What's It Weigh?

[Buster_boy]

My pontoon boat has a half pontoon about 7-8ft long in the center. How much do you think that thing weighs? Any guesses? 100 pounds? 300 pounds? 500 pounds?

 

[Buster_boy]

OK so my picture inserting sucks. See that little thing tucked in there? I'm going to remove it hoping it'll drop the bow down some. Right now it plows like an Amish Oxen clearing a field.

 

[Silver Eagle]

Tell us about your boat .I would guess the center toon is there for a reason.A lot of people want the center toon. How long, what kind of hp are you running?.

 

[Buster_boy]

Its a 2001 Sylvan Elite 16 w/2001 40hp 2stk Johnson motor new from the dealer. I am third owner. First two owners used this boat on Buckeye Lake here in Ohio. There is only one Sylvan dealer on or near that lake. I have spoken to this dealer. While they do not remember this boat in particular they said this would be an after market addition. The purpose of it is for added control and stability on rougher water.

Buckeye Lake is a small, man made lake and is approximately 12ft deep. It is open hp so there are some large boats kicking up large wakes. The waves can also kick up on windy days. My guess is the toon was added for this reason but I have no way to verify.

I bought this boat last fall. I did not test it prior to this spring. Earlier this spring I added a Mercury 9.9 because I now keep the boat docked at Hoover Reservoir here in Columbus Oh. Hoover is restricted waters - 10hp/10mph/22ft max. I kept the Johnson on there so I could also use it on other open hp waters. The attached pic was taken at Hoover. You can see it doesn't go very fast on a 9.9hp. Both motors are on the boat in this pic. The Mercury only adds about 100 pounds. That's nothing more than a 16yr old teenager. Hoover is 10-60ft in depth so big waves are nonexistent.

The boat only goes 5mph with two people. I get passed by larger boats with 9.9's carrying more people and only two pontoons. I'm told it's because I'm plowing not planing. Two dealers have told me that third pontoon adds too much buoyancy for a 9.9 making it difficult to impossible to plane.

Yesterday we took it to nearby Alum Creek Reservoir State Park. That water is open hp so watercraft range from SUP'S to offshore boats. We used the 40hp this time. At wot I got maybe 10mph and the bow was even higher out of the water. So high I had to stand to see. I tried trimming the motor but all that did was shoot rooster tails. We were getting hit by 3ft wakes so hard you'd swear we were the Posideon Adventure. We took it out after 25 minutes it was so crazy there.

So there's my story as to why I want to remove it. Too much bouancy, too much plowing, dealers say I don't need it, and I don't see others with them and they ride just fine. I know they make full length tritoons but this is a half toon on a small boat.

Check some of my other threads for more pics.

 

[rickdb1boat]

I would be very surprised if it weighed over 75 lbs.

 

[Cat nip]

My guess is 40-50lbs

 

[fish till ya bleed]

If you take the middle log off I would be interested in it for the right price.

 

[Buster_boy]

I'll keep that in mind. I have my dock space until Oct 31st and I don't plan on taking it out until then, but I probably should at least try it and see before I got rid of it for good. I can remove it in the parking lot of the ramp - it's only four bolts and some supports of some type (ratchet straps perhaps). I'll PM you if/when I do.

 

[ahicks]

If you're interested in experimenting, you might try moving it back a couple of feet if there's room in back of it. Back further, it would be working towards lifting from the center of the boat,possibly lifting the entire boat at speed rather than just the front as it does now.

Center toon could be a good idea. Might work out well for you, it's just that what you're looking at/suffering from, is a really poor install. A good idea gone bad if you will?

 

[Buster_boy]

There's not enough room for that, or at least enough that'll make a difference. It's only four bolts holding it on there but the bracket is towards the rear of the toon. The transom extends to about the middle of the deck so if I tried that I'd only be moving it back about a foot - nowhere near enough to accomplish what you're suggesting. Good thought though.

It looks like a torpedo bomb underneath there when it's out of the water and on the trailer..