How important is power Tilt / Trim?

I'm looking to repower a 30' tritoon with something in the 150 HP range. Trying to buy used (budget minded) and I've found several O/B engines that might do the job but many do not have power tilt / trim. On a ski boat I'd say tilt / trim is all but mandatory but I wonder if thet is true for such a large toon. I'm wondering if the legth and over all size of the toom sort of minimizes the need for power tilt / trim once I find the sweet spot with the manual adjustments.

Love to hear thoughts on it! (Toon newbie here.)

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

Disclaimer: My barge is only a 21 footer. That said, I can't imagine not being able to adjust the motor. Bubba, when you start tooning you'll find that people constantly move around, and the ability to compensate for more weight in the front or back of the boat at any given moment is very useful. Also, when beaching I'll goose it a little then kill the motor and raise it so it doesn't suck in a bunch of sand and ruin the impeller. Since we're talking about a thirty footer I'll assume water sports won't be a priority, so I won't get into that. Glad to hear you've finally seen the light.

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

Bubba, call me spoiled, but I simply can't imagine no PTT. Having said that, I will also say that at 30', your motor is going to be a long way from shore should you beach it. Let me ask where you will be using your toon...bays, lakes, rivers?

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

I have a 20' or so... I have a 40 hp yamaha on it, and it did not come with power trim/tilt. I used it in the fall and it worked fine.

Where I wish I had the trim/tilt... was going in and coming out of the boat landing. It seemed to almost always drag the skeg about 2' or so from the water. So, pull up a bit, then raise the motor, and continue up the landing. Again, my pontoon was cheap, and I wasn't about to quibble over it... until I looked on E-bay for a PTT unit. Gulp. $450 was the cheapest I could find for the Yamaha, and the CRC is a GREAT setup... but I didn't want to spend $600 either.

So, fortunately, I'm parting out an 88 VIP Vision boat with a2.3L OMC... and it had a good PTT unit. I 'engineered' it to work, and have yet to put it in the water to see how it's gonna work underway... But I can't say I'm not anxious to try. It's cold and windy here today or I would be out there. It was kinda fun looking at how I could modify the setup from two cylinders to one, and play with the pump, with a relay, etc. Got to use my welder, and my melon. I suppose I could see if I can figure out how to post a picture or two....

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

Bubba1235 said:

Water sports? With 150 ponies I'm thinking pulling a tube has strong possibilities. (Grand Kids)
So anyhow, Tilt / Trim is pretty much a must have I guess.

Click to expand...

Yes sir. Especially throwing that in the mix.

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

Can you actually find a modern outboard with 150hp that doesn't have PTT ?

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

I consider late 80 early 90's as modern. Just don't remember any of them without PTT in that hp range.

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

Bubba1235 said:

I'm looking to repower a 30' tritoon with something in the 150 HP range. Trying to buy used (budget minded) and I've found several O/B engines that might do the job but many do not have power tilt / trim. On a ski boat I'd say tilt / trim is all but mandatory but I wonder if thet is true for such a large toon. I'm wondering if the legth and over all size of the toom sort of minimizes the need for power tilt / trim once I find the sweet spot with the manual adjustments.

Love to hear thoughts on it! (Toon newbie here.)

Click to expand...

Well, I have a 20' with a 110 Johnson & i use the T&T twice ever trip out---Once to lower the motor when i launch & once to raise it when i load it
BUT- I only fish, no tubeing or anything--------

Re: How important is power Tilt / Trim?

As far as trimming the boat; power trim is more for finding the least ventilation(cavitation) position.
Power tilt is just about mandatory from my limited pontoon boating
You can tilt up easily to beach or traverse shallow areas. loading and unloading from the trailer.
get the motor out of the water in a slip, or for low water level in the marina etc. etc.