gas mileage

[stcroixx09]

not sure exactly how much gas i used in the boat i just bought (1975 24 ft regal with a 302) but lots. so im thinking a kicker is the way to go. questions are why everyone seems to go with a 9.9? also i will be putting auto pilot on eventually what will this do to my options or functionality good, bad, or indifferent?

[1mainiac]

If my boat came with a kicker I would use it however if i had put one on when I bought it 5 years ago I would still not have broke even on the cost of install. My 350 is pretty much dead on 2gph trolling the quote to put on a new high thrust Honda kicker with the mounts and steering was over 4 grand the 400 or so hours I have put on trolling in 5 years comes to about 3200 the kicker would of cut that to 800 to a 1000 plus the cost of the kicker so I would still be waiting to break even. Add in the days it was too rough to use a kicker anyhow and very little savings.

[Far Beyond Driven]

Kicker is nice as a safety feature but in 4000 hours I've been towed in twice. My 350 is 1.3 gph but my boat is lighter than 1mainiac's.

[IRon]

I bought a used 9.9 kicker for mine. Did the install myself. Less than $1500. Can troll all day long on 5 gallons. The first time out on Lake Michigan with this boat my big motor cut out and my kicker got me back to port. So it doesn't owe me anything and its still going strong. It's not like there's no value in it. It's still worth what I paid for it in re-sale.

Saves hours on my big motor, too. And at idle speeds which is hard on my 2 stroker because of carbon build up.

I think the 9.9 is popular because of economy, mostly. The initial cost difference between that and say a 15 to 25hp is a bit. My 9.9 does what I need on my 21 foot aluminum. If it gets a little rough I can always fire up the big motor and troll with that, but usually if its that rough I'm not out anyway. But there is always a case for more horse power especially on a bigger boat, so a bigger kicker can be justified IMHO.

[1mainiac]

Keep in mind he is in a 24ft Regal which is a pretty heavy glass boat with a lot of sail area above the water line. If he is using a lot of gas trolling he needs a better tune up I can get under 2gph when I don't run the bags so he should be closer to Kevin with a 302. The big issue with a small kicker in a larger glass boat is lack of motor control so the days you can use it are limited or your stuck going the way it wants to go. Sure you can often find a good used motor but most of them are not cheap anymore either. If I was going to add a kicker to mine now that I have fished it for 5 years it would be at least a 40hp for a couple of reasons one it would have better boat control and I could bag it. 2 there are lots of those mid hp long shaft motors out there cheap. I pretty much had to give my 402 Merc away I should of put it on the back of my boat but at the time was thinking a 9.9 or a 15 I know better now.

[stcroixx09]

yeah tune up probably help all looks good but last owner said its been couple years. i have a plate on the motor and speed was not an issue could drop as low as 1.5 but like 2 stay at 2.2 which was pretty easy to maintain. boat control was good to, 4 footers like nothin. tryin to figure out how to put a picture of it with my profile but not so smart i guess, if any1 can help. thanks 4 input

[Priority1]

yeah tune up probably help all looks good but last owner said its been couple years.

Points, rotor, cap, and plugs are cheap compared to a seasons worth of fuel. The IOs are easy to work on like the cars from the 50s and 60s. My cap and rotor seem to always need a cleaning or replacement every year. The atmosphere a boat engine is in will cause more corrosion especially with the cap and rotor. Plugs too need to be cleaned or replaced. The fuel we are forced to burn leaves a hard deposit on the plugs. Carburetor cleaning yearly will also help. It's not just about fuel economy, it's safety. Losing power in a storm can be deadly. A yearly tune up is a must on my rig.