do not buy a small 4 stroke they do not run well on the ethanol gal stay with a 2 stroke
Not sure how you determined this but there's 100's of millions of small 4-stroke outboards (and other things like generators and lawn mowers, etc.) running ethanol gas in the world without any problems.
I put a 2nd larger water separator/filter on my kicker.
Runs fine.
edit -
I've been using kickers for about 25 years. Lots of the, 2-stroke and 4-stroke.
I will never run another 2-stroke as a kicker again. Ever!
Even an E-tec.
Too loud.
Too stinky.
Too much vibration.
Resale these days stinks when compared to a 4-stroke.
And they are also becoming harder and harder to find.
Except used.
A week or so back Jeff and I thought my Honda kicker was starting to sound "funny" after trolling for 4-5 hrs at a very low RPM.
So we decided to use it to head in for a mile or so.
The effort here was to run it at a higher RPM and burn out anything that had built up in the cylinder or on the plugs.
I looked for that all so common, puff of smoke during the first few seconds.
But there was none.
And the motor didn't stumble when we throttled it up as is sometimes the case when a motor is loading up.
I didn't say anything to Jeff at that time or since, but I wrote it all off.
I figured we were wrong and the motor was just fine.
Way back on one of my previous boats, a 1996 24' Trophy walkaround, I had an 8hp Honda 4-stroke.
And it loaded up once.
A change of plugs rectified things.
This was way before ethanol.
I wrote it off as a bad batch of gas.
Back then we trolled a LOT.
6-7am into the evening.
So that kicker was trolling for very long periods of time.
But that Honda performed great.
The fuel savings more than paid for that kicker, not to mention the fact we weren't putting those 1000's of hrs on the main motor.
It was nice and quiet, no fumes, the alternator kept the electronics running and my batteries up and charged, etc.
Drift socks work, and on larger rigs they are oftentimes necessary.
But for trolling, on a smaller boat, I won't use them if I don't need to.
I have thought about getting one or two for drifting while jigging, etc. But just haven't done it.
They work and are another great tool.
But I simply have enough crap in my boat as it is.
These days, as I get older, I prefer simpler fishing.
I won't go out if it's capping.
Rain and cold temps also keep me home.
Jeff says I'm a girl thingy.
I've done it.............and he knows it more than anyone on the earth.
Except maybe my wife Donna.
To me, the kicker up front, coupled with my 24 volt Terrova i-pilot up front, works awesome.
I pitched the kicker proper down to the lowest available so I can go slow enough for eyes and still have enough bow thrust to maintain control on the i-pilot's auto pilot steering while trolling. It works fabulous. But I still wish I could get a little more RPM out of the kicker without having to back off on the bow mount and lose boat control. Drift socks would work. But I won't go that route. This Fall, I'll pull the prop off the kicker and take down to Sandy at Rocky Bottom Prop Shop on Niagara street and have him turn down the diameter of it so it has less thrust. I spoke to him a couple months back and he says it's only $50 to do this. About the cost of a decent drift sock or two. But I won't have to use the socks and/or store them. So this works for me.
Lots of good info in this thread.
Everyone has different opinions.
Everyone has different likes and dislikes.
Ask the questions.
Read the answers.
Think things over.
Analyze things according to your boat, budget, style of fishing, and personal energy level.
Then make your decision and either live with it, modify it further, add to it, or change or eliminate it.
Like we always say......................YMMV.
Mac
