BigBendFishing.Net

Hi guys - in my continuing efforts to outfit this boat for fishing in the Gulf (hey, everybody needs a hobby), I want to mount a 9.9 Yamaha kicker outboard I recently bought on the stern of my 19 ft. cuddy cabin.

I have a couple of questions on this:

1) How far should the kicker motor be in the water - at the same level as the I/O prop - even though it will be about 12 in" to the right? - or do I just make sure that the prop is in the water below the level of the bottom of the boat where I have mounted?

2) Should I put some sort of reinforcing plate inside the boat where the bolts come through the transom from this kicker mount?

It is an extra-long shaft (25") outboard.

Any help or suggestions from you guys' experience with boats or links to articles about mounting a kicker would certainly be appreciated. KR

Thanks and a tip o' the hat to one of you guys who nudged me to do a search on The Hull Truth forum - I found a lot of helpful Q&A on mounting brackets and kicker motors. Seems they run into many of the same challenges in the Great Lakes and off the East/West coasts as we do in our big bend area.

The most important thing for me was in order to prevent bracket failure, strap that kicker up when trailering it or not using it for trolling or an emergency. Don't let the weight of the motor be on that bracket whenever possible. Of course it will only be rough seas when your main quits, so this would beg the question of what good is the thing? It seems that if you can maintain the bracket in good shape and then it is ready for that bumpy 5 mph (4 hour) ride in. Maybe it could only make a few such rough trips, but I expect my main engine to pull its share of uptime.

Buy a $5 white polypro cutting board at Target and mount it on this inside of the transom to spread the strain - I may do that both inside and out.

As to how far the kicker prop should be in the water - just get it in the water appears to be the answer. The deeper the better to prevent cavitation in rough seas, but this will be limited by shaft length and mounting opportunities.

A lot of folks did not like the "look" of a kicker on the back of their nice boats, but a whole lot more liked saving hours and gas on your main(s) when trolling with the kicker. I guess if I could afford a 36' Cabo (ha!) I won't want to mess up the look either...