Should have said 61# verse 90 #

 

They shake and rattle so much more than a 8 or 9.9 that I wouldn’t do it.

 

I've had one for about 4 years now. Long shaft that I use on driftboat and trolling motor on 16 ft smokercraft. Great little motor been trouble free. Easy to service, oil, fuel filter and spark plug changes are simple. I had an older Honda 5HP 4 stroke that did shake and rattle. Newer 4 stroke much smoother. Single cyl not as smooth as twin but wouldn't list it as a reason not to buy. Only complaint would be its a little noisy.

Main reason why I got it over a twin is its about 35 pounds lighter (about 57 lbs) and switch between boats, carry up and down ramp from my dock. I've had several hernia operations so lugging a 90 lb trolling motor wasn't appealing. As the sales woman said when I was trying to decide, a 90 lb trolling motor can be a ball breaker and I'm not getting any younger.

 

Depending on what kind of trolling you do, you might look into an electric. I use a 55lb thrust on my 16' sled for lake trolling and love it, really quiet and the battery will last half the day. Probably wouldn't work for a river unless you get a bigger thrust.

 

If you're worried about weight and are considering an electric motor, you need to remember the weight of battery(s). A 55 lb thrust would be 12 V and the 80 lb thrust would be 24 V. I have a 24 V system with 2 AGM Group 31 120 aH batteries. They weigh 75 lbs each. The batteries and motor are about the weight of another person in my boat. A more expensive option would be the lithium route with a comparable battery weighing about 25 lbs. It's all a compromise. Good luck, CopperMan.

 

I had a 6hp kicker on a 17 ft lund. It worked ok for walleye trolling in lakes.

 

I had a Suzuki 6 hp 4 stroke on a
16ft. sled to keep the weight down and it rattled so much you couldn’t let go of the handle for any amount of time or it would spin ya in circles. My next sled Was 18ft. and I got a Yamaha T8 on it and it made me realize the misery I was in with the 6 hp. Try and cut weight somewhere else if ya can.

 

They are thumpers, I have a tohatsu, but use my 2003 2 stroke 2 cyl instead. Light weight, dependable, smooth running and it mixes at 100:1 so it barely smokes. I'd suggest you try one before you buy one, Or, move your battery or fuel forward and get an 8 to 9.9 hp.

 

They also won’t troll as slow as a two cylinder 8 Hp, typically. Between that and the rattle + noise, I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

Had a single cylinder once. That was one too many times for me 💩

 

I have one on my Arima 15'11. It's more than enough power to get me trolling, and I have a little extra throttle too. I bought it to replace an 8HP Evinrude two stroke, so the shakiness was a welcome reduction compared. It sips gas. I don't think I've had to refill the separate fuel tank since I bought the motor.

Hope this helps!

 

I own one. I bought it for the same reasons the OP cited, trying to keep weight down on a 16' boat.

It's a great little motor. Trouble free, starts easy, controls and features are well executed, BUT... it shakes like crazy and it is loud. There's no escaping that with a single cylinder outboard.

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Go F 8 manual tilt
Lighter than 9.9


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We have a 2008 18' Lowe Roughneck with a 60hp Yamaha. The first kicker we tried was a Mercury 9.9hp; way too heavy. The boat sat so low in the water that any wake or random wind wave meant the person operating the kicker had to stand up quick to keep their buns dry. We bought a Yamaha 6hp one cylinder. LOVE it. The dealer put a 6hp and 8hp side by side in a barrel, so we could hear them running. Yes, the 6hp was louder but not so much that we wanted the extra weight.

 

I had a 6hp 4 stroke newer Yamaha, rattled less and kept a course better than the 4hp similar year Yammy. Wayyy lighter than the Honda 9.9, although I loved that motor. Yamaha 8hp older 4 stroke was really heavy as well. And in my neighborhood, if you don't take the kicker off, someone else will do it for you. Without asking first. I'd say big yes on the 6hp Yamaha. Easy everything, and purred.

 

I put 200 hours in my 6hp tohatsu a year.
Weight was biggest reason, I adjusted the idle and added high altitude jets, reduced the idle in gear from 1300rpm to 1100 rpm. Even tapped it for a hot wash box. I also added factory charging circuit.
It's not a twin smooth but 1100 rpm it's as quiet as can be, the vibration comes in at 1500-2500rpm.

Not sure with Yamaha but tohatsu/merc has a high thrust 6" prop. I also use a 7" prop for other hulls.
It also brought me home 7 miles once in lake pend.