Drinking gas faster than i can put it in--almost

[crappiegirl1]

I put a 115 johnson motor on my older 20 foot basstracker pontoon so i could "get there" quicker a couple years ago.
This motor is a 1990.

The boat runs great with it, no problem, and i "can get to that crappie hole quicker" lol

Trouble is with the gas prices increasing and increasing this motor is about to break me. Even thought i have slowed down to medium speed it is drinking gas.

I live on the Harris chain of lakes in fl. i medium speed run about 10 miles and use 10 to 12 gal of gas-----that surely is not the norm for this motor.

What are the thoughts?

Crappiegirl1

 

[86 century]

Re: Drinking gas faster than i can put it in--almost

A good rule of thumb is they will use ten percent of there horse power an hour in fuel(115=15gph).

That will change some depending on load water conditions.

Now I will start with the questions

What rpm are you cruising at. What speed.

Next we need to know the wide open throttle speed and rpm this to make sure you are running the eng in its optional range(if the rpm's are to low at wot you are lugging the eng making it work harder than it should)


My brother had an 18' toon with a 85hp force that drank gas mostly due to the fact that the older toons don't plane like a boat so the drag stays real high all the time.

Please don't be offended or think I am talking down to you we have no way of knowing the extent of your marine knowledge or vocabulary.

 

[jessp]

Re: Drinking gas faster than i can put it in--almost

I have an 82 115hp v4 n that's pretty much it for me as well but it's pushing a 28 foot JC Pontoon.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Drinking gas faster than i can put it in--almost

Engine rpm at wide open throttle is needed to see if you have the correct prop on this rig. If the engine came off a V-hull boat and it now lives on a pontoon and you didn't change the prop, that means the engine is being lugged terribly and as such the throttle needs to be open much farther that it would need to be if it had the proper prop. We can't tell you what that prop is however until you do a WOT test run with what you consider and average load. And chaning props will not help an engine that is in dire need of a tune-up. So make sure the engine is making full power THEN do the test.