Mounting a kicker.... aaargh, the pain!!!

[SBH2OMan]

OK, I thought I was in pretty good shape with a long shaft motor (a 9.8 with 25" shaft) and a long-drop, high quality bracket (Garelick 71044).

When I went to go measure everything up, it does not appear that there is any way to mount the kicker so that the prop will be below the hull when dropped and not drag in the water when raised. Also, in order to get the prop down low enough, it looks like the bracket bolts would have to go through the transom below the water line (no thanks!).

How are you guys mounting kickers on your 21' and 23' DV transoms? Are your props above the hull when all the way down (e.g. not pulling water from UNDERNEATH the hull as recommended by the outboard mfgs...)

I'm really frustrated by this whole process...

One thought that has occurred to me is to mount the kicker farther outboard, but then I'm not sure it will clear the starboard trim tab (especially if I eventually mount bigger ones)...

any pictures and descriptions of your successful kicker mounts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[wdeluna]

Did you ever get an answer to this? I am in the same predicament.

 

[SBH2OMan]

Yes. Recently had it installed by a local shop. They just moved it outboard far enough to get the prop down under the hull. One common thing is to make a spacer between the drop-bracket and the transom in order to get the handle away from the stern rub rail when retracting the motor. We didn't have to do this because the way the Garelick 71044 is designed.

I will take some pictures and post them next week (I'm heading out of town and don't have any pictures of the kicker mounted).

Bottom line, it is possible - you just have to move the kicker to the side far enough to get it below the hull when it is dropped. Also make sure you use a bracket with as much drop as possible (ours has 14.5" drop, but I think Garelick makes one that will drop 15").

The down-side to a Garelick type bracket is that they are surprisingly "wobbly" - you have to lash the engine down when it is anything except in use on the water. When you are underway with the main, the kicker has to be tilted up (in addition to the bracket being raised), and the tiny little pins hold most kicker sized motors will shear off after time from the bouncing around. If you don't tilt up the kicker, it will drag in the wake. While being trailered you have the same kind of problem except it is just stress on the bracket itself

The other down side is mounting it as far outboard of the center line as we had to do causes a pronounced list. This is exacerbated on our boat because we have two batteries on the starboard side in addition to a "galley" cabinet. I have to make sure pax are sitting on the port side and then add a little trim to get her to run smooth.