kicker motor

trojanmanXS · Post by **trojanmanXS** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:08 pm

steer? well I'll be sittting up high in the flybridge while hollering down to the wife to throttle up/down turn the motor ect. its basically a straight line out for under 4mins. sure I could find trouble there but think its a calculated risk at best

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:33 pm

trojanmanXS wrote:steer? well I'll be sittting up high in the flybridge while hollering down to the wife to throttle up/down turn the motor ect. its basically a straight line out for under 4mins. sure I could find trouble there but think its a calculated risk at best

Hope your insurance company agrees.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:41 pm

captainmaniac wrote:
trojanmanXS wrote:steer? well I'll be sittting up high in the flybridge while hollering down to the wife to throttle up/down turn the motor ect. its basically a straight line out for under 4mins. sure I could find trouble there but think its a calculated risk at best
Hope your insurance company agrees.

Like when she fall overboard shifting gears ?

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:58 pm

trojanmanXS wrote:steer? well I'll be sittting up high in the flybridge while hollering down to the wife to throttle up/down turn the motor ect. its basically a straight line out for under 4mins. sure I could find trouble there but think its a calculated risk at best

I must admit I see this as a waste of time... I doubt this setup will really keep the props any further away from a point of damage than running them in idle to exit the marina.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:17 pm

I would agree with the direction that this topic is going, a kicker motor to get you in and out of the marina would probably not be the best choice. Pushing a sail boat hull with a kicker is fairly easy since you have a deep keel hanging down in the center of the boat to pivot on. You can turn on a dime.

Now a kicker on a modified V hull like your Trojan will not handle quite as well. As a mater of fact it will handle like sh!t. (pardon my french eh) I know this because I have done it in the past. When I pulled the original engine out of our 26 Trojan, I had docked stern into my slip so that I could reach into the boat with a backhoe to lift out the engine. Then in order to get the boat to the slings for winter haul out, I mounted an angle plate on the swim platform and clamped a 9.9 Merc to it and powered out of the slip. This marina has a wide channel and I used every inch of it to get the boat turned 90Â° to the slip and headed towards the slings. Fighting a slight cross wind, I headed up the channel weaving like a drunken sailor. Sure did entertain the rest of the people in the marina watching me. Putting that little outboard in reverse to stop my forward motion once I got up to the lift was useless. Most of the thrust from the prop simply bounced off of the transom and did nothing but create turbulent water.

When the following spring came around, the new engine was in but not fully hooked up so I had to rely on the little Merc again. This time I had my wife at the helm to turn the rudder once we got to the slip to help me bow in. This did not help at all since there was no thrust going across the rudder nor was there enough water flowing across it from the slow moving boat to be of any help. I felt lucky that on that day I had 0 wind and a couple friends on the dock to help wrestle it in.

IMO. a kicker is great if you want to go trolling in the lake but for maneuvering in and out of a marina on a regular basis it would not be the best choice.

Good Luck

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 10:33 pm

well put

Commissionpoint · Post by **Commissionpoint** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:12 am

Paul wrote:IMO. a kicker is great if you want to go trolling in the lake but for maneuvering in and out of a marina on a regular basis it would not be the best choice.

Good Luck

Prezactly.

foofer b · Post by **foofer b** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:09 am

gettaway wrote:How do yo plan to steer the boat?

have you ever tried to the steer the boat without power across the rudder?

+3

It is hard enuff to maintain control at idle speeds with the prop wash going over the rudder. The F26 rudder is tiny.

trojanmanXS · Post by **trojanmanXS** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:13 pm

lol ok thanks I guess I got my ans. it cant be done . now someone mentioned leaving the engine in foward and idle speed to get in/out. there is only a short time here where water levels go down to maybe 3ft at times. so as long as I'm not in reverse I dont have to worry so much about the muck gettin into the water system. will have to give it a few more months to try as its all ice now. thanks again

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 2:17 pm

trojanmanXS wrote:now someone mentioned leaving the engine in foward and idle speed to get in/out

If you can keep control, try bumping in and out of gear. The boat will move slower (so easier to stop it or less reversing if/when needed) and if you do hit bottom hopefully you will be in neutral at the time.