pontoon boat speeds

[millerpdt]

hey crew. looking into a suntracker pontoon 20ft. don't want to ski but maybe pull a tube occassionally and just cruise and fish- having trouble getting speed/motor size information. would a 40hp be big enough for what i want??? any help would be great. thanks

 

[buttonhook]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

we used to tube behind a pontoon with a 48 on it did real good for tubing

 

[dkondelik]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

'mornin' millerpdt,<br /><br />it all depends on how the boat is loaded. With a full crew of adults, kids & gear, i think a 40 would be ok but,...........<br /><br />we've got a 20'Harris that we're looking to re-power. we're thinking 50 to 60 for that ocassional extra zip. (the Harris is rated for 60).<br /><br />Have Fun

 

[chads15]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

klondike7 Said it. and I will add, If you plan on doing any kind of watersport and depending on how the toon is loaded. go for the extra HP if the budget permits. you will be much happier! Also, I have seen Electric Motors on them for trolling if ya wana go fishin.

 

[Moving Target]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

Pontoon Diameter has alot to do with speed to. A 40hp pushing 25" toons will go faster than a 40hp pushing 21" toons.<br /><br />I had a 20' Princecraft with a Evinrude 50 on it. Only went about 18mph. Not much fun to tube behind. My dad has a 22' Bennington with a 115 Yamaha 4S and it still only runs 24mph. So it take a lot of HP to make a Pontoon move.

 

[neumanns]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

Moving target is right takes a lot of horses to gain much speed, under perfect conditions I can get 23mph and mine are 24" tubes but if you start turning the wheel etc the mph drops fast, with that said get what you can afford because the extra power is nice. Havent tubed behind her yet but perhaps this week I'm guessing the extra power will come in handy with the extra drag.

 

[steelespike]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

The toons are great boats for what they are intended for but speed is not one of their virtues.My 18 ft starcraft makes about 21-23 mph.<br /> with 50 hp and will go through a chunk of gas in<br />an hour.We used to do a water saucer (a round piece of plywood about 40" across with no keel<br /> just stand on it with a ski rope.<br /> you go just fast enough to get on the water<br /> very tricky and fun. Requires very little speed.<br /> You could ski with 2 skis but thats about it.<br /> We used to use a surf board with a ski rope<br /> and surf board too.

 

[BillP]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

I have a 20' Monark pontoon with a 50hp 4 stroke Mariner. Top speed is right at 19-20 per gps with 2-3 adults aboard and goodies. I pull one large kid on a tube with 4 adults aboard and it still gets 14 mph. It slows down a lot when you make sharp turns but otherwise is A1. Tubers will always like more speed too.<br /><br />If your mission is to pull tubes all the time I would go with a bigger engine. Like already said, most pontoons need a lot more power to get another 5 mph but you will get power for multiple tubes. <br /><br />Tests I read show 100+ hp engines are needed to get that extra 5 mph over a 50hp. Pontoon & Deck Boat Mag has tests every month with speeds and motor sizes. Finding pontoon boats that go over 25mph is rare...they typically hit the "drag wall" at about 20mph.<br /><br />It isn't a serious pull boat so my vote is to do a 50-75hp motor max unless you have money to burn.

 

[hunt-fish.com]

Re: pontoon boat speeds

I have a 24' Party Barge Tracker with a 115 Evinrude. It tops out at 34 mph using my GPS. The dash speedo says 30 MPH. The previous owner pulled skiers with it. I haven't tried yet. Plenty of power for what I use it for.<br /><br />John