pontoon outboard swap

[Vineyard1986]

Hello everyone! This is my first time here and i have a few questions. last year i got a 1976 bass boat with an 1975 Evinrude 115. the engine runs great but the rest of the boat needs some work. it was going to be a project for me and my boys to work on together. This weekend however i was given the chance to get a 1990 Lowe pontoon with a blown Evinrude 70. would it be possible for me to take the 115 off the bass boat and use it on the pontoon? the bigger boat would be so much better for our family.

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard

would depend on what the pontoon is rated for.

if the pontoon is rated for 115hp or more and if the engine pod is in good condition, then yes.

if the pontoon is not rated for more than 70hp, than no.

 

[ahicks]

I agree, it's going to depend on the boat. HP capacities aside for a second, many of the older 'toons had relatively small tubes and the increased weight of the 115 would overwhelm them. Actually, the 70 may have been pushing it as they were really built with the weight of twin cylinder engines in mind.

That said, the other day I witnessed a 100hp Johnson that had been installed on an older toon with an adjustable transom. Those old transoms were designed with a 40 horse engine in mind!

So bottom line, I might be tempted to try on 2 conditions. The first is the size of the tubes. If they are 24"+, or in the case of a boat with all the heavy furniture removed, maybe even 23". Second is the transom condition and design. That one you be the judge. Look at how that assembly fastens to the cross members. If it's using 4 1/4" bolts, common sense would tell you that area is going to need some beefing up, possible even adding a cross member or 2.

 

[Starcraft5834]

as stated newer toons have 25 inch tubes.. makes a very big difference... ive got a new starcraft toon with 25 inch tubes with a 115 CT.. it's rated for 125.... love it.. been tooning in a local lake with a lot of older toons with small tubes... even with little motors on them, they are often overloaded with to many people, the deck is a few inches above the water line on some of them.. scarey..... if they had larger engines, they'd be swamped.