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Posts: 18
| Hi folks, hoping for a little help and insight aboutadding a kicker motor and which side it should go on, and which side the sonar transducers would be mounted. I was originally thinking of installing the kicker on the port/left side of the boat. My tranducer is currently on the starboard/right side, and to offset the kicker weight when by myself the left side made sense (single console boat).
I'm thinking now when casting I'm pretty much always casting off the left side of the boat. Then if I have someone with both of us are casting off the left side so with the kicker on the left side too that's a bit of weight all on the left side.
I'm thinking about putting it on the drivers side which would put me closer to my sonar/gps on the console too as a benefit. From what I understood when I mounted my sonars tranducer is that it should be on the right/starboard side because of the prop wash on the left side would mess with it. But if I put the kicker on the right side will I have to move the transducer to the left/port side? If so would that cause any issues?
Thanks,
Marc |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | I have my kicker mounted on the port side to provide as much balance to the boat while underway. If you have ever driven a boat that was unbalanced side to side at speed you would find that you have some funny handling problems. So boat balance and handling at speed is more crucial. As to the transducers, starboard side mounting seems to be the most popular, but in reality it doesn't matter. |
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Posts: 489
| I have mine on the starboard side for two reasons... 1.) Tuffy told me that is the way the x190 is balanced to have it 2.) I fish exclusively out of the port side of my boat and operate the boat from the back, having it on the starboard side keeps it out of my way when it's tilted up. I have noticed most rangers however have them installed on the port side so maybe contact the boat manufacturer for some guidance. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | As posted above contact your boat manufacturer and see what they say. Something else to keep in mind is the size and weight of the kicker itself. I have a 5hp (4stk) Merc on my boat, it weighs 58 pounds. A Merc pro kicker weighs 112 pounds (per manufacturer). So the weight of the motor will be a factor in what works best. Personally I chose the small motor because of the weight issue, also I do not troll for extended periods. My 5 will push the boat 4.5 to 5 mph and handles reasonably well. I have the motor tied to the main motor for steering and rigged up remote shift/throttle, it is a manual start. While the bigger kickers are nice their is a weight penalty, so bottom line is...how will you be using the kicker...often or as in my case occasionally. |
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Posts: 18
| Good info, thanks. I have a Tuffy 1760 Osprey. A major retailer gave me a pretty good deal on a 15hp pro kicker because they're out of 9.9hp. If I remember right it weights about 132 lbs. I know it's heavy but sounds like a few others have used 15hps too. In all honesty I won't use it a ton, but will troll with it from time to time throughout the year. At best maybe 40% of the time if not a little less. I'll email Tuffy... |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Look at the weight distribution you usually have in the boat. If, for example, you fish 2 most of the time, and your fishing partner outweighs you significantly, then starboard. Port if starboard is loaded heavier. |
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Which side of boat for kicker and transducers?