Big block I/O's Pontoons, I dont hear much about them

[pond tuuunes]

On the chain o lakes here in IL, there are atleaste 7 of them. Other than mine on here, I havnt heard of any. Anyone else on here have one? JT

[cwag911]

Maybe it would help if you posted what you have in your signature and pics would be nice.

[GXPWeasel]

I'm guessing you don't hear of them much, because they are few and far between. In this day and age of inflated fuel prices, you don't NEED a big block I/O to have fun, and therefore, I would guess the demand is minimal for such a LUXURY item (big block I/O's), among luxury items (boats in general). Why, when you can get a toon with a 300 hp outboard that will get much better fuel economy?

[WaltF]

Id have one if i had $60k laying around......

[Bamaman]

+1 on the big block.

Notice how many old inboards are still on the water? A guy down the road has a nice 1953 17' Chris Craft mahogany boat and a 1979 Correct Craft 23' deep V straight inboard.

Notice how many middle age I/O's are sitting in boat graveyards with the engines and/or outdrives out of them? My last I/O was good for 10 years, but that was about it. My old Yamaha 2 stroke 115 hp outboard is 26 years old and still runs great.

Outboards on pontoons are just easier to deal with--and better values in the long run.

[pond tuuunes]

I have to shrink some pictures to post them, Ill do that. as for fuel consumption, I dont know how fast the 300 hp outboards go, but lets say 50 mph, I dont have any idea. At 50 mph, I am not very hard on gas, it seems after 60mph, it starts to drink ALOT. I have raced a 26 ft playcraft with twin 250 outboards and it really was no contest. Actually, we have some long no wake channels here, and I really enjoy those as much if not more than going fast, but it sounds real good at idle to. But racing some guy in say a 25' baja across a lake and looking at him trying to push his throttle more and playing with his trim, watching a pontoon drive away from him is alot of fun also. JT

[Mrtoler]

Hey JT, I really like your toon and I acutely have a pic of it saved on my iPad! I don't have a I/O but I do think they are cool and if it's got a big block that's just sick!!! I'm one of those guys that has to modify everything I own and make it as fast as possible...I think one of the biggest reasons you don't see very many big block I/O's is because people are ok with doing 15-25mph I'm just NOT! Normally when I talk about this topic I get the normal "if you want to go fast why didn't you get a fast boat" I just reply WHY when I can have my cake and eat it to? A simple third log addition with strakes and a big outboard and I can run 40mph+ so I'll stick with the pontoon that I can get up and walk around on or fish the shallows or anything else I want to do!

[pond tuuunes]

Hey JT, I really like your toon and I acutely have a pic of it saved on my iPad! I don't have a I/O but I do think they are cool and if it's got a big block that's just sick!!! I'm one of those guys that has to modify everything I own and make it as fast as possible...I think one of the biggest reasons you don't see very many big block I/O's is because people are ok with doing 15-25mph I'm just NOT! Normally when I talk about this topic I get the normal "if you want to go fast why didn't you get a fast boat" I just reply WHY when I can have my cake and eat it to? A simple third log addition with strakes and a big outboard and I can run 40mph+ so I'll stick with the pontoon that I can get up and walk around on or fish the shallows or anything else I want to do!

My brother has a 42' go fast boat, 108 mph, twin 700 hp engines. I hear the same thing, if you wanted a go fast boat, you should have gotten one like that. He has 42' of boat, thats seats 5 people, That sucks! I had 12 adults on board and one said I couldnt get it on plane, well with 12 people I can get on plane, and up to 60 mph. JT

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[Mrtoler]

That's awesome....the versatility of a toon is like no other!!! Haven't I read that your toon used to have an outboard and you converted it to a I/O? Just out of curiosity what HP is your toon rated for?

[pond tuuunes]

Im not the original builder, but yes, it started life out as a outboard toon. I basically but more motor, better drive, and a better prop, oh, and better stereo, and more speakers, ha ha. JT

[Bryden24shp]

Thats one cool thing about Playcraft, Jim Dorris isn't afraid to build them with big blocks. They handle the power very well. I thought real hard about buying one with a big block, after selling my Baja. I hadn't owned an outboard for 20 years. I still miss the power. But I think that todays outboards are much more efficient than they were back then and easier to maintain. I don't miss winterizing or changing spark plugs and water pumps in my Mercruiser 502's and 525 SC's. Every move was a knuckle buster. But, I do miss that rumble and power!
Yours looks like its built pretty bulletproof, I love the high rise headers. Is that a Teague engine or home build?
I'ld love to see what you would do racing a Playcraft with a Seven Marine 600 hp, I think it may be another story, because horsepower, weight and drag would be about the same. Can't really compare racing a twin OB boat, he has twice the drag in the water and 100 less Kahoneys. Would be very interesting. Got me thinking of a new project.... Maybe after I get bored with this Premier, I just bought. My wife is gonna kill me if she reads this one!
Bryan

[pond tuuunes]

Yea, The wife isnt always happy about my boat either, lol. I dont know about a playcraft 600, but I did race that southbay trifecta, and beat him by 3 or 4 mph, I had a local engine build the engine from scratch, brand new Dart block, heads and all. I really enjoy my toon, this week after seeing all the sharkhide posts, I ordered some of that, that looks like a job. JT

[Bryden24shp]

Ya, the polishing is going good so far. Almost done with port pontoon. I polished on it for about 5 hours yesterday, got about 1/2 of it done. Will do all 3 nosecones and the rear caps in the near future. It would'nt have been so bad if the boat hadn't sat in the water. Its has some corrosion pits I have to wet sand out. All the zincs look good, but someone around his slip had some serious electrical shit going on. From the looks of my pontoons, you could probably run a blender off the current in the water! So far, I have used about 10 ounces of Sharkhide from the 1st can. Thats after doing my Manitou, with it, too. Clint said to buy two, just to do the Manitou, but I know I won't need to open the 2nd can, on this boat, either. Maybe on the next with the Seven hanging off the back!
Bryan

[lakebilly]

I think the best thing about an I/O pontoon is the opportunity for a nice swim platform on the back. Some manufacturers do a better a job than others with this.

I've always liked the Harris Grand Mariners with this feature. They simply extend the deck rather than adding a plastic ledge on the back.

[badmoonrising]

My Starcraft (1967) with an I/O lasted 20 years, the only thing that killed it was the previous owner didn't winterize it and the motor locked. The current 3.0 liter Mercruiser I installed in '99 is still going strong after 12 seasons (starting it's 13th) with just a rebuilt carb 5 years ago. If it's not maintained, it won't last.

This is in the sort of salty bay water..