Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

[ozenine]

Hi guys, I know taht some of you have small kickers on the back of the Starcrafts. I have 16 ft Starcraft SS and just got a very nice 6 hp Evinrude. It is a short shaft, but when I put it on the boat (besides main motor) it looked like the prop is below the bottom.
So the question is what do you, guys, have as the kicker on your Starcrafts? Short or Long?

 

[Kainon]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

I understand you are using it as a kicker, but for max thrust you do want the prop to be below the bottom ( ideally the Cavitation plate ) level with the bottom, but depending on how you are going to use it, a short shaft outboard should do the job nicely. I dont use one ( dont have one either ) but from the one's I've worked on, the kickers usually dont extend to the recommended position.

 

[ozenine]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

It will be a backup motor for my Farce. I do not care about full trust as long as there is enough water supply to it and it does not overhear.
Cavitation is level with the bottorm, just remember that it is off center, so the bottom is sloped as well, cavitation plate (on the picture in red) is something similar to the picture. BTW, the water intake is above the cavitation plate.

PS I know that the easiest way is drop it in the ware, but I have a lot of work still to do before I can try it.

PSS. I thisnk I saw somebody here connected the kicker to main motor for steering, cannot find the post. Do you guys know who was that?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

This link may answer some questions http://users.sisqtel.net/jkriz/Outrage/Kicker/

 

[ozenine]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

This link may answer some questions http://users.sisqtel.net/jkriz/Outrage/Kicker/

Thanks EZ. it is similar to what i saw on these forums and I am good with that.
What do you think about short shaft?

 

[MaddysDaddy]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

I don't think you should use it as a kicker, i think you should give it to me and i will put it on my sf 16 lw for skinny water bass fishing and low tide on the river

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

Short shaft is not quite long enough on my 18 footer. I would try it though, if it works then it works. If not go to plan B.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

I successfully used a short shaft as an emergency backup motor on my 16'

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

I haven't tried my 5.5hp clamped onto the transom yet but I'm pretty sure in calm water it would work great.

I did get a bracket so that it can be farther from the big motor and can be raised and lowered so the length is irrelevant.

I will be able to lower it down far enough so the prop stays wet even in some rollers.

 

[Starcraft Enterprise]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

The short shaft will work just fine. If it had more hp, then it might cavitate due to the boat moving fast enough to remove water from behind the transom (planing) causing it to starve. I have ran short shaft kickers behind my 18' chieftain from 4.5 hp to 12 hp. My kickers do not ride as low as yours on an adjustable mount and only the 12 hp cavitated at wide open throttle and even then only in short spurts.
I usually run a 7.2 hp. It has the best balance of power, weight, fuel economy and noise. I tried a 6 hp evinrude once, it did ok except in windy conditions. It did not have enough power to overcome the wind resistance and I had to constantly steer to hold a course. It was a 6 hp lake, but I gave up and cheated. I started the main I/O and idled it in gear while my son sat on the floor to hold the steering wheel straight while I sat on the transom and used the kicker to steer with. Nobody noticed or could hear the I/O idling over the noise from the two cycle kicker.
The steering system I believe you are refering to is an ez steer system. http://www.ezsteer.com/ I think you can buy these here on iboats.
My wife would not let me spend the $250 to buy one, so I made my own.

 

[elkhunter338]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

I use a spring loaded kicker motor bracked with a 15 or 16 inch travel, this kicks the motor away from the transmon and down so I can use the tiller handle and adjust the height. Works well. I run a long shaft and at times in rough water the prop almost comes out of the water and the water comes up to the bottom of the engine housing, so a short shaft would not work for me.
I think in calm water you could make a short shaft work ok as long as you get the motor adjusted right for height and maybe have to use a motor kicker bracket to get the kicker away from the transmon. I have an I/O so I had to use a kicker bracket. I used a garlick 71091 bracket.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Is short shaft enough for my Starcraft SS?

Good to know SE. I bought a 10 horse Johnson (1955) for my kicker and was hoping I didn't need to scrounge an extender for it. The extender was plan B.

Glad something worked out for me. that's one in a row.

Love that old Martin 60, I almost bought one over the winter. Despite having the Johnson, but I really need to finish my current projects before embarking on more.

Good luck with your kicker ozenine.