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[Spawn Sack]

Not an immediate priority, but down the road we'd like to outfit our river boat to also troll in lakes. If at all possible, I'd like to make things work with our 5hp, 4 stroke, SHORT shaft motor. The only thing is I do NOT want to be sitting on the back of the boat for hours steering with the tiller handle

On my dads boat, he has the Panther electric steering system. Think it's this one:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Panther-Electro-Steer-Remote-Kicker-Steering/737672.uts

It works fine, however his kicker is an X-L shaft and sits up at the same height as the panther. Our kicker would need to be mounted down the transom a ways on something like this: (pic #13 on bottom left of gallery)

http://abbotsford.craigslist.ca/bod/5105460668.html

Does anyone have any tips for how to best steer a kicker configured like this?

Thinking something like this???

http://www.marinetechproducts.com/pages/EZSteerHome

Would be nice to steer with the main steering wheel and not have to install another electric powered device.

[Easywater]

EZ Steer has what I've seen on ocean boats.

You can power with the kicker and steer with the big motor (off) if you don't have to make sharp turns.

[Spawn Sack]

Right on thanks. Do you know a marine store in the LM that sells the EZ steer system? Preferably chilliwack, Abby, or Langley? You can order the parts online but I wouldn't want to take the risk that it wouldn't fit properly. I'd rather pay a bit more, buy locally, and if it's the wrong size return/exchange it.

A couple other things I'm pondering...

1- Which type of kicker bracket you you think is better? The kind that is in the "up" position, and when you want to use the kicker you lower it to the "down" position to put the kicker at the right depth. Or, the kind that is welded to the transom at a fixed height (like in Craig's List link in my original post). Persoanlly, I like the look of the welded, all aluminum, fixed position one. However I kind of like with the other kind how in the "up" position the motor is up out of the water higher.

2- Would it be unwise to just troll with the main motor? (65hp 2stroke Merc jet) I would assume there is no reason why you couldn't do it, however IMO the main motor is a bit loud and after a while might get a bit annoying, and of course would burn more gas than a kicker. AND we already have a nice 5hp 4 stroke motor, so why not use the damn thing?!

[Damien]

Got to be careful with the fixed depth ones.  If your boat 'squats' a lot during hole shot, or just how your boat runs the prop or skeg of the kicker could be hitting the water, wash, wake etc.  Or the opposite can happen with different loads, people on board etc.  Need to get it just right, the first time. Yes you can change the trim of the motor, but I prefer to have the motor sitting 'right'.

I would get the one that adjusts up and down.

http://www.basspro.com/TRAC-Outboard-Motor-Brackets/product/10200395/?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

BUT - Best advice, I would be go into a local marine store, M&B, Maple, Cascade etc... and get advice.

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks Damien and good call.

I never really thought of that. Would infinitely SUCK to pay a fair amoutn of money for a custom kicker bracket welded to your hull, and then get on the water and find out that the motor is sitting to deep or too shallow Now you need to pay more money to have metal added or removed. Wouldn't be the welder's fault as he'd just put it to the height you specified.

I think I like the adjustable one. "Down height" could be tweaked as needed. Also I think it would just look kind of silly with a fixed bracket mounted half way down the transom with a short shaft kicker hanging of it. Yeah you could tilt it up and tighten the steering tension but I still think would look silly.

Like you said when the time is right I will buy from a marine dealer. Honestly never got the best vibe from the boat staff at Cascade. Maybe I'm not an "established customer," who knows. I buy stuff from there all the time and quite like the staff that work outside the marine department. For the kicker bracket, down riggers, rod holders, and other stuff we'll need to outfit for lake trolling I'd like to try elsewhere. Any reccomendations in Abby or Langely? I don't care so much about the price I just want friendly top notch service.

[canso]

Do you have pictures of the transom? Would be nice to clamp it on next to the big motor, even if you need to buy a long shaft motor. The K.I.S.S method... Keep It Simple.......

