Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I just bought a 2002 18' Crest pontoon with a 2002 50 hp merc bigfoot. I took it out and of course the carbs were clogged up only could get it to 3000 rpm and it did 5 mph wondering what I can expect when I get it back from the shop?

Probably 12 or so wot

I know I dont want to run wot is there a good rpm on outboard that does not work them too hard? On a regular boat I know you get it up on plane and that is optimum for fuel economy but I am not sure a pontoon boat actually planes?

I can wot with my 90 to outrun storms at 19/21 mph but normally keep her at 3500 and cruise at 12 mph or so.
Never in a hurry....relaxation Trumps hectic/hurried in my book....hell its 8:30 on Saturday already watched little big towns pontoon video....loading up truck dump run and then......the lake..

Life is too short, tell the ones you love that you love them and enjoy life....

Welcome!

Pontoons tend to plow through the water. With lots of HP, you can get the nosecones up out of the water to greatly reduce drag. I see a lot of pontoon boats running fast with about the front 1/3 of the pontoons well above the water, For the rest of us, it is a decision of how hard to run it and how much fuel I want to burn.

For example, mine is 115 HP on an old heavy 25' boat that burns 2.5 gallons per hour at 3000 RPM for 11-12 MPH with 4 people on board. Nice, quiet leisurely pace. At that burn rate, I can go along way on my 24 gallons. (It's 12 miles to the Tiki Bar, so lots of refills are possible!)

Throttling up to 4,200 RPM more than doubles my burn rate for 19-20 MPH. Great for tubing for the big kids and adults, a little too fast for the young ones.

When running wide open at 5900 RPM, my fuel consumption doubles again (10 gallons per hour) and only gains 5-6 MPH on smooth water.

With a bunch of people aboard, with some sitting up front where people like to ride - the bow drops, the nosecones dig in, and the speed/fuel consumption comparison goes to heck in a hurry! So, I just stay at around 3500-4000 RPM because I am not going to get much speed no matter what I do!

Marc

randy30655@gmail.com wrote: ↑

Sat May 16, 2020 5:09 am

I know I dont want to run wot is there a good rpm on outboard that does not work them too hard? On a regular boat I know you get it up on plane and that is optimum for fuel economy but I am not sure a pontoon boat actually planes?

Pontoon boats are displacement hulls, so they really won't plane. As others have said, with enough HP and lifting strakes you can get some minor planning, Those faster pontoons you'll see with about a half of the toons out of the water are most likely tritoons. That third toon makes a big difference.

i have a 60hp mercury (non-bigfoot) on a 21' party barge and with the OEM sized prop I get 17-18mph at wot....right about 5000 rpm. that's with two of us on it with a cooler and a full tank. not bad at all i think...and that motor is a 1995...