Kicker motor bracket

Tgull

Cadet
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
9
I have a 23 Ft Walkaround that has a Mercury 150 XL. I was interested in finding a kicker motor. I found a decent Mercury 15 which is a short shaft. My question is will a short shaft motor work with kicker bracket. A 10 inch difference in shaft length seems hard to overcome. Is there a bracket that can overcome this?
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
10,200
probably, but then you will be reaching farther over your transom to lower, putting you uncomfortable and at risk of falling over. Even with my long shaft it puts me father than I would like.

Keep looking, take your time - they are out there. Took me awhile.
 

JimS123

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
7,952
First of all, you don't need a full 15" to mount the motor. A kicker at best will give you hull speed, so you don't have to worry about planing.

Measure your potential location to ensure that at least the kicker's prop is below the bottom of the boat. Then add about 11" (the typical travel of a kicker bracket) and that will indicate where the motor will be when retracted.
 

ahicks

Captain
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
3,957
Another thought regarding necessary shaft length. Hull design can play into this as well. If you're working with a deep V hull, a kicker will be mounted outboard of that V, and will not need to be as long a shaft to get into "clean" water. Point being, you need to eye ball it to some extent, prior to making the call of whether or not a 15" will work for you.
 

Lowlysubaruguy

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Messages
514
Ive used a number of store bought brackets and hated them all. The ones that fold up wobble so much your trolling motors flopping around like its going to fall off fixed ones that are not designed right for your boat also suck. I gave up and made my own. If you can get the Ob a foot or more behind the boat it will not only push your boat better you’ll troll at lower RPMs turn quicker and use less fuel. The down side is you’ll need a extension handle and you’ll have lean out to shift it unless you have controls or a lever extension of some kind. Im sorry I don’t have pictures but mine became a full on swim deck extension I rented an aluminum spool gun welder and made a shelf for about what a decent store bought unit ran. Mind you today I own a tig and mig for aluminum. It would be simple to make a bracket on your own aluminum cuts with a chop saw and us pretty easy to work with.
 

JimS123

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
7,952
Ive used a number of store bought brackets and hated them all. The ones that fold up wobble so much your trolling motors flopping around like its going to fall off fixed ones that are not designed right for your boat also suck. I gave up and made my own. If you can get the Ob a foot or more behind the boat it will not only push your boat better you’ll troll at lower RPMs turn quicker and use less fuel. The down side is you’ll need a extension handle and you’ll have lean out to shift it unless you have controls or a lever extension of some kind. Im sorry I don’t have pictures but mine became a full on swim deck extension I rented an aluminum spool gun welder and made a shelf for about what a decent store bought unit ran. Mind you today I own a tig and mig for aluminum. It would be simple to make a bracket on your own aluminum cuts with a chop saw and us pretty easy to work with.

I agree with you 100%....except.....

Years ago I bought an OMC retractable bracket that came with a gas cylinder to ease it up and down. No wobbling or flopping. My 9.9 has been mounted on it for 34 years now, Summer, Winter, on the highway and in the garage. Awesome product. Sadly they don't make them any more after BRP bought them out.

A few years ago I found one on Ebay, brand new never used. I bought it up in an auction frenzy, paid double what I paid the the new one years before. Anyway, now I got a spare in case I need one in the future.

Without that I guess I would build one myself as well.
 

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
Keep looking. You will find a proper long shaft to fit your needs. If you have a good strong back now you won't have it for long reaching and trying to lift that 100 pounds up into lock position every time you want to move the boat and deploying it, and risk falling overboard. I got lucky when I found a 1995 long shaft 15 Mariner that matched my 115HP right down to the graphics. A bonus was it is electric start with shift/throttle controls. The controller was easily mounted for Port side. A Marine mechanic said impossible to reverse it, very possible. I made a connector to the main outboard for steering. I stole it for 1000 bucks Canadian. I asked my wife to look at the boat and if she noticed anything, after a bit of a pause she said "The Moma motor had a baby, how cute." You will thank yourself waiting for the proper kicker and not fighting those garbage aftermarket brackets. I shopped for 5 years for the right kicker.
 
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