HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

letsbarbq

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 6, 2002
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241
Please help.<br /><br />I am at the verge of buying a kicker motor for boat. There's a 92 mercury 8hp.weighs 74 lbs. runs well. and there is the suzuki 8hp, also runs well.<br /><br />The mercury has the forward and reverse on the tiller. the suzuki doesn't.<br /><br />Has anyone had these motors or used them for a kicker. Are they trouble? is the older suzuki trouble? The suzuki looks very clean on the inside. Other than that, they both run and pump water well. Its an out of state buy so icant doa compression test.<br /><br />anyone with any comments or advice? I would appreciate any input.<br /><br />oh, another thing. Do i need s 25" or a short shaft as a kicker? I think the answer is gonna be the short shaft. righ? I have a bracket on the transom.
 

CAPTBLACKSMARINE

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 26, 2002
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198
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

SHAFT LENGTH IS GOING TO DEPEND ON THE HEIGHT OF YOUR BOAT TRANSOM OR EVEN MORE SO THE HEIHT OF THE KICKER BRACKET.I HAVE USED BOTH ON DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.AS FAR AS MOTOR I AM PARCIAL TO THE SUZUKI TO ME IT IS A BETTER BUILT ENGINE AND WILL LAST LONGER .I AM A SUZUKI DEALER BUT HAVE BEEN A MERC DEALER IN THE PAST.BUT THE 8 MERC IS STILL A PRETTY GOOD ENGINE.I THINK I WOULD BASE MY DECISION ON WHEATHER I HAD A MERC OR SUZUKI DEALER NEAR BY.IF I HAD BOTH I WOULD ASK AROUND TO SEE WHICH DEALER HAD THE BEST REPUTATION AND BUY THE BRAND THAT I KNEW I COULD GET PARTS AND SERVICE FOR WITH OUT HAVING TO GO OUT OF TOWN .LIKE I SAID THEY ARE BOTH GOOD ENGINES AND I WOULD BASE MY DECISION MORE ON A PARTS AND SERVICE BASIS RATHER THAN THE MOTORS .
 

singerjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 24, 2002
Messages
240
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

Hey BBQ<br /><br />Just mounted '99 Merc 8HP for kicker on my boat. I purchased the motor new back in '99 and it's been flawless!!!<br /><br />You will miss those tiller controls on a kicker at least I would cause of the reach it would be. I can reach the tiller fine sitting on back fish deck but motor, no. I would have to get up on the deck. Another great function is the kill push button on the end of the tiller.<br /><br />Shaft length, if you are mounting on transom you will need long shaft if on bracket short or long would have worked for me cause I could move bracket up or down.<br /><br />By the way on the merc you can buy a kit to change a short to long or long to short shaft for around 250.00.<br /><br />I love that Merc 8HP one pull starts every time no matter the weather; hot, cold, wet or dry it starts one pull. I've used it below freezing. No there wasn't any ice on the river. :D <br /><br />Without those tiller controls in my situation I wouldn't have used the motor for a kicker. Wouldn't want to have to get up and down every time I needed to change gears or cut engine.<br /><br />Good luck! ;)
 

letsbarbq

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 6, 2002
Messages
241
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

yeah, the f-n-r on the tiller is a nice feature. Do you know if the length really matters?<br /><br />In terms of length. Could it be possible for me to go with a long shaft. Like a motor was off a sail boat. I assume long shaft. Would it be out of the water if i kick up the bracket.or is it to long?
 

62_Kiwi

Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Jan 20, 2002
Messages
1,159
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

Hi Lets BBQ,<br /><br />By strange coincidence I'm looking at exactly the same motors for a kicker on my 19' f/g cuddy boat. I haven't made the final decision yet, so am interested in all the info on your thread here.<br /><br />I compared a '97 Mariner 8hp (ie Merc) with a similar aged Suzuki 8hp.<br /><br />The only info I can add to what has already been said is that Merc/Mariner looks to have a better tilting arrangement. It appears you can operate the tilt from the tiller handle alone, which you can't seem to do on other brands. I like the gear shifting too.<br /><br />Here in NZ, there seem to be more Merc dealers than Suzuki. So overall I'm tending to favour the Merc/Mariner.<br /><br />Please let us know what you decide.
 

letsbarbq

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 6, 2002
Messages
241
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

Thats funny. I have a suzuki dealer just 5 mins away. I think i might go with it. Unless I can find a four stroke somewhere.<br /><br />OK. Thanks abunch for all the help.
 

singerjr

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jan 24, 2002
Messages
240
Re: HElp- a 92 mercury 8hp or mid 80s suzuki 8hp for a kicker motor.

BBQ<br /><br />Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner about the length of my Merc shaft. I went to the dealer where my boat is right now. I talked to the Tech that rigged my Merc 115 hp. <br /><br />Because I've heard so many times that the anti-cav, plate should be approx level with keel, I wondered if that were true for the kicker because that would put the prop deep in the water since I have a V hull. Or since the hull is a padded V hull with performance strakes and reverse chine does the plate line up with any of those strakes and how does the reverse chine affect the kicker.<br /><br />First he told me that’s a good benchmark for the main motor but Merc’s specs call for the 115’s plate to be a couple inches below for my boat/motor pkg. Than he said the kicker mounting didn’t have to be as complicated as all that. The prop was more important than where the anti-cavitation plate is. He said for a V hull I could get away with a long or a short as long as the prop was not blocked by the transom and that I have the correct prop for the boat. Once on water I can fine-tune the motor with the tilt/trim pins.<br /><br />BBQ, just so you know the whole story he did say there is a formula to fine tune a kicker for a boat to get the best performance and that it could get complicated but if all I needed it for was slow trolling and an emergency get home motor as long as I had the correct prop and it was not blocked by the transom I would be fine.<br /><br />If any of you techs out there have a comment on this we would be grateful. We want to be able to move our boats and not damage anything. Thanks!<br /><br /> ;)
 
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