Com-Pac 16 kicker

[Steve Ullrich]

Hello Folks,

Interested in knowing what people are using for kickers.  The 2hp Suzuki that came with my boat is a long shaft with enough power but it doesn't have neutral. She starts moving as soon as you start it so you have be be ready for that.  I decided to look through Craig's List and eBay for a used motor. Is a long shaft necessary on a C-16? If I go with an electric trolling motor how much thrust should I be looking for?  I'm mostly going to be on inland lakes but occasionally I'll have currents to deal with, Lake Pepin or the St. Croix for instance...

Thanks,

[NateD]

I'm using a 4hp short shaft two stroke Chrysler outboard with neutral and forward (but have to swivel it 180 degrees for reverse). I think I could get by on less than 4hp, but I feel like it is a little bit of a safety net. When the weather kicks up, or you drift in too close to the rocks, it's really nice to know the motor can get you out of the situation. I've also read that running a larger HP motor at half-speed will be more fuel efficient than running a smaller one at full speed, so that's another benefit of a larger motor. My short shaft can come up and out of the water when there are large waves and a lot of weight forward in the boat.

The downside is the weight. It does make me a little nervous to leave the motor mounted to the boat when it's on the trailer and going down the road, and it weighs down the back of the boat a little in the water. I'm thinking about an extra big battery or a heavy anchor up in the transom to balance things out.

[Brian 1851]

Steve,

    I have a 3.5 2-cycle with just forward no neutral and it's a long shaft.  I like the power of it because normally I run it at half throttle but have extra in reserve just in case.  It's a 2 cycle so I have to mix gas but I'm lucky if I go through a gallon or two.  It weighs 29lbs so that's great.  I wish I had neutral for when you are at the dock getting under way.  I like having a long shaft because I have read others talk about going forward in the boat and the propeller goes out of the water.  Also, if you were in some choppy conditions your prop might also go out of the water.  I like everything about my outboard but would love to have neutral.  Would not mind having reverse but do not know of anything smaller than a 4hp that has that.

[Steve Ullrich]

Thanks for all of the feedback so far.  I wish this Suzuki did have a centrifugal clutch but it doesn't.  I do have the owner's manual and it clearly warns you to be ready to move if she is running.  A little problematic as it wanted to kill at very low idle when I ran her in the barrel.  That might clear up as I've cleaned out the old fuel and switched to non-oxygenated fuel with a little Seafoam in it.  She might not want to move much at her lowest idle.  The previous owner made due with it for twenty years so I should give it a whirl before committing to a new one.  I've never had a kicker this small so the missing neutral and reverse are minor concerns but she spins around pretty easy so I suppose reverse isn't really a big deal and it weights next to nothing.  I had a nice 6hp four stroke on the Hunter that I kind of wish I'd have kept but I do think that's too much motor to hang back there and more power than I'd likely ever need.  The C-16's transom is so short I thought I might be able to get away with the short shaft but I do believe I'll go with a long shaft after reading your posts.  I really hate cavitation.

[Rick Klages]

Tohatsu 3.5 with neutral!  (2 stroke)  Miss my old honda 2hp 4 stroke.

[federalist]

Evinrude 4HP with neutral (2 cycle)

[mrb]

I have the 3.5 tohatsu 4 cycle with  neutral and forward.  swivel for reverse.  more than enough power

melvin

[Greene]

State of the art 1952 Evinrude Lightwin 3 HP 2-cycle.  Short shaft isn't a problem due to a really nice adjustable stainless steel outboard mount which gets the prop down deep enough for most situations.   



Mike

[jdonaldson]

2.5 hp Nissan long shaft.  Avoid the Honda 2 hp.  Yeah, I know there are devotees, but is it noisier than an outboard with water cooling, and the life of the motor is shorter because it runs hotter than the Nissan 2.5.  The Nissan has forward-neutral.

