Re: kicker required
The Yamaha people tell me that their 4 stroke 9.9 high thrust is better for this than their 15 "regular-geared" motor. I've see a couple of 26' Tollys use the 9.9, but can't tell you if they are happy people or not. In my brief on-line shopping tour, I don't see that anyone even makes a 15 hp high thrust; 4S Yamaha jumps from 9.9 hp/99lbs to 25 hp/190 lbs (thats 247 Canadian
)<br />Honda's 15/20 hp weigh 110; their 25/30 weigh 150;<br />Johnson's 2 stroke weighs only 75 lbs, but isn't a high thrust. <br />Tohatsu/Nissan's 4s 15 is 114 lbs.; they don't appear to make a high thrust, although their gear ratio (2.15 to 1) is getting close. Someone (Yamaha?) shares the Tohatsu/Nissan block, but I can't remember who.<br />My trusty marine catalogs show various kicker brackets made for heavy 4 strokes. They offer "power assist" lifting (i.e., big springs), so you probably need to plan for that expense along with the cost of the motor.<br />I've stated before that my Yamaha 9.9 high thrust moves my boat (no more than 4200 lbs) along nicely @ hull speed @ about 1/2 throttle, even against the river currents, but won't work well in hefty winds. Frankly, I don't see that increasing kicker horsepower by 10 or 20 would do any better. <br />Let us know what your research shows!
