pontoon boat

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

Thinkx... test ride when you are ready but I think a decent sized tritoon with a 150 will perform but you will likely wish for more HP. A decent sized deep V hulled boat will often require 10 additional hp to move it every 1 MPH faster at speed. I would think a tritoon would be similar. The above will do 40 gps MPH, I would think the same boat with a 150 would do 33 or so.

This brings up two more tips:

1. DON'T be afraid to test drive! We were timid at first, but on the advice of members here, quickly realized marinas expect prospective owners to try boats out.

2. HP vs. efficiency. We can go almost a month, using the boat every weekend, on less than a tank of gas with our 70hp, but we top out at 22mph and getting places can take time (it's also very quiet). It's a great first boat for us, but we'll definitely go bigger on the motor next time.

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

This brings up two more tips:

1. DON'T be afraid to test drive! We were timid at first, but on the advice of members here, quickly realized marinas expect prospective owners to try boats out.

2. HP vs. efficiency. We can go almost a month, using the boat every weekend, on less than a tank of gas with our 70hp, but we top out at 22mph and getting places can take time (it's also very quiet). It's a great first boat for us, but we'll definitely go bigger on the motor next time.

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

If you had a 150 on your boat it would still take about 70 HP to go 22 MPH and you'd probably use less fuel at 22 MPH because you'd be operating closer to the engine's sweet spot (torque peak or where volumetric efficiency is best). The big difference it that you would be able to go 32 MPH with 150 HP when you wanted to.

[noreast]

It sounds like you will not be happy with a 2 toon. Buy a tri-toon for sure. the difference when pulling a tube, or getting across the lake is night and day.The new motors aren't bad on fuel.If you go any bigger than a 22' you will most likely need larger than a 150hp to hit 40mph. the drag isn't nearly as bad with 3 pontoons. last week I went fishing early morning, my friend saw me go bye so he got in his bow rider to follow,next day he told me he had to turn around, It was to rough. you will take a beating with any small boat under certain conditions.I have a small 18' tri-toon, with a 115, just me i can go 40mph gps. with a full boat still low to mid 30s depending on weather. But like I said, it is small. Good luck. Quick edit, almost everyone I know with a 2-toon wants more speed. They say it's not that important when shopping, 6 months later it's always the same conversation. save the time and money from buying and then upgrading. Do it up front.Good luck.