late 80's 20' Bass buggy pontoon question

[erniewillis]

Anyone with a late 80's Bass buggy pontoon (20') put an inline 6 Mercury on it? My 20" bass buggy currently has a 45 Johnson on it but it is slow. I have a 1990 Mercury inline 6 but worried it may be to heavy or too much torque.

 

[wahlejim]

A couple of things to consider on this one. The weight of the motor. It will severely affect the pontoon and you will need a lot of fab work to get it on there. The design of pontoons as displacement will limit your speed. If you do go this route, you will probably have to add a third log to handle the wieght and risers to get speed, and it will suck up a ton of fuel. If you figure in the cost of all of this, you may be better off getting a different boat, or selling the inline 6 and using the money for a bigger outboard that might get you the speed you are looking for. But a 20' pontoon with a max rated motor will probably only get you to 20mph. Just food for thought

 

[erniewillis]

The pontoon was rated for a 70 H.P. I didn't know if the 90 was too far over or not.

 

[ahicks]

The big question would be how well your pontoons handle the extra weight. Older boats generally have smaller pontoons than the latest generation, and don't do a real good job as a rule. 22-23" 'toons are going to float pretty low in the water.

The next thing would be the motor mount, how it's set up, how many cross members support it, what kind of shape are they in, etc.

Finally, that "tower of power" has a reputation for being a gas guzzler. I would not be interested personally.

 

[erniewillis]

I have to disagree on the gas guzzling reputation.My first new boat I bought in 1978 had an inline 6 Mercury. Me and my friends could literally ski all day on 6-8 gallons of gas. And when I say all day,we would get there in the morning and leave at dark. I have owned 3 of these engines in my lifetime,as good of an engine as I have ever had.

As for whether or not this Bass Buggy pontoon can handle it, actually,I doubt it. I was just asking if anyone had run one and how it did.

 

[oldjeep]

I'd definitely check the weight of the motor. The motor frames on those suntrackers are pretty weak. Make sure to check the bolts that hold the pod on the frame and see if there are washers or any tearing. My folks 20ft Fishin Barge is a similar boat and the 50hp that is on it is about all the weight that motor pod can take.