Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

[cbkc31]

I am an experienced boater and just purchased my fathers pontoon from him. It's a 2002 22' Tracker with a 50hp Mercury outboard. I felt like I was going fairly slow during the 4th of July lake trip and when I used my GPS it showed I was only going 10MPH at full throttle!! The RPM's are around 5500 at WOT and again 10MPH. Any idea what could be going on? The prop seems to be undamaged and the engine was just tuned up with a new wiring harness installed. The weight in the boat was only 4 people (2 normal sized guys and 2 skinny girls). The only thing I can think about is that the water stream coming out of the engine has been very slow and not as strong as it should be so I was going to replace the internal impellar. Could this be making a difference?? I know it's a long shot but I can't think of what else could be happening here. I expected 17-20 mph at WOT. The pontoons are fairly clean and slick so I don't see drag being an issue. Help!!!!

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

How high is the boat sitting in the water.? Do you have it trimmed right?

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

The weak water stream nor impellar will cause a drop in speed as long as the WOT RPM's are correct and yours are.
10mph may be all you get with that boat/motor combo.
I'm sure Silver Eagle is suggesting you may have water in the toons. Search here and you'll find ways of checking for that.
If there is no water in the toons, they are clean, and the prop is not banged up, then you may just be at maximum speed.

 

[t-wood]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

HI just for comparison my 21' tracker 40hp with just the wife and i does 16mph at wot. But i know when it was windy early in the season it was prob way under that. At 16 we got splashed alot so i had to back it off to about 10 or we would have been soaked. I just fixed the tach today so i will let you know what rpm that was maybe way too high.

 

[cbkc31]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

I believe there is some water in the toons, would it really effect it that much?? It seems to be sitting in the water correctly (not too low or lower in the front/rear) and I have tried every motor trim setting with no luck. I guess I'll have the pontoons drained and see if that really does help. I was assuming it wasn't the pontoons because the rpms were high but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[lakegeorge]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

After you check the toons for water also check the prop for slipage. You should be able to run around 18/19 mph as wot.

 

[t-wood]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

I have heard that the foam filled pontoons can eventually start to hold in water. That is the foam can hold in water and become very heavy. If you can set your trailer tonge on the ground have someone help you lift it very quickly and you will hear water roll from the front to back. I can with mine which told me they aren't foam filled. I would think that if it sits ok in the water that prob. isnt the problem. How do you check for prop slippage?

 

[cbkc31]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

When the boat is on the trailer and I move it from side to side I can hear the water sloshing so I am fairly confident they aren't foam filled but I will try the lifting trick, thank you!

I was wondering the same thing: How do you check for prop slippage??

 

[00247]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

You might want to check the "fairly clean" pontoons. Mine were cleaned just before I bought it, the outsides were clean but there was a thin layer of build up on the insides and on the third toon. Not enough to make a difference... so I thought. After blasting the film off with a pressure washer I gained 4 MPH. Now it was a tritoon so there is more surface area but I would have never believed so little build up would make that much difference.

 

[passingwindII]

Re: Pontoon only going 10 mph!!! Help!!

why dont you ask your dad. Might start off like this "hey dad took the boat out today noticed it didnt run to quick. Did you and mom ever notice this." and he might say " son its got a 50 on it. its no speed demon just enjoy the ride.