Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by wangapecka1 on 04/10/10 - 9:23 AM

Any thoughts please on what power auxiliary should be fitted to 170 Montauk fitted with 90hp Mercury to be used as safety backup and occasionally removed for small fishing boat. Think I would like to get another Mercury for the looks - any thoughts on fitting and brackets would be great...Thx.

Edited by Joe Kriz on 04/13/10 - 11:57 AM

Posted by Fishmore on 04/10/10 - 10:52 AM

It would be easier to make a recommendation to you if you specified the year of your Montauk and the year of your 90 also is the 90 a two-stroke or a four stroke model?

There is a 170 Montauk and a classic 17 Montauk and they have different transoms hence they have different mounting options. With the classic 17 you can mount the motor direct to the transom on the starboard side. If you have the 170 model then you will need a bracket or you can cut the transom to accommodate a kicker and there is a good article about that on another website that I saw.

If you are stuck on Mercury I would recommend the Mercury 6hp with a 20" shaft about 60lbs. Some people think that any motor with a single cylinder has too much vibration. However, I have not noticed a problem when I ran this engine on my boat and my friend that has a 170 uses this motor all the time and he does not have a problem with it either.

In the Articles section on this website Joe has posted some reference material on how to mount a kicker and recommended kicker motors. Check that out.

Posted by wangapecka1 on 04/11/10 - 1:58 AM

Its the 170 Montauk - only three years old and the Mercury 90 is a four stroke efi model. You obviously have to install on the starboard side of the transom because of the swim platform and ladder - do you have any knowledge of how to install - what sort/model of bracket - does the bracket screw into the hull or is a clamp on style better? Will hunt other areas of this site and thank you for your advice.

Posted by HarleyFXDL on 04/11/10 - 6:06 AM

I have tried different kickers on my boats and found motors in the 4hp-8hp work best. When selecting a kicker, the old thought of more HP equals more speed does not apply. Your boat will reach hull speed with most small outboards. I tried a 4hp, 6hp & 9.9hp outboard and didn't notice much of a difference between them. My boat would go about 4-5 mph with the 4hp and about 6-7 mph with the 9.9hp. A propeller will play a big part in the performance. I've seen 24ft sailboats with a 4hp cruising just fine. I have found 4-strokes to be the best selection. Since my 2-S main engine is oil injected, I run straight gas in my main tank. I connect my 4-S kicker to an extra port on my fuel/water separator and I'm done. Using a 2-S kicker you will need either a separate fuel tank or a separate oil injection set up for the kicker IF you do not run mix in the main tank. I had a 9.9hp 4-S kicker on my 1985 Montauk and found it was too heavy, but purchased it because it matched my main engine. I feel a 6-8hp engine would have been a perfect fit.

Edited by HarleyFXDL on 04/11/10 - 6:08 AM

Posted by Joe Kriz on 04/11/10 - 9:47 AM

Also take a look through the members personal pages for more ideas.
Here is a Montauk 170 with a fixed bracket.
http://www.whalercentral.com/infusion...r_id=11649

And here's a list of current kicker choices and their weights.
http://www.whalercentral.com/articles...ticle_id=7

Edited by Phil T on 04/11/10 - 11:09 AM

Posted by number9 on 04/11/10 - 11:43 AM

Depending upon your fishing boat more 4 versus 8hp may equal more speed when swapped to it but a 4hp will be easier to move around. I have 4hp Yamaha 4-stroke that would actually get my 12' semi-vee aluminum on plane with just me aboard. A twin cylinder is going to be a bit smoother and quieter.

Posted by joninnj on 04/11/10 - 1:22 PM

I just recently purchased a twin cylinder 4.5HP long shaft Johnson. Weighs 55lbs. My primary decision factor was weight... Tohatsu/Nissan make a 6 HP 4stoke (single cylinder) under 60 LBS. Street price of about $1400. I was considering this as well.

Edited by joninnj on 04/11/10 - 1:26 PM

Posted by wangapecka1 on 04/13/10 - 11:52 AM

Hi any thoughts please on the kicker mounting bracket - what material is best - should it be adjustable - any decent models or recommendations and how should it be fixed. Also should the kicker be normal or long shalft?

Posted by HarleyFXDL on 04/13/10 - 4:20 PM

If you're using a bracket, you can use either a long or short shaft. My recommendation would be a long shaft. The boat will not go fast enough to make a difference and you can get the powerhead up higher. You need to make sure you have access to the transom to thru bolt the bracket. I would NOT lagbolt it.

Posted by wangapecka1 on 04/14/10 - 12:05 AM

#10

Are there specific places to bolt the bracket onto or can it be positioned any where? What does lagbolt mean? Are there any other people on this site as ignorant as me!? Would like to do my own work for the satisfaction of it but am complete boat novice.....

Posted by burning_hXc_soul on 04/14/10 - 12:53 PM

#11

This is my first post here, yahoo. haha. I have a 5hp 2 stroke mercury single cylinder kicker on my '63 Eastport and it works fine. You will want to go with the long shaft motor to make sure you have water over the cavitation plate on the motor to avoid airy water. If you decide to get a bracket, you can find them at bass pro shops and other websites.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10200395_225011000_225000000_225011000_225-11-0

I have heard mixed reviews about this bracket though. Or you could always have some on fabricate one for you. But if you buy a long shaft motor, you don't need to worry about a bracket, unless you have the model where you have to notch the transom. Not a big deal just a days worth of work. What he meant my lagbolt is a lagbolt is a bolt where it just screws into the wood and does not require a nut and washer on the other side. This would not be good because there's not enough wood in your transom to do this. Through bolt is where you drill 4 holes in your transom then put the bolt through and secure it on the other side with a nut and washer. If you do this remember to seal the holes so no water can get into the transom and cause rot.

Posted by HarleyFXDL on 04/14/10 - 5:40 PM

#13

A friend of mine who onws a marina told me the brackets that fold up & down are to be avoided. He said while under way and in rough water, they have a tendency to fold down. Based on his opinion, I would install a stationary bracket such as this http://www.wholesalemarine.com/pc/GAR...acket.html and use a long shaft motor.

Edited by HarleyFXDL on 04/14/10 - 5:40 PM

Posted by joninnj on 04/15/10 - 8:34 PM

#14

I agree with Harley. stationary is more trust worthy... I had custom bracket made for my 17, to match the style of a whaler. I got mid season last year only getting to installing it now.. See my page, last picture for what it looks like. Very nice product made Martin Marine design. Ray is also a member of Whaler central.

Good luck

Posted by Harvey Boysen on 04/17/10 - 2:00 PM

#15

I installed the Garelick fixed mount that Harley referenced. It is thru bolted and it feels like I could hang anything on it.
I can troll offshore OK with the Merc 90 2S. I need a small motor for shallow water. I've tried an electric and a Merc 6 but I want to see if the Suzuki 2.5 will be enough. It has a 360 degree rotation and would really help getting me out of problems.
The price for the mount on wholesalemarine.com was about $20 less than I paid.
Pictures are on my personal page.
I just installed the fishing seat and it really is great.