Kicker mounting update

I really hate reading dozens of posts on a good topic only to find the OP doesn't post the results. I'm taking the time in posting this as an update to this post http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=529650.

Truth is exactly what many say, anything is possible. My boat is basically a Nitro fish and ski model and I know a lot of folks have a hard time imagining a kicker bracket for these. Well I pulled it off. I was hell-bent on not drilling more holes in my transom and for several reasons wanted a kicker mounted on my port side.

The plan was to make a removable bracket which swaps out for the boarding ladder and uses the same transom brackets. I took care of the upper through bolts by using a strong backing plate. The lower bolts are lags and are pretty solid and lagged in with 3M 5200. I bought a piece of 1" thick poly (cutting) board material, bought brackets for it and fabbed up my project with wooden dowels. Then it went to the welding shop and they make a stainless steel replica of my wooden mock-up.

The result is a hella stout fixed but removable bracket which holds the 6hp Evinrude I picked up. I think the moral here is that with through transom bolts and paying the extra $ for quality welding, you can get what you want. I like that I can take the kicker and bracket off and throw on the boarding ladder with 4 cross bolts and it's stock and ready to ski.

Now I'm working on a custom easy steer type setup where I can connect and disconnect from the front of the motors.

Thanks for the advice as I mulled this over.

D

Re: Kicker mounting update

Cool! The kicker matches the boat and everything. Nice job!

Re: Kicker mounting update

Great job D! You should be very proud of your work. Now go fishin

Re: Kicker mounting update

IRBFishin said:

Now I'm working on a custom easy steer type setup where I can connect and disconnect from the front of the motors.

Click to expand...

I'll be watching for this part.

Re: Kicker mounting update

ezmobee said:

I'll be watching for this part.

Click to expand...

Not sure if you're serious but here you go:

They're called heim joints (or rod ends). My first choice was tie rod ends from a four-wheeler (or as the city boys call it, a quad) but the price was too high for two of those. The rod ends give me the movement I need to keep the motors from binding up. They were $10 each. The all-thread was about $3 and it simply screws into one rod end all the way, then you back it out as you screw it into the other rod end. Tighten with a wing-nut on each end. I had to make my own bracket for the rod end under the Merc and just used a pipe strap on the kicker and first wrapped with some innertube. Just need to wrap the all-thread with something now. For thirty bucks...Done!

I know there's a lot of boats out there but I'm pretty sure I now have the all-around best bass/ski/multi-species/family boat around. From sturgeon on the big river to trolling for trout, salmon or Walleye, then to bass. Take off the kicker, attach the boarding ladder, crank the tunes and we're skiing and tubing.

Next project...fish. Thanks for the advice as usual. I'll be back.

Re: Kicker mounting update

cool, clever and DIY.........sweeeeeeet! Looks great.

Re: Kicker mounting update

Very nicely done. Clever design and a professional looking result.