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I am considering replacing my mercury 9.9 2 stroke LS kicker on my 1999 Alert 17 with a new Yamaha F6 4 stroke.The reason I am contemplating this change is to go with a lighter kicker,to do away with always tripping over the remote tank and fuel line for the kicker,and I like the F6 because I still have an auxillary gas tank with its built in tank and can also run off my main tank plus the elimination of 45 lb. of gas in the remote tank for the 2 stroke kicker.This gives me a 65 lb weight reduction by changing kickers. My main motor is a Yamaha F70. I would like some opinions from you guys and ladies,do you think the F6 will do a satisfactory job as a kicker and backup motor on my boat. Thanks Al.

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I have an older F6 on my Montauk 17 and it pushes it fine. I get about 5mph with the sock propeller. I bought the long shank version and mounted it directly on the transom.

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A Yamaha F6 is just about perfect for an Alert 17. Anything more would be overkill.

The Yamaha F6 may come with a stock propeler but for this application it should be traded for the Yamaha 9" x 5" hi-thrust propeller, Yamaha part #6G1-W4592-00-00

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Whalerbob andTom thanks for your replies and thank you Tom for the prop recommendation and part #. The prop was one of my concerns because the lowest pitch prop I could find was a 8.5 x 6.5 and I didn't know if it was low emough,the 9 x 5 sounds great for the application. I am definitely going to go with the Yamaha F6 and will give a report on how it works in APRIL or May. It's 10 BELOW ZERO here this morning. Thanks again for helping me with decision. Al

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Nothing better than planning Whaler upgrades during that kind of weather...we have blizzard conditions this morning and hear I am on Whaler Central planning for the upcoming season as well!!

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I have done a bit of experimenting with different kicker engines...

I have a 1984 Montauk 17 with a F90 Yamaha on it.
I have tried a F15, F9.9 both of which were Waaaaaay too heavy with my current engine. I had taken some chop over the stern with these, not a fun prospect. Both of those engines got me to nearly 7 mph.

I currently have a 2010 F6 engine with the integrated gas tank. I've found that it is 50 pounds lighter, can easily run on my main tank, and gets me to 5.5 mph. Its a great little engine, but the carbs get gummed up easily despite running ethanol free gas. I disassembled and cleaned them 5 times by hand without success. Then I remembered my ultrasonic cleaner. It took 30 seconds with some Simple Green, and presto! All better.

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I should add that the propeller recommendation I made above is for the older two cylinder F6, not the current F6A which is single cylinder motor and uses a smaller prop.

The shortest prop for the F6A is the 7-1/4" x 6-1/2" Yamaha part # 6E0-45949-00-00

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I bought my F6 with the intention of changing to the power prop but never felt like I needed it.

With my previous kicker I tried two different mounting brackets that allow you to raise and lower the engine but they didn't work well. Best thing I did was feet the long shaft and mount directly to the transom. The only negatives are it will cavitate if I go full throttle reverse and the tiller handle hits the main engine if I'm not careful so I've got some scratches but that doesn't bother me.

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To mb466. What size prop are you running on your 2010 yamaha f6 kicker and does it perform OK in 1 to 3 ft. seas when trolling. Also does it make headway as emergancy power in 2 to 4 ft. seas? Your boat looks like has pretty much the same setup weight wise as mine. Thanks Al

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Alan,

Sorry, I do not know which prop it is. It is whatever it came with. I never really bothered to look at it.

I avoid big seas like 3-4 feet or I use my Outrage 240 for conditions like that. I really keep it on the boat for the just in case scenario when I am going way out in the Chesapeake Bay. I also suspect that it would cavitate if there were huge seas or rolling waves. I have mine mounted directly on the transome and it is a long shaft if I remember correctly.

I can check next time I am at my bay house. It will be a couple weeks. Keep in mind that engine is a little noisy when running at full throttle, but it is light, and runs like a champ. It is easy to mount and take off while in the boat. The 9.9 and 15 were quieter.

My beloved F90 is having some starting issues with slow cranking and is in the shop getting fixed. I think I am suffering from a bad connection somewhere.