After two seasons with a troller, I have had about all I can stand with control boards, brushes, broken shafts, and batteries. Its time to convert to a kicker. This is going to be a long, drawn out thread because this is going to be a winter project. I just figured I would start collecting ideas and materials so that when the time comes I can get it done. I picked up a 2009 9.8 Tohatsu 4-stroke this weekend so I figured I have half of the expense out of the way. It is a tiller handle without a tilt/steering tube.
I have been reading through "kicker" threads for the last couple of days and have decided to go with a push/pull steering. My decision is based solely on the fact that I want the cleanest install I can (guess I'm a little anal about this ever since I was installing stereos in cars as a teenager). From a budget stand point I understand that a pulley/cable system would be cheaper but I really don't want the exposed cables and the angle iron hanging off the back of the boat.
I know plenty of you guys run this same motor and I wanted to see if you could point out any pit falls you found while setting up your kicker with this kind of steering. Any help would be appreciated.
Also wanted to see if anybody local had any materials that they wanted to sell. My material list, as I understand will be (I'm sure there are plenty that I'm not thinking of);
motor mounting bracket
cables - steering, throttle, shift (19' skiff) I will get the actual lengths once I build the deck
Piller block bearings
sheets of aluminum - For the deck that I plan on building so that I don't have to cut the factory deck
The kicker is a manual start which isn't the end of the world, however if there is an inexpensive way to convert it to an electric start I would appreciate any ideas.
I have been reading through "kicker" threads for the last couple of days and have decided to go with a push/pull steering. My decision is based solely on the fact that I want the cleanest install I can (guess I'm a little anal about this ever since I was installing stereos in cars as a teenager). From a budget stand point I understand that a pulley/cable system would be cheaper but I really don't want the exposed cables and the angle iron hanging off the back of the boat.
I know plenty of you guys run this same motor and I wanted to see if you could point out any pit falls you found while setting up your kicker with this kind of steering. Any help would be appreciated.
Also wanted to see if anybody local had any materials that they wanted to sell. My material list, as I understand will be (I'm sure there are plenty that I'm not thinking of);
motor mounting bracket
cables - steering, throttle, shift (19' skiff) I will get the actual lengths once I build the deck
Piller block bearings
sheets of aluminum - For the deck that I plan on building so that I don't have to cut the factory deck
The kicker is a manual start which isn't the end of the world, however if there is an inexpensive way to convert it to an electric start I would appreciate any ideas.