Topic: Kicker advice

[AustinB]

Arima colleagues,

I am considering adding a kicker and would like to plumb your collective wisdom. The boat is a 21' SR Skip top (2007) with 150 Yamaha 4-stroke (2007, 900 hrs.) main. Baystar hydraulic steering. The transom is completely clean and has never had a bracket attached. My specific questions are as follows:

1) What is the best motor for this application? It seems like the 9.9 Yamaha high thrust, short shaft is what many here like. I am thinking that it might be good to stay with a yamaha, so that both motors are of the same brand for ease of servicing. Any other thoughts?
2) What is the absolute best bracket to use, and where should I go to have it installed? I live in the SF Bay Area.
3) What is the best solution for steering?
4) Does anyone have any thoughts on how this will effect trim/handling of the boat? I know that it's added weight, but would like to hear from those with experience.

Thanks for your advice!

[Markshoreline]

1. I have a Yamaha T9.9 Hi Thrust.  Smooth, quiet, electric start and tilt, starts every time, uses little fuel, steers the boat in wind and waves, killer reliability- what's not to like?  However, the XL is the best length motor on a fixed bracket.  You can get away with a long shaft on one of the drop down brackets, but the cowling gets more exposure to the water.  The prop needs a protector ring around it to keep the downrigger cable and fishing line out of the prop.
2. In my opinion a fixed bracket, properly mounted is best.  Arima makes a great one and I would recommend it.  There are other good ones available as well.  I believe Garelick who makes adjustable brackets recommends NOT towing with the motor on the bracket.  The motor is much more secure being towed on a fixed bracket.  My boat came with built in mounting nuts on the port side sponson so it was a no brainer to back out the bolts and slap the bracket in place with some 5200 behind it and as a perimeter seal.
3. On a 21 you can't use the hydraulic steering attachment from the main because the sponsons are too close together and would interfere with the throw of the arm, the 22 Arima is wide enough to use it.  Some fellows use TR1, Electro steer and other electronic devices.  You can also attach the EZ Steer to the rear of the motors to connect them (which I have) however the difference in sponson/transom alignment make it rather difficult to set up and easily use, so I don't use mine.  I just sit on the port sponson, tiller steer and have my downrigger next to me so I'm happy.
4. The T9.9 is about 123 lbs. so it is a load on the aft port side, especially with a full 48 gallon tank of fuel.  With a passenger it causes the boat to list to the port.  I manage that by adjusting the fuel in my saddle tanks and with the trim tabs.  The 150 doesn't care if the weight is on the transom, it gets out of the water just fine but waves will come over the transom into the splash well.  Not a problem, the two drain holes let it out and water never has come into the cockpit from the splashwell.

[La-Z-Buoy]

Hey Austin. You're going to get a lot of opinions here so bear with us. I have a 19 Hardtop with a Suzuki main and a Honda 8 Kicker.

1. I love my 2006 Honda 8, remote control, elec start, power tilt, long shaft. Yamaha makes excellent motors also. The thing about the Honda opposed to the Yamaha is the Honda is automatic choke. Turn the key and go. I really like that feature. I don't know about more current motors. I'm pretty sure you won't go wrong with either brand. I have the fixed Arima bracket and get along nicely with the long shaft, occasionally popping out in less that ideal sea conditions.

2. Love the Arima fixed bracket. Extremely strong mounting option. A lot of folks, including me, have retrofitted there boats, updating the older drop brackets with the Arima fixed. Where the old bracket was located is a critical point in this process. It will have everything to do with the required shaft length of the motor. Can't help you with where to get one installed. If you were close I'd give you a hand.

3. I use the EZ Steer system. I leave mine attached all the time. Has the added benefit of holding the kicker steady when traveling down the road. IF you get a fixed bracket, and IF you get remote control and power tilt and elec start the EZ steer is a good setup in my opinion. I can completely control the kicker from the helm. No sitting at the back of the boat on less than ideal weather days. A couple of enterprising Arima owners have fabricated custom hardware that attaches to the front of both motors and it works for them. Aside from those you're stuck with much more expensive options.

4. Except for my first Arima, 15 Sea Hunter, I've always had a kicker. You just deal with it. No additional handling issues that come to mind unless you forget to tilt it when picking up and moving to another fishing spot. 

[Markshoreline]

No additional handling issues that come to mind unless you forget to tilt it when picking up and moving to another fishing spot. 

Haha, everyone does that!

The new Suzuki kickers have fuel injection and I would consider that a great feature.  I've never had a carb problem on my T9.9 but fuel injection is way better than a carb.

[straiteagle]

I switched to the new Suzuki fuel injected kicker 2 years ago- works like a dream compared to the old 2005 carb engine.  Had to clean the carb on the 2005 once a year due to its low emission settings/tolerance that was put into place with that 2005 model year.

Switched out the original adjustable kicker bracket to the new Arima fixed bracket this past June.  Had to change the original bolt locations, the lower bolts only, to mount the engine lower on the 22SL.  Required a new access hole drilled through the inside of the sponson, topped off with an access port cover.

[Markshoreline]

That's funny, I understand that Arima only used two bolt patterns- OMC and Garelick so designed their kicker brackets to accommodate both.  I guess there's always an exception to the rule!   

[BurnsieBabe]

Arima only did two types of bolt patterns but a couple of the dealers had special requests on placement based on how long a shaft kicker they planned on mounting. For all Arimas, except the 22 SL, we located the bolts on a standard height for long shaft (20"). Some dealers preferred using X-long shaft (25") motors and that is when the bolt pattern was higher. On the 22 SL it was assumed that the X-long shaft is what would be installed.

[Markshoreline]

So glad you are back, Belinda!  
But what bolt pattern was used whether it was the 22' or a 21' and below?  Funny that Straight Eagle had to redrill the lower holes on his 22 given that the bracket was made by Arima, what's up with that?
My 2002 21' HT mounts use a Salt Boss bracket (before Arima began making them) and I run an XL shaft to keep the prop in the water in rough conditions.

[AustinB]

A big thank you to all who have replied. It is much appreciated.

[BestBoats]

I switched from the Yamaha 9.9 highthrust with adjustable mount to the new EFI 9.9 Suzuki and fixed Arima bracket. LOVE the EFI kicker it’s a dream compared to the carb Yamaha. I have the XL shaft which is what you need if you Fish the ocean otherwise you will have cavitation when it is lumpy. The bracket is rock solid.

[straiteagle]

My original bracket was the hydraulic bracket by Goetz engineering, the bolt holes were getting wider in diameter, and therefore the frame thinner, as a result of bouncing on the water and road (the plastic grommets/spacers on the bolts would get brittle in the winter over time and crack, replaced once in the 12 years).  The original Arima bolts were great for a long shaft with this adjustable bracket that had a lot of vertical positioning.  So....keeping my long shaft engine instead of buying a new XL for the 22, it was better to drill 2 lower holes for the Arima fixed bracket.    Everything is working great for the new setup.