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I spoke with a friend of mine and he told me to stick with a 2 cly engine as opposed to a 1 cly engine for a kicker. He said the 2 cly has more torque. I was looking in the 4-8 hp range. I was told to go with a 6hp. A 4 hp would not put out enough thrust. I have a 1986 90 Yamaha that seems to be a really good motor. Was thinking about a Yamaha kicker. I've been out of the outboard engine scene for awhile. Not sure which are the better engines. I've heard good things about Yamaha & Honda. I remeber Evinrude/Johnson made the best outboards back in the day. Any comment/suggestions?

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Harley,

You must have missed this article on our site...

http://www.whalercentral.com/readarti...ticle_id=7

I specifically do not list the 1 cylinder engines for several reasons...
I suggest an 8hp as you can use it on any of the Whalers. You can buy one now for your Montauk and then put it on the Outrage later on when you move up...

Also see this article as it has Outrage and a Montauk photos.
http://www.whalercentral.com/readarti...icle_id=48

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"I specifically do not list the 1 cylinder engines for several reasons..."
What are they Joe?

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This quote taken from the article mentioned above:


And as you mentioned above, more torque with a 2 stroke. Not sure if that is accurate but sounds logical as 1 cylinder can't have much of anything unless that cylinder is 3 feet in diameter...

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I have a 15 hp Mercury longshaft that I bought new to use as an auxiliary motor on a sailboat. I thought it would be too heavy (weighs 78 lbs.) to use as a kicker for a Montauk 17 but after using it several times it appears to be okay. It doesn't make the boat squat and doesn't seem to affect getting on plane or cruising. There is a slight list to port which is the side of the transom on which I carry the kicker, but I put the bait well and the passenger on the right and the boat evens out. Mercury has an accessory called a "Accessory tilt lock kit" which keeps the motor tilted in the full up position so it will not bounce while operating the boat using the main power source. I can cruise at 30 + mph with that kicker tilted up with no problem and no bounce from the kicker. The 15 hp moves the Montauk very nicely with no strain when the kicker is needed. Finally the Mercury has been very reliable.

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regarding the kickers, it seems they can be just clamped on the transom? i have a 17 ss

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delkins,

Yes, they can be just clamped on. However, it is recommended to install the 2 thru bolts also.

My Montauk kicker was clamped and bolted...

The same kicker is now on my Outrage 18' and it is only clamped on but I also have a chain and lock to keep it fairly secure. Of course, anything can be stolen...
I haven't bolted it on yet because I am considering a new kicker and the holes may not line up.

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Joe I read your article on the kicker installation. I harvested many good ideas from the article that I plan to duplicate. My one question is I have a 1986 90 hp Yamaha. I'm not sure what engine I will use as a kicker. I am looking at sevral small engines on ebay right now. One of the engines is a brand new Merc 4hp/4 stroke. The question is: Can I use any Dual Binnacle contol or will I need a specific control? I have seen ones like this on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Morse-Marine-Engine-Control-Dual-Throttle-Boat_W0QQitemZ150148764831QQihZ005QQcategoryZ31283QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Will this work?

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Harley,

All people are different...

I prefer to have the same brand engines on the back of my boats. Doing this makes things much easier.

In my opinion, I would buy a used Yamaha kicker and then use a Dual Yamaha Binnacle Control..
This is the simplest... and, the back of the boat would look better in my opinion....

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joe thanks for the reply, i was thinking about getting one of the smaller kickers like they sell in boatersworld, tohotsu or something like that 4hp or 6 range because of the light weight and also strickly for a emergency motor that i can just clamp on when i make some long distance runs offshore, say 30-40miles, would this size push my boat good enough for that purpose?

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Well Joe, I would like to find a good Yamaha kicker but I might not have a choice. Right now my budget is tight and as the wife intervenes, it seems to get smaller. I haven't seen too many Yamaha's and the one's that I have seen seem to fetch a hefty price. I have my eye on a merc and a honda, both 4 strokes. Is there not a binnacle that would work on two different makes?

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delkins,
I wouldn't go for anything less than a 6hp but still would recommend an 8hp... A good used 8hp is not that hard to find..... I think I paid $600 for my 1988 Evinrud 8hp and never have had any problems.

Harley,
The only one that I know of is the Bombardier Dual Binnacle from 1996 to 2006 model.
See this article:
http://www.whalercentral.com/readarti...icle_id=56
Take a look at the second photo...

That unit has all kinds of variations built-in.
The controls will either push or pull. Some engines need push to control the throttle or shift and others brands needs to pull...
They also have different hole patterns giving the push or pull more or less throw....
This unit accommodates many different brands of engines but you would have to check to see if it would work with both of your brands....

Other than that, that is all I know....

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Thanks for all your advice Joe. I'm looking at a 1987 Yamaha 6hp also. It would be nice to be able to get this motor. I was hoping for a 4 stroke so I wouldn't have to run 2 different fuel tanks. The big motor has oil injection and so the main tank carries reg fuel. I know I could put in an oil injection system for the kicker, but once again the budget kicks in here. A second tank is cheaper and seeing how I'm a public servant, the funds are always limited.