new toon owner

[Aint Skeered]

Nice forum, i have been reading for a couple months. I just purchased a 06 24ft suntracker with a 115 Murcury optimax. It is in great condition and runs great although I see a prop change coming.

Just wanted to say hi and look forward to learning ways I can improve my boat over the course of ownership.

[HandymanHerb]

Welcome glad to have you with us, don't forget we love to see pictures of your toon and having fun on it.

[dockholiday]

Welcome aint skeered

Props are usually the most cost effective way to produce better performance. The boats speedometer normally don't give you a true indication, although I have heard of cases where they were fairly accurate. Mine reads about 5 to 8 miles faster than gps speed.
What lake are you boating on, or area of the country?
doc

[badmoonrising]

Welcome !

[Aint Skeered]

I am in Louisiana and will be boating in lake Mauripas and lake Ponchatrain along with the surounding rivers. this boat did not come with a speed ometer or a trim guage. I want the trim guage though, its needed.
I have a couple pictures on my phone I will try to load later. Me and my wife went out in the lake Friday for a ride and i am very impressed with the ride on light chop. we are going to enjoy this boat.

[ROLAND]

Aint Skeered.... welcome to the site. Good group of people here.. South louisiana boy huh? Shreveporter here... Had the opportunity several years back to drive across lake ponchetrain on that ultra long ass bridge... about half way across I felt like I was out in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. Loved that drive. Again welcome to the group

Roland
2010 Bennington 20 SFi
75 hp yamaha 4 stroke
Shreveport, La.

[Aint Skeered]

Yeah it is a long ride across. 24 miles

I dont know how the boat will handle Lake Ponchatrain, it kicks up rough pretty quick. I am going to get use to Lake Maurepas firt. still a big lake and gets rough but not as far across if cought.

anyone know if the prop from a 4 stroke 115 susuki will work on the 115 optimax mercury? i have one i can try but not sure on the size or pitch. would they be close in needs?

[pepper1126]

I am about to buy my first pontoon. I have looked everywhere for one that is big enough for my family and has a good motor so we are trudging along at 6mph. I have found a 06 G3 25 foot I like with a Yamaha 115. Its very clean and was a factory demo. I am ready to pull the trigger on this, are there any concerns out there on the G3 with a 115HP motor? Thanks in advance.

[dockholiday]

Yeah it is a long ride across. 24 miles

I dont know how the boat will handle Lake Ponchatrain, it kicks up rough pretty quick. I am going to get use to Lake Maurepas firt. still a big lake and gets rough but not as far across if cought.

anyone know if the prop from a 4 stroke 115 susuki will work on the 115 optimax mercury? i have one i can try but not sure on the size or pitch. would they be close in needs?

Think you will need a merc hub kit to make it work. My guess is you need about a 13 to 14p max. Best to work with a dealer or prop shop. Most will let you try different props to till you find the one that is best for your boat.
doc

[Aint Skeered]

I took the boat out yesterday with my wife and 3 kids. I was able to get to 29 mph and then would hit the rev limiter. after the buzzer sounds for a few seconds, the engine would drop rpms . I think with a little more pitch i would get over 30 mph. Not to bad.
this is a factory aluminum prop with a 13 pitch. I may try having this prop worked by a shop to get it to 14 pitch . It would probably do good with the prop it has with a load or pulling the kids on a tube.
Oh yeah, the speed was clocked with a gps.

[Aint Skeered]

well i called Dans Discount Props today and he recommended an aluminum quick silver prop 14x15 p to replace the mildly bent 14x13 p
I will order it tomorrow , for $85 plus 10 shipping its worth it. Might get over 30mph out of this boat yet.

[KenR]

Ain't Skeered, I have never seen an aluminum prop perform like a stainless. I'd never go back to an aluminum. Most use them because they are cheaper and not concerned with performance. You can make a pontoon perform. I run a Stiletto stainless 13 X 19 on my Merc 75. My 18 ft does well over 30 mph. It has done as much as 37.2 gps reading and I have pics of it.

[Aint Skeered]

i always thought stainless performed better too. it was cheap so i dont mind having it as a spare. If i dont like the way it does i will try a stainless next time. I am a boat captain on Tug boats and i know on those big wheels, the stainless is much better.

If the boat gets over 30 with this prop i will be satisfied. 24 foot boat with a 115 and 5 people on board doing 30 is pretty good. might see another 3 mph by my self

[Aint Skeered]

so today i put the new prop on. I went 30 with a head wind of around 15mph.
with the old prop, the engine would hit the rev limiter at 29 mph and rev to 6100 or so.
with this prop unless my tach is off, im running 30 at 5600 rpms. thats with me, my wife and 3 kids. Whats nice though is now i can pull the throttle back to 5000 and still run 28. go all the way to 4000 and run 21 mph.
This is not to bad, i think when i get my first prop redone, im going to leave it the same and try it with no dings.
might be ideal with more people on the boat.

[KenR]

Hello Ain't skeered. Was you speed checked with a gps? Does your pontoon have lifting strakes?