Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello all, im new to the forums and the pontoon I bought. I was wondering if somone could help me out before I mess up my boat already. I have a older 1983 pontoon that I had just purchased it has a 40 hp evinrude motor and I have notice people talking about tilt and trim a lot! I don't think mine has that. So what im asking is when I go to launch the boat do I have to some way tilt the motor up myself so it doesn't hit the ramp or is it just fine sitting there? I have noticed a long bar that you can reach from standing at the back of the pontoon on the deck. It about 3 feet long and it has notches on it like if i would pull on it the motor would tilt slightly. The bar kind of reminds you of the same thing on lawn mowers to raise and lower the blade if that helps any. Thats the best way I can explain it. Anyways your feedback on this situation is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks, Dennis F.

That stick you are referring to i think is a 'transom saver'. Its used when traveling. It reduces the forces on the transom while driving down the highway...
Is there a way for you to pull the engine up by hand and lock it in place? There prob is....
With a toon, the engine isnt as low as in a regular boat. Mine wont reach the ground when on the trailer and in full down position. Also, our ramp is steep enough that even with my engine down, i wont drag, but its always nice to be able to tilt it up before pulling it out, just incase...
Im sure someone on here has a toon without trim and will speak up...

Welcome...... the tilt an trim are designed to tilt the motor cowl (top of the motor) toward the back of the boat an the prop away from the boat in an arching or pivoting motion.. By doing this you cut down on drag once you are underway. Mostly used for higher hp motors. Had a late 80's boat with a 90 an it had tilt an trim. If the bar you are referring to is attached to the motor it may be just to aid in tilting the motor up for trailering or if you have a problem an want to raise the motor manually.
doc

Can you post a pic? Hauling with the motor up or down depends on how high the motor sits from the ground. As for the bar your talking about sounds like an aid for pulling the motor up. I have seen people do that before. If you could get a pic of the back of the toon on the trailer and a pic of the motor mounting we can give you better answers.

Is this what your talking about??????????

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... rchID=4005

I really appreciate everyones help on here, I took some pictures and im about to upload them for you. I have a couple of questions to ask about my pontoon also.
1. Do you think that mine has an alternator? How would the batter stay charged? It is kinda older boat.
2. Should i use anchors for my pontoon? I bought 2 of them but they are only 15 pounds each. Would this even work?
3. How fast do you think this pontoon will run? It's a 40 hp motor, 25 ft pontoon. Just trying to get a decent estimate if this would be enough to pull a tube.

You probably have an alternator as most larger motors have, you do not have an electric tilt and trim if you do not have a button on your control lever for it. Most older motors under 50hp did not have them. You could probably get 10-12 mph on the 40hp on a 25 footer so pulling a tuber would be no fun. Welcome to the forum.

40 horse wont pull a tube more then 10mph no fun the bar looks to be a manual tilt that someone added

Well.. itll pull a tube! Itll just pull it at 10 mph.
Good for a booze cruise!