Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Evening Lads,
I'm one of the people who has installed a PWG. I have one on a 2007 Bentley 240C with a 115 Merc 4s. Before the glide, my top speed was 24 MPH. With the PWG, my top speed is currently 22MPH! Obviously, I need to make some adjustments. The main problem is my boat rode very high to begin with and now the thing planes and rides so high that the prop loses all it's bite. I'm going to move it forward about 10-12 inches. Also, in my case, it absolutely rides rougher. With the bow coming up so high, it can get really bumpy on weekends. I hope moving it forward will help with that. My turning radius is improved until I reach a certain speed and the prop lets go. I believe there is a minimum power recommendation, so you will need to check with the PWG folks. BTW, I just looked at their site and it is all new. As someone said, the company has been sold. I did not recognize anyone during my 20 second glance at the page. I was planning to call them and discuss adjusting my installation. But now, I don't know if the new owners will care. There is only one way to find out.

I think moving the WG forward will lower the rear end but your bow will come up higher. Just put the heavy weight passengers on the forward seats and it sould plane out level.

Do you have room to move the motor down?

Actually, I think moving the PWG forward will move the fulcrum point toward the bow. That will allow the stern to pivot downward and dig in. As it is now, the bow just skims across the water.

BTW, I sent an email to the new owners of the company last night and today, I got a reply. Now that is looking promising.

Good luck and keep us posted.

The new owner has been great to deal with. I had to adjust my water glide also. Made all the difference in the world from original setup. I had to move mine the oposite of you though. Just depends on the fulcrum as you mentioned and how the weight is distributed. I did also lower my motor with a setback plate afterwards.

I LOVE my WaterGlide. Others have had some issues (Hey Lim). I am now running 30mph with a very heavy boat. Easy cruise 22-24 with good lift and mileage improvement. Not sure that I am getting all the numbers the website claims, but I am very satisfied. 800 lbs of added flotation as a small bonus.
Took some tweaking tho. It is recommended to run some horsepower (90hp or above) and I agree. Front to rear adjustment (as well as height) is critical. Be prepared to lower your motor somehow. With increased speed, one would expect a marginal increase in vibration. If ride is rougher at all, I can barely notice it.
There is a long thread (started by someone else) that I sort of hijacked over on PDB forum. It goes into great detail of my install and uninstall and adjustment and........lots of photos.
Not sure if I am allowed to cross-link, but here it is http://www.pontoon.net/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=29&threadid=22868&enterthread=y My username over there is Tunedude.
If I did a bad-bad on the cross linky, BMR, then apologies. Frickin new guys huh?

I'm still banned from the Obama Pontoon and Deck Boat Forums, lol.

There's always lurking

Somehow, I've managed to fly under the radar over there, not that I didn't try at times tho.

Although, I'm not a total fan of all the Obama bashin' sometimes, I still miss you guys. It's just too frickin quiet over there. So let the party begin! I'll be glad to interject some 'indifferent middle'

It's dead over on PDF. Hey tuned, 30 MPH is sweet! I'd love to get that with my boat. I need to get the tape measure out and make some new measurements so I can do some PWG adjusting. Over Memorial Day, I could only get 19MPH (GPS). I do admit my logs are dirty, but 25" logs and 115MPH should be faster and the fastest I have ever seen was 24 MPH w/o the PWG.

Hey Lim! Glad to be here. Hope ur lovin' the new shack and toonlift.

I heard that PWG is under new ownership. I checked the new site and they have raised the price to about $1800. Crap. That is really going to deter a lot of buyers.

Not sure what that means in terms of available knowledge over there. I sure hope they kept some of the key players (Donna etc....). If they are all new, you might as well listen to ME instead hehe.

From all the discussions we have had about your rig, instinct is just screaming at me to move your glide forward and you will raise the bow and put your prop down in better water. I can't remember where you last ended up on height of the water glide step outs when the boat is at rest. Can you refresh me on that?

Got a new interesting project going on my toon (GOTTA f' with it as always!). I'll start a thread on it within a day or two.

Tuned-ude (aka Todd the Bobber-fell out of a boat once )

I'm headed back up to the lake tomorrow to clean the logs. I plan to get my kayak in the water and take some close PWG measurements. I emailed the new owners and they replied within an hour. They are definitely waiting to help. I just hope they have not priced themselves out of business.

Hey tuned,
Do you know how far your prop shaft is below the bottom of your pontoons? Also how far forward it is from the back now? The new owner is telling me that the under sheeting is really mandatory and I don't have it. With the original owners, it was not mandatory. They have suggested cutting down my transom and/or adding a longer engine shaft. I'm damn close to just taking it off. At least I can go 24 MPH w/o it and I just don't have the time to keep screwing around with it.

The good news is they are trying to help me. I just don't have the time to work on it when it is 1.5 hrs away. Damn, I wish I had spent another $1000 for a third log.

Yo Yo Lim.
How's this for fast service? I just happen to be in dry dock for modifications (like when am I not modifying?). See the new thread.

I ran out and took some quick measurements for you. Some are approximate. Here they is:
Rear of PWG to butt cap on tube--52"
Butt cap on tube to center of prop--30"
Bottom of tubes DOWN to prop shaft--2"
Waterline on PWG--1" to 1.5" above stepout

If you need more, now is the time. I am launching (for the 4th time) on Friday. There will be beer
Cheers, mate.
ToddBob

BTW-although my underskin probably makes a difference, I can't see it as the defining factor as to why the Glide works.

Yup, that was quick service. The guy I've been talking to at PWG says they like to see the "center of the shaft 7-8" below the bottom of the toons." I'm not really sure what he is referring to. At first I thought he meant the prop, but that would definitely mean some mods to get the prop that far below the bottom of the toons. Again, the new owners seem to be good people and are trying to solve my problem. I think it is definitely something to do with my particular boat.

TuneDuuuuuude!
Good ta see ya man!