Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Tonight we had flat water, everywhere. Opened it up and finally hit 6000 rpms! We have 75 hours on the motor now. Before at WOT, 5700-5800 rpms, we were doing 37-38 mph gps, so no gps tonight, but must have hit the 40 mph. We have two anchors, 1/2 tank of gas, two stowed tubes and a ladder in the center tube, lots of life vests, and my wife's tote bag. We are very happy with that number on a pontoon this size. Even when we have had 7 adults and gear, we are hitting 34-35 and you know how everyone likes to sit up front. Our lifting stakes are not on the outside of the outer tubes. We can turn so well, it is fun pulling tubes now, plus we don't loose speed when we turn. However, our previous pontoon had a Yamaha 115. It got great mpg, miss that. The 150 does go through about 2 times the gas doing the same stuff, but, for us, that was the price to pay for the performance we wanted. Guess if we just went out in the middle of the lake and drifted the rest of the time we could save a lot in gas, NNAAHHH!!!

Twice the gas with the 150! Wow. That is something to seriously consider. I like the mpg with my 115. The extra speed may not be worht it to me....

One thing for sure the 150 will burn a LOT more gas!

BTW, which 115 do you have? Is it the 2013/2014 EFI 4 stroke? It isn't the new 2105 115 CT with the 2.07 gear ratio, is it? You have the 2.33:1 gearing? Like this one:
Our 150 burns thru a lot of gas over about 4800 RPM. One of the reasons we are lifting the motor.

Just to add some more perspective to this discussion, our boat is a fairly heavy 25 footer (big recliners up front). The best speed I've ever seen gps was 43mph on smooth water at Lake Travis very lightly loaded. The boat was fairly new. Our typical max speed with some folks onboard is 38mph. When the boat is heavily loaded (big folks and big full coolers) we see ~35mph tops. All at ~6200rpm. We run a stock F225 Yamaha with a Solas 14.25x17 stainless prop which from experience has high slip. We have 6 large lifting strakes, underskinning, and a long transom. I have wanted 45 from this boat and expect with the right prop might on a really good day.

If I were going to spend money on a new prop, I would also consider having the cpu reprogrammed.

Sweetwater 2015 240 DF actual length 25' 8" - 115 Yamaha 4 Stroke 2 persons 19 gallons - top end 27.5 mph is something wrong should I be able to hit 31 mph (does a have cavitation issue.)

Ddancers wrote:Sweetwater 2015 240 DF actual length 25' 8" - 115 Yamaha 4 Stroke 2 persons 19 gallons - top end 27.5 mph is something wrong should I be able to hit 31 mph (does a have cavitation issue.)

If its only a double log pontoon that does not sound bad.

My 23 ft tritoon with a 135 Honda does about 32 gps with a light load.

Ddancers wrote:Sweetwater 2015 240 DF actual length 25' 8" - 115 Yamaha 4 Stroke 2 persons 19 gallons - top end 27.5 mph is something wrong should I be able to hit 31 mph (does a have cavitation issue.)

Yes if only a two tube you are running well. Is the motor lowered as far as possible? If not get it lowered to help avoid the cavitation but, you might have a bit more drag on the speed end unless you trim up a bit more.

If already lowered, what prop are you running. You might want a SS prop, or at least an alum with more cupping. If you have a good prop shop they can tweek a prop for you to get a bit more cupping that will help with the cavitation. I can say that when we went to SS that made a big difference on our previous boat, but, sometimes it is how you are loaded. Too much weight in the front will add to the problem. You as the captain can tell people where to sit when needed to help avoid that issue.

The 48 looks like a misprint to me too... even his guess wasn't that high... Like jayw already mentioned he said "guy in the video" 39 was their top speed with it running 4500... and his guess was 43 or 44 at best with the right prop... I'm thinking definitely a misprint...

I think jayw hit the nail on the head about the tach being wrong... that adds up... I'm new at this but I highly doubt a new boat by a reputable company would have the prop that far off... if the tach is wrong that would explain it... 39 mph at WOT with two men onboard. Sounds more realistic...

It's two tubes. Thanks just wondering, don't have a toon history. I know when I ordered the sale's guy said should do about 32 mph, but based on a previous smaller boat with same size engine, in the back of my mind I didn't think that was likely.
Thks

The new Mercury 150hp 4 stroker is by all reports one very good outboard. So is the Yamaha 150 hp.

ok, 26' tritoon, but is actually 27', does 78mph gps. 670 hp, do you think I have to much slip?

