Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

[racer2525]

New (inexperienced) boater here with a new 26' Sanpan pontoon (model 2500 Limited, 2 tubes). Boat has a Yamaha F115 4-stroke, and WOT is around 5800rpm. Prop that came stock with motor is aluminum, 13" diameter, 15" pitch.

Max speed I get is only around 16.5mph with 3 people on board running WOT and max rpm's. I checked and there's no prop damage, etc. Motor runs fine. BUT....This seems really SLOW to me, and I read here where other pontoons seem to go much faster. I know that pontoons aren't designed for speed, but I'd like to at least run between 20-25mph. Is this realistic?

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

If you are using the standard speedometer for speed measurement, then that's part of the problem as they are terribly inaccurate (generally). Use a GPS to verify speed. 26 feet is a fairly large boat but a 115 should easily do 20 or better. I would blow your gates off with my 40 Suzy on an 18 footer so something is wrong. Is it possible one or both tubes have water in them? Is this a particularly heavy pontoon?

 

[racer2525]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

If you are using the standard speedometer for speed measurement, then that's part of the problem as they are terribly inaccurate (generally). Use a GPS to verify speed. 26 feet is a fairly large boat but a 115 should easily do 20 or better. I would blow your gates off with my 40 Suzy on an 18 footer so something is wrong. Is it possible one or both tubes have water in them? Is this a particularly heavy pontoon?

Thanks for the reply! I'm using the GPS on my boat for the speed (agree...the analog gauges are not good). The net boat weight (dry) is listed at 3062 lbs. The wet weight (with motor, fuel, etc) is listed at 3806 lbs. So...it is a heavy boat. It's a new boat I got in April, so doubt it has any holes for water to get in but guess you never know....new is not always perfect. How would I check that? Also, I guess I should contact the boat maufacturer to see what they say, or maybe Yamaha?

 

[18footcheetah]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

I'm getting 18 or so at WOT on a 24 foot bently with a 60 horse bigfoot merc so your definatly not proped right. Did you get it from a dealer?

 

[racer2525]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

I'm getting 18 or so at WOT on a 24 foot bently with a 60 horse bigfoot merc so your definatly not proped right. Did you get it from a dealer?

Yes. I will contact the dealer, Yamaha, and Godfrey Marine (boat manufacturer) to see what they can tell me. I talked to two other guys that have pontoons (slightly smaller and probably less weight) and one told me he got 35mph. The other claimed to get 55mph (tri-toon with 200hp motor). Not sure I believe that, but I think I should be getting at least 20mph. The prop is also an aluminum Yamaha prop that came with the motor, so would think it might be OK. Will see. Thanks!

 

[18footcheetah]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

Yes. I will contact the dealer, Yamaha, and Godfrey Marine (boat manufacturer) to see what they can tell me. I talked to two other guys that have pontoons (slightly smaller and probably less weight) and one told me he got 35mph. The other claimed to get 55mph (tri-toon with 200hp motor). Not sure I believe that, but I think I should be getting at least 20mph. The prop is also an aluminum Yamaha prop that came with the motor, so would think it might be OK. Will see. Thanks!

Sounds like dealer would be best bet..... I would belive the 55 mph claim I had one come out of a cove and pull away from me in my bass boat(18' Cheetah 115 Evinrude) I was doing 30 about 1/2 throttle I took my speed on up to about 45 and never did catch it lol prolly coulda went WOT and got him though.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

Looked at some similar setups Couldn't find as heavy or as big a 22' 3,300 115 evinrude 13" ss 29 mph.. 22,2680 15"ss 32.. 24,3,000 13"ss 25...
23,3,100 11 al. 23 mph. Don't know your ratio but a 15 seems big for a 26
Yet your turning 5,800 at only 16 either tach is set wrong or a lot of slip
maybe even venting a little. 13" diameter seems small.They talk about elephant ear props for pontoons. The Evinrude is running 13 3/4 and 14.
Of course the gear ratio may be different.

 

[fneely]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

well I have a similar setup. Same engine, yamaha 115 on a new 24' silvan mirage that weighs about 2600 lbs dry. my max speed so far has been 28mph .

 

[racer2525]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

Looked at some similar setups Couldn't find as heavy or as big a 22' 3,300 115 evinrude 13" ss 29 mph.. 22,2680 15"ss 32.. 24,3,000 13"ss 25...
23,3,100 11 al. 23 mph. Don't know your ratio but a 15 seems big for a 26
Yet your turning 5,800 at only 16 either tach is set wrong or a lot of slip
maybe even venting a little. 13" diameter seems small.They talk about elephant ear props for pontoons. The Evinrude is running 13 3/4 and 14.
Of course the gear ratio may be different.

Thanks for this data....that's great info for me to compare. I seem to have a real heavy boat which I know will have an impact. I think Yamaha has a new prop designed for pontoons (14" diameter). Not sure what pitch to get but from what I've read, lower seems better for speed. Thanks for taking the time to pull this data! I appreciate it.

 

[racer2525]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

well I have a similar setup. Same engine, yamaha 115 on a new 24' silvan mirage that weighs about 2600 lbs dry. my max speed so far has been 28mph .

Wow...wish I could get that. Like someone said above, maybe I have some water in my toons. But I kinda checked and didn't find any drain plugs underneath? I'm checking with dealer this week. Thanks.

 

[rrhodes]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

I am leaning on your tach not being setup correctly. I would think you should run in the low 20's

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: Pontoon Speed: Does this sound normal?

I would guess your tach is off also OR you are venting horribly. A 15 pitch prop on a 2.15 ratio gear case going 16mph is close to a 60% slip, pontoons usually are around 20-30% depending on load. My guess would be venting. A 15 pitch prop is usually a smaller diameter NON pontoon design. 11-13 pitch props will usually be the correct "elephant ear" pontoon style prop in a 14" diameter for that motor. A 13 pitch prop might be worth trying or possibly lowering the motor a bolt hole or 2 if its not down all the way already. A 13 pitch prop in the normal 20-30% slip range would put you at 24-27.5mph if the motor has enough push to get you there.