Connecting kicker to main outboard.

H

hoorenga

New member
Still working away on my little 16' Angler. One of my projects is to get the kicker tied in to the main outboard so that it can be steered from the helm. I thought I had it with a piece from Cabelas that joins them with a threaded, stainless bar at the front. They call it an Auxiliary Motor Connector Rod.

I was looking at my motor set up today and I'm thinking now that it won't work because the main motor is mounted on the stern of the boat while the kicker is mounted off of the stern on kicker bracket. I think they have to be mounted on the same plane for the bar to be able to reach from one to the other. It mounts on the front of the motors and can be attached or detached while underway. The props are at about the same plane when both motors are in the water and it almost seems like I could run some sort of bar between the two motors just above the props on the horizontal fin just above the prop. I'd have to drill a hole in the fins. Another issue would be that it wouldn't be the easiest thing to set up while you were under way. It would have to be done at the launch. What have others done?[/img]
 
Doug-

They make a similar connector bar set up that connects the two motors at the rear of each motor just below the cowling.

They do not have to be on the same plane, but there are some limitations.

The connector bar has ball joints at the ends, and uses air hose connector fittings to lock onto similar receptacle fittings on the motors.

The connector bar is even automatic in adjusting to the length needed for your exact application.

The motor fittings are usually connected on the motors with long stainless radiator style hose clamps.

See the following EZ-Steer site, watching the video at the bottom of the page to begin:

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

Good Luck!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Doug, before you do that, try steering using the main as a "rudder" with the kicker pushing straight ahead. With a few knots of speed, it should give you a measure of control. May be enough for your purposes.
 
Captains Cat":1t4nyzyi said:
Doug, before you do that, try steering using the main as a "rudder" with the kicker pushing straight ahead. With a few knots of speed, it should give you a measure of control. May be enough for your purposes.
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I agree with Charlie. We had an EZ Steer bracket that broke without our ever using it (see below photos located below) We decided to do as you recommend: lock the kicker motor is place and use the main engine like a rudder like we had successfully done in our CD 16 Cruiser. Then when we get close to our destination, we can make fine-tune course corrections at the tiller.

rich

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Thanks guys. The EZ Steer looks like a good option but my budget can't handle it so I'm going to try using the main motor as a rudder first. I like simple fixes. I also noticed that there is a ball joint on the back side and just below the cowling on the main motor. Looks factory. I'm thinking there was originally an attachment of some sort going over to the kicker for steering purposes.
 
On my fishing boat - a 16' Thundercraft I installed a 4.5 kicker on the port side. With the kicker set dead ahead, the turn to starboard is very responsive using the main as a rudder. The turn to port on the other hand is very slow. A straight course is a slight dogleg with the helm turned slightly to port. I tried turning the kicker slightly to port to counteract the perpencity of its thrust to turn the boat to starboard. This didn't work much better. I eventually gave up - raised the main - sat in the rear starboard side seat(mainly to get away from the noise) and used my dock pole to steer the kicker. Of coarse you can buy a tiller extension! :)

On a boat where the kicker is closer to the main this may not be such a problem. My kicker is an extra long shaft mounted close to the side. The reason I set it up this way is so the bottom of its skeg is level with the bottom of the hull, but its prop is still running in the clear water behind the V area of the hull. If I get in skinny water I can raise the main and still effectively propel myself with the kicker. My keel will most likely hit dirt before my prop.

Regards, Rob
 
Google it. The G folks will say:

Did you mean: propensity

Far as I'm concerned, it's a new word... :lol:

Could even give it a definition... "The tendency to be perpendicular"... :roll:
 
My bad :lol: :lol: Propensity (a natural inclination)

Well, since I'm here,,,,, I might add - some say that leaving the main down just adds more drag for the kicker to overcome. I tested this theory and found no difference in speed up or down. Two observations I did make while operating the kicker from the tiller -

1/ The boat did seem to track better with the main down when setting a straight coarse.

2/ The helm was more responsive in tight turns with the main up.

Regards, Rob

P.S - memo to self - don't forget SpellCheck this time! :lol: :lol:

P.S.S. - Ah heck if it gives somebody a laugh never mind SpellCheck! 8)
 
The spell check won't always save you. I can't recall how many times I've gotten a laugh out of guys here who mentioned that they love fishing for strippers (e.g. stripers = striped bass). In this case the correct colloquialism "stripers" is called out as a spelling error while the unintended "strippers" is correctly spelled. :lol: Also, I recall a friend of mine giving a seminar on the importance of pubic (e.g. public) databases. In this case both were correctly spelled words.
 
Roger - Did you really have to go and do that? I love Striper boats, now I'm going to have to dig up my brochures and study them again. Probably won't get to sleep now for hours, might be late for work in the morning, and its all your fault! :cry:

At the boat shows I keep telling my wife I'm going to check out some strippers and drool a bit! :D

Hows that for bringing this spelling lesson back to boats? :lol:

Regards, Rob
 
if the main doesn't work like you want i think i have one of those ez steers in the garage I am not using and could save some $ off new.
 
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