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Four strokes are the way to go.....great on gas and much quieter than two strokes....I can barely hear someone talking above my 9.9 2 stroke. If money isn't tight I'd say get a 9.8 or 9.9 or even a 15 if you can do it as they offer a little "insurance" if you go dead in the water with your main motor and although a 9.8 is great for trolling and semi rough water the 15 could get you in to shore faster in rough water on Lake O. When that stuff happens you always wish you had a bigger motor no matter what you have :) The 4 strokes are much more economical.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 You may also want to consider amperage output of your kicker to recharge your batteries while you are trolling and the main engine is turned off. Most kickers will put out somewhere between 10/15 amps if they are set up to do so.

Just a thought! 

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I have the 9.9 Honda. It gets twice the fuel economy as the 9.9 2 stoke I used before. My boat is 20 trophy. SK8man is spot on. My old motor was regular shaft and the new motor is long shaft. Much better control with long shaft. Like SK8man stated it depends on the water you use it on. Mine will control boat well until you get into 4 footers or bigger. I fish Finger lakes and have only had two days in 2,000 miles of trolling that it was not big enough. If I fished lake "O" more the 15 would help. Honda has a good charge system. The only hiccups I have had were all water in gas related. Funny, they do not run on water!

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I'm also looking to possibly buy a new kicker this coming year.  I'm have a 16' Fiberglass Larson right now, but would like to purchase a new boat down the road (probably a 19' Aluminum Tracker Targa).  I would like something that i can switch over from the current boat to the new boat and still be fine.  I currently fish the finger lakes (Keuka and Seneca), but when i get a new boat i would like to make a few trips to Ontario as well. 

 

Any suggestions on what i should look at (and where the best places are to purchase one)?  It sounds like 4 stroke is definitely the way to go.  I've had only 2 stroke kickers in the past and i would definitely like something quieter than that.

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I'm also looking to possibly buy a new kicker this coming year.  I'm have a 16' Fiberglass Larson right now, but would like to purchase a new boat down the road (probably a 19' Aluminum Tracker Targa).  I would like something that i can switch over from the current boat to the new boat and still be fine.  I currently fish the finger lakes (Keuka and Seneca), but when i get a new boat i would like to make a few trips to Ontario as well. 

 

Any suggestions on what i should look at (and where the best places are to purchase one)?  It sounds like 4 stroke is definitely the way to go.  I've had only 2 stroke kickers in the past and i would definitely like something quieter than that.

Again,the best thing and the most bang for your buck is the long shaft 4stroke 9.8 remote control electric start tohatsu. I would not buy a power trim for an open boat.

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Sean - a 9.9 four stroke will push that boat fine  but I would look carefully at the height it will be located at (and where) for each boat. A longer shaft motor will give you better steering ability and will handle rough water a bit better but you don't want the prop to be dragging anymore than necessary when under way full speed either. I'd measure your application (s) of it beforehand (e.g. from bracket or transom mount). I have an extra long shaft (sailboat 9.9 motor) because of the 25 inch shaft of the big motor and it works out nearly perfect from my bracket  and allows me to steer without using the EZ steer connector and just the big motor but it required careful measurement before locating the bracket when the boat was new.

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