Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey all! I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks do much for the advice on the Bimini Tops. We went with the 10ft tan at Pontoon Stuff and love it. We took the boat out today for the first time on the lake and I was very pleased. The boat ran well and it only took me 6-7 tries to get it back on the trailer lol.

My boat is a 2003 Fisher 220 DLX/Fish with a 2010 Mercury 115Hp Optimax DFI with a 3 Blade Power Tech Stainless Prop PTR3R17PM.135.... I have never had a boat before other a small aluminum with a small motor so I am a green onion when it comes to setting Trim and exactly what that means. I read something about Trim In fully or Trim out. I adjusted trim playing around and I think I must have hit RevLimit as the power died, i shifted to neutral adjusted in and away I went again. It only happened the one time. The water was choppy and the wind was blowing today. Max speed was 18mph(trim all in) and we had 4 adults on the boat. I kind of felt like it would be a bit faster. Should I trim up some?

The motor should be in great shape as I just bought the boat for 4,500.00 and before I would agree we had boat mechanic check the engine out. 2,289 later out of the sellers pocket they told me the motor was running great.

As always your help is appreciated.

Bruenar wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:03 pm

Hey all! I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks do much for the advice on the Bimini Tops. We went with the 10ft tan at Pontoon Stuff and love it. We took the boat out today for the first time on the lake and I was very pleased. The boat ran well and it only took me 6-7 tries to get it back on the trailer lol.

My boat is a 2003 Fisher 220 DLX/Fish with a 2010 Mercury 115Hp Optimax DFI with a 3 Blade Power Tech Stainless Prop PTR3R17PM.135.... I have never had a boat before other a small aluminum with a small motor so I am a green onion when it comes to setting Trim and exactly what that means. I read something about Trim In fully or Trim out. I adjusted trim playing around and I think I must have hit RevLimit as the power died, i shifted to neutral adjusted in and away I went again. It only happened the one time. The water was choppy and the wind was blowing today. Max speed was 18mph(trim all in) and we had 4 adults on the boat. I kind of felt like it would be a bit faster. Should I trim up some?

Bruenar, your post made me laugh, the part about taking 6 or 7 times to get the boat on the trailer.. don't sweat it my friend, I assure you you are not alone there.. when I first bought my boat it almost always took me 3 or more times to get it on the trailer.. my advice to you is just go slow, don't stress because you have boaters behind you waiting... slow and steady.. also, I ended up buying some trailer guides that attach to the back of my trailer.. they're just pvc plastic tubes that slide on and off the brackets, so you can tow without having the pvc guides on the trailer. They made it so much easier for me to load the boat. Just something to think about. I've attached a couple of photo's below.. as for trimming your outboard.. I'ts a little different on every boat... just trim up and down, a little at a time til you "feel" the sweet spot... by sweet spot you will be able to feel when the boat is trimmed correctly and running at it's best.. for me it's always been about feel. Enjoy that new boat..

Roland - Beautiful boat! I Don't see any tie down straps on the back of your boat to help keep that thing on the trailer! ???


Bruenar- Trim on most pontoons isn't nearly as effective or as important as on a V-hull. You've essentially got a displacement hull so the boat really isn't planning, which is where trim can make a big difference. With that being said, the easiest way to trim it is to watch the RPMs. Start with the trim all the way in (down). Get is up to full speed, or whatever speed you want to cruise at. Leave the throttle alone and start bringing up the trim in small increments and wait a few seconds. Watch the RPMs and the speed if you have a speedometer. You'll see them increase a bit each time. As you get further up, start watching the back of the boat, and you'll notice the prop wash actually starting to come up too high as it begins to loose "bite". The RPMs will begin to increase more rapidly, but the speed of the boat will start to drop. Trim it back down just a bit, and you'll have the sweet spot!

Thanks Guys for the information. I will try watching the RPM at wot and trim adjusting next weekend. I installed some DIY guides for the trailer but I think I need to go bigger. I used 3/4 pvc for flexibility but they were too flexible and didnt guide me as I had hoped. Truth be told I ran over one lol. I am going to try a bigger piece like the ones you have Roland.

Very nice boat Roland...............Roland you live in Shreveport? My daughter and husband live in Benton. I live in Farmerville not too far from you. Thats Lake Darbonne I am on.

