Kicker mount

[viper1]

Not sure where to post this. I want to mount a kicker bracket for my 8 hp Yamaha on my Starcraft port side. Is there any thing I need to know about position? Or should this be asked somewhere else.

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[kfa4303]

Re: Kicker mount

hi viper1. I'm not aware of any particular rule to mounting other than to be sure that your main motor can pass through its entire range of motion by (turning left to right and tilting up/down) when the kicker is in place. You may also want to be conscious of the weight distribution. For example, if you sit toward the front right side of the boat you may want to consider putting the kicker on the back left side to help counterbalance your body weight. The motor can either be mounted to the transom directly, or you can use a mount like the ones in the pics below. Again, just be sure that the kicker doesn't interfere with the main motor and that its cavitation plate is approximately level with the bottom of the boat when in use.

 

[Monterey10]

Clearance

Clearance

You'll need to thru bolt the mount. Can you get to the inside of the transom to put on the nuts? Ditto on the need for ballance. You may need to put the motor on the oposite side of the batteries.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

very often the kicker is mounted on a specific side so that the tiller or cables exit nearer the center of the boat

 

[viper1]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

Well batteries are centered in front part of engine compartment. Having trouble holding mount and kicker to check heights and clearance . No place to clamp temporary.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

get motor height with a tape measure.... then you only need to hold the mount

 

[roscoe]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

Cardboard template showing bracket and motor hight, width, length

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

Be careful with the kicker bracket as there are a lot of sharp edges on it, could scratch the begeezus out of your paint while trying to figure out the mounting position.

A cardboard template is a good idea. I hung the motor on a hand truck to figure out where the bracket needed to go. (Hand truck with a 2x4 clamped to it and a BUNCH of weights stacked on it.)

Make sure to check the transom (inside the boat) before drilling any holes. I only had about 1" to play with when I installed mine, or I would have been hitting things inside the boat, electrical, crossmember, etc..

 

[viper1]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

Do you usually use a aluminum back up plate inside the hull? FIgured 3/8 -1/2 inch.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

depends on what you're bolting too... If bolting through the 1.5" plus transom, just use stainless bolts, washers, and nuts..... the flimsier the surface you are bolting through, the more you need to reenforce.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Clearance

Re: Clearance

My transom is raw plywood on the inside so I turned out some 2" 1/4" thick aluminum washers. I didn't want small washers crushing the plywood over time and loosening the bolts and bracket. If your SC is glass, I'd keep and eye on the fiberglass as you are tightening the nuts, if it doesn't start sucking in, it will be fine.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Kicker mount

You have everything to gain & nothing to lose if you make a inside plate as large as the out side plate. Plus you can predill the holes into the inside plate.
Some plastic & Aluminum boats are NOT solid in all parts of the transom. Save themselves money by leaving gaps where they can. Use the outside bracket as your inside pattern. Could be 1/2 REAL EXTERIOR plywood not the Chinese imported stuff. Or about a 1/8" Aluminum plate polished up.
We use a hand truck also to mount a motor to a boat.

Rich

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Kicker mount

If you decide you need a plate, do not make the inside plate the same size as the outer... Make it bigger or smaller.

 

[viper1]

Re: Kicker mount

Ok I always make them bigger. But why would you want them smaller? The idea is to distribute the weight across a bigger area.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Kicker mount

The idea is not to make it smaller but rather to make them different.... If they are identical then the sheer forces of push and pull are focused on the same place all the time.... makes a stress point

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Kicker mount

The force pattern is always in the shape of the smallest pressure points. Usually concentrated around the tightened bolt holes. If the inside & out side plates were increased to 20' x 20'. The stresses are still at each bolt hole area.
We have put Aluminum plates on the inside of transoms that have near maximum hp outboards. When you really tighten up the clamp screws they do crush the Aluminum & the plywood underneath. The sharper turns at higher speeds or with loaded hulls puts a lot of pressure on those 2 screw pads. Straight ahead the bolts get equal stress.
I always wondered why so many outboards have those plastic tightening levers that allow the round bolt pads to dig up the soft Aluminum skin of the transom.
The I/O can sometimes get those stressed Gell Coat cracks running out of bolt hole areas. Lot rarer.

If you treat OB & I/O like a jet ski or a P W, gouging under the clamp screws is the usual result over a short time.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Kicker mount

if I were to make an aluminum backing plate it would not deform.
If the plate isn't spreading forces then IMHO it's a waste of time and large washers would do the same job.
If I was gonna back with wood, it would be something along the lines of 1/2" marine ply with 2x2x1/4 al angle behind it

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Kicker mount

We have several O B guys using 3m 5200 to hold backers in place on both sides of the transom.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Kicker mount

BTW I'm referring to mounting a kicker on thin glass.... It the point of the backing it simply a sacrificial buffer to keep the clamp bolts of a large kicker from digging into an otherwise plenty strong transom then it's a totally different scenario and who cares if the backing deforms.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Kicker mount

Exactly Smoke.

We use the Marine 1/2" & 3/4" ply as sacrifical crushing boards.

Wish we could get new boatowners to see the value of those plywood pieces BEFORE they chew up the clamp area.