How fast should I be going?

[Berkshire 514]

I'm not satisfied with the speed of my current toon.

I have a 2011 South Bay 520CR double pontoon, no underskin, no lifting strakes, Yamaha F115, aluminum 15 pitch prop, 5800rpms, 2 people, all normal gear in the boat. How fast should I be going? I can only get her up to 24mph. With 6 people and full 100qt ice chest a whopping 18mph. I just looked at trading her in for a 2013 Xcursion X23C-X3 triple toon with a Yamaha F200 SHO for $45K to go faster but they only want to give me $15K for my South Bay. I paid $27K two years ago. I'm not taking that kind of loss. My current toons max hp rating is 115hp. I'm thinking of trying to sell my motor in the fall and slip the new Yamaha 150 SHO on there to gain some speed. Give me some ideas.

[BobG]

That boat will go 150 MPH.




...if you push it off the back ramp of a C-130 at 15,000 feet elevation.

[Bryden24shp]

Bob... Your mean!!!

Idea #1 toss on a center toon, some underskinning and trade your 115 in on a 200 or better yet, 250 SHO. Check with South Bay, they are performance oriented, they can give you some kind of idea on cost.

[OK Toon]

My current toons max hp rating is 115hp. I'm thinking of trying to sell my motor in the fall and slip the new Yamaha 150 SHO on there to gain some speed. Give me some ideas.

Unless you add a 3rd log, going above the max HP rating could give you other issues such as from insurance, water patrol or warranty.

[keosports]

check out a waterglide, i was going to go with one untill i found my fiberglass tritoon hull. my 115hp on my 20ft pontoon goes 28mph, I picked up 3-4mph by underskinning

[pond tuuunes]

How fast are you wanting to go? That would determine if you can do it with your present toon, or if you will need a different toon. JT

[kryptonite]

I'd say your speed sounds about right.

Speed = lots of $$$$$ in the pontoon world.

[DRock]

How does your motor height look? I gained a bunch(4-5mph) with my 20 footer by getting the motor height right and then finding another prop(gained rpm so i had to go up in pitch). I under skinned mine as well but did not gain any speed, but the ride is much better. Are the pontoons clean? As for motor height take a peek at my thread where i did some testing and ended up raising my motor over 8 inches. Just a thought

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16020&start=0

[Berkshire 514]

That boat will go 150 MPH....if you push it off the back ramp of a C-130 at 15,000 feet elevation.

That's some funny sh*t right there. Thanks for a Good Laugh! I have decided that sticking with my current toon for a few more years is what I'm going to do. I would like to be able to go at least 30mph with 6 people. I understand putting a 150 on a 115hp max rated boat is not the most honest thing to do however, it will probably be my cheapest option to gain more speed. From what I've researched the 115 and 150 appear to have the same exterrior demensions. If I were to get a 150 I can just replace the 150 decals with 115 decals and no one would know the difference except me. If I were to get the 150 SHO it would be a different story due to the SHO's fancy exterrior looks. Issues there would be if I ever had an insurance claim and water patrol (inwhich I have never had a water patrol inspect my boats identification plate). Selling my 115 and buying a 150 will cost me $3-4K and a third pontoon professionally installed will run me about what...$3-4K? I think more horsepower would be the most benificial as a first step to gaining more speed. Do yall agree?

[justrfb]

Hello SB514...
With all due respect, I think you are inviting trouble into your boating life. I can guess there is a safety margin built into the max HP rating for a boat from the manufacturer. If you put the 150 on the back, you are not going over the max rated HP for your boat by a little bit, you are going over by 30% or so... I know people do a lot of different and creative things to get a few more MPH out of their boats but I very rarely, if ever, hear of someone exceeding max rated HP for the boat. Maybe you could look into the other ideas posted here to get a little more speed. I know a lot of guys go for the prop, trying different blade counts, pitches and cupping methods with good results while not exceeding the max HP rating for the boat. This is my humble opinion, not trying to upset you or anyone else... Good luck and be safe.

