Pontoon Boat enough speed for tubing?

[mrasmussen72]

I'm thinking of buying a pontoon boat, either new or used. The three main activities are going to be fishing, entertaining and tubing. Can a pontoon do all of those? Do you have favorite brands of boats?

 

[HotTommy]

My 24', two log pontoon boat is comfortable for 5-6 people with two of them tubing. With a 90 HP outboard, the tubing was suitable for ages 8-10, but not very exciting for older kids. When I upgraded to 150 HP, the tubing was exciting for everyone. ... You didn't ask, but be prepared to use a lot of gas. Full throttle operation (typical for tubing) uses about 1 gallon per hour for every 10 HP of engine. So my 150 burns about 15 gallons per hour at full throttle.

 

[jkust]

You would not believe the variation of the pontoons that people tube behind that I see. 600 hp down to ancient two stroke 25hp engines. My favorite brand is Premier or possibly Bennington. My lake is maybe 10 Premiers to 1 non Premier which is usually something ancient.

 

[1983 ercoa 21']

The newer motors will not use that much fuel. The early 90s and 80 s were gas hogs they have gotten alot better since then. As the the level of excitement more power equals more excitement go to a tritoon that will enhance the whole aspect of the boat. If you do chose a tritoon don't get any motor smaller than a 150.

 

[jkust]

The newer motors will not use that much fuel. The early 90s and 80 s were gas hogs they have gotten alot better since then. As the the level of excitement more power equals more excitement go to a tritoon that will enhance the whole aspect of the boat. If you do chose a tritoon don't get any motor smaller than a 150.

My 1980's 85hp two stroke can almost rival my supercharged Waverunner and that is really saying something. It's not even the cost of the gas...it's the hassle factor of having to constantly fill the tanks when you have a gas hog outboard. I recently tested a new 24 foot Tritoon with a 150hp and it topped out at 30mph with a very light load and what amounted to a great ride but absolutely no midrange power at all. It takes a lot of HP to move a Tritoon to a fast pace.

 

[1983 ercoa 21']

My tritoon is a home made from a 83 pontoon 21' running a 1985 150 evinrude it runs 43 lightly loaded and 38 with a fair load and the fuel consumption isn't to bad but I don't run wot all the time either

 

[Marley marl]

My tritoon is a home made from a 83 pontoon 21' running a 1985 150 evinrude it runs 43 lightly loaded and 38 with a fair load and the fuel consumption isn't to bad but I don't run wot all the time either

1983 ercoa 21'.....I'm looking to do the same thing. I have a 24' 1975 Harris with an 1989 175 mercury. I'm planning on converting it into a tritoon. What diameter logs do you have when you made your tritoon? I have homemade seats which weighs more than plastic ones and wth the weight of the motor, it sits very low in the rear.

 

[Seon]

Determining fuel consumption will vary depending on wind, speed, current, loaded/unloaded weight, etc.

For me, I determine my fuel consumption by miles per gallon.

I'm about to repower my Party Hut from the Merc 115 2 stroke to a Yamaha 4 stroke. I'm at a cross road between a "115hp or 150hp"? I'm leaning towards the 115 because I don't plan to tow a tube or go WOT plus it cost a little less.

 

[craigmack]

Of course a pontoon/tritoon can do all that. Some things to think about, the larger/longer/heavier the boat the higher HP you'll want. With my setup I get 37 MPH (GPS) with a full tank of gas (35 gal) and 2 people in little wind and chop. I just had 6 adults and 5 kids aboard towing a 2 person tube with plenty of power and speed to spare. Tubing above 30 MPH actual gets scary with all the bouncing that happens; we keep it to 25 MPH and under. Also keep in mind that pontoons don't corner like a v hull boat unless you get a high performance tritoon setup that banks like a v hull. Get lifting strakes if getting 115 HP or higher though it's really more speed dependent.

 

[ahicks]

Determining fuel consumption will vary depending on wind, speed, current, loaded/unloaded weight, etc.

For me, I determine my fuel consumption by miles per gallon.

I'm about to repower my Party Hut from the Merc 115 2 stroke to a Yamaha 4 stroke. I'm at a cross road between a "115hp or 150hp"? I'm leaning towards the 115 because I don't plan to tow a tube or go WOT plus it cost a little less.

You can't confuse MPG vs. fuel consumption (Gallons Per Hour/GPH). Fuel consumption has nothing or very little to do with wind, speed, current, loaded/unloaded weight, etc. Consumption (GPH) is going to be mostly about your throttle setting. For a given throttle setting, it's going to use the same amount of fuel, regardless of conditions or even hull speed. However, mpg can be very dependent on conditions (current, wind, hull/ground speed, etc.)

 

[Seon]

You can't confuse MPG vs. fuel consumption (Gallons Per Hour/GPH).

You're abosolutely correct.

.

 

[Government cheese]

My dad's '94 Sylvan has a 50 hp Merc (I think its a Merc) hanging off the back, and we have used it to tube. We pretty much run full throttle, and since we hook to one toon or the other it tends to pull the boat sideways a little. It's rated for 75 hp, but I haven't got the cash for that.

 

[lmuss53]

My 20 footer with a 50 will give a pretty dull tube ride, it'd hard to get enough momentum to give the tube a good swing.

All you high HP guys, remember that throttle lever is a valve, not an on/off switch.

I have found that running at 3/4 throttle will cut fuel consumption by way more than 25%.

 

[coresuper]

I have a 2014 24' Sylvan with a 90hp ETEC 2 stroke. I get about 23 mph. Tubing is easy. A lot has to do with the tube. I have a tube with no center hole that you can steer yourself. It works fine for adults and I can almost always whip them off it. No problem with gas mileage with the ETE
C.

 

[Fleetwin]

You can tube at one MPH or 40 MPH. It all depends on the rider.

A 24' toon", with a 115, will pull just about 20+ MPH. That's pushing it.

I don't see the point of 300 HP Pontoons that will run 40+. Pontoons are for relaxing.

If you want a go fast, buy a different boat.

 

[jkust]

You can tube at one MPH or 40 MPH. It all depends on the rider.

A 24' toon", with a 115, will pull just about 20+ MPH. That's pushing it.

I don't see the point of 300 HP Pontoons that will run 40+. Pontoons are for relaxing.

If you want a go fast, buy a different boat.

The 600hp pontoons/the 300hp's and general uptick in pontoons on my lake are people that traded in their fishing boat and bowrider and now only have one boat and one boat lift. They want a boat that will do everything and only need one winter storage, one trailer, one dock, one insurance policy, etc. I'll be there too in a few years too but will keep my waverunner to get my speed and acceleration fix and probably get a more reasonable 150HP on a tritoon.

 

[ron nh]

You can tube at one MPH or 40 MPH. It all depends on the rider.

A 24' toon", with a 115, will pull just about 20+ MPH. That's pushing it.

I don't see the point of 300 HP Pontoons that will run 40+. Pontoons are for relaxing.

If you want a go fast, buy a different boat.

My 18' tri=toon with a 115 merc will do 40 gps with 2 people. will tow 2 with 2 on board + me at over 30 mph (if I were that crazy). pontoons may be for relaxing but there better all around boats. my friends deck boat (with a 150) will go 44 and knock your teeth out in rough conditions. it will turn better but thats about it. Also cost a lot more.