Nissan / Mercury 6HP as Kicker?

[TrophySeeker]

I will be setting up a new to me boat this spring for Walleye, etc. It is a 17' aluminum deep-v with a 90HP Merc as the main motor. I would like to add a small kicker. Anyone have experience with a Mercury, Nissan, or Tohatsu 6HP four stroke? I've never owned a single cylinder outboard before, and am not sure how smooth they would idle at trolling speed. The boat will require a 25" shaft kicker and Nissan and Tohatsu offer this motor in 25" with a 5 amp alterator.

Any input is appreciated.

[jimski2]

All Nissan, Mercury and Tohatsu motors 25 HP and less are made by Tohatsu. Just different paint and decals.

[TrophySeeker]

Thanks guys for the input. Yea Jimski - I knew all 3 are the same. I wasn't sure if everyone else did. It doesn't appear that Merc offers the XL shaft in the 6HP, though. I am hoping that someone that has used one of these will chime in, as I've heard that single cylinder motors tend to vibrate at low rpm's. Don't know if it's true - just what i heard. The reasons I am leaning toward the 6HP are cost, weight (less than 60 pounds for the XL), and speed, as I would like to be able to troll crawler harnesses down to 1MPH or less.

[4cs]

Sponge

I ran a '03 Tohatsu 5hp on my old boat 18' Starcraft center console and had no problems with it. It would troll down to .5mph and push boat at 7mph at full throttle. I just purchased a new to me '87 22' Sylvan Offshore with a 9.9 Yamaha 4 stroke kicker and can tell that there is hardly any difference in vibratation between the two motors when trolling. One other thing you will love the gas sipping of that 6hp we would use a 1/2 gallon of gas to troll all day 12 to 14hrs worth. Hope this helps and if you any questions let me know.

Pat