Pontoon Boat Engine Size

Would you agree that shopping for a pontoon boat can be complicated just looking at size and style alone...much less power? Watch this video if you are wondering what kind of performance is available in pontoon boats or you are in the market for a pontoon boat and want to make sure you power it with the right engine for how you intend to use it. By the end of this video you will understand the variables that affect pontoon boat performance and what speed you can expect with available power choices across pontoon boats from 16’-26’. Stick around to the end of the video for a downloadable fact sheet you can use while pontoon boat shopping. In this video we will cover:

1. Variables that affect speed and performance. 1:32
2. Super slow vs. super fast pontoons. 2:17
3. Things that will slow your pontoon boat down. 3:02
4. Typical pontoon setups and performance. 3:47
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[boatinglessons]

What size and hp do you run on your pontoon? What performance do you get?

[TravelswithYoly]

Almost 20 years ago when Honda Marine updated their small engine group, I was given the task of generating some publicity for the new BF9.9 high thrust outboard. It was a new model and probably ideal for a small pontoon operating on one of the horsepower limited bodies of water. One of our working relationships was with Premier Pontoons so they provided a 20 foot triple tube weighing about 3, 000 lbs. Their recommended minimum power was a 150 HP engine. This was a high performance pontoon with lifting strakes. We chose to put one of the new BF9.9 Hondas on it and prove it's reliability and efficiency under severe loads. I planned a trip with it running from Ft. Myers, FL. to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. across the Caloosahatchee River and around Lake Okeechobee and out the Port Mayaka Canal into the St.Lucie River where we rounded Stuart into the Intercoastal Waterway, then heading south to Ft. Lauerdale. I asked a couple of boating magazine editors if they'd like to come along for the journey and a couple of them agreed. Jim Barron of Trailer Boats Magazine suggested that I think of a unique "hook" to get readers attention should they decide to write about it. The Premier Pontoon had a stock 40 gallon tank so I suggested that we make the entire trip without once stopping for gas. Jim thought that was a great idea and we set off on a very unusual adventure. The little Honda ran at wide open throttle for 8 to 9 hours a day for 4 days pushing the 3000 lb pontoon at a blistering 7 mph. There were 4 people on board the Premier. Several others enjoyed the journey in my Hurricane Deckboat used as a camera/support boat for the Honda documentation. Under full load like that the little Honda burned roughly 1 to 1.1 gph and we pulled into the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show with 2 gallons to spare. Jim Barron wrote an awesome article for Trailer Boats Magazine chronicling the journey called "Long Playing Toon" :-) A trip I will never forget.

[pontoonhydrofoil]

Hello Len's Cove Love watching and learning from your video's. We run a 2012 75hp etech on our 20' avalon. We also run a VK-3 VaraFoil kit which includes a VaraPlate. This application took us from 21 mph max WOT ( Wide Open Throttle ). We now do 30 Mph max WOT, fuel burn rate incredibly better and ride now extremely quiet. Keep up your great work.

[csinalabama]

I have a 1995 Suntracker with a 2017 Yamaha 90 on it. It is a light boat, only 21 foot long and makes quick circles and I can run 3.5k rpm and burn 3 gallons per hour. I drove a friends 26 foot tritoon with a 250 and found it harder to handle and no use for fishing. It just felt like a barge. I am going to get a new boat in a couple years but I think I will stay with a lighter / non tritoon boat with a 115. Just easier to handle, more nimble, better for fishing and easier on my wallet at the gas dock.