Hello Folks,

Interested in knowing what people are using for kickers.  The 2hp Suzuki that came with my boat is a long shaft with enough power but it doesn't have neutral. She starts moving as soon as you start it so you have be be ready for that.  I decided to look through Craig's List and eBay for a used motor. Is a long shaft necessary on a C-16? If I go with an electric trolling motor how much thrust should I be looking for?  I'm mostly going to be on inland lakes but occasionally I'll have currents to deal with, Lake Pepin or the St. Croix for instance...

Thanks,

[B.Hart]

2 h.p. evinrude s/s. If you buy another go with the long shaft, and a little more h.p. would  be nice, but the 2 gets the job done. My biggest complaint is the small built in fuel tank and having to refuel in rough seas.    BILL

[mikew]

Steve, I now use a 4 hp 4 stroke Yamaha for my cp-16. It is a short shaft but when the bracket swings down has plenty of water. Some features I like- internal tank for about 1 hr of runtime, also fitting and
valve for external tank. Full F/N/R shift. Its a little heavy at 48 lbs. and being a single 4 stroke some vibration, but still a very quiet motor. I get hull speed at 1/3 throttle. 

Mike 

[Rick Klages]

2.5 hp Nissan long shaft.  Avoid the Honda 2 hp.  Yeah, I know there are devotees, but is it noisier than an outboard with water cooling, and the life of the motor is shorter because it runs hotter than the Nissan 2.5.  The Nissan has forward-neutral.

Your Nissan is a Tohasu!  I had many years of service from my little Honda and I don't think it was any louder than my current Tohasu that came with Quahog.  Not dumping all that crap exaust oil into the Bay is a big benefit of the Honda four stroke. The Honda pushed my 1800Lb displacement Hunter 212 at or near hull speed with little effort.  I had zero maintenance issues with the Honda over my time of ownership. It was reliable and like any other Honda it will likely last decades.  It runs no hotter than the equivalent honda 2 hp lawnmower engine it seems to be derived from. The Tohatsu/Nissan needs constant fussing (Mixing oil etc....).  Have you owned or used the Honda?  I would buy one in a second if I had a buyer for my 2 stroke.

[Rick Klages]

Also being a salt water sailor I prefer the air cooled Honda because it doesn't suck up corrosive salt water and pass it through its delicate internal cooling passages! Anyway I almost never run the thing for more than 15 minutes on an outing.  It is a sailboat after all.

[jdonaldson]

The Nissan 2.5 AKA Tohatsu, is a 4-stroke, so no oil in the water.  Yes, we owned the Honda 2 hp for several years and hated it.

2.5 hp Nissan long shaft.  Avoid the Honda 2 hp.  Yeah, I know there are devotees, but is it noisier than an outboard with water cooling, and the life of the motor is shorter because it runs hotter than the Nissan 2.5.  The Nissan has forward-neutral.

Your Nissan is a Tohasu!  I had many years of service from my little Honda and I don't think it was any louder than my current Tohasu that came with Quahog.  Not dumping all that crap exaust oil into the Bay is a big benefit of the Honda four stroke. The Honda pushed my 1800Lb displacement Hunter 212 at or near hull speed with little effort.  I had zero maintenance issues with the Honda over my time of ownership. It was reliable and like any other Honda it will likely last decades.  It runs no hotter than the equivalent honda 2 hp lawnmower engine it seems to be derived from. The Tohatsu/Nissan needs constant fussing (Mixing oil etc....).  Have you owned or used the Honda?  I would buy one in a second if I had a buyer for my 2 stroke.

[multimedia_smith]

I use the Honda BF2D long shaft and love it.  It is NOT necessarily noisy because it will push the 16 at 4.5mph at just above idle.  If I want to make a lot of noise and use a lot more fuel, I can crank it to wide open and then gain an extra 1.5 mph... but it's really not worth it.  The 4cycle has a lot of torque at the low end.
Also, the long shaft is really worth it if you hit rolling waves (typically around the mouth of the harbor when they are bouncing off the seawall and back and forth.  Our hulls being short and round and tend to pitch for and aft a lot in those conditions and you will cavotate if you leave the stern for any reason.
just my 2c
Dale