Second Motor

[JEBar]

as background, the '03 90 hp Johnson Ocean Pro outboard on our Sea Pro 180 DC has a solid history of performance and reliability .... the next time I turn the key, I fully expect it to crank quickly and run strong .... if things go as we hope and are planning, within the next three years the demands we will place on our boat and its motor will undergo a significant change .... historically we have used it on lakes for family recreation/fishing .... soon we will be trailering it long distances and using it for 100+ one way trips on the Mississippi, long (again 100+ mile) cruises over various stretches of the Inland Waterway, and on lakes many times larger .... in a different vein, it will be used to troll for walleyes for hours on end .... our Ocean Pro is not a good trolling motor (way too fast at idle) so a decision to add a kicker has been made but in thinking about it, for us a kicker needs to be more than a fishing motor .... it needs to be a spare that is capable of getting the boat to safety in the event that the main motor should fail .... I've been out in boats in rough water where insufficient speed produced handling problems and I don't want to do that again .... as a compromise motor, we are looking at an Evinrude E-TEC 15 HO hp but at this point I don't want to be so narrowly focused that I overlook a motor that might be a better alternative .... suggestions would be appreciated

Jim

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Second Motor



I absolutely love my Merc 9.9 pro-kicker. The little electronic speed control works very well, just can't remember the name of it just now. We use for trolling salmon, steelhead and walleye mostly on Lake Michigan and a few inland lakes here in WI. The boat is 20' deep V hull and the kicker performs perfectly. The only drawback might be that I can get only 7 mph WOT with the kicker. That means when I'm 12 miles out it takes two hours to get back in an emergency. But,,,,,,sometimes on Lake Michigan I can only go 6 mph with the big motor anyway because of the weather. The high thrust my pro-kicker gets does allow me good control of the boat in harsh conditions. I too looked at the 15hp, but was afraid It might be to fast for Walleye. Around here I need 1.5mph and less for that. Sometimes I need 3.5mph for steelhead and my kicker works great for everything.

edit: had to go look, the speed control is a Troo Master pro-2. Whichever motor you get trust me, you need to put that in your budget. Easy to install and uses a servo in the motor just like my RC model airplanes.

 

[JEBar]

Re: Second Motor

first of all, really enjoyed the pictures of your boat .... hopefully, one day we will have a second motor on ours .... will most certainly look into a TrollMaster ..... understood on the 1 - 1.5 mph for walleye that is our target speed as well .... I believe that on our boat a 15 should be able to idle along in that range, no clue as to top end .... most of the lakes in the upper Midwest that we will be fishing are very shallow and with the wind out there sizable waves can spring up in a matter of seconds .... on the Mississippi, the surface water can vary widely as one travels from lock to lock .... with the deep-V hull of our boat, a side wind can make for "interesting" handling at very low speed .... here again I think the 15 would be able to provide sufficient speed to enable safe boat control during an emergency .... the first motor I looked at was a Merc 9.9 but once I learned they have moved production to China I had second thoughts

Jim

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Second Motor

Nothing wrong with a 15 over a 9.9, most are the same motor with a few modifications for high end HP, low HP end can be the same though, so the speed at low RPMs will be similar. You won't get much more top speed because max hull speed is normally around 7 MPH and to go faster you need a great deal more HP, enough to start planing the boat. The high thrust models do a much better job of pushing a heavy load than a standard model. Most people here use the 9.9s over the 15s due to the lower cost and similar performance.

 

[JEBar]

Re: Second Motor

Most people here use the 9.9s over the 15s due to the lower cost and similar performance.

didn't know that about the 7 mph hull speed .... with 50% more hp, I would have expected considerably more performance out of a 15 .... information most certainly is appreciated

Jim

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Second Motor

Never thought about displacement speed being important in this equation. Makes sense though, until I plane thats what I am. A displacement hull. Thanks, now I get it.

 

[d.boat]

Re: Second Motor

I use a 9.9 Merc 4 stroke on my 21' aluminum boat w/ a 200 hp outboard jet conversion. It pushes it at about 6 mph and easily trolls at 1.5 mph, although I usually troll at about 2.5 mph for salmon. I wondered if a 15 hp would push it up to hull speed, but I went with the cost and lighter weight of the 9.9.

FWIW: Some of the 15 hp's share weight with the 20 hp rather than the 9.9, so make sure you are in your preferred weight range when you look at that - and you might go with the 20 if it weighs same as 15.

Consider a steering linkage. I use the EZ Steer, which can be adapted to virtually any main/auxilliary combination including outboards and I/O's. Allows independent tilting. There are others, but the EZ steer has proven to be bullet- and fool-proof for me.

I haven't added the electronic control yet, but it will be my next year's "investment" in my trolling setup (this year I replaced my plastic rod holders (Fish On, Cabelas, Tempress, etc.... they're all the same) with a set of Down East metal ones - I'm a fan!) . Sure tweeking the throttle works, but it sure would be nice have a more precise and easy way to do it from the steering wheel.

 

[JEBar]

Re: Second Motor

FWIW: Some of the 15 hp's share weight with the 20 hp rather than the 9.9, so make sure you are in your preferred weight range when you look at that - and you might go with the 20 if it weighs same as 15.

interesting point, thanks for the suggestion .... one I hadn't considered .... a quick look at Evinrude's web site shows 25 hp motors that are lighter than the 15 hp I've been considering .... I will have to give this type of alternative a look .... much will depend on what I find the cost difference to be

Jim