[RandomGuyDan]

Interesting video. We lucked into a rare slip rental on a local lake in Michigan earlier this year. However the slip was space constrained because it is narrow (just over 8' wide) and is on the shore side of a double layer of slips with only 20' between the end of our slip and the next layer. With that in mind we got a new 16' 2022 Quest with a 2010 25 hp Mercury 4-stroke. The fastest speed that I have seen on our Garmin is just over 11 mph, but most of the time, even with just two of us, we top out at 9mph. I suspect there are some outboard setup issues that need addressing as my RPM's generally won't go over 4800 and the sweet spot (per the manual) is 5500-5800. I have been looking for a lower prop pitch to get the RPM's up (it is currently a 10 x 8) and I haven't been able to find anything. I will probably get it re-contoured in the off season. This is my first experience with pontoons. Back in the 1980's my family had a series of regular boats with i/o's between 155-175 hp so I and my sister could water ski. My first experience with our pontoon was eye opening in terms of the lack of speed, but I have adjusted. That said, we will probably end up finding a 50hp (max for our toon) to replace the 25. I don't ski anymore and don't need lots of power, but more giddyup would be welcome.

[johnk]

There is no PDF as promised in your video at the end, please direct me to the PDF that shows what we can expect from different boat sizes and engines.

[keithzastrow]

Bennington 25 foot tritoon with lifting strakes and a Volvo Penta 5.7L (350 Chevy) engine, 280HP. Will do 40mph but wish it was faster.

[toddrankin]

Basic information and very informative. The old KISS formula, keep it short & simple. Thumbs Up

[Muznxsadmin]

Still waiting on the pdf. Hope its soon

[FilmSchoolforMarketers]

This could be a new favorite video for us.... Way to go, old "slow & steady" man!

[LokoLobo]

Where is the PDF with the list of pontoons lengths and engine h.p.'s?

[CuriousKL]

Never owned a Pontoon boat. But I do have experience with owning a boat and growing up with a family that had boats. I would imagine that a pontoon boat produces a sizeable amount of drag. I would never use a pontoon boat for tubing or skiing, but that's just my opinion. I do know that when you lean towards the idea that a small engine uses less fuel is a bit of a stretch. One major problem with 'under powering' a water craft is about boat control, especially approaching a dock or shoreline on a windy day. I would choose a size that allows me to 'cruise' within an expectable range of fuel efficiency, but also gives me some reasonable speed, say 25 mph in case in need to get off the water due to bad weather rolling in. I also know that using too small of an engine puts a lot of strain on that engine which can led to short engine life if you constantly run the engine above mid range day after.

[mustangracer]

I think 25 mph on a standard 20 ft boat seems fast enough for most general getting around
my plan is a 20' toon with a 90 hp 4 cycle new.

[HoosierRooster]

My friend had a 23 foot pontoon boat what's 105 horsepower Chrysler on it and it would pull a 130-pound person water skiing behind it a lot of people would flip when they saw a pontoon boat pulling somebody water skiing this boat would get up on the back end and really run that was in the early eighties up to 1985

[dewaynemarcionette]

I have a 24-foot Neptune dolphin pontoon boat has a 40 horse 4 cylinder Mercury on runs roughly 19 miles an hour not bad for a little 40

[SkypowerwithKarl]

Remember, more horsepower more fuel used at speed. It’s not like a car cruising along 40 mph on a level highway, it’s like 200 hp car fully loaded towing up a hill all the time and 40 is all she’ll do.

[rnordquest]

In lieu of the pdf, Sweetwater has a bunch of test reports for different size toons with different engines.

[tomtheplummer]

As a kid my buddy’s dad would overpower everything. Gotta be able to tandem waterski behind his pontoon👍🏻

[danwendorf]

22' Princecraft Vantage with a Merc 90hp and a 4 blade 13.875" x 13" pitch prop... Approx. 40KMS with 2 people and dogs at 5500RPM

[richmac]

Years ago, when I was like 15 or 16, I got a job working for a guy who owned a development on a lake in NH. He was selling house lots and it was my job to take people around the lake in his pontoon equipped with a 40hp Johnson. We'd typically have 6 to 8 people on board and I grew to genuinely hate that boat. Top speed with that many people was about 10 tops (if we were lucky). Because of this I thought I'd never consider a pontoon for anything, ever. However today they have respectable performance and still have the benefit of deck room.that other boats configurations can't come close to matching. Now that I have my own lake cottage I'm going to dump my bowrider and, hard to believe I'm saying this, get a pontoon.