[Spawn Sack]

I could try and upload a couple. Been a while since I used that photobucket or whatever it is but I'm sure I could figure it out again. I havent measured the transom height but it would certainly take at least a L and possibly an XL shaft. To me the area on either side of the main motor where a kicker would mount seems a bit low (side height) for an outboard to slide all the way down flush. May need some sort of riser plate for the motor to seat all the way down in the "female end" of the motor clamp.

If we didnt already have an outboard I'd be more inclined to buy something in L or XL shaft. However the 5hp we bought brand new last year, it was almost 2G, runs like a rolex, and I'd just like to use it esp now that we wont be using the 12 foot boat much. I have no problem using it with the motor mount to drop it down to the right height. Just want to make sure that we will be able to rig something up and steer the kicker with the main motor/steering wheel (ie EZ steer), or electronically (Panther, etc).

Boat is same as this only 2011.

http://www.kingfisherboats.com/lake-sport/1625-warrior-2/

[Easywater]

Would infinitely SUCK to pay a fair amount of money for a custom kicker bracket welded to your hull, and then get on the water and find out that the motor is sitting to deep or too shallow

Saw a charter boat where the Honda kicker was half buried in the water - still worked but was a pain to reach.

A couple for sale at Steveston Marine ~$230
http://www.stevestonmarine.com/Ez-Steer-Ez-Steer-Rod-Assy.-Ez10003-Canada?search=steering&sort=p.price&order=ASC&limit=100

Or go big:
http://www.stevestonmarine.com/Panther-Electro-Steer-Steering-System-550100Ane-Canada?search=steering&sort=p.price&order=ASC&page=4&limit=100
http://www.marinetechproducts.com/pages/ElectroSteerandSteering/

[Spawn Sack]

Got to be careful with the fixed depth ones.  If your boat 'squats' a lot during hole shot, or just how your boat runs the prop or skeg of the kicker could be hitting the water, wash, wake etc.  Or the opposite can happen with different loads, people on board etc.  Need to get it just right, the first time. Yes you can change the trim of the motor, but I prefer to have the motor sitting 'right'.

I would get the one that adjusts up and down.

http://www.basspro.com/TRAC-Outboard-Motor-Brackets/product/10200395/?cmCat=CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

BUT - Best advice, I would be go into a local marine store, M&B, Maple, Cascade etc... and get advice.

Been doing a fair bit of online research on this. Have not had time to go into any of the marine stores, but definitley would before I decided what route I want to go with this.

Have not heard a lot of good things about the adjustable up/down style bracket. Have had a few people tell me do NOT buy one they're junk!! However I really doubt they are ALL crap, rather there is likely a spectrum of quality. If I bought one I'd want a higher end model. Not some POS!

Can anyone reccomend a solid adjustable kicker bracket brand/model? I trust the staff at Stevestons in Langley. If I can't get info here I'll pop in there when I have time and talk to them.

I prefer the concept of the fixed/welded bracket. However as pointed out by Damien, the prop/leg could hit the water even if the kicker is tilted up. The motor is a short shaft so a fixed bracket would have to be a ways down the transom to put the propellor at proper depth when trolling. Might hit up Venture River Boats in chilliwack for this. They have a test tank and could plop the boat in there and see where the water line is and I'm thinking stand the best chance of welding a fixed bracket at th right height for my motor (esp if I left them the kicker too). They do custom welding/fabricating and I've heard good things about them.

Sigh! If I didnt already have the lovely, almost new, short shaft I would just buy an L or XL shaft and clamp it right to the transom. I guess I could try and sell the motor and buy a longer shaft kicker for the new boat. But....I really LIKE the current kicker, and we will use our 12 foot boat still on small lakes and this motor is the right length. Not really entertaining the idea of keeping the short shaft and buying a longer shaft kicker for the new boat.

Hopefully can make the short shaft work on this boat

[andrewscag]

I've got my kicker linked to the main with the system you linked to or something very similar. Picked it up at performance marine in Everett WA for about $70. Works great and I'm really happy with it.

I've got it on an old adjustable style kicker mount. They're definitely finicky but I was able to solve most of the hassles with a c clamp at the joint between the vertical and horizontal pieces. Still a bit of a hassle but its much more stable that way.  Might be something to consider if you need to go with an adjustable one like I do.

Hope that helps!