On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 12:00:47 -0700, Peter Guitzmyer
wrote:

On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 18:44:10 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:



Well, I had a 30 on a 32' Contender, but it's a waste of time. I
found that directional control was a problem and to tell the truth, I
could control the trolling speeds much better with one of the two main
engines off.

If you have any kind of draft on your boat, using the main engine(s)
would be much more efficient and you really aren't going to gain much
in the fuel department, never mind rigging a steering control system.

What kidn of boat are you trying to put this on?

I'm considering buying a Boston Whaler 305 Conquest however I looked
at the gas consumption (at boattest.com) at low rpm and I find it to
be quite high, that's why I was looking at a small aux trolling motor.

You mean the 295 Conquest?

At boatTEST.com, the low idle speed (Merc 225s EFI) Gph figure is 5.
That's not bad. Compared to cruise (25 Mph in the article) your fuel
flow is like 36 Gph (1.43 mpg x 25Mph). Just as a side note, I'm a
little suspicious of those article numbers based on my own experience
- they seem a little low.

Is it possible for you to change the engines over direct injected
engines?

On the other hand, mounting a kicker engine would be easy and
relatively uncomplicated. There are mounts made special for this
style of transom and you can go with different steering mechanism from
mechanical to hydraulic.

On the minus side, a boat with this much "wind sail" area will be hard
to control with a kicker engine. Just something to think about.

If you insist on a kicker, then 25 to 30 should be more can
acceptable.

Later,

Tom