Pontoons on electric only lakes?

IHDiesel73L

Seaman
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Aug 2, 2010
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Over the weekend I rented a late model Bennington Pontoon similar to this one if not this exact model:

https://boat-builder.benningtonmari...aa9d29a514d5ed019?SERIES/S&MODEL/168SLDF=true

It was on one of our local 9.9 restricted lakes, a little under 2,000 acres (Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterdon County, NJ for those who are familar). I grew up around boats but my wife has only been out a few times, and my daughters, 18 months and 4 years, had never been on boat before. They all had an absolute blast. My wife, whose biggest concern was the 18 month old hurling herself overboard, felt very at ease since the pontoon is almost like a big playpen and it was easy to manage her. We putted around the lake for a while and then found a nice place to beach, went ashore, and the girls splashed in the shallows/built sand castles, etc... As far as the boat itself, at 16' (17' - 4" LOA) proved plenty large enough for the four of us with room for one or two more. Top speed was 8 MPH, which was fine, because again, the lake is not all that big.

I wonder how a boat like this would perform with a larger trolling motor (say 75-85lb thrust) on an electric only lake? We have a lot of those here in NJ ranging from just over 100 acres to 600-800 acres. I'd love to be able to get the kids out on those lakes for some quiet cruising, fishing, and wildlife watching. Just curious if there are any others here who can provide some real-world perspective on maximum speed and battery life with such a setup? With lakes that small, speed is certainly not necessary, but I would hope that I could expect 3-4 MPH, at least in calm conditions.
 

MH Hawker

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a 9.9 has roughly 200 pounds of static thrust, they do make several electric outboards in various hp ratings, but i have no experience with them
 
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IHDiesel73L

Seaman
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Aug 2, 2010
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a 9.9 has roughly 200 pounds of static thrust, they do make several electric outboards in various hp ratings, but i have no experience with them


The electric outboards, as far as I can tell, are basically built to provide identical performance to their gas counterparts. They're impressive, but they're also very expensive, and require a lot of power. In other words, sure, I could fit a Torqueedo or other 9.9 HP electric and be able to cruise at 8 MPH into the wind with a full compliment of passengers just as I would with a 9.9 HP gas motor, but once all was said and done with the cost of the motor, controller, wiring, and batteries, it would probably add about $5,000 to the cost of the boat. If I could move the same boat and load at half that speed (or slightly less) with a 75-80lb trolling motor and two deep cycle batteries on a day with minimal wind I'd be happy. I have seen pontoons out on these electric only lakes traveling slowly with barely any wake, so my guess is that they were using trolling motors as opposed to true electric outboards, but I've yet to catch someone at the launch ramp to ask questions of/scope out their setup.
 

MH Hawker

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well boating is never cheep and specialty items can get real expensive, the 100 pound thrust trolling motors are in the 2000 price range and yes a TM will work fine that should move you at 3 to 4 mph
 
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Silver Eagle

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 16, 2010
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852
Try one of those boat shops that sell bass boats. They use electric trolling motors. Tel them the weight of your boat and see what they have that can push your boat . Mounting a trolling motor on a pontoon boat could be a problem
 

WaterDR

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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May 8, 2012
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Congrats on finding the love of rooming and giving your kids a great gift!

My advice? Screw the silly electric only lakes. Get a real motor and have fun with the family in a reliable way.
 

MH Hawker

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its sort of sad really the electric lakes are some what common but being a small segment it makes things very expensive
 

ahicks

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Sep 16, 2013
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Not sure what your options are as far as power allowed/all sport vs. electric/no wake in your area. If at all possible, my vote would be similar to the WaterDR's. Go with a boat that has a decent amount of power. Why? Those kids, when they get just a little older, will remember a ride splashing around on a tube for a very long time. A quiet/sedate ride around a lake on a boat that's barely moving? Maybe not so much....
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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You can get an electric designed for use on a pontoon boat.
 

MH Hawker

Vice Admiral
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Jul 13, 2011
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you can but its real expensive a 9.9 elc motor and battery's will run 6 k or better new you can get a nice 50 hp for the same money
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
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Sep 20, 2008
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12,345
Torqueedo electric motors, can maximize prop as well...

Happy Boating
 
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