Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

A week or so ago I was settled on a 2013 Berkshire 230CL CTS BP3 2&3/4 toon in platinum, with a Yamaha 150 four stroke and aluminum tandem axle trailer. Well after a few days of waiting on some paperwork from the dealer and finanace company my wheels were continuing to turn. I had them figure out the cost to upgrade from the Yamaha 150 to the 200 SHO. The upgrade was less than I thought and figured if I'm gonna trade in to get something better I might as well get something I'm really going to be satisfied with...I went with the 200 SHO. I got it Wednesday afternoon and went straight to my local river and tried it out. With a full tank of fuel, all gear, 2 adults and 1 kid we were able to get it up to 44mph. By myself I was able to get 45-46mph. I am thouroghly pleased. I will need to re-prop though. I'm only able to get 5300rpms by myself. Thursday I had 10 people and was barely cracking 4900rpms doing 35mph. I will swap out the 17 pitch for the 15 and see how well that performs rpm and mph wise. I know rpm range will increase but not sure how the speed will change. Either way, with a full load on my old boat I was only able to do 18mph and now with the same load I am able to do 35mph which is double the speed. I am thouroghly pleased with my new purchase. Now let the accessorizing begin.

P.S. Is there any way to change my screen name from South Bay 514 to Berkshire 514?

Congrats on your new Berkshire and great decision with the motor. Our Berkshire was originally equipped with the 200 SHO and I had it upgraded to the 250. So far I've got it up to 46mph and that was with a full load (5 people and lots of "gear") and on choppy water. What I love most about it is that our comfortable cruising speed is around 28-30. On choppy waters it feels like a Cadillac and I have plenty of power to spare!

P.S. Is there any way to change my screen name from South Bay 514 to Berkshire 514


Send 25 bucks in care of Herb and we will take care of it

Thanks! A check is in the mail.

Berkshire 514 wrote:Thanks! A Czech is in the mail.

Fixed it for you!

NICE!! Don't know how fast you should be going but 46 mph is not bad although rpm's are low. Wouldn't be surprised she'll go way faster with right pitch prop and near max engine RPM's when she is broke in. I would follow the factory break-in procedure before pushing it much. Congrats and good luck with your new toon.

That's a really nice boat, no doubt you'll enjoy it! BTW, how much clearance is there between the bottom of that spare, and the ground?

I really like your trailer especially where your tail lights are, But why the cup holder out side on the stern.

bluecollarpilot wrote:That's a really nice boat, no doubt you'll enjoy it! BTW, how much clearance is there between the bottom of that spare, and the ground?

I can see some flat spots being worn in that tire

Just my 2 cents worth....but if going fast is a priority, there's bass boats that'll run 80......I had one, and I sold it
for the 'toon so I could slow down and enjoy the scenery - and not spill my adult beverage...

Oldsailor
"Drinking Rum before 10 AM doesn't mean you're an alcoholic -
It means you're a Pirate!"

I love it!
Its 5:00 somewhere!

Sorry to hijack!

I have the same issue. Only getting mid 4s on the tac, I figure once it is broke in a little better I will throw less pitch at mine. We are maxing out around 35mph but we have both bimini tops up all the time. I am sure if we tried it with one person and the biminis down it would push closer to 40. I always thought it was a good idea to break in the motor before really trying to go fast. We have only had ours above 30 once or twice. I am with oldsailor, if speed was a concern, should have thrown 100K at a Teague marine motor and another 100K at an Eliminator hull. To many fish to catch to worry about speed.

Ever looked at Advantage Party Cats?
http://www.advantageboats.com/index.cfm?model=2&page=2
If you want to go 80+ this is probably a safer bet than your floating piece of plywood on oversized beer cans.

Just an observation from my own experience. We always get better top end speed with our 12' bimini up rather than folded and in the cover. I think that folded, creates a good bit more wind resistance than open. We also have a highway position folded down nearly into contact with the sun deck for when trailering over long distances.

Drago wrote:Just an observation from my own experience. We always get better top end speed with our 12' bimini up rather than folded and in the cover. I think that folded, creates a good bit more wind resistance than open. We also have a highway position folded down nearly into contact with the sun deck for when trailering over long distances.

Yep, I noticed that yesterday when we were prop testing! We put the top up when it got too hot for my buddy who has MS. Gained about 2 MPH at 3000 R's. Just left it there, we were done for the day and in relaxation mode! I always leave mine in trailering position when running. It still acts like a parachute! When trailering on the highway, I take the fabric off completely!

Ken, good to hear from ya buddy! Been awhile!

BTW, how much clearance is there between the bottom of that spare, and the ground?

I can see some flat spots being worn in that tire

The spare was mounted rather low. The first few outings it bottomed out pulling out of the boat ramp and did create some wear to the treads. I was able to rotate the spare tire up a little higer by rotating the wheel to the bottom set of lugs. I also rotated by receiver hitch to make the tounge sit up higher. I did not rub this past weekend. Also, yesterday I tested props under a heavy load (10 adults, 2 kids & 3 full size ice chest loaded down). With the 15.5" O.D. 17 Pitch at WOT we got 28mph at 4900rpms(By myself 45mph at 5300rpms). With the 15.75" O.D. 15 Pitch at WOT we got 33mph at 4900rpms(By myself 41mph at 5400rpms). I am rather confused how I did not gain rpms with the smaller pitched prop. I am curious what a 13 pitch will do? However, I can be content with the 33mph with that load.