If your slip is at least 27' long you should be OK!

Glenn

Ddancers wrote:It's two tubes. Thanks just wondering, don't have a toon history. I know when I ordered the sale's guy said should do about 32 mph, but based on a previous smaller boat with same size engine, in the back of my mind I didn't think that was likely.
Thks

I will say if it was 2 elliptical tubes, you would go close to 40 with a 150 motor. We were pulled up to the gas pump on the water and a new Bennington 22 ft with the twin elliptical tubes pulled in next to us. It was a fishing combo but the next level up from ours. He said with wife and him he would hit 40 with his 150 Yamaha.

It would be fun to hear from someone that has a twin elliptical in about the 22-24 ft that when they have 5-6 people on board with all the stuff they carry on as well to see how much they drop in speed.

That is why we went with the tritoon and the fact that we wanted the storage locker to get rid of the deck clutter down below. We can put 6 adults on board plus stuff and we can still maintain about 35mph.

We would also never recommend a sport tube for the center tube. Your nose is up in the air when going slower so you need to get the raised helm, added cost, and when you carry 6 adults, you sink too much in the water and the drag kills your speed. We would always tell anyone to go for the full third tube and get the storage locker too.

dodger wrote:

Ddancers wrote:It's two tubes. Thanks just wondering, don't have a toon history. I know when I ordered the sale's guy said should do about 32 mph, but based on a previous smaller boat with same size engine, in the back of my mind I didn't think that was likely.
Thks

I will say if it was 2 elliptical tubes, you would go close to 40 with a 150 motor. We were pulled up to the gas pump on the water and a new Bennington 22 ft with the twin elliptical tubes pulled in next to us. It was a fishing combo but the next level up from ours. He said with wife and him he would hit 40 with his 150 Yamaha.

It would be fun to hear from someone that has a twin elliptical in about the 22-24 ft that when they have 5-6 people on board with all the stuff they carry on as well to see how much they drop in speed.

That is why we went with the tritoon and the fact that we wanted the storage locker to get rid of the deck clutter down below. We can put 6 adults on board plus stuff and we can still maintain about 35mph.

We would also never recommend a sport tube for the center tube. Your nose is up in the air when going slower so you need to get the raised helm, added cost, and when you carry 6 adults, you sink too much in the water and the drag kills your speed. We would always tell anyone to go for the full third tube and get the storage locker too.

The elliptical twin toons with lifting strakes are the fastest hull in a straight line that Bennington has--by a little. Their carrying capability is about that of a tritoon, but without the additional drag and weight of the 3rd toon. The tritoons handle better than ellipticals, however. The disadvantage of the ellipticals is initial purchase price--they're expensive.

My 24SSLX with a F150 Yamaha and Express center toon with strakes will run 40 mph @ 6000 rpm's with a 15 pitch Reliance stainless propeller. The elliptical hull will have me by 1 1/2 to 2 mph. As far as I can tell, the new SPS tritoon hull runs side by side my less expensive boat.

We seldom see two toons with strakes. The biggest disadvantages 2 toons have is when you turn tight, the outside toon digs into the water reducing speeds dramatically. And they don't carry the weight (people) that any tritoon or elliptical equipped hull.

I would suggest that anyone often carrying many people or those wanting to pull tubers/skiers go with Sport Performance, Express Performance or Elliptical tubes and 150 horsepower. There's a big, big performance difference between the two powerplants. As far as which engine to go with, you cannot go wrong with Yamaha, Mercury or Suzuki. Yamaha's are tried and true--and 165 hp at the prop. Mercury's 150 FourStroke is cheaper, and comparable to the Yamaha. Suzuki motors are also fine, but the dealer base is not good and Suzuki Marine is a very poorly run operation.

The SPS and Ellipticals are both substantially more money to purchase than my Express Package. I think the sport tube you're talking about is my 3/4 length Express Tube. At a dead rest, the SPS will sit higher in the rear--but it's no big deal. When running, they're all pretty comparable.

I still find it hard to believe most 150hp Triple toon owners are seeing GPS 40mph+. I can only hit ~40mph with a light load with a 200hp outboard hitting about 5600rpms. Now my motor only has about 6-7hrs on it so maybe it will pick up a bit more speed as it gets broken in but I keep hearing very optimistic mph numbers the more and more I read. I realize a lot of factors play into getting the best top speeds but im assuming most people are going off the speedometer not GPS.