Kicker for pontoon boat

[NMplayer]

Mods if this isn't the right place for this please move it.<br /><br />I have a Lowe 20 ft pontoon boat with a 50hp johnson. I bought it about three months ago and had never owned a toon before. I recently came across a 2000 6hp long shaft evinrude for a good price. I always have tried to have a kicker on other boats I've owned<br /><br />Is there a good way to use a kicker on a pontoon boat? Have you ever seen it done? This boat has a couch that runs along the back so it would be hard to get to and run. Motor is manual start tiller. <br /><br />I would want the kicker for emergencies but primariliy to slow troll

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

There generally isn't room on pontoon transom for two engines and with your floor plan, it would be nearly impossible to control it. Seems to me that 50 should idle low enough to barely move the 'toon for good slow trolling.

 

[NMplayer]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

your rught, it does troll slow I guess it probably wouldn't work. I sure like having an extra motor though. I wonder if one of those 9.9 hp remote control motors would work. Maybe it could be mounted on a bracket over the port side toon. I'd still have to be able to tilt it though<br /><br />anybody else?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

How about this. Put an electric trolling motor on the bow or one the engine mounted electrics (see Cabelas). Power it with the biggest deep cycle you can find. If range is a problem, tote a small generator with you to charge the battery. The whole setup would be less than a 9.9 motor and there would be no maintenance other than oil changes on the generator.

 

[TELMANMN]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

Neighbor up at lake sold his deck boat and it had a engine mounted electric. He removed and put on his Toon(18') and it works great. The generator is a nice touch also. I bought a small 1000 watt gen. from Northern Tool up here for 180.00 bucks(weighs 46lbs). It is not the quietiest thing but with a small charger it works great for charging batteries etc. or used for camping. <br /> As umpinsmoke said, the gen., battery and onboard charger is less than a 9.9 ob along with any kind of bracket etc.

 

[NMplayer]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

I didn't think of electric because of the range problem. I had never thought about a generator.<br /><br />Thanks guys

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Kicker for pontoon boat

Now if you really want to be creative, use a high output auto alternator (100A GM) and run it with one of the newer OHV engines in the 15 HP range. With a big battery you could run continuously. Put the whole thing in a box with a 12 fan to force cooling air into the box and it should be relatively quiet. I did this one time hunting from a pickup camper in northern Minnesota. It got down to 35 below zero, truck wouldn't start next morning. My home-brew 12V generator fired up, charged the dead battery and the trucked popped off. Generator was belt driven from a 3-1/2HP briggs. Made the engine grunt, but it worked.