Kicker Motor Mounting

[Egoody]

I may be way out in left field with this one, but here goes......

I bought a Merc 15 Hp ProKicker to use on a 15 ft Alaskan. Being the cheapskate I am I'd like to be able to also use it on my 18 ft Lund Sport Angler. 

Now the question..Is there any way to use a kicker with a 20 inch long shaft on a 25 inch transom? The kicker actually measures 22+ inches from the cavitation plate to where the mount sits on the top of the transom.  I'm wondering if I can run it just the way it is or is there some sort of bracket that will let me lower the kicker the 3-4 inches to be even with the bottom of the boat while trolling and then let me raise it back when running the big motor.

Does any one have any experience with this?

 

Any information would be great.

 

Thanks & Boat Safe

Egoody

Fitzwilliam, NH

[CaptSpike]

You can run it no big problem. You just have to keep an eye out when the waves are large as the kicker could come out of the water. That transom is cut out for a kicker so adding an additional bracket to lower it 4-5 inches doesn't seem worth it to me.

Spike

[mudflat]

You should be Ok as long as the cavitation plate is under the water far enough so the prop doesn't ventilate.

 

On your main motor you need to have the cavitation plate even with the bottom so that when you are up on plane it stays in the water.  When running a kicker you are never up on plane so it doesn't need to be set as low.  Like Spike says, wave action may cause the kicker prop to ventilate when the boat is bobbing up and down a lot but this isn't usually a big problem.

[Egoody]

Thank You for the information......Come spring when I get the boats out of storage, I'll put the kicker on and see how she goes.

 

Thanks & Boat Safe

Egoody