I agree with Steve, you have a great looking boat, Roland!

Bruenar, Steve outlined how to find the sweet spot,and yes, it will feel quite different as you trim the motor up/down.
The objective is to lift the blow slightly to help reduce drag. With big horsepower, you can lift the entire front of the tubes out of the water, dramatically increasing seed. With our 115 HP motors, we only reduce some some of the drag.

On my boat, I can lean over and watch the bow wave charge while the nosecones lift very slightly. Trimming up (out) a little too far will cause the prop to suck air instead moving water.

What is your RPM with the throttle wide open, before it "blows out" and sucks air? Your prop is 13.5" diameter with a 17 pitch.
Are measuring your speed via GPS?

Marc

Bruenar wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:11 am

Thanks Guys for the information. I will try watching the RPM at wot and trim adjusting next weekend. I installed some DIY guides for the trailer but I think I need to go bigger. I used 3/4 pvc for flexibility but they were too flexible and didnt guide me as I had hoped. Truth be told I ran over one lol. I am going to try a bigger piece like the ones you have Roland.

Very nice boat Roland...............Roland you live in Shreveport? My daughter and husband live in Benton. I live in Farmerville not too far from you. Thats Lake Darbonne I am on.

Those PVC tubes are not DIY in the sense of being only plastic plumbing-suppiy articles. They are sold as kits with internal metal bracing to reduce that flexing, available on-line/Amazon or at Academy, etc.

(And yes... NICE BOAT!)

Are you saying the seller paid a mechanic $2300 in order to sell the boat for $4500?

I'm no prop guy but I've NEVER seen a 17 pitch on something as small as a 115hp. Most are in the 13-14 range and should be able to run upper 20's.

yeah the seller had let the boat sit up for 2-3 years and the sun had really damaged the seats. The carpet wasnt too bad. The total bill for motor, repair the lights on the trailer and replace bearings on one tire was almost 2900.00. Now i need to state that this guy is a customer of mine and has more toys than he can play with but I thought the same thing on the price and repair bill lol. The DIY Guides was on my end. I had purchased some from Academy but took back. Regretting that decision now lol

Prop Guys........... alot of what I am reading is just like stiener put. I am going to take the boat back out this weekend and write down my RPM and such after adjusting trim but I am wondering if changing prop would benefit me. ADVICE

Steiner is right. That probably not the right prop. As a comparison, I have a PowerTech prop, too. My motor is a Yamaha 150 HP and I went from a 16 pitch to a 15 pitch because the 16 wouldn't let me get enough RPM at WOT. You want to be somewhere between about 5800 and 6000 RPM at WOT.

Looked up some performance tests and looks like that's a prop they'd run on a smaller console boat or other weighing about 1000lbs less dry weight or 1500lbs less test weight than your pontoon.

Steiner wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:40 pm

I'm no prop guy but I've NEVER seen a 17 pitch on something as small as a 115hp. Most are in the 13-14 range and should be able to run upper 20's.

Yep, I agree. That's why I looked up his prop and asked for RPM. Wide open RPM will tell us a lot.
Boat/motor/prop combinations can get unpredictable, but my frame of reference is my old (made in 2000) Yamaha 115 HP 4-stroke:
It turns a stock Yamaha branded aluminum 13.5" x 15 prop at 5,800 RPM to 5,900 RPM.
This moves my old and heavy 25', 2 tube boat at 26 MPH with four people.

If I load up the bow with six or eight people, the top speed drops as the nosecones plow more, but the RPM stays in range.

Marc

I'll have the RPM on here soon. Taking the pontoon out Saturday and Ill post my data. Is Stainless the best option or are there other less expensive viable options?

Appreciate the help.

Don't worry about it until you see where your RPM is with a wide open throttle.

Bruenar wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 24, 2019 5:06 pm

I'll have the RPM on here soon. Taking the pontoon out Saturday and Ill post my data. Is Stainless the best option or are there other less expensive viable options?

Appreciate the help.

Not on my ‘toon...but my previous boat, on a rocky-bottom lake... went thru less expensive aluminum props at least once or twice each season. Finally realized that the total aluminum-prop-expenses about equalled what a stainless would cost.... so bought a stainless and had the aluminum repaired and carried for a spare. Thirty years later... that aluminum is still stored in the bilge and the stainless still does a great job.