one thing...getting home in one piece is another.<br /><br />MHO<br /><br />Walt

 

[Boatist]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Capn Mike<br />If a 9.9 high thrust will push your boat to hull speed why do you have a bigger motor?? Hull speed term I have only seen used on displacement hulls not on planing hulls. Many heavy Sail boats do use a 9.9 high thrust motor and reach hull speed.<br />On the other hand I have a good friend with a 22 foot Bayliner Trophy who has a 9.9 Evinrude extra long shaft Sail model which is a high thrust. He has it mounted on a fixed bracket on his swim platform and a EZ Steer. He hates his motor. He has two Big problems: 1. When get winds of 20 MPH or more his motor does not have enough power to turn up into the wind. The wind will push the Bow as fast as he can push the stern so he can not turn into the wind which leaves him Side ways on the swells. Out here on the pacific North West winds over 20mph almost every afternoon in summer. 2: With Swells over 4 feet motor will come out of the water. If he has it neer WOT it of course tries to over rev then when it drops back in breaks the flywheel key pin. This problem is mostly because motor is mounted on back of swim platform so it if 2.5 feet back of the hull. In Summer the average swell height is 5 to 9 feet. Bottom line is he nevers uses his kicker in ocean.

 

[Mumblerone]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

Boatist... your point on raw power is well taken! Hmmmmm...what your saying is that both will get you to hull speed, but the higher HP will allow you to control the boat better. Good point. I had mine on an 18' Whaler and never had that problem...but a bigger boat?

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: How small a kicker can I get away with?

As you know, boats that plane have many speeds, including, but not limited to: (1)displacement speed (the maximum speed a boat will travel through water: there's a mathematical formula that you can use for calculation); (2) minimum planing speed (when a hull "breaks through" displacement speed and begins to plane (obviously, some boats, because of hull size, design and/or horsepower limitations are never intended to plane); (3) maximum plane speed (a function of horsepower, torque, prop size/pitch, etc.) There's a practical limit to planing speed, but I don't believe there's a theoretical limit. There's also stop and go <br /> I have a smaller motor because when I want to troll it's quieter and more economical. I mention the size because it happens to push my boat to its maximum, non-planing (i.e., displacement) speed.<br />The reason I have a bigger motor is that I've discovered it's hard to get my 24' boat to plane with a 9.9 hp. four-stroke Yamaha... So I've discovered this 200 hp Johnson, which happened to be on the back of the boat when I bought it, works nicely for the purpose of getting somewhere faster. Does it control the boat better. Yeah. Surprised?