Posts: 3472
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
For that size rig, you could easily get by with a 6 hp or an 8 hp and save a few bucks. I have a 4 stroke Johnson/suzuki 8hp that has a more powerful gear ratio (something like 2.33:1 I believe). I replaced the stock prop with a high thrust solas propeller (cost of about $70 at the time) in a lower pitch to get it to troll down under 1 mph in reverse and about 1.5 trolling forward. This is on an Alumacraft Navigator 165, which is very similar in size to the impact.
Couple of things come to mind here when it comes to kicker choice. For most boats 16 ft or less, a 6hp is all that is really required. Those between 16 and 18 can get by well with a good 8hp and above 18 and heavy fiberglass, a 9.9 or 15 would do just fine. One big thing that you have with a 9.9 or 15 is weight. For a 1675 impact, that is 100+ pounds off the back which will definitely make the rear of the boat "squat" so to speak in the water while at rest. I think a good 6hp would do just fine, and if you get a 4 stroke, you might want to check weight as compared to an 8. If they weigh the same, might as well go with the 8.
In most cases full throttle should get you around 6 mph for a kicker which is enough thrust to get you out of trouble if you get into a hairy situation while trolling.
No matter what, one of the biggest reasons to have a kicker is SAFETY!! If your big motor goes down on a large body of water, and you have no way off the lake, you are at the mercy of the water and wind. Not too long ago, I had a friend lose his boat on Leech lake because his big motor went down and he had no kicker. Totaled a nice Ranger boat on the rocks because he had no way to stay off the rocks. Heck...just this past summer, I helped a guy get back to shore on a river because his motor went down and he had no other way off besides a paddle. Good for him he was upstream from where he needed to get to....had he been downstream, he could have potentially been dealing with barges and not be able to get out of the way...
Now...given smaller bodies of water, the kicker is not so much of an issue, especially if there are other boats around.
Steve |
