long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

[JSGOLD]

I have a 1976 Starcraft, 16' deep V boat and have a 55hp evinrude and a 5.5 kicker on it, mounted to the transom. The 5.5 is a 61' model and I was looking at possibly getting something in an 8 or 9.9 to give us a little more speed in the smaller lakes and a newer more dependable motor. The 5.5 is short and although it does pump water OK I have always wondered if it is long enough.... kind of close as far as water submersion, at least to my thinking. I was wondering if any of you have ever tried a long shaft motor on one of these boats as a kicker.

 

[DJ]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

The longer the better. Since the boat will not plane with the kicker, depth of the cav. plate is no issue. The long will also stay in the water in waves.

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

Thanks! I am looking at a couple of outboards and obne is a longer shaft that looks great. Thanks again.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

as long as the lower unit doesnt drag in the water when not in use!!!!

bob

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

On my boat both motors are in the water at all times.....the 55 has NO tilt mechanism and the 5.5 never had one. It has a feature where it can move up if you hit a rock or log but that is it. Where we boat most of the time we don't go fast because the 5.5 is slow and there is a lot of underwater trees and stumps. We want a little bigger motor for the times we do have clear areas, but, no matter what one engine not being used is in the water too. I would imagine the kicker could slow us down a bit when running the big one, but we seemed to do OK last week at WOT. Hopefully a newer kicker will have a tilt / lock on it. the 55 though needs a CMC tilt, but that is next year....

 

[raczekp1]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

i run 6hp and now i'm runing 9.9, so fuel consumption is the same but power and speed is much better.6 hp weight 25 kg but 9.9 weight is 34
so i advice to look for 9.9 its good motor,and parts are very avilable.
look for long shaft models

 

[JSGOLD]

Re: long shaft or short shaft for deep v boat kicker

Well, even though I wanted a 9.9HP motor I ran across a NICE 1984 Evinrude 8HP longshaft yesterday.....after some haggling we struck a deal and am anxious to see what it can do with my boat. Looks brand new, very low hours. My boat is pretty light so I think it will move it well. If weather lets us we will be using it next week.