Kicker motor vs towing

[Chris1956]

Gee, one can run 50::1 premix in a 4 stroke motor. Vice versa is very bad however.

 

[cyclops222]

Sudden bad wind and waves. I beach the boat and lay on the ground.

 

[airshot]

All engines MUST MUST use the same type of gasoline !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not really, my main motor is oil injected two stroke, where my kicker is a pre mix and of course my bow mount runs off LifePo4 battery. If your not responsible enough to know which motor uses which fuel then park your boat and just watch from shore. Some things should not need a regular reminder....we need to stop trying to fix stupid...it will never happen !

 

[airshot]

Sudden bad wind and waves. I beach the boat and lay on the ground.

I would be kicking my own A$$ for not checking and paying attention to the weather before I ever went out !! Yes, I have been caught out in severe weather before, nobodies fault but my own for not paying attention and taking a stupid chance..

 

[dingbat]

I am often surprised ( well not any more ) at what peeps consider to be a useful sized emergency motor , like a 20 foot plus boat with a 3hp kicker sort of thing.

Inshore/offshore guy
If your kicker can't plane the boat, you don't have enough motor to get you safely back though the inlet.

It's a lot easier with Unlimited towing insurance, up to 75 miles offshore, than totting around a 150 HP kicker, just in case.

 

[redneck joe]

If you are on those lakes you know how the wind can ki k up in a storm so you would need a decent size to at least get you to safety until it calms down. My small boat uses a 65lb electric with dedicated batteries plus whatever left on the (large) main. My lake that i spend 99% of the time is no more than a mile wide so safety is alway close.

To your original ask, on my last boat i had a panther assisted lift mounted to the transom. 15 hp Nissan 4 stroke and a 5000 lb small cruiser. I braced inside with large 3/16" plate. I trailered down position but also used a tiedown strap to hold up while trailering, strapped just above the prop to the stern cleat. Left it there all the time unless needed. My trailering was 20 miles max one way.

 

[jlh3rd]

I am not putting a kicker motor on my pontoon or mastercraft, not needed.

don't know about the "not needed" part, but I can't see how to mount a kicker on my pontoon.

 

[redneck joe]

don't know about the "not needed" part, but I can't see how to mount a kicker on my pontoon.

Electric on the bow

 

[DeepCMark58A]

don't know about the "not needed" part, but I can't see how to mount a kicker on my pontoon.

I have a cell phone if I break down, my neighbor owes me a favor I brought him out gas last week when ran out on his pontoon.

 

[JimS123]

I would be kicking my own A$$ for not checking and paying attention to the weather before I ever went out !! Yes, I have been caught out in severe weather before, nobodies fault but my own for not paying attention and taking a stupid chance..

Calm winds, mid day Friday, full sunshine, the morning weather report said seas less than a foot. At the launch ramp the VHF weather channel repeated the morning forecast.

Went out in Lake Erie about 6 miles. Dropped the downriggers. Had barely set the poles into the holders when the wind started kicking up. By the time we got the lines in and got underway the waves were 3'. At the launch ramp there were 4' rollers. The breakwall was the only thing that let us get her back on the trailer.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. But sometimes even the best planning ain't enough.

 

[JimS123]

I am not putting a kicker motor on my pontoon or mastercraft, not needed.

If you boat in small bodies of water with little current, have a cellphone and know that there are boaters that can help you, and/or have access to SeaTow, then maybe a kicker is an unneeded expense.

 

[JimS123]

All engines MUST MUST use the same type of gasoline !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not necessarily. My last boat had an I/O with a built in tank. My 9.9 2-stroke used a separate 6 gal portable tank, stored under a rear seat. No way to connect the wrong tank to the wrong motor.

That rig used an OMC retractable bracket. After using several other brands over the years, I always felt that the OMC made the best kicker bracket. I sold that boat after 35 years and other than taking the 9.9 off to service it, that motor was on the bracket the whole time.

 

[redneck joe]

Having a cell phone and having coverage are two different things.

 

[cyclops222]

Busy towboat day ? When ever. Big boats claiming to be taking on water? Are done sooner.

 

[airshot]

Having a cell phone and having coverage are two different things.

Very true....I have used the cheap tracfones for years...many years ! One reason is, I get thru when no one else can. No reason why, they use Vorizen towers, yet other vorizen customers can't get thru. When we had our motor home, I always had service while my wife's Verizon phone had little or no service. Been that way for well over 30 years....don't know why, but for 22 bucks a month, I stick with what works !

 

[redneck joe]

Prob the 2.5 or whatever lower ghz.

 

[Stinnett21]

I've researched the BoatUS towing situation. I thought for my area (lakes and rivers of KY) it was very sparse but to my surprise it's better than I thought, at least for the waterways I'm interested in, that being Ky Lake and the Ohio river. Unlike Lake Cumberland those waterways are not cut deep into hillsides. I imagine cell reception is better. Thinking I'll add a membership.

 

[airshot]

Inshore/offshore guy
If your kicker can't plane the boat, you don't have enough motor to get you safely back though the inlet.

It's a lot easier with Unlimited towing insurance, up to 75 miles offshore, than totting around a 150 HP kicker, just in case.

Again, depends on where you boat and what typical conditions are. When I had my Islanders I had a 9.9 kicker on an adjustable transom mount. Had an ignition coil go out one night while on an evening cruise. Came back in 15 miles on the kicker motor. No problem, able to get a whopping 12 mph all the way in a two foot chop.
My current 16' has a little 2.2 hp Merc kicker, great for trolling, had an electrical short last season from a poor connection, no power on the main motor. Made it back to the launch ramp about a 12 mile trip in 2 ft chop, took a,while but made it safe and sound. If I were on the ocean, might be a different story, but on a lake I am very familiar with, it doesn't take a lot of up to get you back to shore...sure beats rowing or swimming !!

 

[cyclops222]

Being forced to run into windy wave heights. Are really the limiting factor.
I have loads of islands with small private docks all around them. Have got around to the downwind side of the islands and met some nice owners...........Luck is so important. And a complete set of waterproof maps of my boating area. The maps that show what the bottom is made of and depth.

 

[cyclops222]

I keep remembering a terrible wind storm that flipped over loads of pontoon boats on a southern lake. Many drowned.
I bought the 19' Chaparral with the V 8 instead. I am a cautious person.