Sincerely,
Rich

[keosports]

i would look more into a waterglide, ($1200) lifting strakes ($1500)or best yet a 3rd tube with strakes ($3000). on my 25ft i had a 115hp and it went 27mph and then i put on a 140 and went 29mph. from all my research the first step to getting a pontoon to go faster is to get it up on top of the water. if you go with a center tube go at least 2" larger diameter tube.
check out the customer increase reports
http://www.pontoonwaterglide.com/PONTOO ... -Glide.asp

[Bamaman]

You can throw expensive horsepower to the boat, but without the nose out of the water, it's wasted money. Pontoons will suddenly hit a speed wall around 30 mph no matter the horsepower, as the plowing nosecone through the water cannot be overcome.

Your best bang for your buck would be to put underskinning on your boat, and have a quality welding shop fabricate lifting strakes. Or, see if your manufacturer has their lifting strakes available for installation. Then, regroup and see how your boat performs with the current motor.

The third toon would make your boat more buoyant, and it would handle another 1000 lbs. of people/weight. But the third toon requires lifting strakes before your nosecones can get out of the water. A 3/4 length center tube like Bennington's Express tube is a much less expensive option than getting a full center toon, as you can retain your present motor pod and it's an easy add on.

Good luck.

[Cycleman07]

That boat will go 150 MPH....if you push it off the back ramp of a C-130 at 15,000 feet elevation.

That's some funny sh*t right there. Thanks for a Good Laugh! I have decided that sticking with my current toon for a few more years is what I'm going to do. I would like to be able to go at least 30mph with 6 people. I understand putting a 150 on a 115hp max rated boat is not the most honest thing to do however, it will probably be my cheapest option to gain more speed. From what I've researched the 115 and 150 appear to have the same exterrior demensions. If I were to get a 150 I can just replace the 150 decals with 115 decals and no one would know the difference except me. If I were to get the 150 SHO it would be a different story due to the SHO's fancy exterrior looks. Issues there would be if I ever had an insurance claim and water patrol (inwhich I have never had a water patrol inspect my boats identification plate). Selling my 115 and buying a 150 will cost me $3-4K and a third pontoon professionally installed will run me about what...$3-4K? I think more horsepower would be the most benificial as a first step to gaining more speed. Do yall agree?

If I may help I have an idea. Replace it with the Mercury 4stroke 150. It is incredibly light and South Bay is putting them on a lot of their 2 toon boats because they are rated for it. I am confident that your boat probably is to considering I believe they have used a 25" tube diameter for sometime now. My 24' with strakes and underskin does 36 with 6 adults. It is a 2 toon boat with the 150.

[smoker62]

Does your straked twin tune have them on both sides of the tube or just the inside .

[Thin Ice]

That boat will go 150 MPH....if you push it off the back ramp of a C-130 at 15,000 feet elevation.

That's some funny sh*t right there. Thanks for a Good Laugh! I have decided that sticking with my current toon for a few more years is what I'm going to do. I would like to be able to go at least 30mph with 6 people. I understand putting a 150 on a 115hp max rated boat is not the most honest thing to do however, it will probably be my cheapest option to gain more speed. From what I've researched the 115 and 150 appear to have the same exterrior demensions. If I were to get a 150 I can just replace the 150 decals with 115 decals and no one would know the difference except me. If I were to get the 150 SHO it would be a different story due to the SHO's fancy exterrior looks. Issues there would be if I ever had an insurance claim and water patrol (inwhich I have never had a water patrol inspect my boats identification plate). Selling my 115 and buying a 150 will cost me $3-4K and a third pontoon professionally installed will run me about what...$3-4K? I think more horsepower would be the most benificial as a first step to gaining more speed. Do yall agree?

Trading in your 115 for a 150 I assume will cost more than $3-4K, unless you plan on rigging yourself. I suggest NOT to go over your HP rating at all. I agree with Bryden.... add a 3rd Log, underskinning and then re-power to a larger motor.

As for your original question.... Mid 20's mph is about right for a standard load with a 115. I have an ETEC 115 and I GPS'd 29MPH by myself, 24 with my wife, 2 dogs and light gear, and 18-20 with heavy load (over 6 people and a sh!t-ton of beer/food).