Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Just finishing up the rebuild on my old Lowe 189. Last season only had it out 3 times, basically for short "shakedown" cruises to get everything mechanical dialed in correctly. My concern is that it only has a 6 gallon tank and I'd like an estimate of how much cruising time I can get out of that. It's an Evinrude 40 horse 2 stroke. Won't be cruising with the hammer down, 2500-3000 rpm seems to me to be the comfort zone. I've never owned an outboard before, only I/O's so no clue as to how far I can go before I run out. And thanks to all the folks here for all the valuable info that made ressurecting this barge possible.

With my 50hp I got 4 miles to the gallon at WOT it was a 1986 Evenrude pushing a 24 foot playcraft. Hope that's of some help.

Looks like I need an auxiliary tank. I'm more about cruising and exploring than motoring out, parking my butt, and fishing all day.

So am I . I have 2 tanks a 24 gal & 12 gal. With my 50hp I could go about 120 miles now with my 88hp I can go about 90 miles. Check out my rebuild pics at http://s1327.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... 0Playcraft you will see my tanks in there.

VERY NICE! I wish I had the funds to make mine that nice, but I had to keep mine pretty basic and salvage anything that was usable. Still pleased with the end result.

trktrd wrote:VERY NICE! I wish I had the funds to make mine that nice, but I had to keep mine pretty basic and salvage anything that was usable. Still pleased with the end result.

pics or it didn't happen!!!

WElcome aboard!

Scroll up, there it is! Uploading pics is an excruciating process seeing as I live in the boonies and dial-up is the only internet access available.

I would pick up a second 6 gal tank, I have 2 on mine just for that reason , one to do what ever on and one to get back to the dock on, its worked out fine.

MH Hawker wrote:I would pick up a second 6 gal tank, I have 2 on mine just for that reason , one to do what ever on and one to get back to the dock on, its worked out fine.

I'm thinking this might be the way I'm going to go myself, keep my spare 6 gallon and use it as backup in case I don't pay close enough attention to how much I've used during the day

I think I will do just that. They are priced quite reasonably at Wally World now (under $50) , Attwood brand I think. Is a "tank a tank" or are there brands to steer clear of?

having a second tank would be what I would do.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Attwood- ... oductChart

On my old pontoon, I have two 12 gallon plastic tanks, available at most internet boat supply companies. I usually just use one and keep a factory 6 gallon tank as a backup.

I have no idea what the mileage is on a low horsepower motor. You've got to run them so hard to keep up the speed.

My Yamaha 115 hp 2 stroke on a 24' two toon boat gets 4 1/2 to 5 mpg, but it's planed off and cruising silently at 2800 rpm's.

with the price of gas going up.....I use my 70lb troll motor alot more now, as long as I am just fishing/trolling. No wind I can get 2.75 to 3 miles per hour

"so no clue as to how far I can go before I run out."

6 gal. should last you for a day on the water if you're just puttin around.
wind, tide, currents, load on your boat determines fuel usage, but you probably already knew that. The old rule of thumb is 1/3 of a tank out, 1/3 back, and the other third for the unexpected.

nice looking rebuilt Lowe ya got there.

trktrd wrote:Scroll up, there it is! Uploading pics is an excruciating process seeing as I live in the boonies and dial-up is the only internet access available.

WHAAAAAAAT I didn't even think you could use dial up anymore.
I have a 40 E-Tec with a 6 gal tank. I'm on a small lake so normally I just buzz around for a while then Anchor. I'm guessing that I probably get about 5 MPG. If your going out on some long day trips I would really invest in a bigger tank or a spare.