Information seeking on Fish Hawk X4d and Kicker Motor

[ThreeBuoys]

Hello,
I have researched the X4D and I am pretty sure I will purchase. I have found Waypoint Ent. and they seem to offer the best price.
Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
I also have researched adding a Kicker. I have been quoted on the Mercury Pro Kicker 9.9 and I am sure many of you know that is a pricey option.
Any thoughts and suggestions on that would be appreciated as well.My boat is 19 ft and weights in the 3000lb range.( Do I need 9.9 and is the thrust of the Pro Kicker nessasary).

Thanks!

[BottomDollar]

When adding a kicker it's important to remember that it will only push you at hull speed, so overpowering is a waste of money. The gearing and shaft length are more important. The high thrust models have lower gearing which allow a larger prop, and a long shaft will allow the prop to get more bite in rough water. I think the Merc 9.9 HT would be perfect on a 3000# boat. I'm running an ancient Honda 7.5 on a 2000# aluminum boat and it never needs to work hard for trolling...just above idle. And that's an engine designed for small utility boats. The Merc is designed to be a kicker.

If you plan to do a lot of fishing, both of the items you mention are great long term investments. Plus there's a Merc dealer here if you're not planning to do your own maintenance.

[Lazybones]

I have a 5hp Honda on my 17' commercial hull Whaler which pushes it no problem. Its also been used quite a bit on a 21" Lund Sportfisherman and performed well in al conditions.

One consideration is the vibration of a single cylinder over a larger twin. The single cylinder Honda shakes a lot in certain conditions.

[Reelax]

Many folks swear by Yamaha kickers.... You won't be sorry you bought an x4d, I get 150+hrs on 4 aaa batteries!

[Hairbone]

I have an x4d and pro kicker 9.9 with remote controls at helm. While your spending money get the auto pilot also.

[finsntins]

the x4d is a great investment,as for the kicker,i would recommend a 4 stroke what ever brand you like,i have a 9.9 high thrust that pushes a 25 ft walkaround just fine in 3 footers.so you could get away with a smaller kicker,but 2 other things you should think about is if you go smaller,does the motor have a charging system,so when you are trolling it is keeping your batteries charged and also,you should look into getting a controllking or troll master to operate the throttle on your kicker,they make dialing in your speed alot easier then using a control box and cable.i have the controll king and i know they dont make them for every h.p. motor. and they only make them for 4 strokes.

[BottomDollar]

^^ I agree on the controll king or troll master. They're both servo throttle controls that will make slow trolling way more enjoyable.

[ThreeBuoys]

My 1# reason for thinking about the kicker option is to cut down the # of hours on the big motor.
Too bad the 9.9 Pro Kicker cannot take advantage of the existing smart gauges on my boat.
But I guess the 9.9 is make by Tohatsu.
Trollmaster looks like a nice option.

The Fishhawk sounds like a solid investment. Anyone donate a probe to the bottom of the lake yet?

[Reelax]

My 1# reason for thinking about the kicker option is to cut down the # of hours on the big motor.
Too bad the 9.9 Pro Kicker cannot take advantage of the existing smart gauges on my boat.
But I guess the 9.9 is make by Tohatsu.
Trollmaster looks like a nice option.

The Fishhawk sounds like a solid investment. Anyone donate a probe to the bottom of the lake yet?

The Nissan 9.8, Merc 9.9 and Tohatsu 9.9 are all the same motor made by tohatsu. I had the Nissan version pushing a 21foot lund for 3 years and liked it very much... Got elec start, and long shaft for 2k new, that was
a great deal.

[finsntins]

yep!!!!2 of them.stock cannon rigger cable,since ive changed the cable out,havent lost one since.fyi,i bought my x-4 through bass pro,not the cheapest,but they offer a 6 month pay plan which takes the sting out of it a little.

[ThreeBuoys]

Ouch, aren't the probes like $299?

[Reelax]

Ouch, aren't the probes like $299?

Yup and there are never used ones for sale...

[finsntins]

the first one i lost was an x-4 probe,so it was only $250!!!!

[ThreeBuoys]

I have been doing lots of research since my last post on this subject. Sometimes the Web can be a bad place for information, true hands on experience is golden.
I think the X4D over the X4 is a no brainer. I can see my downrigger balls on my HDS7, but are they really at the depth I see them?
Controlking vs. Trollmaster vs. Itroll.....anyone have any experience with Itroll?
Looks like a nice unit....little pricier at $345
Still up in the air on kicker... probably go with Merc 9.9...can't really give any reason other than matching my 150XL
None of these are cheap upgrades, but what to hell......fun out there!

[BottomDollar]

I can only answer the kicker throttle question. The trollmaster 2 has been great on my Honda and has performed flawlessly. I wouldn't be without some kind of aftermarket kicker throttle control after using one.

I generally assume that the ball is about 15% higher than the sonar reads. Sonar only tells you how far an object is from the transducer and doesn't account for blowback.