Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Just thought I would post this for giggles. Had the "new" toon out today and had the chance to get some real numbers on how it performs. 22' Sweetwater with 115 Yamaha. Spinning a "Ballistic" stainless, 3 blade 13 1/2 x 17. Prop was "worked' by local shop and cups taken out. Very flat day, no wind, no current. 2 adults (the bride), full load of fuel (22 gal), regular gear, and a cooler with all sorts of sodas. Top up....wife too.... 3500 rpm=16 mph. 4000 rpm=20 mph. WOT 5600 rpm= 35 mph. Trimmed for best speed. Kinda happy with those numbers! This boat did do 38 mph with 3 adults before the prop was "worked", but it was "venting" pretty easy with very little trim adjustment. I do think that I may NOT be getting true WOT as the control seems to hit the stops very quickly from 4000 rpm. Also, a bit of a trip from gear engage until I get any throttle up at the control. Think I will check to see IF I am getting true WOT with a bit of "eyeballing" in the driveway. Hope this in some small way gives someone a idea of what to expect with this 'toon and set-up.
Thanks for all the help here on the forum!
Sami

SamiGuy wrote:Just thought I would post this for giggles. Had the "new" toon out today and had the chance to get some real numbers on how it performs. 22' Sweetwater with 115 Yamaha. Spinning a "Ballistic" stainless, 3 blade 13 1/2 x 17. Prop was "worked' by local shop and cups taken out. Very flat day, no wind, no current. 2 adults (the bride), full load of fuel (22 gal), regular gear, and a cooler with all sorts of sodas. Top up....wife too.... 3500 rpm=16 mph. 4000 rpm=20 mph. WOT 5600 rpm= 35 mph. Trimmed for best speed. Kinda happy with those numbers! This boat did do 38 mph with 3 adults before the prop was "worked", but it was "venting" pretty easy with very little trim adjustment. I do think that I may NOT be getting true WOT as the control seems to hit the stops very quickly from 4000 rpm. Also, a bit of a trip from gear engage until I get any throttle up at the control. Think I will check to see IF I am getting true WOT with a bit of "eyeballing" in the driveway. Hope this in some small way gives someone a idea of what to expect with this 'toon and set-up.
Thanks for all the help here on the forum!
Sami

Wow! Those are 150hp numbers! Great job. It has to be a perfect day, rolling solo with strakes and a 115hp Suzuki for me to to hit 30mph. Running 35mph with 2 adults is amazing for a 115hp...wonder how much difference that stainless prop makes compared to the aluminum most of us have?

Oh yeah..I'm pretty happy with these results! I don't know if it's the prop or my prop "guy". Either way, I'm very pleased! If anyone needs a good prop guy, just let me know!
Thanks,
Sami

Just curious looking at these numbers, I see a large jump in speed going from 4000RPM to 5600RPM. If I trim for best GPS speed, our 70HP will get me 14.5MPH at 4000RPM and 21-22MPH at WOT 5500RPM. I assume you're getting better byte at WOT, I guess. I don't think my 70HP should compare directly to your 115HP, but assumed a relative speed per RPM.

Great numbers! Cant tell for sure but looks like you have lifting strakes? As far as relative numbers between 70 and 115 hp the pontoon is like pushing a giant loaf of bread thru the water. A 70 will only do so much because there is not much lift. The added horsepower helps to get the nose up and get some of the toons out of the water reducing drag.

My rig does 29 with a 90 Optimax Merc. I have underskinning which adds a little lift I think. Sometime I go faster into the wind rather than downwind because of the lift that gets the nose up. I have a 13x16 aluminum on now. I have a 13x 17 stainless that I had repitched from a 16 because I was redlining too easily. I lost almost 300 rpm's and 2 mph--only does 27 now-go figger--having it changed back to a 16.

I think I understand. The thing is, when I trim up and the bow raises, my GPS speed drops. Not much, but slower.

Thanks for the explanation...

urbnsr wrote:I think I understand. The thing is, when I trim up and the bow raises, my GPS speed drops. Not much, but slower.

Thanks for the explanation...

Some trim up will raise the bow, RPM and speed... A tiny bit more may indeed cost you a little speed.... Pontoons are not meant to go fast and as such they simply are not an exact science at all...

Thanks - Ours goes forward (and backwards), so we're happy I'm now wanting to start filling the blanks (many blanks).

urbnsr wrote:Thanks - Ours goes forward (and backwards), so we're happy I'm now wanting to start filling the blanks (many blanks).

While I may have the heart of an old hot rodder and still have a quest for speed at times I've found that the best thing about being able to trim the motor is to reduce the torque steer so that I can pay more attention to my surroundings and my beer...

I started out trimming for easier steering. Now, with GPS speedometer, I trimmed for top speed - assuming this means more efficiency - so the grip on the steering wheel returned until I adjusted the trim tab to the right to compensate. Nice feature.

Yep..mine has strakes. I usually cruise at 3500rpm= 15/16 mph. The extra speed is there....if I need it, storms and such. Don't think my ex is on the water....but glad I can outrun her if she is. She swims fast for a pig...............
Sami

SamiGuy wrote:Yep..mine has strakes. I usually cruise at 3500rpm= 15/16 mph. The extra speed is there....if I need it, storms and such. Don't think my ex is on the water....but glad I can outrun her if she is. She swims fast for a pig...............
Sami