PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

[Postletown]

I am wondering if anyone knows how to mount a kicker motor bracket on the back of my 1984 sea nymph fish n' ski. The problem is that there are 2 "boxes" on each side of the transom and I can't get inside of them to put a nut on the end of a bolt that would bolt the bracket onto the boat. I don't know if I could use self-tapping screws to secure the bracket or not because I have no idea what I would be drilling into. Does anyone know what is inside these "boxes"? Is it foam or wood or what?! Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I am new to iboats and it seems to be a very helpful forum. Thanks!

Hopefully this picture works, this is not my boat, but it has the same boxes that are in the back on each side of the boat.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

self tapping screws won't work. The boxes probably contain flotation; you may have to cut them open.

that's a mighty small boat to need a kicker, unless you do serious all day trolling. Why not either use the main motor or get an electric, bow mounted?

 

[snowman48047]

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

Do you know if your kicker will fit, on either side of the motor, and not be in the way of steering? On my boat I HAD to mount it to starboard due to the steering rod/arm. Then I had issues with being able to tilt it up and not bind up the cables. If you are sure I would do a little demo/removal and find a way into those boxes. It is the best way to secure the kicker.

 

[Postletown]

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

I definitely do a lot of trolling for walleye on Lake Erie. A kicker is a necessity...we have a 4.5hp Johnson that will work just fine. We have an 85hp Yamaha as the main motor that doesn't idle down slow enough, and I don't want to put that much stress on the main motor all the time.

The kicker will not fit on the actual transom next to the main motor. I was afraid I will have to dig into those boxes somehow. Thanks guys!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

I mounted a kicker bracket to the transom for my 19 foot Spectrum, and found it extremely difficult to use. The problem was access to the kicker controls, on my boat the kicker was so low, when deployed, that it was too hard to sit in that corner of the boat and reach back and down to adjust or actually use. Your transom may be more kicker friendly. I ended up mounting a 24 volt bow mount trolling motor, seems to work really well in the lake as well as the Detroit River for vertical jigging too. I'll leave the kicker plate on the boat, I'm almost sure you will need to use nuts and bolts to secure the kicker plate to your transom, it will be "kicked around" quite a bit back there so it must be secure. You will need to think about theft too, with four very stout bolts, I felt more comfortable with that issue too.
On a past owned boat I purchased the linkage to run in parallel with my main outboard, allowing me to steer from the drivers seat, only throttle adjustments were required at the motor. Be very careful if you decide to go this route, as others have mentioned, everything needs the room to run back there. That set up was on a 23 foot cuddy.

 

[Postletown]

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

The only other thing I could think of, which seems kind of ridiculous, is using long threaded rod and running it through the back of the boat, through the floatation and through the box to the inside of the boat and attaching nuts and lock washers on each end. What do you think?

 

[greenbush future]

Re: PLEASE HELP! Mounting Kicker Motor on a 17ft 1984 Fish n' Ski Sea Nymph

The only other thing I could think of, which seems kind of ridiculous, is using long threaded rod and running it through the back of the boat, through the floatation and through the box to the inside of the boat and attaching nuts and lock washers on each end. What do you think?

With that concept, you would be relying on the structure of that box you have mentioned. I don't think I would do that, based on what you have shared here. A couple good bonces with waves or running down the road with a trailer, and you might be in trouble. Bolting tight and through the transom is the only way I have seen this work.

 

[Fohty]

I am wondering if anyone knows how to mount a kicker motor bracket on the back of my 1984 sea nymph fish n' ski. The problem is that there are 2 "boxes" on each side of the transom and I can't get inside of them to put a nut on the end of a bolt that would bolt the bracket onto the boat. I don't know if I could use self-tapping screws to secure the bracket or not because I have no idea what I would be drilling into. Does anyone know what is inside these "boxes"? Is it foam or wood or what?! Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I am new to iboats and it seems to be a very helpful forum. Thanks!

Hopefully this picture works, this is not my boat, but it has the same boxes that are in the back on each side of the boat.

View attachment 162394

I know this is an old post but did you ever figure out how to mount the kicker motor I am in the same position